Review, part 4
- -------------------------------------------------------------
This may be the system Issaries wants, but until further development and the optional rules come along, I have questions whether this the system will break out from the hard core Glorantha-philes. While I am in no way advocating pandering to the lowest common gaming denominator, I have serious worries about the level of this system. From what I've seen, it will appeal only to the most mature, experienced gamemasters and players. Further, it has quite a learning curve. The mechanics are simple, but the characters/ world are not.
Perhaps it was just my group, but the playtest session I sat in on had one new, one semi-new, and four experienced players. As I was only an observer (I got to sit in when there were more sign-ups than spots), I sat back during the game and most of the bull session afterwards. The newbie (in his 20's?) was lost and had to be prompted about the role and knowledge of a "lawgiver," one player really used the cult abilities very well, one fumbled around trying too but was hampered by the state of the magic rules, and the others played their character notes well but didn't really _use_ the world/system. The oversimplified rules seemed to bother some of the players.
HW may skim off players tired of the complexity or
immaturity of other game worlds/
systems/players, but I worry about its mass
acceptance. I hope that the magic, packages, and
optional rules will help, but right now it seems
awfully generic accross the board. The cost of
simplifying the mechanics was to make every action
seem the same. Worse, the very elements that
would help that problem make the system harder for
the new player to grasp. By combining the game
system with the world, it requires a player to
know a great deal of the world to play and enjoy
the game!
In short, introducing a new player to the game isn't just a few minutes of teaching the game mechanics. "Don't worry, the rest of the stuff about the world you'll pick up later. Just remember, other Orlanthi are your friends; the Lunars are the Evil Empire." This is a tactic I've used to bring new players in for years. They enjoy the logic and simplicity (compared to some other systems) of RQ, then get hooked on the world. For the new player, it will be much more like researching a term paper, since you have to know the world to understand how to really use the system! The steep learning curve may be a handicap to the game's mass acceptance.
On the other hand, I might be shooting arrows in the dark here. The greatest strength of the RQ system was never the game system itself (though that was no slouch), but the world in which it was played. Even nearly 15 years of neglect by Avalon (brains buried under the) Hills could not kill this game's following.
Time (and the market) will tell...
End review. Comments please?
Charlie Domino
Powered by hypermail