I dug through the TML archives this week, and happened upon a chain of posts about MegaTraveller. Players were interested in making "Traveller Done Right", which mainly consisted of tweaking bits of MegaTraveller that seemed clunky. Here is a tithe of the content, from various posters, which seems to capture the spirit of this short-lived but significant movement (before TNE development derailed it and got most of the principals on the TML angry):
On TDR
1990-11-14 The original idea was proposed that we examine the MegaTraveller system, and post our revisions of what each section should be. Improve the system.
1990-11-15 Its official name was “TDR”, short for Traveller Done Right. Mike Metlay initiated it and took charge of its editing, and designated Mark Cook as the archivist.
On Realism
1990-11-15 The deeper I look into Traveller's physical problems (prompted in part by all the talk on the lists) the more I find that many of the places that violate physics do so because it’s more entertaining and playable (and more like the movies and books we've all read). Places I've seen that may not be fixable include Jump Drive, Maneuver drives, Anti-Gravity, repulsor or tractor beams, and nuclear dampers.
On Chargen and Skills
1990-11-08 revamp the character generation system. For a start, doing things like having extended character generation for all careers and races.
1990-11-14 Essentially, I'm after an equivalent level of abstraction in all aspects of the game… introducing individual weapon skills because they are made differently is totally inconsistent with the rest of the MegaTraveller game system. Fire one rifle, you've fired them all. Fire one handgun, you've fired them all. Just as with the mechanical skill - fixed one engine, you've fixed them all. Consistency!
On Play
1990-11-07 redo the weapons skills system in a convincing manner, and I'd like to tackle the combat system at some point and add a bunch more weapons to the canonical list
1990-11-08 rationalisation/rewrite of the whole of the combat system
On Trade & Commerce
1990-11-07 replacing the utterly worthless and nonsensical trade and commerce rules with better ones
1990-11-07 the REAL mess: cargo cost. As nearly as I can tell, the rules which govern the determination of cargo cost (to the speculator) on pg. 53 MAKE NO ALLOWANCE FOR CARGO TYPE. This means that a 100 Kl. lot of ferrous metal ore costs the same as a 100 Kl. lot of electronic parts, which costs the same as a 100 Kl. vehicle, which costs the same as 100 Kl. of TL-15 mud!
1990-11-09 If you have Knightfall, you can look up the quick fix system [to trade and commerce], not perfect, subject to your own common sense modification…
On Ship Combat
1990-11-09 As a first approximation, I'd say that your "agility" rating ought to be equal to your acceleration rating
1990-11-16 My first proposal: let meson screens give an effective armour factor against incoming meson weapons rather than simply stopping some of the incoming fire dead.
1991-10-30 I think the whole mess of sensor lockon in MT just slows things down. Save a few headaches and assume ships with reasonable sensors can spot other ships, UNLESS the target has some sort of ECM (EMM masking, Black Globe) top make it tough.
Sensors are probably best used in the pre-combat and post-combat phases (as stated in book 2, for detecting objects prior to combat).
On Vehicle Design
1990-11-07 much-needed corrections and simplifications to the vehicle rules.
1990-11-07 fixing the glaring physics errors that make so much of Traveller starship design difficult to swallow, without harming the game balance too badly.
1990-11-07 re-write of the aircraft design rules in COACC
1990-11-07 the robot rules need to be re-written, or at least greatly enhanced
On TDR
1990-11-14 The original idea was proposed that we examine the MegaTraveller system, and post our revisions of what each section should be. Improve the system.
1990-11-15 Its official name was “TDR”, short for Traveller Done Right. Mike Metlay initiated it and took charge of its editing, and designated Mark Cook as the archivist.
On Realism
1990-11-15 The deeper I look into Traveller's physical problems (prompted in part by all the talk on the lists) the more I find that many of the places that violate physics do so because it’s more entertaining and playable (and more like the movies and books we've all read). Places I've seen that may not be fixable include Jump Drive, Maneuver drives, Anti-Gravity, repulsor or tractor beams, and nuclear dampers.
On Chargen and Skills
1990-11-08 revamp the character generation system. For a start, doing things like having extended character generation for all careers and races.
1990-11-14 Essentially, I'm after an equivalent level of abstraction in all aspects of the game… introducing individual weapon skills because they are made differently is totally inconsistent with the rest of the MegaTraveller game system. Fire one rifle, you've fired them all. Fire one handgun, you've fired them all. Just as with the mechanical skill - fixed one engine, you've fixed them all. Consistency!
On Play
1990-11-07 redo the weapons skills system in a convincing manner, and I'd like to tackle the combat system at some point and add a bunch more weapons to the canonical list
1990-11-08 rationalisation/rewrite of the whole of the combat system
On Trade & Commerce
1990-11-07 replacing the utterly worthless and nonsensical trade and commerce rules with better ones
1990-11-07 the REAL mess: cargo cost. As nearly as I can tell, the rules which govern the determination of cargo cost (to the speculator) on pg. 53 MAKE NO ALLOWANCE FOR CARGO TYPE. This means that a 100 Kl. lot of ferrous metal ore costs the same as a 100 Kl. lot of electronic parts, which costs the same as a 100 Kl. vehicle, which costs the same as 100 Kl. of TL-15 mud!
1990-11-09 If you have Knightfall, you can look up the quick fix system [to trade and commerce], not perfect, subject to your own common sense modification…
On Ship Combat
1990-11-09 As a first approximation, I'd say that your "agility" rating ought to be equal to your acceleration rating
1990-11-16 My first proposal: let meson screens give an effective armour factor against incoming meson weapons rather than simply stopping some of the incoming fire dead.
1991-10-30 I think the whole mess of sensor lockon in MT just slows things down. Save a few headaches and assume ships with reasonable sensors can spot other ships, UNLESS the target has some sort of ECM (EMM masking, Black Globe) top make it tough.
Sensors are probably best used in the pre-combat and post-combat phases (as stated in book 2, for detecting objects prior to combat).
On Vehicle Design
1990-11-07 much-needed corrections and simplifications to the vehicle rules.
1990-11-07 fixing the glaring physics errors that make so much of Traveller starship design difficult to swallow, without harming the game balance too badly.
1990-11-07 re-write of the aircraft design rules in COACC
1990-11-07 the robot rules need to be re-written, or at least greatly enhanced
