[Rq-rules] *** JUNK MAIL ***Re: Signs & Portents

[Simon Phipp]

Peter Maranci:
> "The same system using different words", Steve. My understanding is that
> NONE of the profits from Mongoose RQ are going to the people who actually
> created the RuneQuest system. Steve Perrin, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Ah, the age-old distinction between workers and bosses, writers as opposed to owners. 

If I write a piece of software for a company and that company then sells the software or gets someone else to add things to it or rewrite it then I don't expect a cut of any future profits, unless I had an agreement in place beforehand. That's life. It's just tough.

> It may be legal under the current twisted copyright/trademark laws of the
> US, but I don't consider it ethical. Mongoose RQ represents a break in the
> provenance of the RuneQuest system.

No it doesn't. Trademarks come and go, they can be bought and sold or can lapse and be obtained by someone else. If you let a Trademark lapse then it's your own stupid fault. Mongoose RQ is licenced from Issarie, which is owned by Greg Stafford who first brought out RQ. Where's the break in provenance there? Greg Stafford brought out RQ and Greg Stafford is licencing RQ. Sure, he set up Chaosium to make games and they owned RQ for a while, but relationships are made and break up. That's life again. 

Personally, I have no problems with the so-called provenance of RQM. I wish the quality was better and that they had more scenario packs and better maps and their rules hung together properly, but any RQ is better than no RQ.

I know you're going to say "Wait until DBRP comes out", but I can't see DBRP getting the kind of support or publishing the number of supplements that RQM has. So, DBRP might be a good system, if a bit bloated, but it won't be as strong as RQM.

Sverre Larne:
>>Wayne Shaw:
>>As far as I understood it, this list is about all versions of RQ. Am 
>>I in error?
>
> You might be right as there is no clear description of the supposed content for this list. I think it 
> should be about brilliance of the true RuneQuest though. I do enough MRQ bashing on the MRQ 
> forum. ;-)

All RQ, as well as many different forms of BRP, have been discussed here in the past. I'm not a moderator but I can't see discussions of RQM rules being bannded. Maybe discussions on RQ politics should be, though .....

See Ya

Simon
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