>Robin. I have to say I disagree. Treating RPG as a movie or a TV series
>really does not work, at least not for me.
One of the things I knew when I first took on the assignment three years ago was that I was not going to succeed in creating rules to please every segment of the existing Glorantha fan base, whose tastes clearly cover the entire spectrum. Whatever approach we chose, we were sure to lose about 25% of that base. (At least as players of the new system. With a certain degree of cleverness, we could perhaps retain them as purchasers of the game line -- which, when it comes down to it, is what will keep Issaries in business.)
Another essential reality that any game designer given the task of writing a fantasy game must confront is the absolute market dominance of D&D. (If I had more time I'd go into my grand theory of why RPGs are more like the packaged goods industry than the rest of the entertainment industry.) But the long and short of it is that D&D owns its category (the fantasy RPG) -- it always has and always will. If anything, its dominance is going to accelerate in the next few years, although we didn't know that when HW discussions over three years ago.
In order to survive in D&D's category, an RPG has to carve out a unique point of difference with D&D. The clearest way to do this is to target your game strongly to particular segments of the audience. D&D must try to be all things to all gamers, but the niche players target gamers with particular style preferences.
The question then becomes which style preference to pick. I proposed the freeform, narrative-based style to Greg because:
If I'd chosen to target a different audience segment, I'd still have alienated 25% of the current audience. You might be happy, Mikko, but others would not. (Among those others would be Greg, which would mean that I'd failed in my primary design goal of creating a game that Greg felt portrayed his world the way it ought to be.) And the resulting books would be less likely to appeal to the inevitable alienated 25% looking to port them over to a system more to their liking.
This is no doubt small consolation to you, since you happen to fall within the group whose RPG preferences are incompatible with HW's approach. But I was never naive enough to think the game would or could appeal to everyone.
The powergamers aren't going to like the upcoming DYING EARTH game I've designed (with co-authors) for Pelgrane Press. But my hope is that its natural audience, fans of the Jack Vance books, will feel that it properly captures their spirit. Likewise, the storytelling/freeform crowd that digs HERO WARS and will likely enjoy DYING EARTH may fall aghast at the sight of RUNE, the competitive, hack 'n' slash, computer-game-inspired, Viking RPG I'm currently designing for Atlas Games.
Just as there is no objectively superior way to enjoy RPGs, there is no monolithic RPG audience, at least not for those of us who aren't WotC.
This message doesn't make HW into a game based on a design philosophy that matches your preferences, Mikko, but I hope it helps you to understand the decisions behind the creation of a game that doesn't suit you.
Take care >>> Robin
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