Mourning the loss of the Official Traveller Universe

[kafka]

Yes, I know that Mongoose is committed to a two track approach...Generic and OTU. But, I find myself wondering if I am merely just crying over spilled milk...

What is it that I consider to be the fluff that constitutes OTU (Official or Original)? What is that Mongoose should be looking at and does not.... and that is where I am beginning to feel doubts. Sure, I would like Mongoose to rehash everything from JTAS and present in a modern form. And, yes, DGP did some really great illustrations and contributions in the way of filling areas like Terra or Ksyu or the interiors of Starships but all that is being papered over and re-written anew.

For it seems to me that what Mongoose is doing is allowing me to dream again. Something that has not happened since my JTAS subscription went the way of my Challenge subscription. And, this is a good thing but challenging me and showing me more Dragons on the map and also filling in other details...I will have a richer Traveller universe than one that I thought that I was mourning. {This should not be taken as a licence to drop MJD or other fine Traveller writers but instead challenge my assumptions and still give me enough to carry dreams into my games.}

 

[EDG]

I'm confused. Are you "mourning" something about what Mongoose are doing with the OTU or are you happy about it?

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I think he is mourning the loss of being spoon-fed his setting and celebrating the return of his own imagination.

 

[kafka]

That is exactly my problem...I do not know...my first reaction to Mercenary and 760 Patrons was..."THAT Ain't TRAVELLER..." but even then I have an appreciation for the new vistas (no relation to any Windows product) that Mongoose is openning up again.

So, sure, I would like to crowd alot of those to whom, we call "Absent Friends" into a Mongoose design room but really wonder if they would come up with something different. For SF has moved on since they penned their works and Traveller has too.

So, Mongoose is doing a great job by firing those synapsis that are responsible for the imagination.

 

[Anonymous]

You have lost me there. When gaming, I don't have time to create adventures, let alone universes, so I'm happy to use one of the best realised settings in existence. I'm happy for MT to be open for other stuff too, but I need me my 3I

 

[BP]

Seems to me we are getting both - OTU support (ala Spinward Marches and supporting text in the new A-Team styl.. ehr.. black books with mono-stripe covers) as well as alternate setting spanning (Babylon 5, Himmler's Spammers, etc. :wink: ) books.

Not to mention the OGL and SRD are very generic - allowing for even more freedom of independent development.

And with the largely compatible with CT aspect - the old 3I backstories and most of the supporting material (maps, etc) re still relevant (while awaiting new Mongoose style material)...

 

[EDG]

Still confused. There's no "loss" to "mourn" here. The OTU isn't going anywhere.

It sounds to me like you've really just ditched your grognardish expectations of what you thought MGT would be, and have accepted that it's not going to be like that but is still going to be pretty damn decent. I don't think that's anything to be "mourned", it's to be celebrated.

 

[BP]

Still confused. There's no "loss" to "mourn" here. The OTU isn't going anywhere.

Me thinks, perhaps, that kafka is a Headline-Editor... :roll:

 

[Vile]

Hahaha, I got my head around that, eventually. It helps that I went through Glorantha-withdrawal and becoming a born-again BRPer. I know what you're going through, Kafka, and you're not alone - there is life after official settings!

Group Hug!

 

[dmccoy1693]

Not to mention the OGL and SRD are very generic - allowing for even more freedom of independent development.

*Sits back and smiles* The Future looks Bright.

 

[Arakor]

*Sits back and smiles* The Future looks Bright.

The Future looks Orange??

 

[Valarian]

*Sits back and smiles* The Future looks Bright.

The Future looks Orange??

I've always wondered whether this advertising slogan is used in Northern Ireland.

 

[alex_greene]

*Sits back and smiles* The Future looks Bright.

The Future looks Orange??

I've always wondered whether this advertising slogan is used in Northern Ireland.

Trust me. It really isn't.

 

[EDG]

*Sits back and smiles* The Future looks Bright.

The Future looks Orange??

So I wasn't the only one that wanted to say that

 

[Jame Rowe]

*Sits back and smiles* The Future looks Bright.

The Future looks Orange??

So I wasn't the only one that wanted to say that

I must be missing something. Could someone enlighten me?

 

[GypsyComet]

Orange is the traditional color associated with the Protestants of Northern Ireland.

"Bright" is probably a brand of cleaner that is really, really orange...

 

[Mongoose Gar]

Actually, it's the slogan used for the Orange telephone network.

obTrav: You land on a new planet, and get hit by roaming charges from your comm provider back home.

 

[GypsyComet]

The whole phrase being significant was my next guess...

ObTrav: Crossing from one Hi Pop world's trade zone to another causes a shift in slang terms, and a word with loaded meaning amongst the crew (so it pops up in their speech) has taken on another, completely different, loaded meaning in the new trade zone.

 

[EDG]

It's one of those british advertising memes that get stuck in people's heads (much like "for mash get Smash" ). It was for the Orange mobile phone network, they'd always end their ads with "The future is bright, the future is Orange".

Hence the urge for the brits to complete the sentence

 

[alex_greene]

Heh

Don't ask. I still think of "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades."