Hello fellow Travellers.
While T5 has been given some rather flat responses, there's a lot that even the most skeptical Traveller fan can't ignore.
Just a side step, a question has to be raised in favour of T5.
That is: If CT is so great, then why have Travellers felt the need to adopt not just 1, not 2, no 6+ and growing alternative add on rule systems? If it's so great then why must it be constantly updated in the rules department?
Personally I think the answer is simple. It's just too archaic to accomodate all a Travellers needs.
Now T5, on the other hand has made a bold attempt to provide an ultimate rules set. A massive expansion. So far the enthusiasm has been a 50/50 balance with those liking T5 ready to get in and give it a whirl, while those not in favour like some things but will stick to there current rules system.
My main gripe with Traveller and something I intend upon being firm about, is sticking to one set of rules. I find using system 68A or the UGM or whatever on top(which is not official in any way) totally annoying. In short, you shouldn't have to.
So I'd propose that with a fix for the rules that are bugging people in some way or an update to incorporate a method to adequately explain it further, could we all be happy and finally have a rules set that the majority could all agree on?
Yeah, I get it, it's kind of cool to have your own customised rules but this poses an issue. 'The founding of a standard'. In some ways Traveller has an underground movement a bit like the Linux computer operating system. It's a great operating system, but overall it's open source chaos, where there's so many varieties you end up with a lot of software that will not run on your version without recompiling source etc. No 2 users may have the same setup or even be able to use all the features of anothers system for example.
Essentially it would be comforting to know there could be a system that all Traveller players the world over could at the very least agree that's the universal standard(T5 with an update), then other things are for personal games only etc.
That way one day when a flotilla of Traveller players all meet at a Gencon etc, they will all be on the same page(no time wasting discussing Tyrano's Rule system megaspecial 101 fantisico etc).
Personally I think T5 could very well present that system once refined and only Traveller players can make that happen.
What do you think?
I can't afford to spend anymore time on these boards, so forgive me for skimming over posts that have already touched on what I'm about to post.
I think the whole idea behind T5 was that it was the system to end all systems. It creates a skill task mechanic which was sorely missing in CT, and that would have been the bane of the game had it not been for the fact that when it came out it was the only game in town, and people didn't have a problem with making up task roles on the fly to resolve non-combat situations; i.e. roll your dex or less to see if you maintain control of your vehicle, and use your skill as a negative die modifier, kind of thing.
Traveller also had the advantage that it was presented to players as a "GURPS" like system that could be applied to various sci-fi settings; TV, movies, novels and comic books. Everything from classic Tom Swift, to H.G. Wells, to Mike Mars, to Trek, to Herbert's DUNE series, to Star Wars, Aliens, etc; with the presumption that you're dealing with players whose characters are essentially normal human beings. That is to say superheros weren't well represented at the time until the Champions (HERO) system came into being.
Traveller has a lot of good history and a strong loyal fanbase. I think the only real thing that anybody could poke holes in was how armor in the CT system worked as a die modifier to a player's to hit roll verse being something that absorbed and/or took damage from the damage roll.
I think now that both a general task and hit verse damage mechanic have been worked into the system, and now that I see Mongoose introducing some other properties into Traveller, that Traveller has some sea legs once again.
As to what people think of the official setting, I don't really know. I think there's a lot of competition out on the market that might make some older Traveller material seem a bit dated, but I think overall the setting and the new game mechanic are pretty robust.
I've not heard anything negative about the new game system. Based on what little I've seen it seems like a nicely laid out book. I think if the game is to survive in the long run then a "lite" version to give potential new players a basic flavor would be helpful.
I do think, however, just hitting a lot of the online stores, that there is an awful lot of competition with some pretty impressive graphics, and I think Traveller has been given an appropriate face lift in the visuals department.
I hope it does well. The only negative impact I see from other systems are the T4 and TNE systems that didn't last very long. I think GT will help expose other RP gamers to Traveller, and I think that's a good thing for the game. CT, MT, TNE, T4 are pretty much now past news.
My only other real concern is that I saw an advert on Youtube for Drivethru RPG, and the woman narrating the ad said something like Drivethru had over 15000 products, and was adding 60 products a week, or some very high figure like that. That's a pretty daunting figure for any product; tires, bread, phones, and games. In short, I think the game is okay now, but I'm worried that the market might be getting over saturated.
Just my thoughts.
