I think that it is possible to make a new RM edition that include all the essence of RMC and RMSS in it. My greatest problem with RMC is not that I think it is bad system but that I think it miss some of the vital improvements that happened in the transition to RMSS. The irony of it is that RMC is championend as the game of options, but it is still lacking the options needed to make it like RMSS.
Because at least some of those were already published, surely, in Companions and the original authors own those rights?
That argument does not make sense. The options that was used to make RMSS is by nature included in RMSS and thus free to use. There are of course options from RM2 companions that never made into RMSS and those can't be used, but that is clearly a separate issue.
My understanding is that they were, in their Companion form, subject to all the same problems all the other work-for-hire was, that copyright no longer resides with ICE. As to why they were able to incorporate stuff into RMSS that was trailed in RM 2 Companions, I guess they worked something out, or it was different enough, or being embedded in a new complete game was the difference, or something like that.
One of the major reasons we had the flame wars about edition in the RM2 to RMSS switch was the RM editor had his vision about unifying everyones game to use same set of options. Instead of working with making the users get an educated choice about what to use and why his set of options was superior he worked hard to hide the possible options and get one rule book to rule them all. This was the first bad decision that fractured the fan-base. The second bad decision was RMC that reformated RM2 to be more modern, but failed to include the good additions from RMSS.
RMC was RM2 republished (including new layout), surely? Not RM2-evolved, or something like that (and where would we get agreement on which were "the good additions")? RMC is what it is, which is effectively almost exactly the same as RM2, which is what people like me -- RM2 fans -- wanted, our game back in print.
That is exactly the problem. RM2 was revised into RMC to make people like you happy when it could have been revised into something that did not alienate the RMSS crowd but still made you happy. Perhaps you can argue that your RM2 rules must not get a increased page count due to RMSS inspired options (IMHO it does not make sense since some options from RMSS made it into RMC). Anyhow that could easily be solved by having those options in a separate booklet that you could avoid to buy if you can't stand the thought of paying for RMSS material.
My issue was that until RMC, my game was dead, no searchable pdfs, no hard copy, no nothing. My game is RM2. The upshot was that I ended up in the same situation as the RMSS/FRP fans, having a game in searchable, digital form with (at the time) the possibility of ordering hard copy. If that "alienates" the RMSS crowd, then I'm sorry for that, but I just wanted to have a game that I could point players at again.
If they had space to chuck some new options in that they owned -- and, as I say, I don't think a direct lift from Rolemaster Companions then so long as they had all the original game in, I don't care.
I don't mind paying for RMSS, I have a complete set. I just don't like GMing or playing it (which I mostly discovered after buying it, although my completism did kick in).
As for the problem of choosing what options that was good, what is the problem really? Do you argue that RM2 fans are not able to handle having extra options listed? What would the harm be if other game groups liked the RMSS inspired options?
My point was merely that as all additions couldn't be put in, we'd all have additions we'd prefer to see in.
