alsih2o said:
Because it will create the greatest good for the greatest number of gamers. You see, i will put it to not one, not two, not three, but four, or possibly even five, distinct uses. First, of course, I will read it. Therefore, it will entertain me. Second, i will likely run it at some point, at least for a miniseries so we can try it out. This will both give it a real-world evaluation, and introduce other gamers to the system. Third, it will be research material. I am a game designer, and always looking for new systems to learn, in order to better my own designs--most often by catalyzing an almost-completely-different idea from whatever i'm reading (especially with systems of the complexity of HARP, given that my own design tastes run towards the "Over the Edge is too complex" end of the spectrum). Fourth, i am a bit of a scholar of RPGs, so almost any RPG (or book, or journal article, about RPGs) aids in my knowledge of RPGs, and thus my ability to better understand them on an academic level.
But, fifth, and this is the reason that shall trump all others, it may very well help form the foundation of an RPG lending library. I'm currently exploring the details, trying to figure out how to make it work, but i'm hoping to turn my RPG collection into a lending library. The idea is, primarily, to give back to the RPG community, grow that same community, and broaden gamers' exposure and breadth of experience. You see, i have a couple hundred distinct RPGs, and a fair number of supplements for many of them, and almost all of them are not terribly popular. They are, in large part, exactly the sorts of RPGs that lots of people don't buy because they are "too different" and/or they fear they'll never get to actually play them. So, i want to provide an opportunity to try them out at little or no cost*. People would be able to check a book or set of books out for a month or three at a time, so that they could give it a read, run a mini-campaign, and get a good feel for the game. And thus broaden their horizons, and maybe discover a new game they love nad go buy a new game. HARP ties into this in a couple of ways. It's exactly the sort of game that a lot of people might otherwise pass on, because they already have a similar game (such as D&D3.5E) in their library, so it might not get a fair shake. And it's new, so any benefit i might generate will be that much greater.
Oh, and i'll gladly pay shipping costs, despite your original offer. You see, i was already eyeing it, but it's pretty far down the list, not because i'm not interested, but because i'm more interested in a lot of other RPGs--more than i could ever afford. So paying a significantly reduced cost, but more than you were asking, seems like a bargain for both of us.
* I don't expect to make any real money at this--in fact, if i do make any money, it'll just got rolled into improving the library, either by improving books (tougher covers, reinforcing bindings, that sort of stuff) or buying more books for it. Possibly including books that don't have much interest to me, but would make it a better library. I'm not sure there'll be any cost, since i'm targeting gamers, of course. But I'll probably need to at least take a nominal deposit, and i'm thinking about a small rental fee (say, $5/mo/book) or one-time "enrollment fee", in order to cover any losses due to theft or careless users.
