Azael
Magister
Do I need to do a hero quest as well, because that sounds awfully close to work?
David said:Even better, Glorantha is not just one myth family, but many, which are sometimes compatible and sometimes opposed. Perfect for a game! [
It's like a DnD world, or a generic fantasy dime a dozen nowadays.
Are you implying Glorantha itself make KODP successful? Cause it aint so. It's like a DnD world, or a generic fantasy dime a dozen nowadays.
Or maybe it is and the definition of successful is just changed. Cause from commercial and fame's view, KODP is not that profitable, and not that famous outside of some selected circles of gamers.
As the first guy to consistently play big tribe from start to finis then go trolling them in their group, I know pretty much how they treasure that glorantha setting and insist players follow that settings.
And if they think Glorantha make their games a success, limited though that scope was, then they would be wrong. That would demonstrate why they havent made another successful game in the last 15 years.
King of Dragon Pass is memorable because it's a living world that you can affect. You can conquer a tribe third forth time until they have o pick up stake and move faraway. You can save runaway carls and absorb them into your tribe or help them make a new one. You can fight nomads/ducks/trolls or not. You can command tribe to do certain thing... Generally, it's gameplay, not lores that make the game exciting.
I disagree. Your own example demonstrates this: KoDP succeeds because it has appeal independently of its "storyfag" lore aspects. You, being someone familiar with the lore, find appeal in it for its ties to that lore. Those like me and Laclongquan, being ignorant of much of this backstory, still derive our satisfaction through the pillaging, looting, and whatnot. That we pick up some of the lore in the process of playing the game certainly doesn't hurt, but it's not the IP that sells the game to us, and to us, it wouldn't matter if it was Glorantha or something the developers made up ex recto, so long as we get our mineral-requiring and pylon-constructing itches scratched.You're missing the bigger picture, which is that without Glorantha as the setting the game wouldn't have the kind of focus on myth and almost anthropological approach to Orlanthi tribal life. Heroquesting is an integral and inseparable part of Runequest (and thus Glorantha) and if you understand what the meaning of heroquesting is, you understand that such focus on tribal instead of individual and mythical instead of historical is hardly possible in any other fantasy setting. But you probably have never played Runequest so all this is irrelevant to you and I don't bother arguing the point further.
My belief is that KoDP's success came from the genuine passion and design decisions that were both fundamentally inspired by Glorantha's unique focus on the aforementioned worldview.
Wouldn't be so sure of that. Pretty sure I've seen this sort of thing before in other settings, way back in the old days of Text Games.Whether it might have been more successful in another setting is irrelevanting because a game like KoDP would have never been inspired by a setting like D&D.
I disagree. Your own example demonstrates this: KoDP succeeds because it has appeal independently of its "storyfag" lore aspects. You, being someone familiar with the lore, find appeal in it for its ties to that lore. Those like me and Laclongquan, being ignorant of much of this backstory, still derive our satisfaction through the pillaging, looting, and whatnot. That we pick up some of the lore in the process of playing the game certainly doesn't hurt, but it's not the IP that sells the game to us, and to us, it wouldn't matter if it was Glorantha or something the developers made up ex recto, so long as we get our mineral-requiring and pylon-constructing itches scratched.
Wouldn't be so sure of that. Pretty sure I've seen this sort of thing before in other settings, way back in the old days of Text Games.
I heroquested like mad. After I build up my HQ councillor and/or chieftain with enough stat, I HQ whenever I can. Priority of reward is personal stat (to feed more success) >>tribe stat (ditto) >> artifact etc..
I said that even many of the gameplay elements - the founding of a tribe, the focus on seasonal cycle (how it relates to the Myth of Eternal Recurrence and the birth & death of nature/gods and so forth), the huge emphasis on honoring the ancestors - are inspired by Glorantha. Most RPG settings pay lip service to these themes, but in Runequest they're the core of the game. The gameplay of KoDP wouldn't be the way it is without Glorantha.
Samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year. Like Beltane/Calan Mai, it was seen as a liminal time, when the spirits or fairies (the Aos Sí) could more easily come into our world and were particularly active. Most scholars see the Aos Sí as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs". The Aos Sí were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings. At Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left for the Aos Sí.
The invasion of Ulster that makes up the main action of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) begins on Samhain. As cattle-raiding typically was a summer activity, the invasion during this off-season surprised the Ulstermen.
