(hypothetical) What would you ask Dave Nilsen?

[LKW]

Originally posted by JavaApp:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by LKW:
In the meantime, any questions for me?

Airspeed of of a laden swallow?

</font>[/QUOTE]African or European?

How do I get out of this chicken**** outfit?

I'd try the zipper down the front of it.

OK, seriously. Here's a entirely personal question:

If you had never GM'ed a Traveller campaign before, and had the entire spread of material, canon or otherwise, what sort of campaign would you run, and what scenarios, campaign books, supplements and rules would you use?

The sort of campaign would depend on the wishes of the players. I've always believed that referees/umpires/GMs should coordinate such things with the players, so everyone remains interested. No point in focusing on a merchant campaign if the players want to be mercenaries.

On the rare occasions when I refereed/umpired/GMed, I seldom used published adventures, scenarios, or campaigns . . . being a professional designer of such things, I tended to "roll my own."

 

[Badbru]

I'll second the call for a metric version of GURPS Traveller. I've played GURPS Cyberpunk and quite liked the GURPS system but found it really hard to get my head around a foreign weights and distances system. It allways puts me off any GURPS product which otherwise are usually excellent products in my experience. So to condense down to a single question for you Loren; Will SJG ever cater to the global market or are they happy servicing the US market?

 

[Border Reiver]

I tended to "roll my own."

Ah yes, as long as it wasn't of the "extra long" variety.

 

[LKW]

Originally posted by Badbru:
I'll second the call for a metric version of GURPS Traveller. I've played GURPS Cyberpunk and quite liked the GURPS system but found it really hard to get my head around a foreign weights and distances system. It allways puts me off any GURPS product which otherwise are usually excellent products in my experience. So to condense down to a single question for you Loren; Will SJG ever cater to the global market or are they happy servicing the US market?

I don't know.

FWIW, the German translation of GURPS used metric measures, but I think that's out of print now.

 

[LKW]

Originally posted by Border Reiver:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />In the meantime, any questions for me?

Yes..Yes...YES!

Where are they now? If anyone can, you must be the one that can update what the GDW emeritus are up to now. Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, Timothy Brown, Charles Gannon (an English lit. professor?), Dave Nilsen (actually we kinda know), anyone else you can think of?
</font>[/QUOTE]David Nilsen is a civilian contractor for the Department of Defense.

Marc Miller you know about.

Rich Banner still lives in Illinois, in the house his parents built.

Frank Chadwick lives in New Hampshire, working on miniatures games. His wife is employed by the Department of Agriculture.

John Harshman took a doctorate in zoology and lives in California, with his wife and son. Not sure what his actual day job is . . . his hobby is debating creationists on-line.

Timothy Brown is in Wisconsin, last I heard, and dabbling in games as a sideline (with Lester Smith) while running a video rental store with his wife.

I haven't heard from Chuck Gannon in quite some time . . . you seem to know know more about him than I do.

Andrew Keith died a few years ago.

Bill Keith is still writing novels.

Chris Purcell is married and living in Michigan.

Joe Fugate you know about.

I haven't heard from John Aestell in more than 7 years.


I've been tempted to create some T-shirts that say:

</font>

• <name>
  GDW Emeritus
  Class of 19**-**</font>

With the years of employment.

Qua iam peregrinus? Without giving anything away, what would you like to see published for Traveller (any version, any era)?

Everything I write. : )

I have the distinction of being one of the few Traveller authors with contributions to all versions of Traveller: CT, MT, TNE, T4, GT and T20. I am about to put the finishing touches on my second PDF product, and have proposals in to e23 (can't discuss those).

 

[kafka47]

Well, as much as I hate the Imperial system, and I do hate it with a passion. The issue is not serving the US market otherwise all other forms of Traveller would be rendered obsolete which did use quasi-metric.

However, with the EU's regs that all products must conform to metric measurements by 2010 will pose very interesting challenges to trade in the near future.

