Friends of Glorantha is for a different set of material, and the information it deals with has a publication schedule, is my understanding.
My objection is not to stuff that has a publication schedule, but to stuff that does not. Some of the GTA stuff has been in its current form for 10 years or so, with no publication plans in sight - rather, all indications are it will stay where it is in perpetuity.
> >I deplore the idea that certain information will be permanently
>>restricted to the moneyed elite and the chosen few.
>
>So does everyone else, and it hasn't happened, so drop the complaint.
Actually my point was that, while I didn't happen with this book, it does happen with the GTA material.
> >... in the form of GTA restricted library, the practice of restricting
>>certain works to an elite remains an ongoing practice of the
>>Gloranthan powers that be. I have no particular objection to
>>preview information being available to the GTA, but some of the
>>stuff in there has been restricted to an elite (a mix of the chosen
>>and the moneyed) for close to a decade now.
>
>I'm not chosen and I have less money than any of you, but I can get
>all this "restricted" info when I want to. There is no such "elite"
>with "restricted" info. There are people who are more active and
>thus have some info sooner, but you can join them as easily as I, or
>more easily, you all being better educated than I and thus of more
>worth to Glorantha projects. Most who you call elite are more than
>friendly enuf to include you in projects or point you to info or
>ways to get it. Nothing is somehow restricted permanently.
I think the Gloranthan community in general is smart and wise and pleasant enough to usually judiciously include the 'right' people within the category of chosen few when its a good idea. This mitigates, but does not remove, the problem.
For example, I was once sent a copy of one of the GTA hero documents by an Issaries employee, when I pointed out it would be useful for an article I was writing and I had had a long established interest in the area. But it was, in the end, pointless - rather than usefully informing the article I was writing, it rendered it unpublishable, and it was spiked. Its several years later, and all that info is still not available to the Gloranthan public at large. And rather than make the think "I should contribute creatively more so that I can get access to more neat secret stuff" it rather added to my overall impression that restricting information to a chosen few is in general a bad policy, and that it interferes with the creative contribution of broader Gloranthan fandom.
I understand the reasons for restricting access to work that is under active development and subject to revision, or highly speculative. And there is plenty of stuff that doesn't fall into those categories and is restricted anyway. Much of those issues would be better dealt with by simple NDAs like the rest of the gaming industry (and, for that matter, many other industries).
FWIW I see very little use in keeping the GTA restricted info in that category. The GTA did its job, its members can feel proud (as I do), it has no need to attract further members, and it has discharged its duty to the ones it has, IMO.
Regards
David
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