Deciders and Marc Miller's Traveller Novel

[AndrewW]

Maybe they get their predictions from Asimov's Second Foundation.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I was asking - since people are talking about the deciders, what is the unique sci-fi selling point of the decider?

What is the unique selling point for a non-sci-fi decider?

 

[Anonymous]

I was asking - since people are talking about the deciders, what is the unique sci-fi selling point of the decider?

What is the unique selling point for a non-sci-fi decider?

Sometimes things like this remind me that Traveller isn't really a sci-fi setting. It's just the wild west all over again. By this I mean that you could transpose the average adventure and it would still work, without needing to invoke the supernatural. Quite a few of the black book ones would convert straight over. Space ship is a horse, backwater planet is a backwoods town, etc etc. As mentioned in a previous message there are some genuine sci-fi concepts that would prevent conversion but many of these are not present in Traveller.

This isn't really a bad thing. There's no real right or wrong in how you do your game background, and clearly a lot of people like it.

In answering your question, my expectation of a sci-fi novel is that if it has deciders, they should be sci-fi deciders, otherwise you have just another NSA story. This though is a personal preference.

It appears however that have immortal deciders in Traveller so that does give them a sci-fi element. Not really sure why you chose not to mention that when I asked about their sci-fi unique selling point.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Sometimes things like this remind me that Traveller isn't really a sci-fi setting.

Some players see Traveller as a setting described through its game mechanics. Some see Traveller as game rules for playing in the 3rd Imperium. Some see Traveller as a generic ruleset for any genre or setting. Ask ten people what Traveller is and you will get ten different answers. And millennials see sci-fi as something different on top of all that.

 

[-Daniel-]

Sometimes things like this remind me that Traveller isn't really a sci-fi setting.

I find that most real good stories transcend their "genre" settings. You dress them up with the setting, but the stories work. Sort of like High Noon and Outland. Same story, Western and SciFi. Works either way. I agree with you, Traveller stories can be more than just SciFi stories.

It appears however that have immortal deciders in Traveller so that does give them a sci-fi element. Not really sure why you chose not to mention that when I asked about their sci-fi unique selling point.

I thought it was an interesting element, that is why I offered it in my post. :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

Sometimes things like this remind me that Traveller isn't really a sci-fi setting.

Some players see Traveller as a setting described through its game mechanics. Some see Traveller as game rules for playing in the 3rd Imperium. Some see Traveller as a generic ruleset for any genre or setting. Ask ten people what Traveller is and you will get ten different answers. And millennials see sci-fi as something different on top of all that.

Is there an issue with millenials and Traveller? I don't really have much trouble with kids and classic sci-fi but I do have trouble with kids and games that haven't fully adapted their business to the internet.

FFE is a case in point and why I prefer Mongoose's Traveller. Trying to buy Traveller 5 is a nightmare slog. FFE's main website sells CD-ROMs (No, I don't know what those are either) and the e-book link goes to a page on Drivethru RPG that has no Traveller books on. So you try to go to the forums to find out what's happening but you can't register because it doesn't accept email addresses from gmail or any other email provider I've heard of. I *think* my physical ISP gave me an address that would work, but everyone I know changed to apple or gmail already because of the phone services it integrates with. For a product traditionally aimed at geeks or for people who live their lives on a phone, this can be a bit jarring.

So I end up with Mongoose. Their books might be plain black and white like it was 1970 all over again (Legend!), but at least Mongoose has a functioning internet presence with a working shopping cart that enables me to actually purchase things and bore people to death on forums.

Apologies for potentially off-topic rambling!

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Is there an issue with millenials and Traveller?

They were babies growing up with Star Wars and all the toys and cartoons for it. So that is sci-fi to them. Old referees need to understand this about nexgen players. Otherwise, there is only confusion trying to imagine things. I use graphics and artifacts to show new players exactly what someone or something looks like.

 

[-Daniel-]

Is there an issue with millenials and Traveller?

They were babies growing up with Star Wars and all the toys and cartoons for it. So that is sci-fi to them. Old referees need to understand this about nexgen players. Otherwise, there is only confusion trying to imagine things. I use graphics and artifacts to show new players exactly what someone or something looks like.

Interesting point of view Shawn. Not been my experience though. Many of the millennials seem to accept my explanations quite easily. To be honest they quickly shift from Star Wars to other source materials. Firefly, for example. They do not seem to have issue with paradigm shifts the way some of the older guys do. I have had more of an issue with the older guy who can't let go of his 40k love affair or the older guy who keeps trying to force Traveller to fit his Star Trek vision. Guess it is less the age of the players who have issues and more about a person's ability to open their minds. :mrgreen:

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Things work fine when players understand each other's sci-fi defaults. Some old referees will force mainframes on new players. Not fun to watch.

 

[-Daniel-]

Things work fine when players understand each other's sci-fi defaults. Some old referees will force mainframes on new players. Not fun to watch.

True, but then we could use my words "...more about a person's ability to open their minds." to cover GMs as well as players. :wink: :lol:

 

[ovka]

Is there an issue with millenials and Traveller? I don't really have much trouble with kids and classic sci-fi but I do have trouble with kids and games that haven't fully adapted their business to the internet.

FFE is a case in point and why I prefer Mongoose's Traveller. Trying to buy Traveller 5 is a nightmare slog. FFE's main website sells CD-ROMs (No, I don't know what those are either) and the e-book link goes to a page on Drivethru RPG that has no Traveller books on. So you try to go to the forums to find out what's happening but you can't register because it doesn't accept email addresses from gmail or any other email provider I've heard of. I *think* my physical ISP gave me an address that would work, but everyone I know changed to apple or gmail already because of the phone services it integrates with. For a product traditionally aimed at geeks or for people who live their lives on a phone, this can be a bit jarring.

So I end up with Mongoose. Their books might be plain black and white like it was 1970 all over again (Legend!), but at least Mongoose has a functioning internet presence with a working shopping cart that enables me to actually purchase things and bore people to death on forums.

A very interesting set of points. There have been several threads on the CotI forums recently (the forums linked to by the FFE site) about attracting a new younger generation of players. Do you mind if I repost your comments over there?

Cheers,

Baron Ovka

 

[Anonymous]

A very interesting set of points. There have been several threads on the CotI forums recently (the forums linked to by the FFE site) about attracting a new younger generation of players. Do you mind if I repost your comments over there?
Baron Ovka

Sure.