Runequest What were you thinking

[atgxtg]

It funny that many of the central concepts about MRQ are things that I don't agree with. For instance I think OGL has hurt d20 and gaming in general more than it helped. It killed a lot of good systems when the companies dropped thier own games for a free OGL licience (to tap the D&D ,arket), and it ruined any sort of concept of quality. Now there is a lot of horrid d20 stuff out there, as anyone can write something up.

I won't deny that there's a lot of crap out there with the d20 logo on it, but most of the physically published stuff being produced now is good.

However, d20 (and the OGL) has been a HUGE boon for the industry. More people are playing D&D now than in the history of gaming, which means that there's a very large pool of potential customers to draw from.

Hyrum.

I suspect that watching all the compnaies that produced games that I liked all going d20 didn't endaer me to the OGL concept. I can understand the reasons for it, but d20 Sovergin Stone, L5R/Oriantal Adventures, and Dragonlord of Melnibone did not look good to the non-d20 crowd.

You know, that might go some way to explaining my reaction to MRQ too.

 

[atgxtg]

Now I sorta got my hopes on the Companion and the rules "modularity" concept.

I actually find that strange, I had you figured more for someone who would have their hopes on the Glorantha material

Or do you just have so much of it already you don't need any more?

More like the new Glornatha is so alien from the old to be a different entity. THe new Glorantha takes place in a different age, with different cultures and cults, and is written by different people, and makes little difference to exisiting GLorantha stuff.

I might like it, I might not. Separating it from the other Glorathan stuff has, for me, successfully divorced Mongooses 2nd Age Gloranthan setting from the 3rd Age stuff.

 

[Rurik]

Now I sorta got my hopes on the Companion and the rules "modularity" concept.

I actually find that strange, I had you figured more for someone who would have their hopes on the Glorantha material

Or do you just have so much of it already you don't need any more?

More like the new Glornatha is so alien from the old to be a different entity. THe new Glorantha takes place in a different age, with different cultures and cults, and is written by different people, and makes little difference to exisiting GLorantha stuff.

I might like it, I might not. Separating it from the other Glorathan stuff has, for me, successfully divorced Mongooses 2nd Age Gloranthan setting from the 3rd Age stuff.

It is not so alien as you may think. At five bucks try the pdf. If you don't like it, then don't buy the Glorantha book and you end up saving money.

(It is pretty much looks like material that got cut from the printed Glorantha book, it is professionally laid out and illustrated, etc. A vary good measure to see if you will like the source)

I for one liked the idea of the second age before any previews. The last thing I wanted was a third or fourth time around rehash of the same old stuff.

 

[atgxtg]

See, this is another thing that sometimes I feel makes me I'm oblivious to some of hte problems everyone else can see. I buy most RPG books as sourcebooks, and don't pay too much attention to the rules inside - I find I'll often ignore the rules anyway and just graft the setting into a system I want to use them with.

Oh, I buy a lot of books for a "support" riole too. I own at least a half dozen Samurai RPGs, although I've only run three and can only see running Usagi Yojimbo (2nd edtion) or L5R (3rd edtion) in the foreseeable fututre.

THe problem I have with d20 products as sourcebooks, is that most D&D products bend the stting to fit the D&D books, rahter than bending the D&D books to fit the setting. You can often see this will the unrealistic class/hit point system or D&D's gold piece ecomony just tacked onto asetting where they do not belong. Iaijutus duels with 1000 HP's are just silly.

That was one thing that I thought Mongoose did a good job on with OGL Ancients. THey practically threw the d20 rules out the window to make the game fit the setting.

I don't like "closed" RPG systems, because there's only so much material you can get from the publisher. I love CoC, and always will, but Chaosium just can't churn out the material fast enough for my liking. If the OGL here means people can produce material that works with CoC, I'm all for it - I'm quite happy to sift through and pick out the best ones.

I'm the oppiste. I'd much rather have five products, and be confident of the quality that have eight good procuts out of 80. Esepcially as My local shops only stock so much gaming material, so I am forced to buy "blind". I've got burnt a few times by not being able to see the book before I paid for it.

