Picking nits, the published AotI doesn't have that type of info, it's just maps. Sure the source-data used to generate those maps (which was later uploaded onto GEnie) is totally random and frequently nonsensical, but most/all of the real 'howlers' get lost in the grain of the Atlas itself -- f'rinstance, with your example world, all AotI would show is that it's starport A, hydro >0, HiPop (and whether it has any gas giants and/or bases present). At that level of detail, the GM gets a general idea of what's out there, but still has plenty of room to maneuver creatively.Originally posted by William:
For me, it's all of the above. I can live with the maps. But what I can't stand is the often randomly generated garbage that is simultaneously too detailed - if I'm writing with an eye to publication, I must use this source - and not detailed enough or detailed with silly data - yet another A212A20 2 orbiting a M0V, M2V, M9V trinary system and in the life zone too? (ok, that one is made up, but there are too many that are just as bad.)
Yeah, the DGP* "detail EVERYTHING" approach is usually a mistake -- and when it means relying on random, un-proofed, and un-logic-checked data it's definitely a mistake -- but AotI didn't go that far, and IMO strikes something of a happy medium.
*Note FWIW that the AotI actually pre-dates DGP, and that (per their 'self-interview' in TD21) it was seeing AotI and studying its maps that first inspired them to create The Traveller's Digest and its Grand Tour. But then OTOH I believe it was DGP who then posted the buggy AotI source-data onto GEnie, so I suppose your blame is well-placed after all...