Dear All,
I'd be surprised if any of the information created by individuals on
this list was protected by copyright, even if individuals insist that
it is. It is far more likely that these derivative works are well and
truly in the public domain.
As the definition of copyright and public domain varies from country
to country, probably any derivative works done by individuals here are
public works because they are indeed viewed by the public and
have not been copyright.
Perhaps someone can enlighten us further about this?
As for saying something good about TNE that is easy.
Thanks to you, Dave, for your work in TNE, that remains (IMHO) by
far, the best version of Traveller. It provides a gritty background
and the depth, which allows me to imagine that which is actually going
on in distant places and times particularly aboard spaceships. For
this I thank you.
I am tempted to launch into a scathing comparison of T5 with TNE but
I will resist the urge...
Thanks,
Craige Cook
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Cc:
Sent:Wed, 26 Mar 2014 23:44:59 -0500 (CDT)
Subject:Re: [Traveller_TNE] EW bits and Longbow
Might not be a terrible idea. Although it might be fun to make it a
that we could give to people individually only after they "say
something
nice about TNE." Then put those responses with their names on a
website
and see what happens.
There are already lurkers on this list culling all this stuff and
assembling it anyway. Fortunately I'm told this list has a rule that
says
you can't quote anything from this list without the permission of the
author/poster.
Dave
"Publishing or Re-Posting my Traveller_TNE posts requires my written
permission."
> Ah yeah think I still have a partial reply I never got to.
>
> I was only partially kidding when I said I was culling your posts
and
emails into a "Dave Source book."
>
> I do think we could perhaps aim a bit higher and put this in a sort
of
penultimate web based TNE resource "done right" without the burdens
of
budgets or deadlines (beyond squeezing it out of your copious free
time,
of
> course in between Battleship Craft sorties)...
>
> - Sent from my SM-N900T
> On Mar 26, 2014 7:52 PM, wrote:
>
>> Based on Uxi's msg:
>> By the way, Uxi reminded me. Re: Empress Wave, I was having a
>> conversation
>> with Uxi maybe a year ago about the EW, and I was trying to
remember
why
>> the EW wasn't doing more damage and thereby making itself more
visible,
and why Strephon's vision of "her" was of a timeless "pregnant
moment"
instead of "biff, bam, zowie." In talking to Uxi I did remember and
wanted
>> to drop this out there.
>> As recounted elsewhere, the EW is a physical effect that changes
the
permeability between N-space and Psi-space which allows some
>> effects/energies to come in from psi-space. But it is not always
immediately destructive. The reason for this is that those energies
are
not coming in at a constant rate, they are discrete events that can
be
separated by long periods of inactivity, and the picture transmitted
to
Strephon's mind was the "test pattern" during a period of inactivity.
Periods of activity would be the result of a couple things.
>> 1) Processes within psi-space itself that we don't understand,
because
they are not triggered by events in N-space.
>> 2) Processes within N-space, mostly related to the Zhodani Core
Expeditions. While it would have been nice if that could have been
timed
>> to precisely match dates recorded in the CT Zhodani book,
factually
that
>> would have been unlikely, and just really good serendipity if the
math
worked out that way. The data points that we have are: distance from
Imperial border to Galactic Core, departure times of Zhodani core
expeditions, and closest approach to GC of each of those. Those
expeditions were not "take a whole fleet out, bring the whole fleet
back,"
>> but successive pushing out of base camps from the far end of the
most
recent expedition. In between expeditions settlements or outposts
remained
>> behind along the explored path. Where these were established on
Ancients
>> sites, the "digs" would have continued over time. At any point
those
digs
>> could have found or triggered something which would cause
Psi-space
activity.
>> Why, logically, did not the Consulate permanently expand its
borders
down
>> the CoreEx path? Probably because their boundaries were drawn on
the
original Known Space map and it was easier to leave them that way
than
start making all kinds of little red client state bubbles heading off
the
>> top of the map.
>> The Zho did, obviously have experience behind the EW, much of it
unspectacular, and when it was, the effects were contained way
outside its
>> borders. But one event did affect the Consulate as seen in a TNS
article
>> discussing battle damaged Zho ships, collected somewhere in SM.
This
was
>> to ships operating in the CoreEx corridor, maintaining lines of
communication to the outposts. And another bad one happened more
recently
>> leading to the Exodus. I believe this was going to have to do with
the
testing of Ancient artifacts with the involvement of a large number
of
high-level Zho nobles which backfired.
>> Also, I was thinking about Longbow in the last couple weeks and
how the
main requirement was not total baseline length, it was signal
strength and
>> creation of multiple baseline segments: filling in the holes
within the
baseline to create the highest resolution picture. I thought that not
only
>> would IN ships routinely record data from the area being studied
and
pass
>> it in (with precise time and location data for synchronization),
but
the
>> same way that it was big a few years ago to share your PC's
processor
time
>> to help SETI, privately-owned ships could pick up a small subsidy
from
the
>> government for turning in properly recorded data as they went
about
their
>> business. In order to record this properly and be eligible for the
subsidies, you would have to have a certain quality of EMS sensor
calibrated properly as well as a system that could time and location
stamp
>> it for synchronization. This would probably require installation
at a
Scout or Naval base. As I was thinking about TNE, Virus, and BSG's
Nav-based Virus, I thought, "hey, this distributed Auxiliary VLBI
collection system (DAVLBICS) might have been an interesting vector to
think about Virus infection."
