From: Charles Domino (cdomino@wt.net)
Date: Fri 05 Jun 1998 - 07:02:35 EEST
Personal Assessment: Ok, now here I REALLY want
you to remember I'm a simulationist!
Review, part 4
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This may be the system Issaries wants, but
Perhaps it was just my group, but the playtest
HW may skim off players tired of the complexity or
until further development and the optional rules
come along, I have questions whether this the
system will break out from the hard core
Glorantha-philes. While I am in no way advocating
pandering to the lowest common gaming denominator,
I have serious worries about the level of this
system. From what I've seen, it will appeal only
to the most mature, experienced gamemasters and
players. Further, it has quite a learning curve.
The mechanics are simple, but the characters/
world are not.
session I sat in on had one new, one semi-new, and
four experienced players. As I was only an
observer (I got to sit in when there were more
sign-ups than spots), I sat back during the game
and most of the bull session afterwards. The
newbie (in his 20's?) was lost and had to be
prompted about the role and knowledge of a
"lawgiver," one player really used the cult
abilities very well, one fumbled around trying too
but was hampered by the state of the magic rules,
and the others played their character notes well
but didn't really _use_ the world/system. The
oversimplified rules seemed to bother some of the
players.
immaturity of other game worlds/
systems/players, but I worry about its mass
acceptance. I hope that the magic, packages, and
optional rules will help, but right now it seems
awfully generic accross the board. The cost of
simplifying the mechanics was to make every action
seem the same. Worse, the very elements that
would help that problem make the system harder for
the new player to grasp. By combining the game
system with the world, it requires a player to
know a great deal of the world to play and enjoy
the game!
In short, introducing a new player to the game
isn't just a few minutes of teaching the game
mechanics. "Don't worry, the rest of the stuff
about the world you'll pick up later. Just
remember, other Orlanthi are your friends; the
Lunars are the Evil Empire." This is a tactic I've
used to bring new players in for years. They
enjoy the logic and simplicity (compared to some
other systems) of RQ, then get hooked on the
world. For the new player, it will be much more
like researching a term paper, since you have to
know the world to understand how to really use the
system! The steep learning curve may be a
handicap to the game's mass acceptance.
On the other hand, I might be shooting arrows in
the dark here. The greatest strength of the RQ
system was never the game system itself (though
that was no slouch), but the world in which it was
played. Even nearly 15 years of neglect by Avalon
(brains buried under the) Hills could not kill
this game's following.
Time (and the market) will tell...
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End review. Comments please?
Charlie Domino
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