> > Oh dear. Keep the ranting down, svp?
>
> hmm, and here I thought, as far as rants went, I was being fairly
> conservative...
Quite true, considering the rants on this particular topic elsewhere.... God forbid that they should re-ignite.
> > But I can only reply "Why should it?" Hero Wars is a different game
> > with a much different focus and gaming enviroment. (Mind you, I'm a
> > bit annoyed with backwards compatibility by nature, what with
> > upgrading computer software for a living.)
> >
> > But its a completely different game set in the same gameworld. Its
> > NOT RQ IV. It is what it is...
> >
>
> It is RQ IV in the sense that it's set in the same world as RQ 1,2 (and
> most of RQ 3). It is not RQ IV in the sense that the mechanics
> emphasis different elements than the mechanics of previous editions.
Yeah. Same world, different camera angle and focus.
> I mean, there's no effort being made to divorce the mechanics from
> the setting - everything in the Narrators/players books assumes that
> the game will be set in Glorantha. A good thing, I think. But a
> natural result of this approach is to want to update previous editions'
> material into HW.
That is true. The problem I've experienced having to do it is that it is quite difficult. Or at least, not the 'easily converted' thing you seemed to imply/wanted. The game was written as a new thing, rather than an evolution of the old. And as such, compatiblity was not an issue.
Conversion, on the other hand CAN be done. It just takes a lot of work.
> > I don't mind the lack of compatibility, though I have had to struggle
> > with it. Any narrator who feels a need to re-use material can
> > probably work out something -- and my experiences in converting old
> > material at the behest of Issaries Inc. is that a lot of the concepts
> > do not map over well at all. The game focuses on much different
> > aspects of life than RuneQuest (but then I've always hated the 'bean
> > counter' aspects of RQ)
>
> Buuut - to me, the game isn't being set up for someone unfamiliar
> with Glorantha - there's just not enough setting information in the
> main books for a total newbie to get a campaign underway (I know, I
> know - there are space issues. The setting books are coming out.
> This isn't a criticism - it's a statement of how I perceive the current
> status of game)
Point taken. The problem is that a lot of the old stuff doesn't really reflect the new focus of the game. A bit much raiding and looting with not too much community/social material. That being said, I think that Sun County works very nicely in the new setting, though Yelmalio is probably going to be a bit annoying to convert
> So, I think a lot of folks who are picking up the game do have
> previous material they'd probably want to use, and given that, why
> make each and every one of them come up with something on their
> own? (In other words, at some point, as a narrator, I have to
> wonder, if I'm going to have to do so much work by myself to come
> up with adaptions, etc, why am I not using Fudge or Gurps?)
True. I had hoped that there would be more scenarios on the website or that Sartar Rising would be along in short order. But many player's don't have access to the web. (not having the rules, is www.glorantha.com metnioned in them as a resorce?)
> I'm not talking about hard and fast rules - a chapter of guidelines
> would have been helpful. VERY helpful. It also serves as an
> acknowledgement that there is a large body of work out there
A lot of stuff was left out of the HW edition due to brutal page count (this is the bane of any publication, either you have not enough or WAY too much). The essentials of the game and keywords were the main line of effort, I think.
> >
> > Best to work with whole cloth.
>
> It leaves a bad taste in my mouth - my initial impression is that
> Issaries is ignoring, more or less, a valuable resource.
No, they are not. As my previous post has mentioned, work *is* proceeding on converting the old material and (presumably) putting it on the website.
I think that there have been SEVERAL calls for volunteers in the past to help out. I know that I responded to them.
> Look at the discussion of material on Prax - it's not on the current
> product schedule, I think in large part because there's been a lot of
> previous material published on it. So why not make it a bit easier to
> use what's already out there?
>
> Richard
A lot of prax doesn't fit neatly and easily and prax material has been published several times or redone on several occasions. To be honest, I'd like to see something new. Or at least something on Sartar, for a change. We've never had anything official set in Sartar other than Apple Lane, which is inadequate from a social and cultural standpoint, to say the least.
Jeff
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