Quote from: obrynI found the corebook bland and uninspiring...  I have the Avalon Hill version in the cream-colored box, and in contrast I found that to be very inspiring.

There was nothing about MRQ that jumped out and said "PLAY ME!" to me.

-O

I would actualyl like to check out the older editions.  I liked BRP in the other two incarnations I've seen it in, namely CoC and Pendragon, I like percentile systems in general, I like Fallout a lot as well.  So I was actually excited when I first heard about MRQ, despite my reservations about Mongoose products.

I plan on picking up the all-in-one core book whenever we see it at my FLGS. I like the system well enough, it has an old school feel to it.

Quote from: McrowI plan on picking up the all-in-one core book whenever we see it at my FLGS. I like the system well enough, it has an old school feel to it.

I was planning on doing the same, getting the combined core book.

Are the writing and editing of the actual print books reasonable? (I could care less about the SRD, it wasn't intended to be used as a player's guide for the financially challenged, but a reference for other designers.) If the actual print version of the game is somewhat unreadable, I may give it a pass.

Quote from: GoOrangeI was planning on doing the same, getting the combined core book.

Are the writing and editing of the actual print books reasonable? (I could care less about the SRD, it wasn't intended to be used as a player's guide for the financially challenged, but a reference for other designers.) If the actual print version of the game is somewhat unreadable, I may give it a pass.

The one I have might as well be a printed-out and bound SRD.

If they release a better edition, it will hopefully be more readable.

-O

Quote from: GoOrangeI was planning on doing the same, getting the combined core book.

Are the writing and editing of the actual print books reasonable? (I could care less about the SRD, it wasn't intended to be used as a player's guide for the financially challenged, but a reference for other designers.) If the actual print version of the game is somewhat unreadable, I may give it a pass.

Not sure on that one. I haven't heard any complaints yet and from what I hear they did updated this version, so all the errata should be fixed. I don't know anyone who has a copy yet.

Quote from: GoOrangeI was planning on doing the same, getting the combined core book.

Are the writing and editing of the actual print books reasonable? (I could care less about the SRD, it wasn't intended to be used as a player's guide for the financially challenged, but a reference for other designers.) If the actual print version of the game is somewhat unreadable, I may give it a pass.

I would say either wait for the combined book or pick up the Elric book.  IMHO the corebook isn't written badly, but it's definitely in the style of a generic type fantasy rules set.  There is little to no fluff on Glorantha, but I was fine with this since I mainly wanted it for the Lankhmar and Eternal Champion settings.  IMHO it's written in a generally precise way that allows one to grasp the rules fairly quickly.  It definitely has a more Sword and Sorcery feel to the rules than D&D does, but there's an article in S&P(have to check exactly what issue) that gives rules for adjusting weapon damage to emulate a more gritty feel or a more high fantasy feel.

The deluxe book is suppose to incorporate the rules from the players update and it's cheaper than buying the 3 rulebooks seperately ( though I think a group could definitely get awway with the GM buying deluxe and the player's buying just the corebook.).  The Elric book already has the update incorporated and, along with the complete rules has enough world information to get you playing in the Young Kingdoms.

I bought MRQ and I like it for many of the reasons that the OP mentioned (support material, etc.).  IMHO it fixes some of the issues I had with RQII and RQIII although I admittedly don't use every rule as written.

So far, I've purchased the core book, RQ Companion, Cults of Glorantha I and II, Legendary Heroes, Arms & Equipment, Magic of Glorantha, Lankhmar, Elric, Hawkmoon, and Slaine.  For the moment I'm using the SRD for the Monster book.  As mentioned earlier, the SRD's aren't intended to take the place of the books and you will have problems using them as substitutes (for example, there are no monster descriptions or pictures in the SRD).  

As you can see from the above, I've made a significant investment in MRQ.  Overall I'm pleased but I know that many long time players of RQ and BRP have some complaints with how elements of the new system are handled and Mongoose has made some editing mistakes, but none of that takes away from the overall enjoyment of the system IMO.

One other thing worth mentioning though is that if you bought Chaosium's Stormbringer and Hawkmoon, I personally didn't find a lot of new material in the MRQ versions.  They were enjoyable reads but not really groundbreaking.  On the plus side though, both Elric and Hawkmoon contain the RQ core rules so you don't have to have the core book to play them.  Lankhmar was a similar experience since there have been other versions in the past and there just isn't a lot of new ground to cover (although the black magic system was innovative).  I got much more enjoyment from Slaine since I've never bought anything in that setting before.

So reviews are mixed on the new MRQ from what I can tell but I know my players love it and it has been great to have new material after all these years.

A few more things I will say before heading out the door is that I really like the way the new magic systems are being presented.  You get runes in core, divine and sorcery in the compaion or SRD, summoning in Elric, dark sorcery in Lankhmar and ancient sorcery-tech in Hawkmoon.  Each magic system has it's own particular feel, yet the rules for each are similar enough that it's a snap for players to learn how to use them.

They also tend to emulate the magic of S&S fiction, that I'm familiar with and are modular enough that you could design your own homebrew and use any combination of them as the basis for your magic system(s).

I really like professions and backgrounds, mainly because it's simple to make up your own...

New Background= Description+(70% divided among basic skills)+(Lore(regional)&Language(native))+(2xAdvanced Skills)

New Profession= Description+(50% divided among skills)...with each advanced skill counted as 10%

I was able to fiure this out on my first readthrough, as opposed to D&D where I'm still not certain on how to create a "balanced" class.