Official Traveller Universe or Original Traveller Universe

[Infojunky]

So the guys at Mongoose are real cheapskates, skipping on the canon police hit squads. Ah I remember back in the good old times when you could not deviate from canon one pit without them Canon-Stormtroopers breaking up the session...

I've been a heretic for years, the trick to confuse them with valid scientific theory, then run as fast as you can. Gets them every time.

 

[Infojunky]

Apparently some people are having trouble with the thought of an official Babylon 5 supplement designed to run with Traveller.

Really?!? Where?....

 

[captainjack23]

Apparently some people are having trouble with the thought of an official Babylon 5 supplement designed to run with Traveller.

Really?!? Where?....

....See, turns out there's this guy, who heard that some other guy was doing that....and that some other guys might do it in the future...... :wink:

 

[Infojunky]

Apparently some people are having trouble with the thought of an official Babylon 5 supplement designed to run with Traveller.

Really?!? Where?....

....See, turns out there's this guy, who heard that some other guy was doing that....and that some other guys might do it in the future...... :wink:

Giggling to no end.....

 

[captainjack23]

Really?!? Where?....

....See, turns out there's this guy, who heard that some other guy was doing that....and that some other guys might do it in the future...... :wink:

Giggling to no end.....

Glad I could be of assistance in keeping your entertainment levels up there..

 

[captainjack23]

Poor officer.

Since I am hiding in a temporarily no longer empty hex on the surface
of an asteroid at relativistic speed in my own non-OTU not-really-parallel
universe, he / she / it will have a hard time finding me ... 8)

Are you kidding ? That is exactly where they patrol.....

That would explain the viability of piracy.

 

[AKAramis]

The only complaints I've spotted with the Traveller B5 books have been from the fans of the D20 Bab5 line.

 

[captainjack23]

The only complaints I've spotted with the Traveller B5 books have been from the fans of the D20 Bab5 line.

Who, to be fair, are losing support for their system/setting. So a bit of griping is quite reasonable.

 

[cbrunish]

That said, its not so hard to see why the situation you note caused confusion to set in: intentional or not, releasing a product called "Traveller:2300" (or whatever date) when one of your main products is called "Traveller", and not having much if anything to do with it is pretty far over on the confuse-o-meter. I always wonder why it wasn't marketed as "Twilight 2300" , It really was much more in common with their big seller and in-house focus at that time. Ah well.

Well said. Remember the Traveller: 2300 was a completly different game system from Traveller (at the the time). I was an outreach of Twight 2000. I think that this is were the problem arrived from. I'm thinking that this Babylon 5 setting is all it is. A setting situated in Babylon 5 universe with Traveller rules. Truthfully, not for me but I hope people have fun.

 

[captainjack23]

One option would be along the lines

Babylon 5

Powered bei Traveller

Similar to the "Powered by GURPS" approach

Actually, its on their main page product splash. Look near the bottom. Scheduled for a Dec release.

 

[Hemdian]

As long as its clear its an ATU, not OTU product it should be fine: To many people "Traveller" = "OTU", so if they buy a Babylon 5 product they will feel cheated if it doesn't fit somewhere into the OTU.

 

[EDG]

As long as its clear its an ATU, not OTU product it should be fine: To many people "Traveller" = "OTU", so if they buy a Babylon 5 product they will feel cheated if it doesn't fit somewhere into the OTU.

Then those people had better start getting used to Traveller not being the same as the OTU, because it's not anymore.

 

[GypsyComet]

The only complaints I've spotted with the Traveller B5 books have been from the fans of the D20 Bab5 line.

Who, to be fair, are losing support for their system/setting. So a bit of griping is quite reasonable.

Given the recent State of the Mongoose post, they were going to lose that support anyway.

 

[rust]

I just took a look at the Babylon 5-Traveller Campaign in the latest
issue of Signs & Portents, and found some rather interesting ideas
there, including destiny points and experience points.

So, I am sorry that the Babylon 5 fans will lose support for their ga-
me, but I am very much looking forward to the new inspirations and
options the Babylon 5 version of Traveller will bring to Traveller.

 

[Hemdian]

As long as its clear its an ATU, not OTU product it should be fine: To many people "Traveller" = "OTU", so if they buy a Babylon 5 product they will feel cheated if it doesn't fit somewhere into the OTU.

Then those people had better start getting used to Traveller not being the same as the OTU, because it's not anymore.

Sorry, EDG, but your post reads a little ... snippy. I was merely pointing out that not everyone is as clued up over the proposed change of direction Mongoose wish to take the Traveller line after approx 30 years, and that it would seem prudent to ensure there is as little confusion as possible at the point of sale. I remember the reaction to "Traveller:2300" which subsequently had to be renamed "2300AD". I just assumed any company would not want to create a negative situation if it were unnecessary and easily avoidable. Perhaps you have a different strategy when it comes to marketing.

