From: David Cheng (dcheng@amnh.org)
Date: Tue 10 Dec 1996 - 19:16:02 EET
I'd like to say a few things about the situation that my friend, Oliver
#1 - THE FUTURE OF RUNEQUEST
Jovanovic, is currently embroiled in. I'll start with those issues most
relevant to the Glorantha & RuneQuest Digests.
I have spoken to Mike McGloin, Oliver's partner in producing the next edition
of RuneQuest for Avalon Hill. As far as he is concerned, "the project is
dead."
That is a quote.
My personal suggestion is for you, the reader, to throw your support behind
Chaosium's efforts in bringing out new Gloranthan products. Rob Heinsoo,
Chaosium's Gloranthan Product Line Manager, issued (very promising) news in
V4#4. I am including a copy of that announcement here:
= = = begin insert = = =
From: <BiturianV@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 23:08:02 -0500
Subject: Day of the Magi Update
Hello, Uz and Argrathi and everyone in between!
Here's a short Glorantha update from Chaosium....
DEFINITE
* Work is progressing on the skirmish miniatures game which Chaosium is
co-producing with Stratelibri of Italy; we're hoping for a '97 release date.
Stratelibri is already at work on the line of 25mm miniatures for the game.
* The first of a series of Gloranthan sourcebooks released as trade
paperbacks should hit the shelves in summer of '97. The first book will be a
one-volume introduction to Glorantha, the perfect book to hand to a friend to
introduce the world. The second and third books will detail the main
combatants in the Dragon Pass Hero Wars. Greg Stafford is the principal
writer and we're handling editing and production in-house. Like KING OF
SARTAR, these books will contain Glorantha information that is not tied to
any game system.
SPECULATIVE
* The new Gloranthan rpg will appear some time in 1998 after we have gotten
rolling with the miniatures game, reestablished Glorantha's market presence,
and prepared a good deal of new Gloranthan data. For now we're focusing on
the '97 releases.
* Gloranthan fiction is also slated to begin appearing in '98.
I'll see you all here on the Digest,
Rob Heinsoo
Chaosium
= = = end insert = = =
For those of you who like RQ more for the rules than for Glorantha, I can
only suggest you forge ahead with your home-brew rules modifications. I
expect that Shannon Appel will resurrect the RuneQuest Rules Digest as
announced, and that the Digest will continue to serve as a forum of
discussion. However, I leave it to him to confirm or deny this.
#2 - DID "RUNEQUEST" AND "GLORANTHA" GET MENTIONED IN THE MEDIA?
Yes. In Monday the 9ths _Daily News_, there is a sub-story related to the
authorities searching through Oliver's hard drive. They found MBs of files
of his work on RuneQuest. "RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha" is
mentioned in passing.
Eric Rowe, of Chaosium, tells me that they are aware of this mention and
that Chaosium is prepared for any media scrutiny that may come of it.
Please be aware that Greg Stafford has for years been on the forefront of
defending RPGs in the media. I refer you to an excellent pamphlet he
prepared with Mike Stackpole, "Games Don't Kill," available from GAMA.
#3 - DISCUSSING THE SITUATION IN THIS FORUM
Given this, my opinion is that the Glorantha and RuneQuest Digests are no
Many of you know that I am friends with both Oliver Jovanovic and Mike McGloin.
I am one of the few that has kept in regular contact with them as they
continued to work on the next edition of RuneQuest. (They felt they were
getting overloaded by input from the RQ community at large.) I ask that
you accept my report from Mike McGloin, "the project is dead," as accurate.
He said this to me at approximately 7:15 pm, EST, on Monday December 9 1996.
place to be discussing the specifics of the charges against Oliver. For
those of you who feel the need to have your say, I'm sure there are several
Usenet newsgroups that would welcome your input.
I hope you all agree with my opinion that this is no place to discuss
Oliver's situation. If anyone does indeed post a message inappropriately,
I ask that we as a community summarily ignore it.
#4 - WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SITUATION?
Please do not send me emails asking if I have any inside information. I
don't have the desire nor the time to answer. Please don't be offended
when such requests are ignored.
While I am very tempted to go on for several paragraphs about what I know
Please forgive one indulgent comment: never before has the statement
(99% of it from the media and available to all of you with web browsers)
and my opinions about Oliver's innocence or guilt, I feel the need to abide
by my own request in (#3), above.
"innocent until proven guilty" resonated so forcefully in my thoughts.
Thanks for reading and keeping on topic,
* David Cheng
------------------------------
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #7
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