Yes, I was rather overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data published for Traveller. And bear in mind, that Poland in the early 90s was not a place where you could find things you wanted just like that. It was time before ebay; well, I remember that in 1994 there was 1 (one) private computer with internet connection in my town of 70,000.
Right now I have 3 shelves of Traveller books from different editions and when I showed them to my new group they said something along the lines of: “there must be more information to remember in those books that in Encyclopaedia Britannica”, and “instead of reading this get a life”.
But to me the richness of the background makes it now the biggest advantage of TNE over the other editions. Even if some players get their hands on something from CT I can just use what I like and say, that due to Collapse your data on this system is slightly outdated.
And as for the errata, GDW did something that some companies still have to learn. You valued your customers. And just for the fact that GDW had published for 22 years with one book, game or supplement every 22 days on average (taken from FFE’s website) and your stories how certain things had to be put together in a day or two before they were sent to printers, one should be grateful that you commit to making a mistake and try to fix it.
Cheers,
Blase
p.s. If you’re in Germany, or anywhere in Europe for that matter, feel free to come over. I owe you at least a pint of good Polish beer, and a tour of the places you wrote about in T2K
From: [] On Behalf Of
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2012 7:40 PM
To:
Subject: RE: [Traveller_TNE] Question for the group
Thanks Blase. Your message made me laugh out loud at one point.
I think it's really cool that, with all of the T2K stuff we did in Poland
(which to the American players was just one more place they'd never visit),
that it actually allowed you guys to play in your own back yard.
One thing you said that really piques my interest is, " Since we have
started playing Traveller less than 20 years ago (which makes me a
youngster in Traveller community), our main concern was the overwhelming
depth of materials published for Traveller over the previous 15 years. "
So would you say that you were one of the people that DID find the
Imperial Traveller background intimidating or off-putting? Because as I've
said, we did a lot of things to deliberately address that perception, but
I'm curious to hear from someone who might say, "Yes, I was definitely one
of those guys, and here's how it felt."
On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:54:21 +0200, Błażej Mazur < <> > wrote:
> So here’s my point of view.
>
> Since we have started playing Traveller less than 20 years ago (which
> makes me a youngster in Traveller community), our main concern was the
> overwhelming depth of materials published for Traveller over the
previous
> 15 years. TNE gave new players a great opportunity to jump right into
> this game without the need to look for hundreds of supplements. You
could
> just start an RC campaign with your character’s knowledge very similar
> to your knowledge of what’s happening outside.
>
> Also, I have always envisioned RC setting as very similar to T:2000.
> There’s been a war, you have no idea who’s still out there and
> who’s not, and you’re pretty much on your own. (As a side note I
> should point out, that in T2k we didn’t play the American remnants of
> the 5th Div, but chose Polish 1st Free Legion from Leszno, which is 50
km
> (30mi) from where I actually live now. Their main goal was to survive
> first, and after that you can try to rebuild some sort of civilization
> – sounds familiar?)
>
> For those who longed and pined for the Imperium there was always
> Regency. So when we finally got our hands on some Traveller resources
> from previous editions, we started a Regency campaign.
>
> What could you do with MT? Over the years I’ve heard that all
> materials for MT where in desperate need of errata, so, from publishing
> point of view I think, that a fresh start was something that was needed.
>
> Probably the most controversial issue was the Virus, but you already
> know this from the wars on the Internet and names you’ve been called by
> some people. To me Virus is not as inconceivable as some say. Given the
> data you had on Cymbeline chips, the need for a force that could put an
> end to the war (in one way or the other) is plausible at least. Besides,
> knowing how technology and computers have changed over the past 20 years
> I say you were right. And all those people who couldn’t suspend their
> disbelief for Virus, yet still believed in Cat-samurai, psionics and
> wolfs in space can go f…ishing.
>
> As stated in PoT, the Virus is not what runs the Traveller Universe.
> “Finally, and most importantly, avoid filling your campaign with Virus.
> The effects of Virus are omnipresent, but the actual reality of Virus
> should be very rare…” PoT p.143
>
> The “Shower incident” is what GT did to Traveller. If I were an MT
> player or referee I would most probably feel at least a little offended
> if you said: “Hey guys, you remember the last couple of years worth of
> books? Well, it didn’t happen.”
>
> All in all, you made a good and reasonable decision to move Traveller
> forwards.
>