I applaud the announcement of a Whitewall project, and look forward to its publication; even though I realise, based on recent experience, that we probably not see it for several years. Of course, with the recent change in MD policy on PDFs (yay!), we may see it sooner.
With due respect to all concerned, one of the most unfortunate side effects of the Moon Design (non) publications saga has that folk have been unwilling to pursue less-formal private or group projects. In one fell swoop, Jeff's announcement of grandiose and long-term Sartar, Prax *and* Whitewall projects have effectively locked away these prime rpg areas from formal or informal development by others for years at a stretch. This has become a major challenge to the tribe as a whole. We need to reengage our creativity. And our roleplaying.
I am sure this has not been MD's intention. However, we all know that one strength of the Gloranthan community has always been the interplay between official and unofficial creativity; the player base improving and expanding official publications and sometimes rendering them playable. (Indeed, many of us have worn both hats quite comfortably at various times). Another strength has also been the variety of interpretation and emphasis: 'one, two, many Gloranthas', YGMustV, genre freedoms and campaign emphasis etc.
Again, and perhaps unintentionally, the drift away from an rpg emphasis over the last four years (no campaign modules, abandonment of Sartar Rising arc) to a more background essay/collectors emphasis and a re-emergent Gloranthan fundamentalism of the OTG 'there are five Death Lords in Dragon Pass' variety have at times overshadowed the creative roleplaying spark that made Glorantha great.
As someone who has devoted a lot of time in the past to developing the Whitewall story, both in game background, scenario seeds and fiction (Kallyrkala), I will make an effort to have this information available to the tribe in a convenient format concurrent with or before the publication of any Whitewall supplement. Obviously, many people here have made similar investments, and I invite anyone interested to think about articles for publication. If there is interest and energy, we can move more quickly. An enormous amount has already been done. I would be looking at either a series of free PDFs in magazine format or, if there is interest, perhaps a special issue of one of the fanzines.
My second, slight concern is that materials such as the Phases of the Whitewall campaign, the forces, etc. developed on this group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/whitewall/files/) will not be duplicated or appropriated without proper consultation, permission and attribution.
I was once in communication with Greg on a Whitewall module, lamenting the fact that the official arc had passed it by: our mutual concurrence at the time was that the Arc timeline was moving on, the opportunity had passed. The Sartar Rising Arc has collapsed of course: how times change.
Cheers
John
John Hughes
Publications Editor
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research
College of Arts and Social Sciences
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The Australian National University
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T: +61 2 6125 0649 F: +61 2 6125 9730 W: www.anu.edu.au/caepr
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