Hero Wars Wars

From: rhwolfe1_at_ix.netcom.com
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 12:47:38 -0500 (CDT)


On 08/10/98 22:11:47 Kevin Rose wrote:
>
>It should be pointed out that TSR went bankrupt. They didn't put out
>anything for most of a year. The reason WOC bought them was because the
>company was going to fold without it. Both TSR and GDW got killed by the
>book industry. Be careful what you wish for.

<< SARCASM MODE ON>>

Omigod. Not publishing anything new for a year? That'd be terrible. I mean, that means that the game had to be completely supported by a few fanzines and maybe an e-mail list while the publisher did absolutely nothing. For a whole year!

Wow. I don't know if any game could survive that. I mean, think what'd have happened to Runequest if a year went by without an official release. Gosh, what if two years went by? Or three?

<<SARCASM MODE OFF>>

The bottom line is WOC bought TSR and continues publishing material. When I got to the local gaming store, there's piles of AD&D stuff, much of it new, and just a few moldering old boxes of RQ stuff.

Sorry for the bitter tone of my posts. But you have to understand where I'm coming from. I've been playing RQ for about 20 years. I think it's a great game. But Chaosium starved it and ignored and then sold it into slavery. And now they've killed it. I'm in the anger stage of survivor's remorse. I'll get over it in a few years and move on to depression, bargaining, and, eventually, acceptance.

Alex Ferguson wrote:
>
>R. H. Wolfe has a lengthy and exacting list of demands for the upcoming
>HW line, no actual suggestions as to how to achieve this, and the
>following cheerful expression of support.
>
>> I'll believe it when I see it. Issaries can _intend_ to conquer the
>> world, but I wouldn't stake _my_ money on it.
>
>Then I imagine you won't be, then. But if you don't want to support
>their efforts in a material fashion, then kindly quit whining,
>if-only-ing, and second guessing.

All I'm doing is looking around at a couple dozen other game systems and companies and seeing how much product they've produced over the past decade or so and compared that to the paltry amount of product for RQ/Glorantha. I see other companies getting stuff out there, but not Chaosium. Now, I'm not a businessman, so I don't know how FASA or Warhammer or TSR/WOC or Steve Jackson or even Hero Games manage it. I'm sure it's hard. But they do it and historically Chaosium and AH didn't.

Shannon says that they're purposefully delaying the release of HW so they can properly support it. To me, that's heartening. I hope HW is great and I hope they sell buckets full. Like I said, I'll buy it. I'll buy pretty much anything Gloranthan. I've bought frigging French supplements that I can't even read. My concern is that HW not meet the same ignoble fate suffered by RQ2 and RQ3.

My specific, constructive suggestions are these:

  1. Don't alienate the long-time RQ players. Provide them with a character conversion system so they can continue existing campaigns using the new rules systems. Include it in the initial release.
  2. Make sure at least half the material released comes in the form of playable scenario packs, complete with maps and bad-guys, so that any mook can start a campaign just by opening a box or two.
  3. Make the game accessible. As fun as the whole Yelmalio/ Elmal thing was, it'd be confusing as hell for the new player. When it comes to the munchkins, the ironclad consistancy of the monomyth is a good thing.
  4. Keep the number of books needed to play as small as possible. To play RQ2 you only needed two books, the Rulebook and Cults of Prax. To play RQ3 you needed the Players Box, the GM's Box, Gods of Glorantha, and the Genertela set. Four products and over a dozen books in all with a publishing gap of over four years.
  5. I'd also consider a good campaign supplement with plenty of pre-generated adventures essential to starting out. RQ3 didn't have one of those until Sun County came out 8 years after the initial rules. The Sartar book better be the HW equivalent of Sun County or Big Rubble and it better come out fast.

>I think no reasonable person would disagree that the Official Glorantha
>base is currently lamentable, will surely get better over the next year
>or so

God, I hope so. But I'll believe it when I see it. I've been burned way too many times to be anything but cynical.


End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #104


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