SUMMARY OF POST
Give us some incredible tech, spaceship, cybernetics and computer supplements/gear books/options coming with High Guard, Mercenary or forthcoming supplements.
FULL POST
This is sent with all sorts of POSITIVE criticism.
With the coming of High Guard, I wait with a certain amount of trepidation. I love Traveller. I set it aside for about over a decade or more and jumped on the chance when Mongoose revived it. I was drooling at the thought of the new incarnation of Traveller. Let’s face it… Traveller has been cursed by the 1970’s tech constraints and game mechanics since its inception. It’s a good game but in desperate need of a refit. I think it’s fair to say that we now have a much better appreciation for tech possibilities than we did in the 1970’s. In addition, the RPG market has shown us a number of different ways to make game mechanics more interesting.
The Traveller main rulebook was bittersweet. I loved the streamlining of everything into one book. The new careers, events, promotion and all character generation is excellent. Very simple, evocative and very Traveller (sans the deaths… which I only miss in a nostalgic/masochistic sort of way). The trade system was well-laid out and the overall feel of the book was simple.
But there was nothing new. Nothing shiny. It was Classic Traveller with a few new tweaks.
The combat system is simple and leaves much to be desired. Feels like Vampire: The Masquerade where they actually tell you that combat is that way because it’s not a “core element” of the game. This is Traveller. I have not picked up Mercenary but I sincerely hope it remedies this situation. Reports indicate otherwise though so I'm holding off. Damage… ugh, this is a personal gripe but the damage/armor system is so dull as to actually turn me away. Couldn’t we have updated that with something new and shiny. Wound codes, Body stat, Stun damage, something other than straight “hit points”. And mental damage isn’t even covered except to say that such damage “heals at the rate of 1/day.”
Technology is stale. Computers, cybernetics, weapons, armor… all of it has the imagination of a supply clerk. Some fun variation would have been nice. Mongoose simply copied and pasted the old equipment list. Cybernetics? Come on… we can add a couple pages about it! Computers are Radio Shack quality. Even in the 21st century we have the Web, mobile computing from phones, and the imagination to envision even more… in Traveller we get none of that. Copied and pasted from CT.
The ships still have about four options and feel as futuristic as a Studebaker. Do I want a laser or a missile? Do I want a stateroom or cargo space? C’mon… pick up a copy of Janes and take a look at the hardware out there. Sensors are so archaic as to be outmatched by a 21st century 747 jetliner. Dang people! If an F-18’s electronics is light-years ahead of a spaceship then we have some problems. I was really looking forward to some changes in the ship system. Copied and pasted from CT.
As a minor observation, in a game where the player character does not advance in strength, skill or power as a direct result from the adventuring… you have to offer something else. Material wealth is just a means of keeping score if all I can do is buy a Autopistol. Give us some gizmos!
I have no problem injecting cash into Traveller (it’s a habit of mine). But I did pay $40 for a 200p black and white version of CT with a fresh coat of paint. I’ve held off on Mercenary simply because I’m not sure what it’s going to add to my game. The reports are rather bland. But the most important supplement to me is going to be High Guard… make it worth it, make spaceships fun!
REQUESTS:
1. Make Traveller better. The basic system is out and is CT. That should placate the Grognards or Classicists or whatever you call them. You now have free rein to start stuffing it full of “optional” things.
2. Flesh out cybernetics, computers, hardware, ships. Just do it. People love gear books and you can crank them out easily. We’ll buy them… we always do.
3. Spaceships, people. They’re the reason we play space games. We love them. We want to tweak them and play with them and customize them. We want to make them our own individual expressions… give us the chance.
4. I own the Mercenary LBB, the High Guard LBB, the Scouts LBB. Your books need to be better or at least full of new material. I’ll hand you $40.00 to put a new coat of paint on the main rulebook to infuse the line with some capital in the beginning. But I need a reason to keep giving you money… please don’t try to sell me what I already own.
5. Embrace technology! Cooperate with the resources out there. There is no map of Charted Space, let alone Spinward Marches on your website. Get a full-color one up there now! No excuse. Let people build excel sheets, call up the maker of Universe or Heaven and Earth and tell them you’ll help them with a new version! Space RPGers love their computers and props… give them to us or encourage us to make them! (Seriously, no pdf map of the Spinward Marches? Hello… 21st century.).
In closing, I love you kids… keep the love with NEW/BETTER stuff. And thanks for taking all the criticism of grumpy, old Traveller nerds.
PS-If these requests have been answered, consider me ignorant as I don’t read the forums much.
PSS-Please help me get rid of my disposable income.
