I for one am here because of the name. Had they called it SwordQuest I never would have even given it any consideration.
To someone who has never played "classic" RuneQuest, or for whom BRP has been THE staple RPG system for up to 30 years, the system will seem very good. If someone has some experience with RQ it but doesn't know the mechanics inside out it will even seem very similar. And I think this game will be more accessible to the D20 crowd than earlier versions.
I never understood the complaint that RQ2/3 was too complex, too me it was simple and elegant and modeled world interactions realistically, probably more than any other system in its heyday that didn't require a calculator to play.
I have not already declared MRQ a waste of shelf space, I plan to try it as is (probably briefly), and then mod it, and try it some more. There are some things I like, and in the end I will see if my house rules are more MRQ with a few older BRP bits grafted in, or more older RQ with a couple of MRQ things ruled in, and that will determine what I use as a base system.
But I think by naming the game RuneQuest, they invited all the old timers (and took some of their money as well). Every person who has staked 10, or 15, or 20, or 28(!) years of their life gaming with RQ, BRP, or Glorantha has every right to be critical. RQ was a part of my life long before my kids, before I'd met my wife, hell even before I'd been laid. Though I don't have the time for it I once had, I want it to be treated right.
To someone who has never played "classic" RuneQuest, or for whom BRP has been THE staple RPG system for up to 30 years, the system will seem very good. If someone has some experience with RQ it but doesn't know the mechanics inside out it will even seem very similar. And I think this game will be more accessible to the D20 crowd than earlier versions.
I never understood the complaint that RQ2/3 was too complex, too me it was simple and elegant and modeled world interactions realistically, probably more than any other system in its heyday that didn't require a calculator to play.
I have not already declared MRQ a waste of shelf space, I plan to try it as is (probably briefly), and then mod it, and try it some more. There are some things I like, and in the end I will see if my house rules are more MRQ with a few older BRP bits grafted in, or more older RQ with a couple of MRQ things ruled in, and that will determine what I use as a base system.
But I think by naming the game RuneQuest, they invited all the old timers (and took some of their money as well). Every person who has staked 10, or 15, or 20, or 28(!) years of their life gaming with RQ, BRP, or Glorantha has every right to be critical. RQ was a part of my life long before my kids, before I'd met my wife, hell even before I'd been laid. Though I don't have the time for it I once had, I want it to be treated right.