Should there be a RuneQuest Kromm?

[algauble]

I truly wish I was working for Mongoose. They desperately need someone to maintain MRQ system consistency who has a deeper understanding of rules integrity, probability and game flow.

When you have a diverse team of writers and freelancers being edited by several different editors then you are bound to get the problems we've seen, since individual people have different perceptions of how to implement their ideas, and others have differing comprehension levels of system mechanics. Its been very frustrating to see a succession of silly flaws enter the MRQ books and supplements, when a single 'Rules Tzar' could have caught them.

Although I'd dearly love to help them out in this position, I am not very eligible for employment by Mongoose since I now live in Sweden and they have a non-telecommuting policy. From their perspective its also a question of the added expense of another employee, and yet another production step which increases the time before final printing. You have to draw the line somewhere!

Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch is the GURPS line editor. His job is much like that described by Pete Nash in the above quote from the Shield Parries and the Issue of Armor Points thread.

Edited to remove Pete's name from the subject, per his request. Pete, I hope you don't mind me leaving your quote here, since that's what prompted this post. Also, I'm not sure I can edit the question in the poll itself.

 

[Mongoose Pete]

Umm, this is probably not the best way of encouraging Mongoose to adopt a 'Kromm'. Although it'd be great to do it myself, the more important issue is to see someone assigned or hired to do the job.

A general and constructive debate expressing our wishes for a higher level of rules consistency would be much better. But with respect if you are going to hold a poll like this, could you perhaps remove my name from it?

Many thanks,

Pete

 

[soltakss]

Everyone who plays RPGs knows deep down that their favourite RPG game or RPG publisher would be far better if they could write for/work for the game/company.

However, companies have survived quite happily without said authors/employees and will probably survive quite well in the future.

Sure, Mongoose could do with someone having overall charge of a line, assuming they don't have one, to make sure that products are kept consistent with each other and to cut down on typos, factual errors and other quality issues.

They could equally well employ me, but unfortunately I'm a Computer Programmer, not a games designer, already have a job and would have to commute and don't have any experience.

So, employment decisions are probably better made by the employers themselves rather than people wanting to be employed or people reading gaming forums.

 

[algauble]

Everyone who plays RPGs knows deep down that their favourite RPG game or RPG publisher would be far better if they could write for/work for the game/company.

However, companies have survived quite happily without said authors/employees and will probably survive quite well in the future.

Sure, Mongoose could do with someone having overall charge of a line, assuming they don't have one, to make sure that products are kept consistent with each other and to cut down on typos, factual errors and other quality issues.

They could equally well employ me, but unfortunately I'm a Computer Programmer, not a games designer, already have a job and would have to commute and don't have any experience.

So, employment decisions are probably better made by the employers themselves rather than people wanting to be employed or people reading gaming forums.

I didn't mean to overly single out Pete, but from what I've read of his posts so far, he seems like he'd be a good choice and willing to do such a job. And as I said above his comment prompted my post.
Bottom line, I think that there needs to be somebody looking out for "rules integrity, probability and game flow" and overall consistency.
If there is a way to change the poll question itself to remove Pete's name, could someone tell me how to do so?

 

[RosenMcStern]

Everyone who plays RPGs knows deep down that their favourite RPG game or RPG publisher would be far better if they could write for/work for the game/company.

The Italian National Soccer Team works the same way. Everyone knows deep down that it would be unbeatable if he (rarely she) were the coach. The strange fact is that each time every single Italian agrees about the coach being the wrong one, Italy wins the FIFA World Cup....

Sure, Mongoose could do with someone having overall charge of a line, assuming they don't have one, to make sure that products are kept consistent with each other and to cut down on typos, factual errors and other quality issues.

This happened with Avalon Hill at the time they hired Ken Rolston. And the overall product quality experienced a big boost. Ken is really a great author (he made me enjoy the Elder Scroll series again with Morrowind, after the big disappointment of Daggerfall, and there is a lot of Glorantha in Morrowind, btw), but I think many of the current Mongoose writers/editors could do an equally good job. Maybe the problem, if a problem exists, is just that there is no single Editor in Chief for the line.

 

[Mongoose Pete]

Thanks algauble!

 

[reverend keith]

Bottom line, I think that there needs to be somebody looking out for "rules integrity, probability and game flow" and overall consistency.

Personally, I think it's mindboggling to contemplate that there isn't someone doing this already.

 

[Rurik]

Bottom line, I think that there needs to be somebody looking out for "rules integrity, probability and game flow" and overall consistency.

Personally, I think it's mindboggling to contemplate that there isn't someone doing this already.

Having purchased most of the MRQ books to date I don't find it surprising at all that there isn't someone doing this... :wink:

But there should be.

 

[AKAramis]

As I said in another thread, MRQ seems to be lacking on QC, and part of that is rules inconsistency.

I've bought 5 products (all pdf): RQ, RQC, RQ:Eq, RQ:Mon, PGtG.

All of them need errata and typo correction re-issues.

Monsters has two criters with incomplete stat blocks (not incomplete stats, I'm an old RQ3 Ref) but missing entries for POW, not even the dash to indicate an incomplete creature.

It would also have been REALLY nice to include in the RQC PDF revised pages for the RQ Book including the new skills from RQC.

Lots of little things.