Gaming pariahs

From: Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG <Bernuetz.Oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca>
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 1997 16:15:52 -0400


Pam Carlson said in response to someone rejecting Greg's Pelorian fiction:

>GRoY, FS, And Entekosiad will each cost US$25, maybe more if you are in
>Canada. Twice the price of your average Duck scenario, but all full of
>great scenario ideas, especially if you put some thought into it. Add
>to that the wealth of cult write-ups, campaign settings, and scenarios
>available FOR FREE on the websites of Gloranthaphiles, along with the
>*excellent* articles and scenarios in the modestly priced "Tales of the
>Reaching Moon" fanzine, and I think Glorantha is pretty good RPG value.

Hmm, I can't comment on the value of GRoY, FS or the Entekosiad (not having read them) other than to suggest that Pam check out the exchange rate between
the Canadian and U.S. dollar. Today it's 72 cents to the dollar. Add in Canada Post's
handling charge (an intense source of irritation which prevents me from ever ordering through the mail again), and GST and you're close to $40 Canadian. I can afford that others might not. These three are great if you want
to run a campaign set in Peloria, not so good if you interested in other locales.

TOTRM is great but the issues come out so infrequently that you give up ever seeing another one.

Concentrating information like that is nice but it exacerbates the narrow focus
of Glorantha. It used to be that all the information was for Sartar and Prax
(though I must say I must have missed most of the Sartar stuff since I didn't start playing RQ until 83 or so). Plus Trolls of course.

I get misty eyed remembering the glory days of the early eighties when I could go to my favourite gaming store and buy something new about my favourite gaming world. Now I just stand there looking at the AD&D racks and
feel sad. (sniff, sniff).

I don't want quantity over quality but I would like to see stuff come out on a little
more regular basis. Once a quarter would be nice.

I must say that I am in awe of people who actually have time to write roleplaying scenarios. I wish I did. It's nice to have all that Internet stuff
and all (lucky for me that I have Internet access-I wouldn't if my job didn't come
with it) but it's no replacement for regular releases. I look forward to the day
when Chaosium starts releasing new stuff.

Pam again:

>I somehow don't think it's because we try to maintain high standards of
>historic complexity, myth, and metaphor for Glorantha. In fact, I think
>the Glorantha will be around a lot longer than most of the other game
>worlds, precisely *because* it is so complex and ambiguous.

I hope you're right but it's a hell of a way to run a business.

On a related point I get the distinct impression that most of the people on this digest are in the 30-35 year age group (with some notable distinctions). Is this true? If so where are all the young players? The ones
with more money than brains?

Oliver D. Bernuetz (who has more brains than money unfortunately) bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca

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