Dan Z

2 hours ago, MOB said:

As cool and desirable as they are (I've seen the actual prototypes), it is not necessary to own any of these - or other coins or tokens - to play RQG.

Oh, yeah...  what about these... or these?

Take my money already!  

5 hours ago, g33k said:

I couldn't have made it, would have loved a copy...

But all of us in this boat have to realize that there were probably ALREADY more people wanting that preview, than copies available for sale; so "attending GenCon" wasn't a guarantor of "getting one of the few RQG Preview copies" !

True but I would have had a better chance than not being there at all.  No worries, I'm sure we'll have freshly minted copies from Chaosium soon(ish).

That's great!  

This is the one year I really wish I could have made it too.    Though to be honest it's been a long time since I've gone anyway but there was no way I could have made it this year.  Sad to miss out on getting a copy of the preview though.  Glad to see new folks excited about RuneQuest though!

Aye, that's the one.  Thank you.  Search engines failed to find this for me too.

I'm not sure this is a real thing or maybe I imagined it.  So I seem to recall a long long time ago Greg had written something that described places in Glorantha by referencing the photos in a book.  I thought it might be in the old mailing list archive but I couldn't find it.  I think the book was Our national parks: America's spectacular wilderness heritage.  

I'm sure if it existed one the many fine minds here remember it and perhaps even have a copy of the text.  If anyone remembers this would you be so kind as to pass it on to me?

21 minutes ago, David Scott said:

I forgot to include one of the best Chaosium RQ2 supplement moments:

I only noticed it on the cover after 30 years when it was pointed out to me.

That's it!  Perfect!

53 minutes ago, styopa said:

Of course, we have to recognize we're talking about what seems to be essentially minutiae.  

Nevertheless - particularly when we're talking about a new rules set which is supposed to (we all hope) re-invigorate a nearly-moribund franchise and launch a brave new era for the game and for Chaosium - I don't think it's irrelevant to opine that the logo/trademark that's going to adorn scores of products, hopefully for YEARS, should be striking, novel, memorable, and carry a brand identification strongly?  Branding is pretty important.

Yeah, I agree, I just don't personally care what it looks like for me.  I do in the sense you're talking about though.  

Looking at all the RuneQuest logos the only one I think I really like is the Quickstart one.  Of course I have fond and nostalgic memories of the original logo that 12 year old me first say, and even for RQ3's cover and ITC Benguiat font based logo but the original just won't cut it in today's market and RQ3's while crisp and clean seem almost too plain for the slick products of today. 

I wonder if Chaosium did any focus group or A/B testing.  Maybe we're the focus group, though it would probably be good to get the opinions of less invested folks.

9 hours ago, Mankcam said:

The new RQG logo really isn't too far from the embossed logo on the old RQ2 hardcover ( under the dust jacket). This font was also a bit 'Tolkieny', and I think the if the new RQG logo is altered to have gold letters on a red background then this may evoke some familarity with RQ2.

Even the more recent RQ2 reprint (RQ Classic, hardcover with dust jacket) had a similar logo on the book itself.

Keeping the new logo against a grey stone background just feels a bit like MRQ1 or Legend for some reason.

Here is the old RQ2 hardcover without its iconic dust jacket art

Good point.  That font is a variety of American Uncial which is a classic font to be sure.

19 minutes ago, styopa said:

I think what people are commenting is the embossed stone and typefaces in the new one feels overused although, TBH, I checked EverQuest, EQ2, Runescape, even Lineage, Evony, and LotRO and it's not used in their logos.  It IS quite clearly almost exactly ELVISH lettering from LotR.(http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Elvish_languages). (Look at the N, the E, the U, the S, and the T, for example I'd strongly recommend at the very least - if this is what you're going with - you make at least SOME effort to change the typeface a little more generally from that.  Only the R and Q are substantially distinct.

The quickstart logo was striking because it was very much unique.  I'd disagree with the folks that feel it's too overtly 'Norse'; so what?  While we're no longer aping historical IRL cultures, it doesn't mean we need to run from them, either.  I doubt *anyone* would look at the QS cover and say 'oh, that must be a game about Vikings'.