Give us some incredible tech, spaceship, cybernetics and computer supplements/gear books/options coming with High Guard, Mercenary or forthcoming supplements.
FULL POST
This is sent with all sorts of POSITIVE criticism.
With the coming of High Guard, I wait with a certain amount of trepidation. I love Traveller. I set it aside for about over a decade or more and jumped on the chance when Mongoose revived it. I was drooling at the thought of the new incarnation of Traveller. Let’s face it… Traveller has been cursed by the 1970’s tech constraints and game mechanics since its inception. It’s a good game but in desperate need of a refit. I think it’s fair to say that we now have a much better appreciation for tech possibilities than we did in the 1970’s. In addition, the RPG market has shown us a number of different ways to make game mechanics more interesting.
The Traveller main rulebook was bittersweet. I loved the streamlining of everything into one book. The new careers, events, promotion and all character generation is excellent. Very simple, evocative and very Traveller (sans the deaths… which I only miss in a nostalgic/masochistic sort of way). The trade system was well-laid out and the overall feel of the book was simple.
But there was nothing new. Nothing shiny. It was Classic Traveller with a few new tweaks.
The combat system is simple and leaves much to be desired. Feels like Vampire: The Masquerade where they actually tell you that combat is that way because it’s not a “core element” of the game. This is Traveller. I have not picked up Mercenary but I sincerely hope it remedies this situation. Reports indicate otherwise though so I'm holding off. Damage… ugh, this is a personal gripe but the damage/armor system is so dull as to actually turn me away. Couldn’t we have updated that with something new and shiny. Wound codes, Body stat, Stun damage, something other than straight “hit points”. And mental damage isn’t even covered except to say that such damage “heals at the rate of 1/day.”
Technology is stale. Computers, cybernetics, weapons, armor… all of it has the imagination of a supply clerk. Some fun variation would have been nice. Mongoose simply copied and pasted the old equipment list. Cybernetics? Come on… we can add a couple pages about it! Computers are Radio Shack quality. Even in the 21st century we have the Web, mobile computing from phones, and the imagination to envision even more… in Traveller we get none of that. Copied and pasted from CT.
The ships still have about four options and feel as futuristic as a Studebaker. Do I want a laser or a missile? Do I want a stateroom or cargo space? C’mon… pick up a copy of Janes and take a look at the hardware out there. Sensors are so archaic as to be outmatched by a 21st century 747 jetliner. Dang people! If an F-18’s electronics is light-years ahead of a spaceship then we have some problems. I was really looking forward to some changes in the ship system. Copied and pasted from CT.
As a minor observation, in a game where the player character does not advance in strength, skill or power as a direct result from the adventuring… you have to offer something else. Material wealth is just a means of keeping score if all I can do is buy a Autopistol. Give us some gizmos!
I have no problem injecting cash into Traveller (it’s a habit of mine). But I did pay $40 for a 200p black and white version of CT with a fresh coat of paint. I’ve held off on Mercenary simply because I’m not sure what it’s going to add to my game. The reports are rather bland. But the most important supplement to me is going to be High Guard… make it worth it, make spaceships fun!
REQUESTS:
1. Make Traveller better. The basic system is out and is CT. That should placate the Grognards or Classicists or whatever you call them. You now have free rein to start stuffing it full of “optional” things.
2. Flesh out cybernetics, computers, hardware, ships. Just do it. People love gear books and you can crank them out easily. We’ll buy them… we always do.
3. Spaceships, people. They’re the reason we play space games. We love them. We want to tweak them and play with them and customize them. We want to make them our own individual expressions… give us the chance.
4. I own the Mercenary LBB, the High Guard LBB, the Scouts LBB. Your books need to be better or at least full of new material. I’ll hand you $40.00 to put a new coat of paint on the main rulebook to infuse the line with some capital in the beginning. But I need a reason to keep giving you money… please don’t try to sell me what I already own.
5. Embrace technology! Cooperate with the resources out there. There is no map of Charted Space, let alone Spinward Marches on your website. Get a full-color one up there now! No excuse. Let people build excel sheets, call up the maker of Universe or Heaven and Earth and tell them you’ll help them with a new version! Space RPGers love their computers and props… give them to us or encourage us to make them! (Seriously, no pdf map of the Spinward Marches? Hello… 21st century.).
In closing, I love you kids… keep the love with NEW/BETTER stuff. And thanks for taking all the criticism of grumpy, old Traveller nerds.
PS-If these requests have been answered, consider me ignorant as I don’t read the forums much.
PSS-Please help me get rid of my disposable income.
