From: Eric Rowe (rowe@soda.berkeley.edu)
Date: Wed 30 Mar 1994 - 12:18:04 EEST
The following is a reply to Oliver's post on the rejection of the
current RAG manuscript. I would like to take the time to point out
that we are all still working for the same goal and a little
rationality, something both sides of this need more of, can go a long
way. I suggest people refrain from idle speculation until Greg is
given a chance to list his problems, hopefully early next week. Then
we on this list should get to work on them so we can get RAG out as
soon as possible. I also don't think it is proper or will do any good
to harass Greg on this matter.
From Stephen Martin.....
To the RQ IV Mailing List
I am sending this letter in response to Oliver Jovanovic's attack on me earlier this week. While I do not have direct E-Mail access, I do have a few friends who post and receive messages for me. Although I feel it is petty for Oliver to attack me through a medium in which he knows I have no direct access, I am more concerned with the other, more important, problems he addresses. Since I have not yet actually seen the letter in question, merely had it read to me over the phone, I will try and address only those issues with which I find the most serious fault.
First of all, if Oliver feels that he is attacking me, I think it is my duty to point out that the attack reflects worse on him and on Greg Stafford than it does on me. If Oliver believes that I dictate to Greg what he is supposed to approve of or think, he is seriously mistaken, as Greg would be the first to tell him.
Second, I did NOT tell or even suggest that Greg look at the RQ IV rules. I suggested that the manuscript had some seriuos problems with the Gloranthan information it presented, especially the Lunar materials (since Greg is working on the Lunar Empire now), and that he should review those parts of the manuscript to ensure they did not contradict his current work. I am very glad that he also looked at the rules, but that was not my suggestion.
RAG is the first RuneQuest product that Greg has actually read through since Elder Secrets or possibly Sun County. Contrary to popular belief, he did not even do more than glance at Dorastor. He trusts Ken Rolston, Nick Brooke, and a few other people enough that he has seen no need to review the RQ products closely. I convinced him that this was not the case, since he will be blamed for any later contradictions, whether or not he was aware of the problem at the time. This is the main reason that he looked at RAG so closely. When he gave approval 3 months ago, he had not read more than a few pages, if that - I would guess that he merely assumed that, if Ken liked it, then it was fine. I disagreed, and so here we are.
As to Oliver's assertion that I do not play or run RuneQuest, it is both untrue and irrelevent. While I do not play regularly, and have not for years, I do play when I have the time - I just don't have the large amount of free time Oliver apparently does.
But the fact that I do not play regularly does not mean I do not know the rules. I don't play Dragon Pass regularly, but I just finished rewriting Nomad Gods to the Dragon Pass rules for Chaosium and Oriflam, and no one to whom I sent copies expressed any indication that I did not know the rules. But even that is irrelevent - what I know VERY WELL is Glorantha, and that has always been my prime concern with RAG. I may comment on the rules out of a sincere desire to see the book prosper, but that is mostly so that it does not come back to haunt Greg.
As David Dunham said, the idea that RAG might drive down Greg's sale of other Gloranthan materials is ludicrous - RQ and Glorantha do a good job of complementing each other's sales. My purpose in being the apparently most violent detractor of RAG is to ensure that its appearance does NOT drive down sale of Greg's Gloranthan material. The only way it could do that is if it was a bad product.
One point Oliver fails to mention in his letter is Greg's reasons for retracting his approval of the product. While I only glanced at the letter he sent Ken Rolston, Jack Dott, and Oliver, the main points involved how badly written the book were, the unnecessary rules changes, and the failure to improve on RQ III. There were other points, but I leave those to Oliver, Ken, or Greg to discuss. My point is that Oliver should not be blaming the failure of his manuscript on me or Greg - he should take Greg's criticism as it was intended. In the letter, Greg did NOT say that he would not approve of RAG in the future - merely that the current draft was not publishable (my words, not his). He does recommend against it, but he also expresses his willingness to work with Oliver, Mike, and crew to improve it, if they wish to continue with it.
A final point I feel I must make is that I have spoken with Oliver frequently about RAG over the last two years. I told him ahead of the time of my concerns, both rules-wise and Gloranthan, and of my intention to convince Greg to take a closer look at the manuscript. Oliver said to me that he was glad Greg would take such a close look. When I told Oliver that some of his Gloranthan materials would end up being contradicted by Greg in the next year, he said that he did not care, and that it HAD to stay in. When Greg then said that it was not correct, and should be removed, Oliver of course complied. It is only now, when the entire project is starting to come unwound, that he starts blaming me for events which he knew about ahead of time, and said he welcomed. My only advice to Oliver is that he can not have it both ways - you can't welcome comments only when they agree with you, and ignore them when they don't.
If Oliver had problems with my actions, he should at least have had the courtesy to tell me ahead of time. Also, giving out Greg's E-Mail address and telling people to write Greg was not cool. I have tried to be friendly, polite, and positive throughout my discussions with Oliver, and he has become increasingly defensive and beligerent. I think he needs to remember that Glorantha is Greg's world AND GREG'S PROPERTY, to do with as he wishes, and be thankful that it has been shared with us for so long, in whatever form. Oliver's questionable crediting and rewriting of material are very strong symptoms of the problems inherent in RAG.
I have gone on longer than I intended, and been more vindictive than I had planned. Perhaps that is a sign of how much this means to me. If Oliver feels that I am responsible for Greg's change of heart, he is wrong - Oliver himself is. I just hope he realizes it before he destroys RAG, RQ, and himself.
Stephen Martin AKA Troy Bankert ---------------------
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