Anyhow, it is two factors holding "metricification" back 1) the US government does not want to commit to the mass education campaign 2) it is very difficult to build a house using metric ...and (maybe, 3) the French invented it, no US government will admit the French have a good idea).

 

[Border Reiver]

My suspicions about Charles Gannon was based on an academic treatise on the use of technomilitary images in speculative fiction from the Victorian era onwards. Even the writing style was similar.

So I followed the trail to St Bonaventure University's English Department

Trouble is I don't know if it is him or not, but he certainly seems to fit the bill.

 

[kafka47]

I tried to email that Charles Gannon, a few months back but never got any reply...so my guess it is another Charles Gannon.

LKW, you say we know about Marc...but we don't know much as he hasn't visited these boards in a very long time...save to drop off surveys. Is he already retired?

 

[LKW]

Originally posted by kafka47:
LKW, you say we know about Marc...but we don't know much as he hasn't visited these boards in a very long time...save to drop off surveys. Is he already retired?

Retired from FFE? Certainly not. He's also active as a consultant for game companies, and has irons in a couple of other fires. He's a grandfather now (which would make me feel old if I didn't already).

 

[Allensh]

This thread is absolutely wonderful!

I loved TNE. I was one of those who ardently defended it on the TML, sometimes to my detriment. I subscribed to the Moot just to I could read TNE:1248 (I believe the playtest is over?) and I have this to say...

Wow.

Thanks Dave, MJD, Loren and everyone else..this is awesome to have the answers, even unofficial ones, after all these years.

Allen Shock

 

[Laryssa]

Kafka47 said

Well, as much as I hate the Imperial system, and I do hate it with a passion. The issue is not serving the US market otherwise all other forms of Traveller would be rendered obsolete which did use quasi-metric.

However, with the EU's regs that all products must conform to metric measurements by 2010 will pose very interesting challenges to trade in the near future.

Anyhow, it is two factors holding "metricification" back 1) the US government does not want to commit to the mass education campaign 2) it is very difficult to build a house using metric ...and (maybe, 3) the French invented it, no US government will admit the French have a good idea).

--------------------
Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion.I know this:if life is an illusion,then I am no less an illusion,and being thus, the illusion is real to me.I live,I burn with life,I love,I slay,and I am content.

Ever hear of a metric foot?
I've read about an alternate system of metric weights and measures? The interesting thing of about the Imperial system is that the size of the foot is such that there is very nearly one million feet in a light second. One can devise a new metric system whose primary unit of length measurement is a foot such that there are exactly 1,000,000 feet in a light second instead of those sloppy meters that don't divide evenly into a light second. The thing is when you divide a light second into a million equal parts, what you end up with is a measurement that's slightly shorter than an Imperial foot.

And from that metric foot, you can have a kilofoot (1,000 feet) about 1/5th of a mile. One can then define a cubic metric foot as a liter, and define the weight of a liter of water as equal to 1 kilogram and so on.

 

[Border Reiver]

I missed this.

Interesting premise but unfortunately based on poor info. 1 lightsecond is very nearly a BILLION feet. In fact it is 983571056 feet.

So it doesn't come close to being a round figure. By an order of several thousand miles.

On the other hand a light second does EQUAL 299792458 metres. A bit closer to a round figure and accurate as the metre is derived from a light second since 1983.

 

[darktalon]

Originally posted by kafka47:
(maybe, 3) the French invented it, no US government will admit the French have a good idea).

Except when it comes to their role in the Revolutionary War.

The GURPS Traveller starship design rules are easy to metricate if you want. A displacement ton is a displacement ton, we can take a mass ton to be a tonne without too much trouble, 1 square foot ~ 1/10 square metre and so on. My real issue with them isn't the unit system, but that the numbers are ugly.

 

[TheDS]

Geez, being reminded that the French came up with the metric system is like being reminded that my computers would all be useless, overpriced junk without Bill Gates' contribution: unpaletable.

Laryssa wasn't saying there were exactly a billion feet in a lightsecond, but that if we divided a lightsecond into 1 billion parts, the resulting length would be close enough to a foot for the common man to accept it.

