Traveller Release Schedule 2026

[Endie]

Supernorris? I like that... I had similar moniker for his early 80's D&D equivalent. Saint Stephen Karameikos. Able to snap his fingers and setting plausibility goes all to hell. Those mid to late 80's metaplots were bad enough without injecting the beloved personalities from the earlier original micro settings into them... where crazy implausible stuff goes down to have them become bigger more important fish in the (now) much larger oceans as the original settings expanded.

as far as updating. This game now belongs to Mongoose doesn't it. Sure they are stewards of the game, the rules and game system which is and should be Marc Miller's ticket to a 1st ballot RPG HoF induction.... but the setting should be up to them to put their stamp on it. Especially as setting creation is a whole kettle of fish from designing a game system. Much like the differences between writing a good source book and writing a good adventure/campaign. Very different things. Speaking of.

Not aware of any personal dynamics between MM and MJD but I would think that if Mongoose big head came to him, out of and with respect and said something to effect of .... you are a hall of fame 1st ballot game designer, but the setting could use a bit of update and smooth out the rough edges of the patchwork way the setting was put together over the decades... which is most obvious in its flagship local setting behind that claw. Hard to see MM saying no, even if he could. Anyhow all spilled milk, it was a lost opportunity here and with it, probably any real chance of doing so in the near future as yes... it would probably make a huge difference in how the 5FW would play out plotwise. Making this slew of books even more worthless.

I have to agree. We owe Marc Miller a vast amount for an amazing game and phenomenal setting* that has attracted and captivated people for decades. Nothing I do will ever have that impact on generations of people and literally millions of hours of fun.

But he green-lit some damp squibs (the original FFW) and some awful metafiction (Virus and the Empress Wave in particular). And when he took over the Empress Wave he did retcon it but only to make it more destructive, by suddenly making it travel much faster. It smacks of him being bored of his own creation and trying to bring about a Flood. I wonder if he knows that there are probably only a few hundred people in the whole world that actually pay any attention to his version of the canon timeline any more, and even fewer that play in it.

*OK, it's phenomenal but not perfect: the coreward imperial boundary is laughable even to someone from the Dakotas or Wyoming.

Edit: I know that criticising MM's post-80s work is going too far for some. It even makes me feel a bit iffy to do so.

 

[Sigtrygg]

MWM had left GDW, he was selling insurance, when Frank et al decided to go with TNE. Virus, the Empress Wave, nothing to do with MWM and he doesn't know how the were originally planned to impact the setting, in the case of the Empress Wave he has no clue as to what it is or what caused it.

T4 was not written by MWM. Check the credits pages of every book, he supervised but had very little to do with what was written.

T5 is his, and is awful as a game system. He doesn't actually use the game engine himself according to people who have played games at conventions and the like.

Now he could have retconned them out of existence, as it is the Empress Wave has been retconned to make the whole of TNE an altenate universe, and the 1248 stuff is even further removed thanks to the changes, so much so that including them now as canon is futile. Note it was Don who convinced him to retcon the wave - Don disliked TNE.

Mongoose has opted to change the charted space setting to be more like Star Wars, they have green lit the inclusion of any technology in any book as being in the setting somewhere, and the events of previous iterations of the game should now be ignored.

 

[Endie]

MWM had left GDW, he was selling insurance, when Frank et al decided to go with TNE. Virus, the Empress Wave, nothing to do with MWM and he doesn't know how the were originally planned to impact the setting, in the case of the Empress Wave he has no clue as to what it is or what caused it.

T4 was not written by MWM. Check the credits pages of every book, he supervised but had very little to do with what was written.

T5 is his, and is awful as a game system. He doesn't actually use the game engine himself according to people who have played games at conventions and the like.

Now he could have retconned them out of existence, as it is the Empress Wave has been retconned to make the whole of TNE an altenate universe, and the 1248 stuff is even further removed thanks to the changes, so much so that including them now as canon is futile. Note it was Don who convinced him to retcon the wave - Don disliked TNE.

Mongoose has opted to change the charted space setting to be more like Star Wars, they have green lit the inclusion of any technology in any book as being in the setting somewhere, and the events of previous iterations of the game should now be ignored.

We agree on most of that, yep (although I'd say that the change to the speed of the Empress Wave was a mistake: he should just have dropped it). Don did persuade him to drop it but there's an amusing thread on CotI where MJD finds out about MM's original plan and where I'm sure Don voices his criticisms, which thankfully were then adopted. However, although MWM was indeed selling insurance at the time of TNE he was still sent the details and he still let it run. If he didn't read it then that's not a huge defence!

I know it's a bugbear of yours and I've seen you assert it a bunch of times before, but the Star Wars bit overstates things hugely and kinda weakens your otherwise valid point. I don't think I have ever heard anyone argue, for instance, that the Civil War can't happen because there are Ion Cannons in High Guard, or that the outcome of the FFW should alter because there's the option to allow arc swords in peoples' games.

I'd argue that the most radical change to the nature of Traveller was not something thought of by Mongoose: it was when MWM heard about Altered Carbon and thought "I'm having that" in 2015 or so. The push for a greater influence of Cyberpunk in Traveller was a massive change and Singularity is maybe the first time anyone has taken it seriously regarding "what would this mean?"

 

[Sigtrygg]

We agree on most of that, yep (although I'd say that the change to the speed of the Empress Wave was a mistake: he should just have dropped it).

I agree, it would have been better if it were just removed.

Don did persuade him to drop it but there's an amusing thread on CotI where MJD finds out about MM's original plan and where I'm sure Don voices his criticisms, which thankfully were then adopted. However, although MWM was indeed selling insurance at the time of TNE he was still sent the details and he still let it run. If he didn't read it then that's not a huge defence!

I have yet to read an interview that says MWM had any contact with Frank at al after he left GDW. Why did Marc not ask Frank or Dave what was intended for the Empress Wave?

I know it's a bugbear of yours and I've seen you assert it a bunch of times before, but the Star Wars bit overstates things hugely and kinda weakens your otherwise valid point.

Matt is on record as wanting to turn Traveller into Star Wars, a quick glance at the setting changes to date show how the project is coming along nicely. Star fighter pew pew, ion cannons, energy screens

I don't think I have ever heard anyone argue, for instance, that the Civil War can't happen because there are Ion Cannons in High Guard, or that the outcome of the FFW should alter because there's the option to allow arc swords in peoples' games.

It is a question of what the setting allowed, compared with what the Mongoose setting allows. The current MgT HG makes spinal weapons utterly pointless in t charted space setting that follows those rules.

I'd argue that the most radical change to the nature of Traveller was not something thought of by Mongoose: it was when MWM heard about Altered Carbon and thought "I'm having that" in 2015 or so. The push for a greater influence of Cyberpunk in Traveller was a massive change and Singularity is maybe the first time anyone has taken it seriously regarding "what would this mean?"

Wafer tech and Agent of the Imperium certainly change the setting in ways even Mongoose hasn't come to terms with. I know several people who refuse to accept Agent of the Imperium as canonical for the Third Imperium setting, despite the author.

Singularity is, in my opinion, the best thing Mongoose has published for the setting to date, certainly better than the rather disappointing FFW line.

 

[Condottiere]

The author and the fanbase, have, on any number of occasions, parted ways.

I would say that happened to Arthur Conan Doyle.