It had to be worthwhile making a game.
@MongooseMatt Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition is very well supported at his point, and I think that the 50th anniversary would be a good time for a strong marketing push to raise awareness of it with the general gaming public. Perhaps research identifying the channels through which gamers discover new products, and then unleashing marketing pushes in those channels. Probably most of them are online, which would suggest Traveller needs a more enticing Start Here page. Remove any statements that suggest difficulty or doubt, like here's a starter edition because it's so hard. Talk Traveller up.
Make sure the marketing copy for Traveller on the website is exciting and gripping, especially for the core books. Make the illustrations match the copy.
https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/collections/traveller-rpgs?page=5
Like the copy on the page above. It talks about how Traveller is the latest edition, printed in full color, and contains everything I expect from my favorite science fiction rpg.
- What if I'm unfamiliar with Traveller and I don't care what edition it is?
- What if I don't know what to expect?
- What if it's not my favorite science fiction ttrpg, because I'm a lost soul going through my desert after I left D&D, and I've never played a science fiction ttrpg?
- If any of these conditions apply to me, then I can't relate to the whole first paragraph. It provides no useful information.
Only in the second paragraph does it talk about desperate space battles, rogue free traders, and mercenaries (and no one will know what a "next ticket" is). Maybe the second paragraph should be first.
Perhaps
have a bundle, CRB, Mercenary, High Guard, and a mercenary adventure and a naval adventure, like a 50th Anniversary deal that lasts for a year. Choose a good name for it, not starter or essentials or anything that suggests that players aren't getting the full product. Call it 50th Anniversary Elite Bundle, or Far Future Adventure Bundle, or Star Adventure Pack. Have some sales across the board, because research has proven that something happens to the human brain when it sees the world "sale". JC Penney (a major department store) knocked its prices down to the sale price year round. Their sales suffered grievously. They had to go back to inflating prices then having big sales that said 30% OFF! or whatever, and the sale price was really just the low price the company wanted to charge all along.
Have a Worldbuilders or Referee bundle that has Worldbuilder's Handbook, Sector Construction Kit, and maybe Pirates of Drinax and a couple of short adventures that lead up to Drinax.
Have a Charted Space bundle with the Third Imperium, Spinward Marches, and Solomani Rim books.
Place the Third Imperium front and center in the promotional and marketing copy. It's always been the star of the Charted Space setting. Tell players, "This is where you are. This is your environment. These are the challenges you face. Will you rise to the challenge?" Get people familiar with it, since so many Traveller books are written for it. Traveller as a toolbox to create one's own science fiction adventure is what Traveller is and is meant to be, but that's a fairly advanced application, especially for young people and new players. And ignore all the people who start yabbling about Warhammer 40K. If one must respond, tell them that Traveller did it first and 40K is the latecomer.
And another thing:
Once the 50th Anniversary hits, I recommend a voluntary moratorium on all forum posts critical of Traveller. New people won't have the context to understand that our discussions are about multiple editions spanning 50 years. They'll see us fight and they won't know that it's just a friendly sparring match. We need to close ranks around Traveller.
You guys want to take a swing at this?
Sure. I'll start a thread when I come up with something, or contribute to the thread if someone else starts it before I do.
Maybe a format like:
Link to copy being written about
"Suggested replacement copy"
