What YOU like about Mongoose Traveller!

[spinwardpirate]

The covers of the books remind me of CT. The interior art is pretty good, in some cases inspiring, which is always a plus. The starships are likewise inspiring (I really love T&G). Character generation is probably one of the best I've seen. There are nuances and subtleties that allow for some very interesting characters to be generated. Additions to starship construction, like solar sails and solar panels, are brilliant. Some of the bits of character enhancements available give a bit of new flavor without going too far beyond the feel of CT. I really feel like Mongoose has taken CT and updated into something new, while respecting its roots.

And... I really like the fact that they are taking the system and applying it to other universes! Bravo!

 

[Klaus]

I'll ditto with Cgen, ShipGen, etc. Thing I really like is the very simple, but deceptively sophisticated, technology. I like the way bionics and genetic enhancements are introduced without having loads of complex bloat, and the way that building in computer systems to mundane devices can create a wide variety of useful gizmos. It's surprising how many different types of combat armour you can build with the options included. TMB could have done with a proper breakdown of sensor operations, but that is a minor quibble.

And at least in the games I've run, all the numbers seem to be perfectly balanced, from skills to armour.

What was indeed a lot of fun is what an ARMP did to the air/raft my players were sightseeing in....

 

[King of Old School]

Oh… and not to keep rattling on but, another big issue for me on the design is that whatever typeface they *did* use (to me, it looks like they used a poor clone of Mixage Bold Italic (probably a free clone from the web) with altered "R"s), they didn't even bother trying to properly kern it. The spacing between the "A" and the "V" is significant. Just a point or two more, and you'd have "Tra Veller." As far as logo design goes, it's an eyesore.

I noticed the kerning on the cover logo as well -- painfully elementary mistake, that one. For better or worse, it's reflective of Mongoose's abysmal "we don't need no steenking professionals, fans will buy anything" attitude to graphic design that has prevailed until recently. Hopefully their new hire will lead to a general improvement on that front.

EDIT: And to be fair, the new corebook art (also found in the wonderful Pocket Edition) is very very nice.

KoOS

 

[MongooseMatt]

And to be fair, the new corebook art (also found in the wonderful Pocket Edition) is very very nice.

That will be the effect of the new hire. Just wait until you see Hammers Slammers. . .

 

[vertigo25]

And to be fair, the new corebook art (also found in the wonderful Pocket Edition) is very very nice.

Yes it is. Very. I love the spacecraft illustrations in "Common Spacecraft" and "Spacecraft Operations." Some of them are actually quite spectacular even in black, especially the full page ones.

Most of the art is really on a par or exceeds the work of the CT and FASA books (I'm a Keith Brothers loyalist, though, so nothing Traveller related could ever beat William's work). Some of the illustrations are stronger than others, of course, but the only illustration I *don't* like is the one on pg. 59 (which would be perfectly fine if it was just the commander). The work doesn't wow me as much as the work in the new Starblazer Adventures RPG (from cubicle 7), but it's still great stuff that adds a lot of flavor to the game.

I like that it's rejuvenated my jones for SF roleplaying!

Yes.

This may sound weird, but I also like that it's familiar… but new. It's like seeing an old friend again. The last time you saw him, he seemed a little down and like the road had become a burden. You parted ways for a little while, and the next time you saw him, you were amazed at how rejuvenated he looked and loved sitting down with him and learning about all the changes he'd gone through since last you spoke. And even though he had changed quite a bit, he was still the same guy, and you thought the person he'd become was even cooler than the guy he used to be.

Wow. That may have been the worst, and most dramatic metaphor I've ever pulled out of my butt. But I'm keeping it up there

 

[tbeard1999]

Yeah. This is one of those things that's a nitpick for me. Honestly, I know that *most* people will look at the cover and think it's just a change of "font" and be perfectly happy with it. A graphic designer, though, is going to look at it and think "Did they get some kid fresh out of HS to redesign this?"

Sadly, this could be said of many RPG products these days.

