I try to stay away from the Traveller community these days. Doesn't matter why, but the fact that my first skim of the boards in a while throws up untruths about Avenger might be a clue.
Since I'm passing, here's some facts.
Avenger did not fail.
We were actually doing well and getting better when I decided to cease publishing Traveller and terminate my involvement with the entire brand. My reasons for this were posted in some detail on the Avenger boards.
We were deliberately sabotaged on two occasions by former associates of mine, and overcame both crises. We were rocked by the license sunset (did you know that Marc Miller never informed us that our license would be sunsetting? We found out late, and through rumours, which cost us even more than otherwise would be the case) but we rebuilt again.
I had years of work and a fair bit of time and money invested in both Traveller and Avenger. I chose to shut it all down and walk away, even though Mongoose wanted me to do loads of books for them and Avenger was getting back on top depsite the latest problems thrown our way.
With all that investment just beginning to pay back, I made the decision to close it all down. Why would I do this?
A lot of lies and, let's be nice and say 'erroneous specualtions', have been posted over the years about me and about Avenger, and it would be nice to think that folks might pause before repeating rumours or speculating on my reasons for all of this. The actual situation is complex (and involved nothing but honourable conduct on the part of Mongoose), but as briefly as possible it looks like this:
It is indeed partly because I can make a lot more money (writing is my job) doing other things, and partly because it became impossible for Avenger to operate as a Traveller publisher. This was due to the internal politics of the Traveller community, notably Marc Miller's circle of friends and close associates.
I write for a living, and I cannot afford to spend 3 months working on a book only for it to be delayed, possibly indefinitely, at the approvals stage, or for revisions to be required because someone who should not be in the loop has an agenda and is close enough to have Marc's ear. Or because Marc Miller simply forgot that I'd asked the same question four or five times without getting an answer.
Marc's what he is, and I'm what I am. His way of working is simply not compatible with what I as a professional writer require. I had a choice between working with publishers that pay 10 times what Traveller could ever manage and who don't allow outsiders to throw spanners into the works, or continuing to plough my way through the morass of Traveller internal politics.
I wrote Traveller because it was fun, although it didn't pay that well. Traveller is no longer fun, and working on it involves factors that can prevent my work paying at all. I can't afford that.
So I had to get out. I think it is fair to say that Avenger did not fail, it was killed by Marc Miller's circle of friends. Most of them never intended to do the harm they did, though there is an obvious exception to that. Certain actions were taken with, if not malicious intent, then in the knowledge that they would result in damage to Avenger and to my reputation. But this isn't the place for that particular can of worms.
I'll finish by saying that Mongoose always treated me well, and that although I turned down several offers of further Traveller work for them, I'd still be happy to work with Mongoose in another area... or perhaps even Traveller if they can ensure that the project is as simple (in terms of outside interference) to work on as my books for mainstream publishers.
But I can't do Traveller any more because, despite everything we did manage to overcome, we can't do anything about the way Marc chooses to work, and who he associates with. I don't know how Mongoose manages but after years of wasting my time I came to realise that trying to work with Marc is like banging your head on a wall. It's lovely when you stop.
So I did.
