I've been quietly sitting by and reading these posts with great interest, and I finally have decided to toss out a few of my own humble thoughts. Warning, they'll probably be long.
I am a self-proclaimed "casual gamer." I'm probably one of few people whose first intro to gaming was actually with a story-based, diceless system (though not Glorantha). However, shortly after that I learned AD&D and then D&D3d and have also played with a few other systems in small amounts. I provide this background to let you know that I don't have the same experience most of you do. I'm also very new to Glorantha and I've only ever skimmed the books. I'm one of those great unwashed who do find the masses of backgrounds, cults and religions overwhelming. (Jeff: Hey, there's a new HW book out! Mel: "But didn't they put one out already? Why did they need more if the other 3 already tell you how to play?") But that's ok. They do fulfull a need for others.
I think the thing we've been dancing around in this issue is the idea that all "new gamers" are not alike. I've been amused that some folks seem to think that changing the way one writes about the game will somehow be "dumbing down" Glorantha. That seems to be selling short the gamers we are trying to attract. I'm a college professor and I'll admit some of my students are pretty darned dense, but on the whole, those who are interested in scifi/fantasy and gaming are among the more articulate, and surely would be able to handle HW/HQ.
I'm not a marketing person, but dwelling on the strengths of the game and trying to decide on a demographic seems like the best course of action here. No reason we need to "become" something else-- we just need to decide what we are and what kind of people would like us. There's room in the gaming world for both the hack and slash and the epic gamers. Hell, there's room for both of these types even in Glorantha! (THough I would imagine the typical Gloranthan gamer falls more toward the latter end of the spectrum). The problem is, if we can't decide on this list who a "typical" player in Glorantha is, then how do we know whom we should recruit??
Ah, but the answer here is that Glorantha is not a fascist state. There is no one party-line (well, ok, the WORD-OF-GREG comes close...) and everyone can recruit for the game using whatever propaganda he or she sees fit. Ultimately...(drum roll please)...our Gloranthas WILL vary. So will our gaming styles.
> based in the way I run games, but my audiences demands clear,
simulationist
> mechanics. As one of my players said, "I don't want to tell or
hear a
> story, I want to play a game." I, for one, prefer story and game
to be
> interwoven, but as much as I want to like it, current HW mechanics
are too
> vague for me to wrap my head around.
It may just be that I had an excellent teacher (thanks Jeff), but I really didn't find the game mechanics too terribly difficult. Since i'm a story person, I just let the GM tell me whether I'd won or lost. End of problem. I can, however, see where it would be tricky for someone who is a rules-monger interested in knowing at all times how many points/dice they need for a certain result to happen. BUT,In those cases, I suspect the player would have the personal motivation to read the rule book. I just didn't care.
> I'll support and purchase II products, no matter what, but I think
that a
> Glorantha D20 or Gurps is desperately needed, or a RQ2 reprint.
I'm not necessarily opposed to something like this, but I think once again it's a matter of looking at our audience. THere are plenty of folks who like D20 or Gurps, but there are lots of others who would probably be interested in a story-based system or an alternate dicesystem if the rules are presented clearly. I think we need to focus on THAT segment of the market. (And remember, clear descriptions don't mean changing the mechanic itself!)
I am a proponent of the SJG demo system since I have seen it at work. I learned HW by playing it in a series of demos. I can honestly swear I would never EVER have picked it up on my own. A real shame.
To end this diatribe, it's my humble opinion that the onus lies with all of us to help the game proliferate. If we can each invite one new person to sit in on a game, or tell them a few myths, just think how much larger the tribe would be.
So ya maggots, get out there and recruit!! ;-)
Back to correcting tests...
-
Melanie
Powered by hypermail