[Forum News] Announcement

[Ron Edwards]

Hi guys,

Due to changes in Issaries publishing policy, which have been in place for a little while now, this forum can't be held at the Forge any more. I'm announcing here that it will close on December 1 of this year. I figure that will give folks time to re-group, maybe set up an alternate if they'd like, and so on.

The forum will of course remain as an archive, but it'll be closed for posting.

Best, Ron

[boredoom]

Why? It seems easy enough to comply with Issaries' Informal License Checklist (http://www.glorantha.com/inc/web_site_checklist.html).

[WildElf]

My guess is that it has to do with Issaries giving Moon Designs the publishing reigns for HeroQuest products: http://www.glorantha.com/news/ann_06_01.html

Which means it's out of Greg's direct control and therefore no longer creator controlled/owned.

[boredoom]

My guess is that it has to do with Issaries giving Moon Designs the publishing reigns for HeroQuest products: http://www.glorantha.com/news/ann_06_01.html

Which means it's out of Greg's direct control and therefore no longer creator controlled/owned.

I doubt it. AFAIK, Greg still owns the IP. Also, the FAQ to the fan policy notes

What kinds of Gloranthan activities are outside of this policy?
Most things aren't covered. Continue doing the following as before with:

    * Your game or campaign.
    * Posting conversational stuff on newsgroups like the Yahoo groups or the Glorantha Digest
    * Posting campaign write-ups on the above, or your website
    * Writing reviews, critiques and other "fair use" types of things.

http://www.glorantha.com/inc/fan_policy_faq.html

[Der_Renegat]

this is really very bad news....

[Vaxalon]

Ron, have you actually spoken with the authorities in question, or are you closing it because you believe we are in violation?

Otherwise this thread is likely to devolve into pointless division.

[Ben Lehman]

Guys?

I think that the forum is closing because of the Forge's policy (no forums for non-creator controlled games) and because Issaries won't let us.

yrs--
--Ben

[Alexandre Santos]

This is very sad...

I'm an enthusiastic lurker of this forum, and it would be a pity to see the people here, present and future, disperse into different forums.

I wonder if a forum could be implemented, and a link to it kept on the Forge, since this forum benefits a lot from its presence in this website?

[lev_lafayette]

Due to changes in Issaries publishing policy, which have been in place for a little while now, this forum can't be held at the Forge any more.

Simply to reiterate the point of others some further explanation would be really helpful. What changes?

All the best,


Lev

[Mike Holmes]

I've been expecting this for a while, actually. I don't want to speculate on Ron's reasons, nor do I think that they need challenging. But the way I see it, the sale of the rights to publish to Moon Design is exactly the sort of move away from "Creator Owned" that makes a game "non-indy." That is, while, yes, Greg retains creative control, Glorantha materials will no longer be published unless Moon Designs decides to do so. Meaning that people other than the creators are deciding what gets published.

So, Ron's opinions aside, it seems to me like they violate the Forge mandate to only have creator owned games on the site. Keep in mind that this is not the same thing as saying that Moon Design is bad, or HQ is bad, or anything like that. It's just moved away from the spirit of this site, somewhat. No big deal from that POV.

In any case, the forum will remain her, inactive, so people can still link to it and such. The real question is where we're all moving. There are several likely sites that would make sense, I think. Before suggesting a few, I'd like to hear other people's suggestions. Consider the nature of the site, and whether we'd be truely welcome before suggesting a site.

Of course, not everyone has to go to whatever site we might come to a consensus on. But we can all state where we'd like to go, or intend to go, and thus be informed as to where we also might like to go. This might cause some sorting to happen, which might be a good thing.

Of course, included in any suggestions, if somebody wants to start up a new site, throw your hat in and see if there's any support for it. I'm actually more for consolidating sites than creating more HQ sites (there actually was a thread about this recently in the HQ rules list). But if somebody has a better way of doing things, let's hear it.

Thanks,
Mike

[MrWrong]

Although not a very active member of this community, I've always been very impressed recently with the very open discussions that have happened here about HeroQuest, that have resulted from play or are focused  about producing something for actual play. Mike in his time as a member of the Molad has certainly influenced several of us for the better in the way that we run our games and write our scenarios. I would be very sad to see that disappear.

I'm in the process of creating a site for the Masters of Luck and Death (MoLad) demo team and I'd be more than happy to host a forum on the site, since the mission of the MoLad is to encourage Actual play of HeroQuest.

I'd like to echo Mike's request to hear what people would want from such a forum, to build up rules and guidelines as sort of "Terms of Reference" for the forum, since I've previously set up a forum on the Ring of HeroQuest Narrator's site without one and it ended up pretty random as well as painfully slow traffic wise.

[Mike Holmes]

Ooh, I'd say that this choice has probably, for me, just leapt up to #1. Thanks, Newt.

Mike

[Ron Edwards]

Mike is correct in full. Issaries has not dictated or decreed anything to me about it. It's my doing based on two incontrovertible facts:

1. Prior to the new arrangement with Moon Design, HeroQuest (and its predecessor Hero Wars) was an independent RPG by Forge standards. No compromise of ideas or fudgy grey areas were necessary to say so, based on my discussions with Greg during 2000-2001.

2. Since that arrangement, it is not any more. Similarly, that's not ambiguous or guessy on my part. "Independence" has a specific meaning at this site and does not accord with many snap-associations based on other industries, nor does it match 1:1 to the concept of IP.

None of this is a bad thing and there's no reason to make it into any kind of debate. I hope for and support the cause of a new forum at the Masters of Luck and Death site. As I said before, this forum will remain as an archive; maybe it will become a foundation or library for the new one.

Best, Ron

[Vaxalon]

Ron, it would have been good to have that explanation up front.

I don't think anyone made the leap from "Due to changes in Issaries publishing policy," to "Since that arrangement, it is not [independent] any more."  I know I didn't.

That being said, I totally understand, and look forward to posting a URL for a switchover.

[Vaxalon]

...look forward to SEEING a POSTED URL that is...