Not sure I see the relevance, in 2010. It's vaguely interesting, in the sense that some 80s or 90s (or indeed, 00s) politicians' gaffs can in retrospect be, or whatever. I guess. *shrug*
Some parts of it did read a bit like certain spiels contained in particular WW RPG books, back in the day. Or yeah, various rants/flameouts from other "industry figures". Not one of the most spectacular, but I dunno. . . 6/10, say?
Fun times. The drama around HM4e was amusing to us say the least. We pretty much let it roll off our backs and concentrated on making product.
HM4e was a fun ride. I'm proud folks are still playing it almost a decade later and it still has a following. Kinda puts to rest the "it's a joke game never meant to be played" comments that were so frequently tossed about.
That's more rewarding than the Best RPG award itself to be honest.
Anyhoo -- we're having a blast working on the new edition of HackMaster. Good to see DM4e still popping up in discussion.
(and for the record I have no ill feeling toward Bruce — whom I've never met). It's all good.
Were all brothers of the dice as far as I'm concerned. I leave the drama at the door.
As for the award we were honored to receive it (even if we did so wearing honkin' huge water-squirting clown ties in defiance of the tuxedo-policy).
Edit: oops. My bad. We actually sent up a couple of our fans/customers to accept the award now that I think about it. The clown ties were for a KODT award for Best Magazine.
Just a quick comment. I'm sure that was the perception of some.
But anyone who has read the designers' foreward to HackMaster 4e knows that we loved AD&D with a passion and pretty much came out and said it. Including a bit of worship at Gary and Dave's feet for creating it.
We weren't making fun of AD&D. We were embracing it. The humor brought to the mix was a sort of celebration of the fun and laughs we'd been having in our own AD&D campaigns playing with good friends over the years. I think that's why it clicked with so many people.
Sure some folks didn't "get" Hackmaster. But that's true of virtually every game. It's why we have so many of them on the market.
As for the award we were honored to receive it (even if we did so wearing honkin' huge water-squirting clown ties in defiance of the tuxedo-policy).
Edit: oops. My bad. We actually sent up a couple of our fans/customers to accept the award now that I think about it. The clown ties were for a KODT award for Best Magazine.