#16: Matthew Sprange, Mongoose Publishing

[RPGnet Columns]

http://www.rpg.net/columns/interviews/interviews16.phtml

Summary:

An interview about the past, present, and future of Mongoose.

Go to the column (http://www.rpg.net/columns/interviews/interviews16.phtml) for more information.

[C.W.Richeson]

Interesting interview, Shannon! I didn't know there was tension over the Babylon 5 license with JMS.

I'm a little surprised you didn't touch on the most serious controversies I've always been aware of - a history of very serious editing problems and a lack of quality control when farming out projects to individual writers. Those are the reasons that I, and I suspect many other d20 fans, avoid Mongoose products today though the company claims they're just a part of the past now.

[Mongoose_Matt]

I'm a little surprised you didn't touch on the most serious controversies I've always been aware of - a history of very serious editing problems and a lack of quality control when farming out projects to individual writers. Those are the reasons that I, and I suspect many other d20 fans, avoid Mongoose products today though the company claims they're just a part of the past now.

Accepting that anyone can make the occasional mistake, yes, those days are behind us - and I would be happy to elaborate.

What really kicked all this off was, of course, Conan. The basic problem was that Mongoose had grown too fast and in too short a time. One moment, my business partner and I were working out of our homes. The next, we had a bona fide company on our hands with over a dozen employees. It took some getting used to.

The problem with Conan and other books of that era was that each book was effectively the personal project of the individual editor. In other words, the same person specced the book, edited the text, commissioned the art, laid it out, integrated proofreading notes, handled the playtesters and so on, right up until it was ready for print.

The advantages of this included a very cohesive presentation of a book, and having one person who knew absolutely everything about any one project.

One of the disadvantages was highlighted with Conan. To cut a long story short, the editor dumped raw text into a template and did very little else. Once we found out what had happened, he left 'suddenly and and unexpectedly' as they say, at which point we found all the proofreading and playtest notes kicked under his desk, in a heap.

Now, I was annoyed, because this was a guy we had trusted. However, it did mean big changes in the way we worked. Though we have evolved through several systems, no longer would one person be solely responsible for everything that happens on a single book. There are many checks and balances throughout the process to ensure nothing like this ever gets past us again.

Our books these days are as well written and edited as the majority on the shelves - I'll never be so foolish as to say there will never again be a mistake in one of our books but yes, you will find they have much improved in this area.

Hope that answers the point!

[C.W.Richeson]

Hope that answers the point!

Yep, a concise, interesting, and comprehensive response - thanks!

[Brandir]

Okay, put me out of my misery. What is the "licence-that-may-not-be-named" for RuneQuest?

And the Holy Grail. I assume it is either LOTR or buying D&D from WotC?

On the Traveller front, I agree with Mr Sprange. A superb game that should be redone. I was under the impression that Marc Miller was releasing T5 this year. But I think that a lot of damage has been done to the licence with its extremely fractured line of products now available from multiple publishers.

[ShannonA]

Okay, put me out of my misery. What is the "licence-that-may-not-be-named" for RuneQuest?

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=317599


On the Traveller front, I agree with Mr Sprange. A superb game that should be redone. I was under the impression that Marc Miller was releasing T5 this year. But I think that a lot of damage has been done to the licence with its extremely fractured line of products now available from multiple publishers.

I'm working on some Traveller interviews right now. I don't actually think that the problem is that there are multiple publishers, but rather that they aren't willing to commit to any game system or any setting, and that they're almost all PDF, which means to the average consumer stopping by a game store, Traveller is dead and has been for years.

[Tim Gray]

And the Holy Grail. I assume it is either LOTR or buying D&D from WotC?
I wouldn't.

In fact I seem to remember that we found out what it was a while back and a lot of people thought it was less holy than Mongoose did. It might even have been Conan.

[Jorjowsky]

I wouldn't.

In fact I seem to remember that we found out what it was a while back and a lot of people thought it was less holy than Mongoose did. It might even have been Conan.
We found out? If we did (and I've kept my eyes open in the forums, I think), I missed it. :confused:

I'm quite sure it wasn't Conan at all (IIRC the Holy Grail thing started after they started publishing the Conan RPG), and as far as I know Mongoose has been totally tight-lipped about it. Many people (including me) have posted their theories of what a "Holy Grail of roleplaying" could be (Middle Earth, D&D, Final Fantasy, etc. Dozens upon dozens have been named, since a person's "Holy Grail" is another person's "whatever") but unless I'm mistaken nothing has been officially confirmed or, for that matter, debunked.

The only moments where "Holy Grail sightings" have been debunked by Mongoose have happened... well, almost every time they release/announce a new book; when they announced they had RuneQuest (and Glorantha), people yelled "Aha! So THAT was the Holy Grail!" -- and Mongoose's answer was "Huh, no." Same thing happened when they announced Elric or Lankhmar, for example. But no "okay, okay, that IS the Grail" comment has ever been made (or even hinted/implied) by any Mongoose employee that I know of.

Of course, that's probably what Mongoose wants -- to keep people speculating, spewing theories, talking about it, and generally keeping their interest picked. It's good business practice, after all.

(My memory could be faulty, though, so if anybody who knows better, by all means correct me. :))

[Snowblind]

Dozens upon dozens have been named, since a person's "Holy Grail" is another person's "whatever") but unless I'm mistaken nothing has been officially confirmed or, for that matter, debunked.

....But no "okay, okay, that IS the Grail" comment has ever been made (or even hinted/implied) by any Mongoose employee that I know of....

You're bang on correct. I've debunked a few; Lankhmar was one, I recall. When I worked for Mongoose, this was the worst part of an otherwise stellar gig. Both knowing what it was (yet being unable to say) and having to see complete fiction like this...


In fact I seem to remember that we found out what it was a while back and a lot of people thought it was less holy than Mongoose did. It might even have been Conan.

...every time the topic came up. I'd see another 'Hey, didn't we kindasortamaybe find out ages ago, and I don't recall, but didn't it suck?' and I'd try to weigh in with 'Nah, that's not it', but I got frustrated by the assumption from certain corners that I was lying, or covering the company's ass because public reaction to 'the grail' hadn't been as awesome as Mongoose hoped, or whatever.

In the end, I stopped debunking it when the topic arose, because it was less hassle to just stay silent.