Re: GAGging on the Core concept

From: Rick Meints <rjmeints_at_W8qW8XBso4acpfkfkWRFZH_kZaawb8Ap-yiAj96nu7xdgDfAqssdFlDfupTAwfOCBGy>
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:09:16 -0000

Heroquest Gloranthan material is largely being written by a small group of freelance writers, most of whom are fairly well known in this group and the greater Gloranthan community. The list of authors includes: Mark Galeotti, Simon Bray, Jeff Richard, Martin Hawley, Jeff Kyer, Ian Cooper, Jamie (Trotsky) Revell, Shannon Applecline, Andre Jarosch, and a few others. I apologise for leaving anyone off of the quickly composed list that I created from memory.

You'll note that Greg is not on that list. Greg is taking a break from writing Heroquest, but is actively writing Gloranthan material. Most of this has been either as a novel or part of his "Work in Progress" series of books, "Middle Sea Empire" and the soon to be published "History of the Heortling People" being the latest two. Even though he is not one of the main Heroquest writers (which will change when he writes the Grand Argrath Campaign), Greg reviews every Heroquest Gloranthan manuscript once it has been completed.

NONE of the forthcoming Heroquest publications, regardless of the writing team, is being dumbed down for anyone. I don't think it applied in the past either. I don't know specifically who said past publications were "dumbed down for the unwashed masses", but I find that phrase totally incorrect and also potentially offensive and inflammatory. There is a vast difference between making something "more playable" or "marketable" and "dumbing it down". This is not a war of euphemisms either.

Back in the 90s I was not a big fan of the "Unfinished Works". Just look up what I said about them in my Gloranthan Index (if you have it) and you'll see what I mean. Over the last ten years I have come to see them in a different light, and not just because I have the bias of being their publisher now. Yes, they are very different from a traditional Gloranthan RPG supplement, but they are a valuable resource, depending on where in Glorantha your interest lies.

As for how I see "Generally Accepted Glorantha" and what constitutes "Core Glorantha" or "Official Glorantha", I largely leave that up to the writers. Every Heroquest supplement is available in either print or PDF form. Most of the RQ2 material is available via the Gloranthan Classics series. More reprints of past publications are in the works. Accessability is far less a problem than it used to be. Being Illuminated (wink) I have never worried about whether something is "official", "generally accepted", "core" or some hybrid of them as long as you can get your hands on it.

Glorantha's greatest strength is that it has a huge amount of information written about it, both officially and unofficially. Some people see that as its greatest curse, too.

Hope that helps,
Rick            

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