I'm just about done with this argument, since we're going around in circles ("you're a zealot!" "no, YOU're a zealot!"), but I can't help one last post.
Hypothesizing that it IS possible, but very hard, I oh-so-humbly suggest that Traveller is in a better position than most/any other existing game to make a run, for a few reasons:
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But seriously, Marc Miller seems to be seriously swimming upstream with this one. I'm still hoping that with enough gentle prodding he can be convinced that the DGP/MT task system is both more popular and just plain better than his tweaked T4.1 system, but I've been prodding away for ~5 years now with no visible signs of progress, so maybe I should just give up. But then again, I AM a zealot!
T5 is by no means a safe bet or a sure thing, and I never claimed it was. GT and T20 are the safe bets -- you can calculate that you'll pick up x-subportion of the existing Traveller fanbase and be able to add y-subportion of the existing GURPS/d20 fanbase: you'll know approximately how big your audience will be and can plan/budget the product accordingly. The problem with this model is that it's inherently limited -- you're probably never going to pick up significant numbers of new players who don't already belong to either x or y. While T5 can also count on picking up x (but a smaller value of x than GT and T20, 'cause it's coming third and most of the existing fans are either satisfied with what they're playing or just sick of spending money), its real potential lies in creating its own, new fanbase -- peeling away gamers from other systems and/or converting non-gamers. This isn't easy, and might not even be possible -- would d20 players ever be willing to play a different system? could adult non-gamers ever be convinced to try out (or return to) that "geeky kids' hobby"? could anybody ever be convinced to invest the money necessary to find out?Originally posted by daryen:
You just made his point. If the mass of the modern gamer audience doesn't know CT or the TRP, where is the market for T5?
Hypothesizing that it IS possible, but very hard, I oh-so-humbly suggest that Traveller is in a better position than most/any other existing game to make a run, for a few reasons:
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- the system is good, better than d20 (this is axiomatic to me, if this isn't true then none of the rest really matters)</font>
- the existence of T20 could ease the transition for existing d20 fans -- you already know the feel, setting, and much of the system, all you have to change/learn are a few key elements</font>
- Traveller is (or at least has the potential to be) seen by the general public as 'less-geeky' and/or more mature than D&D -- no funny dice, less cartoony artwork/graphic design, not fantasy, possible vestigial memory among those who played D&D in the 80s but 'outgrew' it of Traveller as a more mature/serious alternative (remember, it sold 250K copies in the 70s-80s, which means it was seen by at least 2-3x that number -- those people are still out there somewhere, and some of them may still remember Traveller fondly even if they haven't played an rpg in 20+ years)</font>
- FFE has a strong existing relationship with a company that has already produced a system for playing rpgs online (this is IMO very important and has been almost totally overlooked -- if you want to reach adult non-gamers you're going to HAVE to overcome the time-investment and the difficulty of finding other players, and FULLY integrating GRiP or something similar into the basic package is the only way I can see to accomplish this)</font>
Well, not if I can do anything about it!Especially since T5 is to be based on what seems to be the concensus choice for the worst version of Traveller made so far!
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