So many of these discussions can be dealt with by the simple addition of an "IMTU".
The original arguers society of Traveller, the TML, gave up on "what is Canon" discussions over a decade ago for precisely the reasons we've been seeing here: increasingly heated and annoying (to observers) "discussions" over what is "real" and what isn't, to the point of lost friendships, community fragmentation, and loss of all the productive members of that list.
An edition-specific board like this one should not have this issue, but we've managed anyway.
We as a Mongoose board community need to:
-Generally stick to Mongoose Traveller products
-ALWAYS consider using an IMTU (or IRL) disclaimer on bold "it works like this" statements unless the workings of a Rule are being discussed.
-Not fish for "absolute" justification of each individual game's way of doing things.
-Get over the fact that other Traveller games are different. Your game is right, and so is everyone else's.
In addition, a few community building guidelines:
-Think about why you are posting. Posting to contribute is good. Posting to argue is usually counter-productive.
-Treat questions about "why" as actual questions, not as the steps to a soapbox.
-Learn to use conditional statements instead of absolute statements unless you are citing directly from a published source. Once you head off into opinion, label it as such.
-Recognize that emotion, including snarkiness and attempts at humor, does not translate easily to a purely written media like this one. Those smileys are provided for a reason, so don't be afraid to use them.