>> However, the problem with all of this is that when you take
seriously
the
>> ability of the Imperium to use its physical dimensions and number
of
locations to do VLBI, and the kind of advanced image processing
algorithms
>> they'll have then, they will pretty much know what is out around
them
without ever having to go there, and the idea of things beyond their
borders being "unknown" is really not true. That tends to undermine
the
classic SF assumptions of frontiers and mysteries when you can track
Zhodani CoreEx starships hundreds or thousands of pc away. Granted,
that
>> info is 3.26 years old per pc, so makes it of limited use when
tracking
those starships, but for planetary survey that's close enough to real
time. If you were a colonist you could pull up a 3D image of the
surface
>> of a world and draw up a VR homestead on it, even if you won't
arrive
there for years.
>> And the above paragraph accepts the notion that there are issues
with
how
>> one interprets the 2D Traveller map compared to the 3D reality it
represents. As a basic embedded abstraction in Traveller, that is one
of
>> the things we try not to talk about, but when you're computing
VLBI
baseline segments, the question is begged pretty quickly. Is there
really
>> so Z axis, or is there a small one that is washed out? Who knows.
>> > I was thinking on your idea of Psionic echos in Jumpspace to let
>> psions
>> communicate with those long long dead, as well, > though it would
only
be apparent in certain extreme misjumps (or behind the Empress Wave).
>> >
>> > - Sent from my SM-N900T
>> > On Mar 26, 2014 2:10 PM, wrote:
>> >
>> >> Yes, I enjoy that approach as well. History saying, "look, I'm
>> playing
>> out
>> >> the way I play out. Individuals and details and events don't
matter.
>> Silly
>> >> organic lifeforms. 'Cause and effect.' How droll."
>> >> I like the Ithklur/Hiver reversal, just can't think of a
rejoinder
>> yet.
>> >> > Or Cleon's little known rival Selcirep takes over Sylea and
little
>> net
>> >> > change other than a bunch of names in old books a thousand
years
>> >> later.
>> >> >
>> >> > Or different Terrans/Vilani whoever cause them later by
leaving
>> behind
>> >> > their trash and the footnotes behind the discovery &
development
>> are
>> >> the
>> >> > only change.
>> >> >
>> >> > Lucky/unlucky PC discover by tinkering with the doowacky on
the
>> thingamajig
>> >> > that unrefined Droyne in the Jump Drive cause them to Slide
into
>> >> parallel
>> >> > universes where the main PC's double is seen with a beard and
eye
>> >> patch
>> >> > (or
>> >> > without if that's how he rolls)... Where the Ithklur's
warrior
>> servant
>> >> > Hivers resist the domination of their emotionless masters &
insist
>> on
>> calling Soccer "Football" and have a large repertoire of Hooligan
>> >> trivia
>> >> > in
>> >> > between their warrior - brood larvae gestations.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > - Sent from my SM-N900T
>> >> > On Mar 26, 2014 12:09 PM, wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >> However, there must be some kind of rules preventing you
from
>> >> blowing
>> >> >> up worlds that become Capital, Hub, etc., killing Cleon,
>> destroying
>> >> all
>> >> >> the Cymbeline chips... :-)
>> >> >> > I gained an interesting perspective on this from, of all
things,
>> a
>> >> >> time
>> >> >> travel novel called "To Say Nothing of the Dog" by Connie
Willis,
>> in
>> which
>> >> >> > a future time travelling society labors to save historical
>> >> artifacts
>> >> >> from
>> >> >> > Earth's past without altering history in the process. They
do
so
>> by
>> >> >> only
>> >> >> > grabbing things with have become "lost" to history, often
at
the
>> >> last
>> >> >> second of their known existence.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> That gives me an idea for some amusing one-off time travel
>> scenarios
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Some PCs in Mileu 0 are going to kill Cleon, but that would
>> prevent
>> >> the
>> >> >> First Imperium from being established, so the Canon/Time
Police
>> have
>> >> to
>> >> >> come in and prevent the players from doing so.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Or time-travelling PCs decide to wipe out the Cymbeline
chips to
>> >> prevent
>> >> >> Virus from happening. Or prevent the Solomani cruiser from
ever
>> >> crashing
>> >> >> there. But then it turns out that without Virus Lucan would
have
>> won,
>> >> >> and
>> >> >> that was even worse, so the Canon/Time Police have to go
back and
>> prevent
>> >> >> that prevention from happening
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Like Laumer's Dinosaur Beach where all of the successive
>> >> "corrections"
>> >> >> to
>> >> >> the past riddle the "time fabric" with so many holes that it
>> >> eventually
>> >> >> goes into heat death. I've always thought that Dino Beach
was the
>> >> last
>> >> >> word on time travel because it presents its logical
conclusion.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >
>