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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 8815248" data-attributes="member: 27780">Polyhedron Issue 125: November 1996part 5/5The Raven's Bluff Trumpeter: The newspaper is yet another thing that comes to an end this issue, with the still raging war plotline cut off abruptly over the hiatus. There still seem to be plenty of goblinoids outside the walls making a nuisance of themselves and we finally know who's behind the attacks - warlord Myrkyssa Jelan, but there's still a lot of questions about why this started, precisely what happened and how they ran out of steam or were finally beaten for good. Maybe the novels have a little more information, as apparently she turns up again in the future, even after the hundred year timeskip between 3 & 4e when she ought to have died of old age. (but like nearly all the important NPC's, didn't, because that particular bit of metaplot was a mess even by FR standards because so many writers couldn't let go of their old favourites.) In the meantime we have another mysterious murder of a city official and talk of potential romances between PC's which will probably also never get followed up on because it's easy to lose momentum when you only meet up a few times a year and your avenues of communication suddenly go down. Another reminder that the news is a shallow summing up of much more complex and messy events in the real world, much of which is never recorded so no-one ever knows all the details. In a game world without reliable mass recording media (although a few wizards have magic items suspiciously similar to modern technology) that would be even more the case.Notes From HQ: Since Jeff took over, it's been obvious that he's not entirely happy with the amount of focus polyhedron has on conventions. The letters are filled with people who want to keep it, because Living play is the big thing that distinguishes them from Dragon, but looking at the math a little closer, they're actually only a fraction of the membership. More than half never go to conventions at all, whether because they have no interest, or because they live in more far-flung parts of the world where there are few to attend in the first place. Not saying he's going to cut coverage entirely, but he definitely wants to reduce it and focus slightly more on material for home or online games. As with the decathlon stuff, this is another instance of a loud fanatical minority vs a quiet majority, and a question of how you juggle catering to the two as a publisher. Do you go the easy route, or keep on trying to make your pet projects happen even if most of the potential audience is indifferent? If a financial crisis hits, you may find the question is taken out of your hands. So this is a snapshot of where his head is at just before the WotC takeover. We shall find out soon enough if he gets a chance to implement that, or it'll be time for an abrupt change in leadership and direction in an attempt to make things more profitable. Another frustrating issue full of repeated basics in quick succession, showing them struggling to get their audience to do what they want and play the game in the right way. They have to reach a balance between trying to get everyone following basic rules to not ruin Living play and not over-proscribing exactly what playstyle everyone should be using and they're not doing a great job of it at the moment. I find myself very impatient to get through TSR's last gasps a second time and see what the WotC years look like from this perspective.</blockquote>

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