Right now, it's my biased* opinion that the best way to expose new
people to Glorantha is through the computer game, King of Dragon
Pass. They learn about Glorantha gradually while playing, and there's
an ad for Hero Wars on the CD. Plus, it's a fun game in its own right.
Unfortunately, King of Dragon Pass is published by a new, underfunded
publisher: A Sharp. Right now, it's hard to find.
Here are a few things you can do to help:
- Ask your local store for the game.
- Game stores are our primary focus. They buy from a distributor. If
enough stores ask a distributor, the distributor will carry the game,
and then other game stores can get it easily.
- Software stores are really expensive to sell in -- see
<http://www.gamecenter.com/Features/Exclusives/Retail/> for an
excellent article about this. But even here, asking can help --
someone asked Electronics Boutique, and they've contacted us.
- If your store does carry it, let us know. Thanks to everyone who's
done this already!
- Spread the word.
- Newsgroups are read by people who aren't necessarily familiar with
Glorantha. I suggest
rec.games.frp.misc
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic
comp.sys.mac.games.strategic
but there could be other good ones.
- Make a fan web site. You can be a resource for fans of the game.
Think of it as a sneaky way to get links to the rest of your site,
since computer game sites may link to your fan page.
- You can always just tell people face-to-face.
- Download the demo
<http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-10178-108-51458.html?bt.dl-10151
- -asharp..10178-108-51458>. We were considered a popular download for
the first week, and it's always good to see anything Gloranthan being
considered popular -- this generates momentum. Yes, it's a big
download, but if you have DSL or a cable modem, you might as well
download it even if you use Windows. (When the Windows demo becomes
available, Mac users could download it.)
- Buy the game. Sales talk. Loudly. It'll be easier for us to push
the game into new outlets if we can point to solid sales.
- Yes, I produced King of Dragon Pass, and in theory could make money
from it. If that bothers you, comfort yourself with the knowledge
that it will be a long time before my company makes a profit from it,
and pretend you're just helping Glorantha.
David Dunham A Sharp david_at_a-sharp.com
Voice/Fax: 206 783 7404 http://a-sharp.com
Efficiency is intelligent laziness.