Why so many rules books? - I cant cope.

[Treebore]

I mean the most loved systems of all in classic Traveller must surely be square grid miniature combat rules like Snapshot, and large spaceship combat system using vectors to determine ship orientation etc such as Power Projection. And what about miniature rules like Striker.

While I have been playing Traveller for thirty years now, I have never
used any of these in my campaigns - I am no fan of military science fic-
tion at all.
So, different people like different things, and I like what Mongoose is pro-
viding me with, for example lots of detailed options other than combat.

Yep, I have never used those rules, not once, in the 25 years since I first started playing and running Traveller.

 

[Geirunni]

I mean the most loved systems of all in classic Traveller must surely be square grid miniature combat rules like Snapshot, and large spaceship combat system using vectors to determine ship orientation etc such as Power Projection. And what about miniature rules like Striker.

While I have been playing Traveller for thirty years now, I have never
used any of these in my campaigns - I am no fan of military science fic-
tion at all.
So, different people like different things, and I like what Mongoose is pro-
viding me with, for example lots of detailed options other than combat.

Yep, I have never used those rules, not once, in the 25 years since I first started playing and running Traveller.

I agree myself. I have picked and chosen my game books ever snce I got into the hobby....

As for military games, I have only tested Traveller's military routines during my TNE days - and it was minimal.

I guess to each their own, but just because there is food all over the table doesn't mean you have to eat it all.....

 

[serene_muse]

In my opinion CotI has grown into a generic Traveller forum for CT and its direct descendants (a.i. you don't find much Gurps Traveller discussion there either, go to the Steven Jackson forums if you don't want to hear crickets). CT, MT,TNE, T4, T5 are the primary topics of discussion at CotI. T20 from time to time also but I think only due to the forum's history.

Also QLI took to hosting the TML under its servers, lost most of the archives, had TML outages and pretty much (unintentionally) killed the TML. So some had feet on both places and stayed at CotI. Before then CotI was pretty much T20 with some other discussion and a lot of grog raeg was directed at T20. Some of the current most prolific posters at CotI come from the TML. Offhand CotI likely has fewer but more (as in *very*) prolific posters and Mongoose's Forums cover much much more than Traveller so it's rather hard to gauge and frankly I'm not interested.

I'll just say that QLI hosting CotI, the status of QLI and the ramifications thereof result in me having no desire to post there for years now, and leave it at that. If folks find it a good place to post, more power to them, but it's not for me.

 

[Dark Lord Skippy]

Of course...and I sold them all and just bought the Reprint Compilations ... except for my basic set of the first seven books.

But my point is that quality is more important than quantity.

Oh. See I mistook you for saying that you didnt like a system with a lot of books. I completely missed that you might actually have meant that you just dont like the new ones.

I would prefer more thought before they release anything else. I mean the most loved systems of all in classic Traveller must surely be square grid miniature combat rules like Snapshot, and large spaceship combat system using vectors to determine ship orientation etc such as Power Projection. And what about miniature rules like Striker.

I'm sorry but why should they? You're obviously quite happy with what you have and dont want their new releases because the art is crap, the deck plans different....etc. Just do what the rest of us do and buy what you like and dont like.

I mean, honestly, I have no interest whatsoever in Strontium Dog. I dont even know what a Strontium Dog might be and why I ought to be interested. So I didnt buy it. Economy is the dumper and I have limited cash flow.

BTW, just as a quick aside, I bought Snapshot YEARS ago. I think I opened it once. Same for Striker.

They are re-releasing all the same rules in these small black books and loads of maps and aliens (boring) but we arent seeing any of the more fun parts of Traveller covered.

Have they actually done a survey to see what people want from Traveller?

Ok...first off, you were just going on about buying reprints of books and now you are complaining that people are reprinting books.

<facepalm>

I dont know if they've taken a survey or not, but quite honestly, I'd vote against more Striker or more Snapshot. I'd vote heavily for more maps, more aliens, and more modules (indeed, I have voted by spending my hard earned and ever devalued dollar upon them).

I shall now walk away from this confused.

