I will return to the point I most wish to defend, which is that of deliberatly keeping the HQ group "newbie friendly".
Firstly I agree that obscuring your point with overly referenced material is not a good idea, and it is generally good advice to explain yourself clearly rather than just quoting some occult tome.
I have no desire to see the groups descend into RQ-Digest style debates on minutiae or esoteria.
BUT The world creation project that is Glorantha is inherently detailed and vast. This is why most of us are still playing there. This is also what attracts people to the world. The normal background material in role-playing is nowhere near as varied. Some worlds do rival it in detail but most do not have the substance backing up the surface detail.
In my experience role-players are the type of people who love to delve deep into the background of the worlds they enjoy. They are of the same breed as people who consume Star-Wars material; read every Tolkein related source, or even watch every episode of their favourite TV show and then delight in miniscule errors. Indeed many Roleplayers are also engaged in these noble activates too.
So, to my point: It will not scare people off to quote out of print material or to use complex mythological reasons in your arguments. It will only have a detrimental effect if you do these things without adequate explanations. Be aware of the audience but don't try to play to them, it becomes patronising.
For instance the whole abbreviation debate is valid: I see little point in using abbreviations for books when you can just type the title. But, it seems counterproductive to ignore the wealth of material and hard earned experience of old timers and to confine us to the digest.
Jamie
PS thanks for taking me literally and blasting my opinions so heartily although in certain cases I know it was only out of habit.
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