GAG. This is, to me, a very strange concept. I can well understand Martin's frustration. We have something that is generally accepted, but has never been written down, most people have never been told about it, and no one agrees on anything but the most vague ideas? This isn't generally accepted. 100 people playing a LARP is meaningless, compared to the tens of thousands out there playing in Glorantha. I'm afraid if GAG is supposed to mean more than "me and my mates agree" you'll have to come up with better evidence than has been seen so far.
Core Fans.
Okay, the fan publications are very interesting, and in many ways have kept the world going for many years. I do feel that Tales being treated as just another fan publication, given its status during the RQ renaissance as semi-official is a bit strange (and justifiably annoying for those involved.) However, at the end of the day there is nothing particularly special about the fans who produced these publications. They are the ones who had the interest in and time to get their stuff in print. The people who will keep Issaries in business are the ones whose time commitment will be limited to actually playing the game. Playing to the 'core fans' is dangerous.
Consider for a minute the fate of Doctor Who. (I wasn't the first to bring this up.) People liked the series, watched the series, but the BBC for various, rather odd, reasons didn't. They wanted to cancel it. So what did the program's 'core fans' do? They complained and bitched and handed the BBC a reason for cancelling it. "Look," said the BBC "even they hate the program, and they're the real fans." Meanwhile us poor buggers who only watched it every week lost out. Now the cancelation would probably have happened in the long run anyway, but the 'core fans' helped hurry it along.
I realise that Glorantha is somewhat different, but given the number of times I've heard people bitching about the Glorantha Digest and its regulars, there is a real danger here. I have been playing in Glorantha for fifteen years, and it is somewhat galling to get treated as a newbie, and outsider and ignorant. I'm thick skinned enough to realise such is inivitable, but a lot of people won't be. Being told that something is generally accepted when only 100 'core fans' are aware of its existence is not on.
Where the more vocal fans may be useful is in *constructive* criticism of the models being used for publication. Issaries would indeed be stupid if they don't make use of this resource.
Publication Plans
Issaries will publish stuff that Greg agrees with. This is inevitable, and is Greg's right. It is vital that the books, etc. are generally consistent - - not prescriptive - and if Greg is going to publish one version of Glorantha, of course its going to be his.
Having said that there should be enough general vagueness to allow people to take games in different directions. The Red Emperor debate is a good example of this. Saying "this normally happens", "this has happened before" or "this is believed to be true" is good. Saying "this always happens and anything else is totally impossible" is not. I want the freedom to go with whatever is coolest when the time comes.
The storyarc is generally a good thing - but preferably as a background colour. I doubt I will ever run the sort of game where the players will become involved directly, so this is not a major problem for me. It will give lots of events and rumours for gms to plunder. Where it is not a good idea (The Vampire thing again) is where the changes are heavily effecting player characters in ways outside the gms control. Vampire changing the basic powers one of the major clans gets was hideous - especially given the excessive muchkinism of many of the game's players.
The Red Emperor
The debate itself needs to be brought to a satisfactory end. Martin has said he intended to use the debate to clarify the model that would be published. I therefore suggest Martin needs to write up a short note on what his current thinking is, so that those who care can address the major changes that may need made. It may be wishful thinking, but if Martin can produce a summary (after some iterations) that most of us can live with, and a set of arguments that support this model, there may be some benefit comes from the argument.
A Quick Question :
Eric : 1.2 million? Where did this figure come from? The mind boggles.
Cheers,
Graham
"Trying is the first step towards failing."
Homer Simpson
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