Hello! I usually lurk, but I think I will sound off on this.
>
> This post is going to cover ground addressed by a lot of people, but the
> question I want to discuss was best summarised by Roderick Robertson:
>
> > The problem is that the fans and he [Greg] have different ideas of his
> > world. While it's not as critical in a "fan publication", he wants
> > *Issaries* to publish *his* world.
>
> And the question is, _is_ it Greg's Glorantha? Should it be?
>
> The recent debate over the Red Emperor can be seen as the first battle
> (and hopefully the last) over the ownership of Glorantha. By
> 'ownership' I mean something akin to a moral authority; this discussion
> has absolutely nothing to do with copyright law and the like. The
> position on that is crystal clear.
My personal take is that who 'owns' Glorantha is really a moot point. We,
as an audience, have no legal or effective control over what Issaries and
Greg
choose to publish. That's an immutable fact.
I heard come from the man's lips at the 98 Gencon in Milwaukee, "I'm not
interested in other people's Gloranthas." I feel that he's going to have
published
material that he feels is consistent with *his* vision of Glorantha. As the
artist and
creator of Glorantha, *that's his right*.
However, for us, the fans, I feel that a much more productive question is,
who owns
*my* Glorantha?
Certain fans will wish to stick closely to greggly canon. This is
acceptable. Other fans
will have personal visions of what Glorantha should be based either on older
work
(old RQ2, etc.)
There *is* no one Glorantha, no locked-in-stone-final-word version that
exists. All
we can do here is discuss our Gloranthas. The concept of GAG (generally
accepted
Glorantha) is a chimera, in my opinion, especially for this list, as there
is no possible
way that we, the members of the list, can accurately poll past and present
Glorantha fans on subjects such as the method and metaphysics of the Red
Emperor's succession.
You make some very good points in your paragraphs. GAG I think is like religion - we all have to accept it on faith, and it's fundamental to our presumptions about Glorantha on this list, but it's nearly impossible to prove it's existence, except in the broadest brushstrokes.
The most important Glorantha is not the one here on this list, or what gets published in ANY source, official or fan. The one true Glorantha is the one that is created at your gaming table or during your LARP. Like the Goddess Glorantha herself, it is many faced, deeply variable, and infinite in permuation. Glorantha, IMO, only fully and truly exists when it is brought forth in the medium of roleplaying. So, anything published by Greg or by us is of secondary importance when it comes down to what occurs at the gaming table, no matter the desires otherwise. There will never be a full, true, undisputable Glorantha canon, and all Glorantha's at the various gaming tables will be different.
With that said, explore Glorantha, and game on!
Chris Bell
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