It was striking, and quite different than the LotR-simulacrum logo here.  The point of a brand logo is to 1) make a statement, and 2) remain in the mind, become iconic.  I think the QS did that far better.

Yes, the font is Aniron which is based on the LotR DVD end credits.  See this very long url for details.  There is no known commercial release and the design was created by the artists Sacha Winter and Alan Lee while the Aniron font was created by Pete Klassen based on those designs.  It's been adjusted somewhat, the 't' descends below the line, the kerning adjusted, etc. The R/Q look familiar to me but I can't quite place them though they are similar to Forgotten Uncial, Carolingia, Bilbo Display but it eludes me.  Perhaps they are custom created additions for Aniron.

Thinking about logos on games I realized I just don't care that much.  The cover image if far more important to me and what's inside even more so.  If this logo helps attract a new generation of players by being somewhat familiar then I'm all for it.

5 hours ago, GianniVacca said:

I created a Sartarite name generator, should anyone be interested:
http://2ndage.blogspot.com/2015/10/random-sartarite-name-generator.html

I am currently working on an Uz name generator.

That's great Gianni.  I like the simplicity of how it works.  If it's alright with you I'd like to see if I can work this method into my online version.

7 hours ago, David Scott said:

I know what it is about the new logo that bugs me - it's too Lord of the Rings-y.  The small caps are almost certainly the Aniron font which is a replication of the font used in the front and end credits of Peter Jackson's "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.  Here's the letters "une" and "uest".  Pretty sure it's the same.  The upper case "R" and "Q" I'm not so sure about.  

On the other hand that might have a subconscious appeal to prospective new enthusiasts.

2 hours ago, David Scott said:

I'm holding out for either a Kish tablet style set of the new rules - hopefully only 3-4000 tablets (boxed), with a slate etched GM screen and stone polyhedral dice. Or preferably a Phaistos Disc style set with bronze cast dice and a stretched goat skin GM screen. Both versions should come with clay to produce fire yourself character sheets and bronze styli for the players and GM.

Isn't that a primitive document format (PDF), you know the one that uses adobe reader?  Maybe it would be best to get a Mostali Earth Reader to go along with that though, I don't think the Kindle Firerune Reader would work.

6 minutes ago, Gene M. said:

On the other hand, my fiancée who graduated from art school and does design work likes it, although she thinks the Quickstart logo is better.

As they say (whoever they are), it could always be worse.  I'm not fan of the logo as it is, but it definitely could be worse. Much, much, worse.

19 minutes ago, Atgxtg said:

Not really. Since the crowd is comprised of old RQers, and the rules are going to be based mostly around retro RQ2, it should pretty obvious that the audience is going to want a logo and cover similar to (or at least inspired by) RQ2. Anything more modern looking is going to come in second to the "classic" RQ 2 logo. And anything that appears MRQish is going to just annoy people. 

Just the regular tough crowd then.    

In the 40 years (damn I'm getting old) I've been gaming I've found gamers to be one of the most opinionated and critical groups I've encountered.  Not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation of the interest and passion gamers have about the games that are important to them.  It's not like people who play, run, and create games aren't imaginative, creative, and generally intelligent and honestly I think it usually leads to great collaboration and better things so long as folks egos don't get in the way.

Looking at the photo of Rick and Jeff holding the preview copies for Gen-Con that logo is definitely being used on it though.

17 minutes ago, Sayerson said:

Even mocked up and in different colors... meh. The RQ Quickstart seemed a better logo.

Logos meh.pdf

Yeah, I think the Norse font does RuneQuest better justice.  That's a lot of mockups by the way... 

Although technically the image file is called rqglogo.png but that's it.  For all we know the logo is just the font + runes and it was just "dressed up" with embossing and "stonework" for the blog post.

EDIT: too many words in the wrong place.

27 minutes ago, Atgxtg said:

Wow, what an incredibly boring cover. I much prefer the Quickstart-it had a classic RQ look and feel to it. The new one has the look and feel of trail mix. Even the exotic/Gloranthan aspects of it (the bison, zebra,etc.) seem downplayed. 

