Question For those who have picked up robots

[NulSyn]

Hey guys!

Some of us over on RPGnet have been discussing this book. Particularly there is some confusion on the issue of number of slots, what gives them, what uses them, and what prevents one from having any number of limbs, etc...

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=558328

This thread is the most recent linking to another thread right before it. If anyone here thinks they could shine more light on the questions and ideas, please do. I figure there are more people here that are much more knowledgeable of Traveller than me and could help out. Thanks!

 

[tzunder]

Not entirely -

Yep, entirely.

Oh deary deary me.

Phil was making a very good point which is that there is a great deal of variability in prices and costs in any economy, before you even bring in the idea of a vast interstellar one in which (apparently) the free spread of manufacturing plans doesn't allow for homogenous tech levels.

The rules in Robots are clearly for bespoke robot design. The prices are also quite clearly only there for gearheads to use when they build a robot so as to prevent them saying "I'll have everything".

So.. is the incompatibility problem because you want to reflect an actual cost-price thing in the marketplace. If so then hey, welcome to the world of commerce. Price isn't cost, costs vary massively and so do prices, prices are often below cost, and sometimes so massively higher that no theory other than 'luxury' can explain it. Maybe the author could have said "robots in the main book are mass produced models and cost a fraction of a bespoke model", but hey.. push them in and out of some trading rules and add some wavey hand stuff and it's fine.

If your issue is that it affects the robot design process for your gearheads, then actually it's irrelevant. Once you have the robots book then your robot design rules are the ones in that book. It is self contained, and it is best viewed as self contained. Now.. if it is internally flawed.. and I have to say I have an issue understanding memory sticks and encyclopedias and computer slots.. then that's the best bit to review.

I'm not a gearhead.. and for me the rules are good enough and allow myself or a player to have some stuff to make a good robot vehicle for roleplaying.

 

[DFW]

Phil was making a very good point which is that there is a great deal of variability in prices and costs in any economy,

Irrelevant. I'm talking a rules design system only.