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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WayneLigon" data-source="post: 3439454" data-attributes="member: 3649">Barker and Tolkien had doctorates in language studies; any language systems made up by them I would expect would be consistant and useful as indeed they are. Stafford, not being such a person, would have very probably detracted from the setting by creating languages for it (indeed he makes a note in, I think, a Different Worlds article that the terms used in Glorantha are their nearest Earthly equivilants so that the game is not burdened with a lot of fluff of arguable merit. For instance, though they constantly use the word 'bronze' in the game when referring to weapons, the actual metal used is not the alloy of copper and tin we know; it's mined directly from the bones of dead gods. Same thing with the armor made of 'gold' and other materials). He was wise enough to stick to mythological elements, something he's certainly done well.A perfect example of why they should not do this is in Greenwood's Castlemourn setting. For some unholy reason he decided that he'd not only rename the cardinal directions but add a couple others as well. (Wargamer's World is the first place I ever saw an author use a different scheme than four directions, but they had a good reason; they literally had six-sided 'landmasses'). It tosses me out of the setting almost every paragraph when I have to flip back to see what the word means. I don't expect my setting designer to have a doctorate in multiple earth sciences and social studies but I do expect them to make a significant effort towards some form on consistant verisimilitude OR come up with a convincing reason why X does not work the way it is expected. I don't usually take a lot of convincing; gimme loads of 'Cool' and I'll overlook 'realistic' in a heartbeat. You go with the flow. But some attention to things is required or you put a dam in that flow.Mountains in FR. Have you ever looked at those? There are mountains where it's cool to have mountains, not where mountains would really make sense. Even Greyhawk has recognizable mountain chains and drainage systems. It, and the sense of city design that came out of the FR art style really put me off. I've never heard an intuitive explanation why people in the FR build cities where virtually no building touches another (save in Waterdeep), in defiance of all city design that existed previously, and I've never heard them say that those are suppossed to be blocks of buildings (all evidence I've seen from close-up maps says no</blockquote>

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