That's not the cover.  That's just the logo superimposed on some released art to see if the logo looks better on an image as opposed to a white background.

I don't think anyone outside Chaosium has any idea what the cover is going to be.  We don't even know that the image on this post is the new RQ logo. Chaosium doesn't say that it is on either this post or in the design note.

Everything here is just guesswork, kibitzing, and general grognardism.

22 minutes ago, styopa said:

I don't think that's intended as cover art?

It's a wonderful picture, don't get me wrong, but WAY too dull for cover art.

I agree, I'm sure it's not - I just wanted to see what the logo might look like with full artwork behind it rather than just sitting on a white background which can make a big difference.

1 hour ago, Psullie said:

I like the font, but it's the embossed pseudo stone work that I dislike. I just don't see the need to wrap a cloud around a logo or title, if the design is strong it will stand on it's own. I can see the appeal of this, and clearly it is targeting new younger players which I doubt many of us here fit that demographic.

However, it's what's between the covers that counts, so far we've seen fab art and the QS has given us a taste of whats to come. 

That pretty much hit's the nail on the head for me too.  Not that anyone is asking.  My first thoughts when I saw the logo:

"Oh no, that looks like every other RPG out there."

Although it actually doesn't.  The font with runes underneath layout are fine but embossing a font reminds me of RPGs from the mid oughts and cheapens the logo to me.  Now if the font was actually embossed on the cover that would be a different story but then the stonework wouldn't be necessary.  On the other hand it the cover is a fantastic piece of art, like what we've been shown the logo would really need to stand out to be noticed like in the mock up I've attached (I had to put them together to see what it looked like)

But again, and like pretty much everyone else it's what's between the covers that counts, like reading a fortune cookie.

2 hours ago, Psullie said:

he's obviously hiding someplace

Now why would a coward like him hide?

Looks great, I really like Andrey Fetisov's style.  I see all the quickstart characters there, well almost all, Cousin Monkey is conspicuously missing.  Interestingly they're in the same travelling order my group was in the other day when we played the adventure.  I think they'll be excited to see this.

Maybe Glorantha and Sramake's River are accelerating upward like Flat Earth "Hypothesis" suggests.  

So as not to be swayed by others I sleepily wrote this list before I read the post so there may be duplicates.

Similar

1. There is gravity and water flows downhill and empties in the seas and oceans
2. Geographic features such as mountains, rivers, oceans, plains, etc. exist
3. People organize into tribes, clans, nations and cults/religions
4. Many people are devoted to their diety (though the methods and results differ0
5. Ships float, winds blow, climates exist (though not necessarily the same as Earth)
6. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, 
7. Cattle seem to be important to the survival of most humans
8. Different cultures have different myths or stories describing their origins
9. Day to day life for the average farmer is probably not much different (wake up, eat, tend to the fields/herds/farm, etc.)
10. There are ducks

Different

1. All the gods are real (versus maybe Earth’s prevailing monotheistic religions)
2. Runes are the foundational building blocks of the universe versus sub-atomic particles
3. Magic is real in Glorantha and has real effects in the world
4. Time is different, from when it began to how long the years are and the length and number of seasons
5. There are living dinosaurs
6. Geographic features were often created as the result of the gods actions
7. “Bronze” in Glorantha is not the same as on Earth having 
8. The far north is frigidly cold and populated by ice demons, the far south is fiery hot and populated by monsters
9. Earth has Dungeons & Dragons, Glorantha has RuneQuest. (Meta)
10. There are ducks

Right, so I updated and reworked this character sheet quite but if there's anyone who's actually played the full game would be so kind as to give me some feedback regarding completeness (here or in a private message) I would certainly appreciate it.

Here's the link again for convenience

RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha Character Sheet 0.70b

So, I watched this and never having heard Rick speak before if his career with Chaosium falls through he might consider being a movie trailer voice guy (or whatever they're called).

In the many years of playing games in Glorantha I've always been most fascinated by the ability of players to learn more about themselves and their personal "runes" by exploring, through roleplaying, how myth is part of one's personality.