Still, the more I read other peoples points of view, the more I understand their concerns. Thats another reason I wish more people would speak up and explain the "why" behind their comments

Works that way for me too. I had a hard time understanding how a lot of people could like MRQ until some poeple took the time and effort to explain thier reasons. Differenrt priorities. THis that some people consider important to an RPG, I don't conider important. Liewise, there are things that I consider very important that other don't worry about.

One thing that has been invaluable to me is just interacting with various people here. Often, knowing who said something helps me to interpret the meaing as much as what was said. I sort of have mental codecs that help me underatand some people based upon past messages.

It's the first time posters who are hard to understand.

 

[Greg Smith]

I never said it was but when something has been out of print for nearly 20 years, the one in print is the one to go for if you have a yearing to recreate the RQ games that you played years ago

I understand, but as I read it, you still seem to be implying that the quality of the product doesn't really enter into the equation, and rather the overriding factor is merely that it is in print.

The original question was, 'why play MRQ rather than RQ2/3?' The question implies that you are playing RQ. Now if you want to play RQ 2 or 3 you would need to hunt down a copy of the rules from ebay or other stockists of OOP games. MRQ is an easier option in that regard. And, as I pointed out in another response, many gamers consider unsupported games to be 'dead' and consequently don't play them.

Also that it was in print was not the only reason I gave, merely the first. And the only one I have had to defend.

 

[atgxtg]

The original question was, 'why play MRQ rather than RQ2/3?' The question implies that you are playing RQ. Now if you want to play RQ 2 or 3 you would need to hunt down a copy of the rules from ebay or other stockists of OOP games. MRQ is an easier option in that regard. And, as I pointed out in another response, many gamers consider unsupported games to be 'dead' and consequently don't play them.

Also that it was in print was not the only reason I gave, merely the first. And the only one I have had to defend.

I with you on only having to defend your own point. I also think you are correct that there are those players who won't play "dead" games.

On the other hand, at the present time, getting ahold of a copy of RQ2 or RQ3 isn't any more difficult that getting a copy of MRQ. Especially online.

That will probably change in a year or so as more MRQ stuff comes out and takes up shelf space at the local stores, making it a "convience buy"


However, if I had a yearning to recreate the RQ games I played years ago, I'd get the same edition that I enjoyed years ago, not a differernt one. Just like if I enjoyed a movie, I'd get the edtion that I enjoyed-not an ealier version or a remake.

And if I still happened to have a copy sitting on my shelf, going with the old version gets a lot easier.

Me, I buy the new version to see what is newer or better.

But that is me. To those who don't have the game, and don't know or care about differenrt editions the closest book will be the one they buy.

 

[AKAramis]

While I have RQ3 (AH Deluxe Box), I have never been able to coerce my player base into consideration of it... It has been nearly 15 years since I've been able to arm-twist to even get someone to consider generating an RQ3 character.

Too many formulae, too many tables... and it says "Avalon Hill Games Company." That alone scares most of my age-30-something gamers.

The Mongoose RQ does present a streamlined Character Generation, more suited to modern non-d20 tastes. It passed the "Wife Test." The wife was able to generate a character in less time than it takes to lose her attention.

It is close enough that I can use my notes from my RQ Earth campaign... I'm not a big "Glorantha" fan, but I do like the races and such...

There appear to be a few glitches in the rules... like criticals not being mentioned in Opposed Resolution. mangled examples. Minor stuff.

It is in print, I can get it in PDF, and it has added some new stuff that I can tweak. It's not "inherently incompatible" with RQ3, tho' it is different in spots.

It has modernized RQ. That's good. It needed some streamlining to make sales in the non-d20 market. It has a few "Gee-Whiz" elements, and those are the kind of thing people have been house-ruling for years.

I can live without the checkboxes... I'm not so sure the lack of a central HP track is such a good thing... but it is much better for what I want to do with it than RQ3: It will get some play time.