I just read MGT Mercenary and I'm not to sure about that. The sections on tickets and recruiting makes it look a lot like "Accountants and Abacuses". 29 pages for those two things. Now I understand why they couldn't put in a half page on rations.
Question for the Traveller veterans.
- Thread starter MikeNGina
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I just read MGT Mercenary and I'm not to sure about that. The sections on tickets and recruiting makes it look a lot like "Accountants and Abacuses". 29 pages for those two things. Now I understand why they couldn't put in a half page on rations.
Imperial Planetologist
SOC-12
Like Star Trek and Star Wars?
A lot of younger people are surprised at the amount of sci-fi films made in the sixties and seventies besides star wars and star trek. Most just weren't that good because of the poor SFX back then. The sci-fi books were better, and more plentiful for the most part.
Too bad that most of them are out-of-print, and that most of those that aren't are only available in omnibus format.
tim_manley
SOC-12
Kaveman Koder
SOC-12
Looking at massive increase of SciFi and Fantasy (and others) books available now, one would deduce that there is more reading going on now than ever before.
One of the richest Women in the world is a children's fantasy book writer. Given compelling content and good marketing there is a huge number of young readers.
One of the richest Women in the world is a children's fantasy book writer. Given compelling content and good marketing there is a huge number of young readers.
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Meh, call me a purist but a lot of this new "Sci-Fi" is neither new or Sci-Fi. Vampires? Wizards? No :nonono:
Plankowner
SOC-13
I use a 3:1 rule. $3 (US) is 1 credit.
So, if you can guestimate a price in current dollars, then you can convert it to Traveller Credits. Works for most mundane types of things like clothes.
So, need a special outfit for that party at the Duke's house? Figure $5,000 just to be presentable, and closer to $10,000 to be fashionable and up-to-date. That translates to CR1500 - CR3500. There you go.
Decent meal (dinner) will run $50-$60 per person, so figure CR15-CR20 per person and drive on.
Want to buy a new pair of StarNike shoes? That will run you CR100.
Of course with the economy being the way it is, you might want to use $5 = CR1...
So, if you can guestimate a price in current dollars, then you can convert it to Traveller Credits. Works for most mundane types of things like clothes.
So, need a special outfit for that party at the Duke's house? Figure $5,000 just to be presentable, and closer to $10,000 to be fashionable and up-to-date. That translates to CR1500 - CR3500. There you go.
Decent meal (dinner) will run $50-$60 per person, so figure CR15-CR20 per person and drive on.
Want to buy a new pair of StarNike shoes? That will run you CR100.
Of course with the economy being the way it is, you might want to use $5 = CR1...
I quite agree, my good man. Most of this new stuff is actually urban fantasy.
Imperial Planetologist
SOC-12
My goal was not to extoll the virtues of ST or SW, but to make the point that a lot of the tech in Traveller bears little resemblance to either of the iconic sci fi properties of the Seventies.
Traveller tech is very much its own beast.
tim_manley
SOC-12
Yeah, a lot of franchises start with a foundation and as time progresses the 'rules' that were created grow into it's own leg so it differentiates itself form other franchises even if it did start similarly....
That said, yeah, the big things today seem to be urban fantasy and genre "game" sci fi (halo, mechwarrior, etc...) and, of course, the old staples of star trek and star wars books.....
BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
What you seem to miss, Kaveman Koder, is that in the 1970s (my pre-teen/teen years) JK Rowling would have been "just another children's author"... one of many selling a lot of books aimed at 8-15 year-olds.
What made her a media sensation, and drove the PR hype that created an artificial buy/read/collect frenzy, was that kids actually wanted to read her books... many of whom didn't read anything they didn't HAVE to!
The most-repeated phrase by parents of Potter-maniacs is "my kid never wanted to read before JK came along"... whereas when I was in elementary school in the early 1970s, most kids read a lot, just for fun, and we would share books and reading lists.