 

[serene_muse]

Also: http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/04/other-old-school-renaissances.html is good food for thought. While I am often in disagreement with James, he does a good job in presenting his views.

Yea the reason for the retroclones of D&D is because you can't purchase the real thing anymore (except from ebay). Traveller (as long as I have been following the game) have never been out of print (if you count PDF as not being OOP).

While that was one reason for Swords & Wizardry (OD&D), Labyrinth Lord (B/X), Dark Dungeons (BECMI) and OSRIC (AD&D1E), there is also stuff like Basic Fantasy, Ruins & Ronins, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Savage Swords of Athanor, and more. Basic Fantasy predates OSRIC IIRC and in some sense Castles & Crusades is a d20lite version of AD&D and both sparked the initial retroclones.

So I'm not really talking about retroclones, Traveller is legally commercially available. I mean custom versions, a "fixed" MegaTraveller sans the OTU references and so forth. That homebrew design sequence, or a new planetary generation system, open content so others can run with it, a MGT lite. A mashup of RQ/BRP/CoC with Traveller. (yes some sorta exist but SRDs can make it easier + open / able to be completed by others instead of half finished)

The D&D retrocloners and the OSR etc. types, even if they despise D&D3E+ and WotC (esp. Hasbro owned WotC) to no end, saw the OGL and the SRDs as a tool and a line of continuity, and went about using it for their own purposes. I've not seen any of that for Traveller despite CT+, small ship & verse ideas, MT fixed etc. ideas being kicked around for years now.

Even Mongoose Runequest has produced stuff like OpenQuest and GORE despite Chaosium still being around.

 

[serene_muse]

Traveller (as long as I have been following the game) have never been out of print (if you count PDF as not being OOP).

Um... FFE has been printing the CT books for what, over 10 years now? Way before PDF's were the big thing in gaming.

Before FFE started printing it, I don't know if there was a gap between then and whenever GDW stopped printing CT.

1977-1986 (Classic) Traveller
1996 - GDW closes down
1996-1998 Marc Miller's Traveller (Imperium Games)
1998 - GURPS Traveller starts
2000 FFE starts reprinting Classic Traveller

So there was a gap with no Traveller at all in print, but it was shorter than I remembered*, only a matter of months in both 1996 and 1998. And even then I suspect there were leftover titles still in the distribution chain each time.

Classic Traveller was out of print for about 14-15 years.


* I suspect this was due to me not being into GDW much back in the day and by 1996 not really into any RPGs and then in 1998 being burnt out by Marc Miller's Traveller so much that I didn't discover GURPS Traveller until after T20

 

[serene_muse]

There's rule books and there's also supplements, they seem to be getting mixed together (both for CT and for MGT) a bit in this thread.

Of course...and I sold them all and just bought the Reprint Compilations ... except for my basic set of the first seven books.

But my point is that quality is more important than quantity.

A custom mix of CT seems to be good enough for you. Cool. My custom mix of CT is MGT Core.

I am no fan of Action Point systems in Roleplaying Games and I'm not terribly fond of them in wargames either. Snapshot has some truely minimalistic deckplans and don't get me started on the cover art. Really, Classic Traveller was no beauty when it came to art, when it actually had art.

Power Projection is a modern product, so don't put it forth as a CT or a GDW era product. It has CGI cover art!

So what would be the more fun parts of Traveller for you?

And I find it interesting that Central Supply Catalogue was the dealbreaker, when being mainly MJD's port of his military writing / CT(+) & T20 gear work into MGT terms is one of the more militaristic books yet for MGT, very much in line with GDW's wargame and gun bunny tradition. So I'm not getting the Striker+Snapshot good / CSC bad disconnect. I mean Striker uses higher level math equations and stats out guns & armor for all TLs & design sequences!

 

[DeadMike]

Have they actually done a survey to see what people want from Traveller? Is there really that much demand for the Traveller based Slammers or Strontium Dog rules?

While not a survey, they do ask "What Should Mongoose Publish Next?" It has a Traveller link in there. Here is the link, voice you opinion there and see what they have to say.
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=9

Mike