Blase--
Thank you very much for that, and you made me laugh out loud again.
By the way, I'm glad you guys are in NATO now, and not the Warsaw Pact.
That's an interesting reaction from your players, and one that reminds me
that we weren't being completely stupid when we tried to simplify the game
for newcomers. The funny thing is, my Traveller players never felt like
they had to learn anything about the game background. As the GM, they just
expected I would let them know what they needed to know, and I guess I was
cooperative. Of course my campaign wasn't in the Imperium anyway.
Actually, I didn't really put Hard Times together in a day, it took a lot
longer than that. But that was the date on the schedule when I got there.
But yes, we did have to do a lot of work and re-work under a lot of really
tight deadlines to make things work.
So, Blase, what do you and Roger think about the relative merits of Polish
beer vs. Norwegian beer? :-)
Dave
On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 20:22:26 +0200, Błażej Mazur <> wrote:
> 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 to Collapse your data on this system is slightly outdated.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.
>>
>
>
>