It seems to me that certain "objectivists" are of the opinion that a subjective viewpoint is an attempt to sabotage the =
monomyth because us subjectivists are evil terrorists trying desperately hard to ruin the nice, safe and easily understood version of Glorantha that the monomyth promoted.
This is utter bollocks
The whole point of the subjective view is that _anything_ created, worshipped or viewed with cultural prejudice WILL be subjective.
The Dara Happans aren't right, the Orlanthi aren't right, the =
Malkioni aren't right because there _is_ no right!
Its patently bloody obvious to anyone who has studied even basic =
school history from differing points of view but most of us don't because actually acknowledging that our culture might be wrong or =
not completely right is a bit disturbing, a bit too close to the =
mark.
An example - in a long running argument with Sandy, I extolled the virtues of the British army. Now I'm British and a patriot and I genuinely thought the tactical doctrine of the British Army was plainly superior to that of the American army and the pre-collapse Soviet army. And it _is_ but only at the things its good at - =
like accuracy, counter-terrorism and elite force operations.
However, the Soviets were excellent at what they do, as are the =
Americans - Americans exell at logistics and firepower, the Soviets excell at use of mass and deep operational strategy. =
My point is that I am a very well read military buff yet I am =
still as prone to my cultural biases, even in my favourite subject, as anybody else. How will a Gloranthan be any different? In fact, given their terrible communication tech and the paucity of written works, it is likely that a Gloranthan will be monumentally more hidebound in their cultural beliefs than anyone in the RW.
If this principle is taken as obvious and sure the the nature of worship and magic in Glorantha must be then examined because the magic will be subjective too and so will the myths and so, therefore, will the Gods.
To suggest that the Orlanthi monomyth is RIGHT is insane. It =
means that every other culture in Glorantha is WRONG and frankly =
this is so illogical it makes my teeth hurt. To suggest that the Gods are real and manipulate their worshippers runs into the =
problem that the Gods myths don't match, that the worhsippers views don't match and the worship itself varies depending on the area and culuural inclinations of the said worhsippers - yet they still get the magic their worship defines! If this is undoubltedly =
true, which it is, then how the hell are the gods these immutable =
sefl-aware entities that fiddle with the universe?
It doesn't work, its not logical and its a fallacious argument.
The hoary old argument of "Well I don't like subjective views =
because as a GM I don't know whats real and as a GM I want the =
absolute truth in a book somewhere." really annoys me. As a GM of many games, I've never needed to rely on a manual of what is right or wrong - I just do what I like to do and if a player =
objects, well there're other GMs and other games - bye bye.
In Glorantha, _your_ Glorantha, its your world. Do what you like but DON'T expect a nice book stating the "facts" of the Gods cos this is very boring indeed and not an accurate study of the way a Glorantha would be.
My feeling is that most objectivists love the depth of Glorantha only so long as they don't have to think about the consequences of its complexity. =
If someone wants lots of information on a gameworld without any =
social depth or attempt to show how divergent races, cultures and religions can interact over a long perios then there are plenty of TSR suppliments about the Forgotten Realms to buy. Go for it.
Martin Laurie =
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