jgsugden
Legend
A thing to remember - widespread wasn't a thing back then.
There was no internet to distribute information. Information had a downhill flow, as opposed to the horizontal flow we now see on the internet. The Books and Magazines were the source of information and provided the entire framework for the game. There was very little community on which to draw upon for interpretation and clarification.
Yes, there was some horizontal spread between players in a community, or at conventions. However, gameshop play, conventions, etc... were not the forces they are now. There are a small number of people that had wide access to other players as information sources, but until the mid 90s you were looking at the printed page for understanding for almost everything.
With regards to the -10 rule, this was a common misunderstanding of a poorly worded rule where people widely interpreted it the same way because they found the game too harsh without the leeway.
There was no internet to distribute information. Information had a downhill flow, as opposed to the horizontal flow we now see on the internet. The Books and Magazines were the source of information and provided the entire framework for the game. There was very little community on which to draw upon for interpretation and clarification.
Yes, there was some horizontal spread between players in a community, or at conventions. However, gameshop play, conventions, etc... were not the forces they are now. There are a small number of people that had wide access to other players as information sources, but until the mid 90s you were looking at the printed page for understanding for almost everything.
With regards to the -10 rule, this was a common misunderstanding of a poorly worded rule where people widely interpreted it the same way because they found the game too harsh without the leeway.