I find Greg S to be particularly wilful in his constant rewriting, re-emphasis, and reinvention of Glorantha. He has contradicted earlier published material on more than one occasion. I know he is the archetypal 'wrestless inventive genius', but, does this kind of thing get in the way of others inventing portions of the cannon?
A very big part of the problem was that a lot of material got written for various AH supplements and others that didn't attempt to involve Greg, even from a high-level guidance, POV, which led to some material getting 'Gregged'. Some regard that as a badge of honour; others as a distressing nuisance. I've found that, by running an idea past him first, discussing, and paying attention to sources he directs you to, you can minimise that happening. Dara Happa Stirs and Mostali were the products of long discussions, references to material that I hadn't considered before, an a genuine exchange of ideas, some of which he adopted from my suggestions for his own work on Dara Happa. So it can be a two-way street.
Mind you, he's not alone. Moorcock's similar, and I think my love of Elric is pretty well known. Every Elric novel or short story has 'Gregged' or 'Miked' work produced for the Elric game. Its a problem with dealing with any story that's still being developed by its ultimate creator.
With Glorantha, I think Greg is actually deepening, rather than rewriting, what's gone before. His focus is on the earlier ages, too, which assists hugely in detailing the Second Age. Up until a few years ago the Second Age was a lot of sketchy information gleaned from 'King of Sartar' and the Genertela boxed set. Now, there's an enormous amount of material that is consistent with what was written there but adds considerable depth.
Years ago, Greg wrote in Genertela, (I think), that the world was 'ours' now, that we could invent with impunity, and that he had handed over to 'us', the reins. Yet we are still at the point where Gregs vision is still seen as the 'one true vision', and that, should he decide a slightly different history for Sartar, we must all, once again, rethink OUR versions of it. We must still wait for the great man to tell us what the actual history of the Heortlings was.
He did, you're right. But as I said above, a lot of material was produced that didn't involve him in the right kind of way and led to a lot of inconsistencies that frustrated him. This is why the Gloranthan Fan Policy came into being. Controversial as that was, it was implemented to help rationalise the vision and prevent Gregging. For your own game, you run with whatever history or version or level of depth you want to: YGWV. But the canon has needed guiding, and even though it is frustrating for both writers, players and GMs, Glorantha does remain Greg's Master Work and he has every right to continue its development irrespective of others. The best way to tackle this is talk to him. He's very receptive.
On the history of the Heortlings, I do recommend you get hold of 'History of the Heortling Peoples' and 'Esrolia'. Extensive and consistent.
I know he is a man of astounding inventiveness, but, does anyone think that, perhaps, this has led to the stunting of Glorantha as a legitimate fantasy environment for rpgs, computer games, film, cartoons (even!), other peoples stories, etc., etc.? It is undoubtedly, a fantastic invention, but maybe one that has been criminally underexposed.
No. Greg's as keen as anyone to see these media developed. We've had 'King of Dragon Pass' and I know Greg has licensed Glorantha for other computer-based endeavours, although what stage of development they're at I have no idea. There's a French cartoon strip, 'Paths of the Dead' that is set in Dragon Pass, and way-back-when there was a script for a RuneQuest film. And as for fan-fic, as long as it abides by the Fan Policy, which isn't that intimidating, there's a huge amount of it (of varying quality). Look at Oliver Dickinson's 'Complete Griselda' for an example of someone working in Greg's world but creating stories that are separate from Greg's own work. Whether or not you like Oliver's style is moot; the fact is that there's plenty of material, sanctioned by Greg, that appears outside of the main Gloranthan game publishers.
I don't think Glorantha has been stunted at all, or criminally underexposed. On the contrary, at Continuum last year Jeff Richard, Mark Galeotti and I hosted a 'So You're New to Glorantha?' seminar which was very well attended. I do not think that the audience for Glorantha has contracted or remains the province of the hard-core from the days of Reaching Moon Megacorp, either.
Its obvious from non-Glorantha-types, that it is seen as a dwindling, esoteric, elitist subject that only caters for educated, middle-class adult boys.
Sure, but that's the way with any niche hobby or interest, from trainspotting through to stamp collecting. The outside perception, though, is always at odds with the reality. Roleplaying's full of cliques that enjoy bashing other cliques. That's just the way of things: but it doesn't reduce or negate the value of what any one clique does or enjoys. And I don't think that Greg's continued evolution of Glorantha, or the approach taken in the past or now, necessarily contributes substantially to the outside perception - although it may do so internally. Personally though, and you asked for my thoughts, I don't find it an especially tricky problem. But your views and opinions can, will and should vary!
