As a forum, I like sharing ideas and experiences with fellow gamer's.
As a core game mechanic, how tasks, combat, skills, time to complete tasks, etc... are resolved, I love it. I even use some of the concepts in the fantasy game I run. With some minor tweaks, I think the core game mechanics can be even better.
But I honestly have to say that I don't see myself purchasing any more mongoose products. They are void of oversight and coordination. Rules are not followed, or change on a whim, some of the making absolutely no sense at all. (In high Guard the pulse laser is uses as a point defense laser because of it's short range. But why would ANY military use a pulse laser which is at a -2 to hit at its optimum range (close) but who's primary purpose is to shoot down missiles (per the rules... just as they are about to hit the ship) which places the missile in the "adjacent" range catagory... giving the pulse laser a total of a -4 to hit one missile... and it's very purpose is to knock down incoming missiles! And since missiles are now "instant kills" if you hit them, why does a point defense laser need to do 2d6 damage anyway??? When the offensive laser only does a paltry 1d6 damage... and don't even get me started on the price between the two.
Does anyone at Mongoose proof read anything they farm out to 3rd party vendors? Do you guys even play test your rules or have critical thinking sessions to make sure some of your rules even make sense?
Here are a few problem children.
CSC
Robot
Vehicles
High Guard
Cybernetics
Psion
and especially...
Merchants and Cruisers in about the worst I have ever seen with incomplete deck plans, weapon clusters and triple turrets that break your own rules; horrible beyond sub-par graphics, and some deck plans that looks like a 7th grader playing a practical joke.. literally one ship is drawn exactly like a giant phallus (page 46 and 47). Who designs this kind of simplistic crap!? Maybe it was a funny joke by the author on how much players were getting screwed out of their money.
I have spent too much money as it is on Mongoose products. I have enough fall back material from GURPS, T20, and other proven systems that I bring in rules and concepts to patch the holes.
As a pure business, Mongoose is horrible at coordination, proofing, and general lack of care on many of it's products.
I won't buy any 2nd addition rules. But my advice is to completely redo the whole thing.
Give refunds or a really good deal on the 2nd addition rules to players who trade in their 1st addition rules as a replacement.
Actually read and cross reference the stuff you print. Actually make sure the 3rd party guys who produce some of your products absolutely understand the rules, prices of equipment, and make sure it matches EVERYTHING else. The cost differences between the Core book, CSC, and Cybernetics are very dramatic... it's a crap shoot on which item is priced right.
It's already been mentioned, but the addition of a simply word to an illustration like... "TL 13 Laser Rifle with scope" would be so simple, cheep, but so helpful.
I'm not a scientist, NASA engineer, or naval designer but I am an architect, so I pay very close attention to design, form, function, and purpose of design.
I think a 20 ton bridge on a 300 ton ship is absolutely ridiculous. I have the deck plans in autocad to prove it. Small ship... HUGE bridge, lots of wasted space. Every single one of my players that saw my first version of their 300 ton adventure ship said... "Good God, why is the bridge so big?". So I have installed one of many house rules (based on earlier versions). I think Mongoose should go back to the 2% rule with a 10 ton minimum on standard bridge, and 5 ton on a compact bridge. (There are many Mongoose drawn deck plans where the bridge isn't even close to matching the size of the bridge on the specified in the spreadsheet format, so even your own designers understand what I'm talking about. The original Scout has a 2 ton bridge.
I also use the GURPS concept of crew stations. I use 1 crew station per ton. That gives you a 1.5mx1.5m or 5'x5' area for control console and chair, plus a 1.5mx1.5m or 5'x5' space behind for circulation. So a 10 ton bridge can have up to 10 crew stations. When designing a ship, you can plan the size of your bridge based on how many crew stations you might need. Between 5 and 10 crew stations is more than enough to run a 400, 600, or even up to a 1000 ton ship depending on it's function. Command bridges are a different matter. I can see an over-sized bridge for commanders, officers, and other VIP's to stalk about making sure the junior officers are on the ball.
I also use the GURPS version of a generic crew station and specialized crew station. Each station can multi-task up to 4 different tasks. You can do more than 1 task, but each task gives you an additional -1. But a task specific station can only do 1 thing, but you get a +1 to that task. That is why a scout ship only had 2 crew stations. Each station could do more than 1 task at a time if pressed.
Other ideas are a bit radical for ship design which involves separates the tonnage between staterooms, common space, and life support. Because when you trade a 4 ton stateroom, for 4 tons of cargo space, if you try to actually draw it on the deck plan, the stateroom itself is really only 2 tons or 3 tons depending on how you interpret the rules, which are again vague. So when you take out a "4 ton" stateroom, and plug in a cargo pod, you only actually get a 2 or 3 ton cargo pod, because part of the state room is actually common space. I know it works on a spread sheet, but not on blue prints. I would base the common area max population, not number of staterooms. I would also base the life support base on max population. Again, I design my ships like a flying hotel, or office building. I have never served in the Navy, but several of my immediate family have great stories of life aboard subs and aircraft carriers. You can double or triple bunks for the military in a stateroom (and sometimes hot rack). You just need the identify the proper tonnage for life support as a function of crew capacity, not number of staterooms. I also place my life support in a separate room/mechanical space usually near engineering.
I know there are plenty of Traveller guys who prefer larger ships, spread sheets only ship designs, and never even use miniature or even grid map for gaming or even combat. But that's just me. I like smaller player-sized ships, shown at scale with lots of miniatures, maps, etc...
Anyway, SORRY for the rant. Reading all the earlier posts got my blood pressure up.
I hope I gave a few ideas within all my beotching and moaning.
But I'm much better now!
Mongoose, please take some of my hostility and bitterness toward many of your products as a very disappointed and frustrated customer. Please clean up your product going forward.
