Traveller License Expired! [Don't worry, it's GURPS]

[alex_greene]

Just saw this news on a Traveller Facebook group. It's a press release from Steve Jackson Games.

GURPS Traveller License Expires (2015-07-23)

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I bought up all their Traveller stuff before they had a PDF store. I recommend getting their cardboard heroes in non-PDF form, if they still have some in stock.

 

[alex_greene]

I bought up all their Traveller stuff before they had a PDF store. I recommend getting their cardboard heroes in non-PDF form, if they still have some in stock.

As with everything, get it while you can, and keep plenty of spares - and once the license has formally expired, scan the images and print them out on your own cardstock.

 

[kermit]

I highly recommend GURPS Traveller: Nobles, done by Traveller guru Loren Wiseman, and GURPS Traveller: First In by John Zeigler. Both are excellent and two of the best Traveller books I have ever seen.

Ben Lecrone

 

[Reynard]

It's only expiring now?! I thought they went a long time ago along with MegaTraveller, T20, Marc Miller Traveller and The New Era. Haven't seen anything in the stores I frequent. I figure that was one of the reasons for all the PDF format stuff out now.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

It's only expiring now?! I thought they went a long time ago along with MegaTraveller, T20, Marc Miller Traveller and The New Era. Haven't seen anything in the stores I frequent. I figure that was one of the reasons for all the PDF format stuff out now.

You need a license to produce Traveller games for sell. You do know that FFE does not sell SJGames Traveller PDFs, right? Are you saying you're seeing pirated PDFs?

 

[Reynard]

Seriously, I reread what I said and didn't see that. I said I thought the GURPS Traveller was done way back as my two local game stores haven't had anything on the shelves and I figured that's why Warehouse 23 was selling them in PDF form.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Seriously, I reread what I said and didn't see that. I said I thought the GURPS Traveller was done way back as my two local game stores haven't had anything on the shelves and I figured that's why Warehouse 23 was selling them in PDF form.

SJGames and W32 would not be selling Traveller-anything if they didn't have a license still. If you're talking about a Traveller game that is out-of-print and is no longer being printed, that has nothing to do with licensing.

 

[Reynard]

Well, that's a good clarification. Out of print but still licensed to sell digital copies. I take it this means those digitals will soon go away then?

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Well, that's a good clarification. Out of print but still licensed to sell digital copies. I take it this means those digitals will soon go away then?

Yes. Wherever they are being sold. Steve Jackson is an odd one now when it comes to producing books. He was never the same after the government raided his property. He has some handlers though that keep the place going. It probably came down to the cost of renewing their Traveller license, and how many PDFs they're selling currently to make it worthwhile hanging onto. SJGames is in the card game business now.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Well, that's a good clarification. Out of print but still licensed to sell digital copies. I take it this means those digitals will soon go away then?

Steve Jackson is an odd one now when it comes to producing books. He was never the same after the government raided his property. He has some handlers though that keep the place going. It probably came down to the cost of renewing their Traveller license, and how many PDFs they're selling currently to make it worthwhile hanging onto. SJGames is in the card game business now.

Steve Jackson is in the games business in general and still supports the GURPS line. Munchkin is simply their best selling game, so that gets a lot of attention.

I’m not sure how Steve Jackson’s interaction with the CIA affected him directly, but considering it happened in 1990 and there has been at least one major revision of GURPS since that time along with actually obtaining the Traveller license in 1998, I don’t think it impacted their publishing line unduly.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I’m not sure how Steve Jackson’s interaction with the CIA affected him directly, but considering it happened in 1990 and there has been at least one major revision of GURPS since that time along with actually obtaining the Traveller license in 1998, I don’t think it impacted their publishing line unduly.

Other people were involved with getting GURPS revised after that. His heart wasn't in it anymore. Sean Punch kept the line going, who doesn't even live in Texas.

 

[alex_greene]

And it was the Secret Service that raided his joint in 1990. Very peculiar story, that one, because up until that time they only had two remits - chasing down phony money and protecting the President. The raid put it in the FBI's jurisdiction, but the FBI wisely turned up their nose because they could see the potential First Amendment breach and steered clear; but according to Bruce Sterling there was this politician with some pull and a lot of money, who wanted publicity - so contacts in the SS were advised, they went in and it was only a long time afterwards (and the intervention of the EFF, 25 years ago this year) that they realised that they'd been, er, hoodwinked.

And then cognitive dissonance set in and they dug in their heels and it became a beastly legal situation getting back their gear. It didn't matter, because GURPS Cyberpunk did eventually get released - followed by GURPS Illuminati, which took its time lampooning the government and contributing to the endearing Tinfoil Hat Chic phenomenon we see on the internet today.

If not for the Great GURPS Cyberpunk Raid, the Electronic Frontier Foundation would never have been formed. The Raid was the reason for the formation of the EFF in the first place.

But yeah, gaming was never the same after that raid.

It got real.

 

[Condottiere]

Law enforcement and the intelligence community's cluelessness about current culture.

They're working their way through through the internetz at the moment. Probably still looking for that collection of tubes.

 

[Jame Rowe]

Somehow I'm not surprised. They haven't done much of anything except PDFs in 5 years or so.

I hope that either SJG can continue to sell the PDFs after the license expires or that MWM makes a collection of them. Granted, I say this as I'm broke at the moment and can't buy much of anything.

 

[sshinn]

On this topic, anyone know how long Mongoose will have their Traveller license? I seem to recall they renewed it in the last year, not sure.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

On this topic, anyone know how long Mongoose will have their Traveller license? I seem to recall they renewed it in the last year, not sure.

Good for another decade, I think.