Cliques and such...

From: RMEINTS_at_aol.com
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 12:01:47 -0400


In Installment #59, Simon Phipp writes:

“We can't all be part of the Glorious Megacorp, Nick, cliques prevent that.”

followed shortly by:

“I could proof read as easily as the next man, so please do not assume that
your position is anything special.”

As you start reading my replies, many, if not most of you, will probably have no idea who I am. I’m not a published Gloranthan/RQ author, although I hope to be one if I ever get around to writing something worth publishing. In fact, this is only my second reply to the digest in all my years of subscribing.

What I am is one of the newest members of the Reaching Moon Megacorp. Up until December 7th (catchy date) of ‘94, no one in the Megacorp (or the rest of the Gloranthan universe) knew who I was. Shortly before making a business trip to England I took a big leap (for me) and decided that if I was in London I should look up some of these Megacorp people. I emailed Nick Brooke and he was very delighted to meet me for a drink and a meal (on very short notice). That same weekend he introduced me to David Hall and several of his other friends. I got to make several more trips over the next several months and the trend continued to grow. I listened to their stories about all sorts of things, and they listened to mine. I didn’t impress any of them with Gloranthan knowledge or razor-sharp wit, all I did was volunteer. I told them I did a lot of desktop publishing at work, and offered to help with any of their current projects. It started out small and grew from their. My latest efforts for the Megacorp include all the DTP for Tales 15, the Convulsion programme book, and Proceedings in Malkionism (shameless plugs). Simon Bray could probably tell you a similar story about how he volunteered to do artwork and got buried in projects. As for Nick being our proof reader, he does far more than that. In many respects, that’s just where he was happy to be specifically listed in the credits. You’ll also see him in the author credits of many issues.

Later on, Simon continues with:

“I would be the first to recognise what Tales of the Reaching Moon and the
Megacorp has done for the RQ game - it has revitalised the hobby. However, there does seem to be the impression that the Megacorp is a little cliquey. This may be completely unfounded, but the impression is there, nonetheless. Perhaps it is possible to break into the Outer Circle and prove that anyone can help the cause, I certainly hope so. If there is anything that I can do for the Megacorp, just let me know and I will be only too glad to try to help out.”

The best thing to do is contact David Hall with suggestions as to how you would like to help. Ask him about what projects are in the works and make suggestions to him as to what you would like to see. People are often making the general statement of “let me know how I can help”. I know it is a heartfelt offer, but it is also very hard to respond to. All we would like are slightly more specific offers and submissions like: My campaign is run in Sylila and I’d like to submit a scenario for Tales. (response: send it in, please.)
- -or-
I’ve been writing a lot about Casino town; here’s an outline of ideas I’d like to expand. (same response)

In general, article and art submissions to Tales are something David has always had to chase and beg for. He does not have two in-trays labeled “great submissions from my clique” and “outsider trash”.

And still later on, Simon says:

“However, what we are talking about with the Bringing Up to Speed project is
a quick and cheap way of giving access to many new gamers ( or even those gamers who only have RQ3 products) to those products which came out for early RuneQuest. I doubt very much if people would mind that they only have photocopied articles from Wyrms Footprints or whatever. In fact, in my experience, people are only too pleased to receive photocopies of out of print material.”

Actually, what the BUTS campaign is really talking about is actively pursuing a felony conviction for copyright theft. Virtually everything published for RQ2 is copyrighted. Being out of print, hard to get hold of, etc. doesn’t matter. Just because a publishing company, like Judges Guild, is out of business is no exception. I know many of the gamers won’t mind only getting photocopies, but I’m sure many of the authors of those articles will. Ask Greg about his response when someone asked him to autograph a photocopy of Glorious Reascent.

Also, Paul Edson comments:

“One thing that would be highly useful would be a comprehensive index of All
the Glorantha That Ever Was, so a newbie could find out that Scorpion Men figure in such-and-such a book on pages xxx-yyy, and ask someone specifically for that reference. Another would be a gazetteer of sorts, a quick and dirty listing of place names and their associated cults, dangers, major features, and published NPC's.”

In a month or so I will send to the printers my 80 plus page index to all things Gloranthan. It contains most of what you’re asking for in quite a bit of detail. It’s advertised on the back of Tales #15, so I have to actually get it done.



Rick Meints

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