First, thanks for the comments Stefan. It takes guts to stick your neck
out. None of your comments are new to me and I hope the rest of the tribe
does not excoriate you for it.
I am going to relate a few things here that I have told in public a number
of times, usually to GTA members.
>Whatever did we expect, even though HW finally sold out, from a
>rulebook in direct [visual] competition with products like Agone, Harn,
Talislanta, Dying
>Earth & a dozen other RPGs, aiming at non-mainstream gamers, too.
>They all looked better, were better organized and written clearly and
>beginner-friendly and didn't fell apart after the third read.
>all this without GTA.
Yes, but what they did have was money. It was actually my dependance upon
the GTA that caused all the above.
I truly regret the crappy first edition. The fact is that I was obliged to
publish, due to my reliance upon the GTA. At one point I had a choice:
publish what I had or else rip off all the GTA subscribers. What a choice.
So I published an inferior product: the first edition books.
I think that our quality has improved significantly since then.
>Again, don't get me wrong: I bought them once and bought them twice, to
>support, despite my own shortage of money.
>but even if most *neutral* people around couldn't understand why I was so
fond
>of this unattractive little book, nastier things had to happen to come
>between me and Glorantha. It did, and it's called "announcement":
I am less apologetic for this. Delays for the various products have been
crushing for me, not just discouraging as they seem to have been for most
people.
>IMHO no reason can justify this policy, which started long before HW's
>final appearance in may 2000.
Without gruesome details, I will just state that there certainly are good
reasons for each and every delay. I have often stated the reasons and then
I have to read people saying that I'm a liar for giving the reasons.
>in his last post, Greg wrote
>
>>We have not made any updated announcements on this because it is easy for
>> things to go wrong. I felt a bit pissed off when people questioned our
>> integrity when we reported the medical problems etc. which had hampered its
>> previous schedule. It made me wonder whether it may be best to make no
>> announcements at all and just have a new product appear out of nowhere,
>> rather than make announcements that seem inevitably to mislead and
>> disappoint
>
>which is VERY fine by me.
>but maybe the question is who
>else felt p-ed the times before.
>
>*I* wouldn't have without any 100%-announcements...
I am sorry about the disappointment. It is impossible to be accurate when I
am dependant upon so many outside factors. But I feel hamstrung between
keeping people informed in a meaningful manner and being accurate. The
industry requires that we pre-announce months in advance, then something
unexpected goes wrong.
>hw-rules>> Glorantha doesn't need armchair quarterbacks.
>
>Glorantha does need a well-done, good looking, easy to explain and
>to play game, with scenarios out, that do a good job at
>a- managing the steep learning curve for beginners [was getting steeper
>with every release 'til now]. which is something the rulebook
>promises and the culture books negate
I believe that the new line will do exactly that. Of course, only the final
product will tell.
>b- showing how different Hero Wars-[and Glorantha-] gaming is from usual
>gamingstyle and general fantasy. what I've seen yet is nothing
>special, nostalgia put aside [converted scenarios]
I have resisted republishing scenarios or background material. Please don't
confuse Issaries materials with the fan publications (which have often
republished materials).
>it needs more support, by which I don't mean more myths or stories.
>many to most people do have problems with the rules, let alone if
>because of the organisation of the book or the rules itself.
>but the last FAQ-update was in june 2000...
Lots of changes are coming, but I haven't bothered to try to keep anyone
abreast of changes simply for the reasons that you have stated: if they
aren't 100% then why bother? I don't wish to speculate online when I have
real work to do.
>if Issaries change their mind about certain things, and it looks like
>they finally did, and the 2nd edition lives up to the promises, then
>Glorantha shall prosper and live on for many years.
We all hope.
>but it's NOT only the fanboys job to ensure the success- the product
>we are supporting must be worth it again!
I agree that the product has to be worth it.
I don't agree that it's not the fans job, though.
If I was 1% of the size of WotC then I'd have enough money to be a Big Time
Company. I don't, and am unlikely to be so. Instead Issaries is a tiny
company with goals that can be obtained through support of a cadre of fans.
I regret the apparent abuse of your loyalty, and I know of no way to express my appreciation other than to get good product out. I am working on that now, and won't put out anything as crappy as 1st ed HW again. Which will of course mean that I will have to trade on the commodity of time. I think we have everything quite well in line now, though.
Time will tell.
Thanks for the chance to air this Stefan.
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