 

[EDG]

Frankly, if everyone had to pussyfoot around the sensitivities of the Traveller community then nothing would get done for fear of offending them. Mongoose are taking the game in a different direction now - one it arguably should have gone in a long time ago, if not right from the start - and they're going to have it for at least 10 years so in practical terms people really should get used to the idea now.

And if I sound snippy then it's because I'm just tired of this "things should be the way they've always been" attitude in the Traveller community. Isn't it enough that Mongoose have taken CT and modernised it but still kept things largely recognisable? Do we really have to stick with outdated concepts and labels of OTUs and ATUs too? It's not like that anymore - now it's "Judge Dredd with Traveller rules" or "Babylon 5 with Traveller rules" or "Third Imperium with Traveller rules".

And honestly, can you really see anyone being so clueless as to get upset that Babylon 5 (or Judge Dredd or whatever) doesn't fit into the Charted Space setting in the first place? It's patently obvious that they're totally different settings after all.

 

[Allensh]

I want that Babylon 5 stuff for Traveller so bad it makes my teeth hurt!

And it annoys me to no end that someone else has the Serenity license sewed up, because that would be PERFECT for a Traveller treatment )although to be fair the Serenity RPG isn't bad)

Allen

 

[dmccoy1693]

Frankly, if everyone had to pussyfoot around the sensitivities of the Traveller community then nothing would get done for fear of offending them. Mongoose are taking the game in a different direction now - one it arguably should have gone in a long time ago, if not right from the start - and they're going to have it for at least 10 years so in practical terms people really should get used to the idea now.

And if I sound snippy then it's because I'm just tired of this "things should be the way they've always been" attitude in the Traveller community. Isn't it enough that Mongoose have taken CT and modernised it but still kept things largely recognisable? Do we really have to stick with outdated concepts and labels of OTUs and ATUs too? It's not like that anymore - now it's "Judge Dredd with Traveller rules" or "Babylon 5 with Traveller rules" or "Third Imperium with Traveller rules".

And honestly, can you really see anyone being so clueless as to get upset that Babylon 5 (or Judge Dredd or whatever) doesn't fit into the Charted Space setting in the first place? It's patently obvious that they're totally different settings after all.

*Standing Ovation*

 

[captainjack23]

Mongoose are taking the game in a different direction now - one it arguably should have gone in a long time ago, if not right from the start - and they're going to have it for at least 10 years so in practical terms people really should get used to the idea now.

Interstingly, I generally agree with EDG's point (if not his presentaion) about MGT's direction being one traveller should have taken before - to some degree. Historically, the main complaints about this issue center around the "dump it completely and move on" approach to expanding traveller and/or the OTU (Original Traveller Universe). I think it is that "Dump the OTU" idea of expansion which was the basic huge failure which started with MT, and really arrived with TNE.

This was, I think the biggest failing with the rollout of TNE; it did away with an older setting, and stopped any further support. GURPS encountered MUCH less opposition, partly I suspect from the fact that it didn't erase anything....of course, its not like there was any support for any version of Trav at that point, but it wouldn't have blocked them.

Where MGT is succeeding is , I think, in that they are continuing to support the OTU and a bunch of "powered by traveller" settings. People like variety and novelty, granted, but they also like their original systems to continue to be supported, and that includes new stuff within it. Its like TV, really. People get pissed about cancellation NOT because they can no longer watch their favorite episodes, but rather that there are no new episodes.

 

[captainjack23]

And if I sound snippy then it's because I'm just tired of this "things should be the way they've always been" attitude in the Traveller community. Isn't it enough that Mongoose have taken CT and modernised it but still kept things largely recognisable? Do we really have to stick with outdated concepts and labels of OTUs and ATUs too? It's not like that anymore - now it's "Judge Dredd with Traveller rules" or "Babylon 5 with Traveller rules" or "Third Imperium with Traveller rules".

And honestly, can you really see anyone being so clueless as to get upset that Babylon 5 (or Judge Dredd or whatever) doesn't fit into the Charted Space setting in the first place? It's patently obvious that they're totally different settings after all.

Which probably explains the current lack of observed confusion that doesn't stem from their "not yet actually released" status. Still cluessless has no bounds if all one does is look at the extreme cases, so yes, there probably will be one or two (actual numbers) complaints. Okay, I suspect we can rely on you to happily point this out to them..

Actually, the closest things to complaints I'm seeing, at all, are your proactive responses. Nothing else here, on COTI, RPGnet (either site), Avenger, you name it. No twenty page screeds, no endless thread wars.

It honestly seems like you have a rebuttal in search of an argument. Look around. The traveller community you describe may well have both expanded and, on the whole, moved on from the community you describe.