By the late 1970s, fewer kids of any age read on their own, and by the late 1980s my school-friends were parents, and the schools had basically given up getting kids to read past the minimum mandatory assignments... which were getting fewer each year, being replaced by assigned video-watching instead.
Now the childrens' sections of libraries are half the size they used to be, and a lot of that space is devoted to computers & videos, where it used to be all books.
About half of the 8-15 year-olds' books I see on store shelves are JK-clones, by authors who never wrote a kid's book until Potter hit big.
Hardly a sign of a strong pro-reading society... but a possible sign of the return of a culture of literacy... maybe. We'll see.
What made her a media sensation, and drove the PR hype that created an artificial buy/read/collect frenzy, was that kids actually wanted to read her books... many of whom didn't read anything they didn't HAVE to!
The most-repeated phrase by parents of Potter-maniacs is "my kid never wanted to read before JK came along"... whereas when I was in elementary school in the early 1970s, most kids read a lot, just for fun, and we would share books and reading lists.
By the late 1970s, fewer kids of any age read on their own, and by the late 1980s my school-friends were parents, and the schools had basically given up getting kids to read past the minimum mandatory assignments... which were getting fewer each year, being replaced by assigned video-watching instead.
Now the childrens' sections of libraries are half the size they used to be, and a lot of that space is devoted to computers & videos, where it used to be all books.
About half of the 8-15 year-olds' books I see on store shelves are JK-clones, by authors who never wrote a kid's book until Potter hit big.
Hardly a sign of a strong pro-reading society... but a possible sign of the return of a culture of literacy... maybe. We'll see.
Kaveman Koder
SOC-12
In a very short forum message, declaring that I seem to miss something seems to be more than self evident.
Here in New Zealand many many children do read for enjoyment and recreation, and not just Harry Potter. The point I was making, to be as clear as possible and not open to miss interpretation. Globally I think there are many many children reading and many authors writing books, more now than ever before.
The state of your library speaks more to the relationship between libraries and youth than it does between youth and reading. IMO.
As to the regional quantities and qualities of books and readers compared to "my" day, I'll leave to speculation. I agree that the 70's and 80's were dark times for readers, but that's 30 years ago and not today's children.
Aside: One of my sons "discovered" reading via HP and has become an avid reader. Now years later as a 17 yr old he has recently completed the Night's Dawn series, which neatly falls into the zombie, not "proper" SciFi category, but he is reading and they are books and there are a lots of other young people just like him. He never visits the library.
My daughter who has always been an avid reader, visited the local library until she had consumed everything she could find that interested her and now hardly visits. I'm sure that doesn't mean she's stopped reading, but it's currently those Pern books with dragons in them, which aren't "real" SciFi so don't count.
Here in New Zealand many many children do read for enjoyment and recreation, and not just Harry Potter. The point I was making, to be as clear as possible and not open to miss interpretation. Globally I think there are many many children reading and many authors writing books, more now than ever before.
The state of your library speaks more to the relationship between libraries and youth than it does between youth and reading. IMO.
As to the regional quantities and qualities of books and readers compared to "my" day, I'll leave to speculation. I agree that the 70's and 80's were dark times for readers, but that's 30 years ago and not today's children.
Aside: One of my sons "discovered" reading via HP and has become an avid reader. Now years later as a 17 yr old he has recently completed the Night's Dawn series, which neatly falls into the zombie, not "proper" SciFi category, but he is reading and they are books and there are a lots of other young people just like him. He never visits the library.
My daughter who has always been an avid reader, visited the local library until she had consumed everything she could find that interested her and now hardly visits. I'm sure that doesn't mean she's stopped reading, but it's currently those Pern books with dragons in them, which aren't "real" SciFi so don't count.
I have to disagree with you there. I think it's great that your kids reading more is great, but with computer games the way they are now the majority of kids don't read like they would have thirty years ago. Sad as it is. There are always exceptions like your kids, but unfortunately not enough of them. Most parents could give a toss either as long as the kids stay out of their hair. That unfortunately hasn't changed. :nonono:
Mike
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