It's not unlike the original derivision of the meter: dividing the distance from equator to north pole into 10,000,000. (edit: oops! Accidentally said 10,000, but no one caught it.)

But anyway, if Loren hasn't been frightened off by all the inanity going on around here, maybe I would ask him what kinds of games he plays nowadays?

 

[LKW]

Originally posted by TheDS:
But anyway, if Loren hasn't been frightened off by all the inanity going on around here, maybe I would ask him what kinds of games he plays nowadays?

It takes more than what goes on here to frighten me away . . . : )

Most recently, I've been involved in the highly-restricted SJ Games playtests held at Illuminati World HQ in Austin TX. These can be almost anything that outsiders submit that SJ wants an opinion about.

As for my main interest (miniatures gaming) I've been painting 15mm WWII USMC & IJA for Command Decision and drooling over the few Pulp Figures I managed to cajole Bob Murch into sending me (right now I can't afford to buy figures, so I'm actually forced to paint what I already own!). In my copious free time, I'm working on a skirmish-level miniatures game, which I intend to self publish (as PDF or PoD) . . . eventually.

 

[LKW]

Late addition to my last answer, here is my minis page on my website. So far, only photos of ancients and WWII stuff on there . . . I don't own a digital camera and have to borrow one to take photos of my finished work. I'll never win any contests, but they are perfectly adequate gaming minis.

 

[Qstor2]

Originally posted by LKW:
Marc Miller you know about.

I have the distinction of being one of the few Traveller authors with contributions to all versions of Traveller: CT, MT, TNE, T4, GT and T20. I am about to put the finishing touches on my second PDF product, and have proposals in to e23 (can't discuss those). [/QB]

I'd like to see you guys get together for a panel or something at GenCon next year. I think that would be fun. Maybe the final version T5 will be ready by then

Mike

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by kafka47:
Anyhow, it is two factors holding "metricification" back 1) the US government does not want to commit to the mass education campaign 2) it is very difficult to build a house using metric ...and (maybe, 3) the French invented it, no US government will admit the French have a good idea).

At the risk of sidelining the sidelined discussions, ...

The real problem with the "metrification" of the US is touched on by your point 2. "Business" is just not interested in spending the money to move all of our manufacturing over to the metric system. Tool makers would probably love it, but they would be the only ones. (Of course, once we finish shipping all of our manufacturing over seas, the switchover should be trivial.)

The education thing isn't a big deal. The metric system is fairly endemic to the US education system already. I am over 40, and even when I was in school, the metric system was taught. It isn't that big of a deal.

Besides, all of those people who would have problems with the metric system already have problems with the English system. Really, how many people actually know how long a mile is? Do they know how many cups in a pint? Pints in a quart? Quarts in a gallon? Heck, I bet there are lots and lots of people who can't even tell you how many half gallons are in a gallon.

You don't worry about people like that keeping up. They are already wandering in a fog. Switching to the metric system might change the color of the fog slightly, but they are in no worse a situation.

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by LKW:
In the meantime, any questions for me?

Well, several. But you can't answer them. (You know, when will we see more GT products? When can we see a GT:Third Imperium sourcebook for GURPS 4e? Things like that.)

However, I am curious about the whole TNE changeover. Dave seems to get the worst of it in regards to TNE, but how involved were the rest of you at GDW with the changeover to TNE? I assume everyone was on board, but were there any concerns about the change to TNE? It was a pretty massive change, both in setting and in rules.

Also, what do you think of MJD's 1248 effort? Have you had a chance to check it out? What do you think of the resolutions and decisions he made to the mysteries of the setting?

[Edit]
Oh, one more. At what point (in terms of MegaTraveller products) was it decided that Strephon wasn't really dead? From what I can tell, he was "still dead" in Hard Times. But he was obviously "now alive" in Arrival Vengence. (Assuming you remember at all.

)

Thank you.

 

[Jame]

Originally posted by LKW:
In the meantime, any questions for me?

One, but it deals with the online JTAS and doesn't really bear repeating here.