Anti-hijack program

[The Shaman]

Originally posted by Gadrin:
why not?

I think you're overlooking the serious lag time of identifying a threat, developing a patch, and getting it to the end-users. A patch could be months behind a new virus designed to shut down the program, during which time ships are vulnerable. A global network can distribute patches quickly in the event of a threat, but at the stellar distances of the Imperium, with communications and therefore distribution limited to the speed of jump, it's a whole different ballgame.

Remember, in original Traveller, there is a constant risk of the program failing - in my games this is the result of that lag time, as updates cannot hope to keep up with new threats. That hacks can be resisted at all is a tribute to how robust the programs are in the first place, not the speed with which patches can be added in the event of a breach.

 

[The Shaman]

Originally posted by Gadrin:
why not?

I think you're overlooking the serious lag time of identifying a threat, developing a patch, and getting it to the end-users. A patch could be months behind a new virus designed to shut down the program, during which time ships are vulnerable. A global network can distribute patches quickly in the event of a threat, but at the stellar distances of the Imperium, with communications and therefore distribution limited to the speed of jump, it's a whole different ballgame.

Remember, in original Traveller, there is a constant risk of the program failing - in my games this is the result of that lag time, as updates cannot hope to keep up with new threats. That hacks can be resisted at all is a tribute to how robust the programs are in the first place, not the speed with which patches can be added in the event of a breach.

 

[Gadrin]

Originally posted by The Shaman:


Remember, in original Traveller, there is a constant risk of the program failing - in my games

well, that's where we diverge. I wouldn't employ the same old broken mechanic, just because it's in the LBBs. I remember trying to get my friend into CT and he took one look at the ship payment schedule and laughed, because it was wrong.
He stayed away from CT, probably basing his interest on that "bad first impression".

I'm certainly not condemning you or CT. It's a good game. However, one thing that RPGs have taught me, is that they ALL need tweaking.

 

[Gadrin]

Originally posted by The Shaman:


Remember, in original Traveller, there is a constant risk of the program failing - in my games

well, that's where we diverge. I wouldn't employ the same old broken mechanic, just because it's in the LBBs. I remember trying to get my friend into CT and he took one look at the ship payment schedule and laughed, because it was wrong.
He stayed away from CT, probably basing his interest on that "bad first impression".

I'm certainly not condemning you or CT. It's a good game. However, one thing that RPGs have taught me, is that they ALL need tweaking.

 

[The Shaman]

Originally posted by Gadrin:
I wouldn't employ the same old broken mechanic, just because it's in the LBBs.

The difference would seem to be that I don't consider it broken - I think the possibility that the Anti-Hijack program isn't 100% reliable adds a wonderful element of uncertainty to the traditional merchants-plying-the-spaceways game.

 

[The Shaman]

Originally posted by Gadrin:
I wouldn't employ the same old broken mechanic, just because it's in the LBBs.

The difference would seem to be that I don't consider it broken - I think the possibility that the Anti-Hijack program isn't 100% reliable adds a wonderful element of uncertainty to the traditional merchants-plying-the-spaceways game.

 

[Gadrin]

Originally posted by The Shaman:


I think the possibility that the Anti-Hijack program isn't 100% reliable adds a wonderful element of uncertainty to the traditional merchants-plying-the-spaceways game.

Nice Shaman, you took that better than I thought (I was afraid my words would come across too harsh).

I think to be fair, I'd interpret it more as a AHJ program not being able to cover 100% of all attempts to breach the security of the ship, rather than the program itself, outright failing.

However I must say, just because a mechanic is available, it doesn't mean (as a GM) that I'd be forced to employ it everytime.

 

[Gadrin]

Originally posted by The Shaman:


I think the possibility that the Anti-Hijack program isn't 100% reliable adds a wonderful element of uncertainty to the traditional merchants-plying-the-spaceways game.

Nice Shaman, you took that better than I thought (I was afraid my words would come across too harsh).

I think to be fair, I'd interpret it more as a AHJ program not being able to cover 100% of all attempts to breach the security of the ship, rather than the program itself, outright failing.

However I must say, just because a mechanic is available, it doesn't mean (as a GM) that I'd be forced to employ it everytime.