Pah, all these themes exist across many mythologies. When I encounter them in a game, I just shrug and ask myself, "How does working with or against this theme grant me more minerals with which to construct additional pylons?".You don't seem to be reading my posts before replying. I said that even many of the gameplay elements - the founding of a tribe, the focus on seasonal cycle (how it relates to the Myth of Eternal Recurrence and the birth & death of nature/gods and so forth), the huge emphasis on honoring the ancestors - are inspired by Glorantha.
Disagree. I can string-replace just about everything in the game, the game is unchanged.Most RPG settings pay lip service to these themes, but in Runequest they're the core of the game. The gameplay of KoDP wouldn't be the way it is without Glorantha.
Indeed, there are...and I play those, too!If you merely enjoy the pillaging and looting, I'm sure there are other games that offer that as well.
Well, clearly, the game has ways to appeal to many. YOU like it because it leverages a lore you're familiar with it. I like it because I can construct additional pylons. Is what I like in it somehow more wrong than what you like? But from my perspective, the lore does not make the game unique. I could snowclone pretty much all of these elements in total ignorance, and the game would play out just as nicely to me. To you, perhaps, your familiar lore would be ripped off or butchered...but the fact that this can be done without changing the game at all is, to me, makes me view the lore as window dressing.To me that's just a tiny fraction of KoDP's appeal.
There were actually many, back in the old days of text games. A whole lot of MUD-esques back in the day were like that, they all had their little lore and whatnot, and then the game would go under within the year, usually from me burning and pillaging everything in a glorious orgy of slaughter and destruction, BLOOD AND SOULS FOR LORD TINKY-WINKY, and all. Which just goes to show that people who play a game for its story rarely, if ever, master it to the extent of those who see it as simply a problem to be solved.I'd like to know if this is indeed the case. I have never found any game that is even remotely like KoDP.
Well, that SPECIFIC game wouldn't have been made, but as you neatly demonstrated, you can snowclone real-world mythology onto the game and it works exactly the same. After all, ultimately, KODP is a dressed-up version of Hammurabi (Hoard food, get rich, kill most of your people in a plague). At the end of the day, KODP is just Hammurabi with some mythological elements attached to it.You could take Glorantha out of the game, replacing them with real history/myth broze/iron age elements. It'd still be a great game. Now, maybe without Glorantha as the inspiration, the game would've never been made in the first place. That's a different thing.
I said that even many of the gameplay elements - the founding of a tribe, the focus on seasonal cycle (how it relates to the Myth of Eternal Recurrence and the birth & death of nature/gods and so forth), the huge emphasis on honoring the ancestors - are inspired by Glorantha. Most RPG settings pay lip service to these themes, but in Runequest they're the core of the game. The gameplay of KoDP wouldn't be the way it is without Glorantha.
You do realize that one could draw the very same elements from any mythical setting.
Samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year. Like Beltane/Calan Mai, it was seen as a liminal time, when the spirits or fairies (the Aos Sí) could more easily come into our world and were particularly active. Most scholars see the Aos Sí as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs". The Aos Sí were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings. At Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left for the Aos Sí.
The invasion of Ulster that makes up the main action of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) begins on Samhain. As cattle-raiding typically was a summer activity, the invasion during this off-season surprised the Ulstermen.
Etc. etc. etc.
You could take Glorantha out of the game, replacing them with real history/myth broze/iron age elements. It'd still be a great game. Now, maybe without Glorantha as the inspiration, the game would've never been made in the first place. That's a different thing.
Now, maybe without Glorantha as the inspiration, the game would've never been made in the first place. That's a different thing.
Disagree. I can string-replace just about everything in the game, the game is unchanged.Most RPG settings pay lip service to these themes, but in Runequest they're the core of the game. The gameplay of KoDP wouldn't be the way it is without Glorantha.
...the lore does not make the game unique.
I'd like to know if this is indeed the case. I have never found any game that is even remotely like KoDP.
There were actually many, back in the old days of text games. A whole lot of MUD-esques back in the day were like that, they all had their little lore and whatnot, and then the game would go under within the year, usually from me burning and pillaging everything in a glorious orgy of slaughter and destruction, BLOOD AND SOULS FOR LORD TINKY-WINKY, and all. Which just goes to show that people who play a game for its story rarely, if ever, master it to the extent of those who see it as simply a problem to be solved.
Are you implying Glorantha itself make KODP successful? Cause it aint so. It's like a DnD world, or a generic fantasy dime a dozen nowadays.
Please. Don't. Be. Shit.