Re: TLAs (etc etc) to be avoided

From: Ross McPhee <ross.mcphee_at_...>
Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 11:23:06 -0000

When I first started subscribing to the Glorantha Digest (perhaps 10 years ago) I had no idea that any part of Glorantha outside of Prax and Trolls was written up. Of course I understood almost none of the digest's output initially but was sufficiently intrigued by the enigmatic references it contained to persevere.  

Knowing that there were publications out there that I didn't own, didn't deter me. Instead it encouraged me. It suggested that there was a wealth of material which could enhance my games if I wanted to use it and that the world had real depth. However, my favourite acronym at the time was not GRoY or FS but YGMV - Your Game My Vary. This implied that owning the "complete set" was neither a requirement or even a recommendation and that variations from Greg Stafford's canonical vision were not only allowed but encouraged. Holes in my Gloranthan library were, on the whole, left unfilled and that didn't trouble me one bit.  

I therefore wonder if we're not getting a bit carried away worrying about which works we should reference and which we shouldn't. I can't be the only one who will be intrigued rather than frustrated.  

I do think a FAQ should be included in the Files section though. I can't tell you how long it took me to discover what some of the acronyms stood for! Having a crib sheet defining the terms and including a brief MIG (Meints Index to Glorantha, a guide to Gloranthan publications) style description of each product would have made my life a lot easy. A What Every Gloranthphile Knows sheet perhaps?  

Regards  

Ross