The covers for the LBBs were remarkably designed not just because they had the single brilliant colors on black. The designer understood composition *very* well. The positioning of the elements and their proportion to each other are all based on very sound design principles (principally, excellent usage of the "Golden Ratio").

The original designs make use of many of the principles of the Swiss Style. Where they diverge, however, they are still following the principles of strong and effective design. For instance, it's doubtful that the use of Optima as the title typeface ("font" is actually a very popular misuse of the word, BTW) was an arbitrary decision. It's considered by many designers to be Zapf's most dynamic typeface.

I am *certain* that none of this was considered in the redesign.

Agreed, but again, it seems typical of much of the hobby.

Like I said, for 99% of the population it doesn't matter. To me, it rewards amateurism. Not a *huge* deal, and obviously doesn't effect game play. It's just one of those things that when you notice it, it just irritates you. I guess it would be the way a doctor would feel when a patient says "well, my massage therapist says my aura is misaligned."

Long ago, I worked in a traditional typesetting shop and saw how the craft was done in the old days. I was an early postscript desktop publishing wonk, so I also got to see (indeed, lead) the barbarian invasion that essentially wiped out classic typography in most applications. In the same way that gunpowder ended the aristocratic knight, desktop publishing eliminated a *lot* of work that traditional designers and typesetters did.

Like you, I found MGT's graphic design amateurish. However, that seems to be commonplace in the RPG industry these days. (Even with companies that can afford top talent -- D&D 3rd had one of the worst layouts evuh. And let's not mention TNE).

To Mongoose Matt -- and any other game company manager -- professional layout and design *does* matter. I know it's expensive, but it definitely sets a product line apart.

 

[Poppyseed45]

As the OP, may I remind folks that this IS the thread of "Why you like MGT!" If you all wish to discuss, say, the wretchedness of the typeface of the cover, please start a new thread, if you like, rather than discuss it here (unless you are writing to say that the typeset is teh awesome, in which case, that fits the theme nicely).

Thank you.

 

[saundby]

I like the fact that there's a game on the market I really like.

I'm glad I didn't end up feeling burned for buying in early like I did with MRQ.

I'm glad it helps feed my FLGS's owner & family.

I'm glad the chargen helps my wife get into character far faster than any other rpg she's played.

It plays very well with CT stuff.

Enough books came out quickly enough to give a well-rounded set of additions to the core rules--warts and all it still comes out as a plus for me. And those additions don't break the core rules (so far.)

Mongoose has listened to readers and replaced the most awful pieces of art with something better. And they are continuing to improve their staffing.

It appears to be selling well, making for a good community, a rapidly developing line of first and third party products, and hopefully putting lots of dollars (or pounds) into the pocket of one of my all-time favorite game designers.

 

[tbeard1999]

Well, here's something I like about Mongoose (as opposed to MGT) -- they are a company run by gamers. This may have some downsides (rules often come out in a far rougher form that one might expect), but it has far more upside. In particular, I applaud their willingness to fix mistakes, rather than deny them. An early example were the deckplans in MGT. The designer was apparently given the wrong grid scale, so the plans were too small. Mongoose quickly corrected the error and made revised deckplans available on their website.

That's a lesson that many game companies could learn (including GDW back in the day; a lot of the problems with CT could have been resolved far sooner than Megatraveller had GDW been willing to address them).

 

[Psion]

For me, it really is the chargen. And having a game on the market that new players can buy. Possibly ship construction, but I'm not as enamored with making ships as a pastime as I once was.

I think the task system and combat are okay, but honestly prefer MegaTraveller's. The probabilities aren't that dissimilar between MT and MGT, but I prefer the way that the UTP handles (and provides a notation for) a variety of often overlooked and often handwaved details of tasks.

The compatibility with OTU/CT/MT material is also nice. I am a fan of the OTU. The fact that the main book supports the OTU but doesn't spell it out makes it easy for me to make my own decisions regarding era, versions, and homebrew tweaks.

 

[RossWinn]

Things I like

I love the connections rule and that balance between simple and advanced character generation in Mongoose Traveller.

I love the simple and uniform task mechanic used throughout.

I dislike the presentation & typography.

I dislike the oversimplification of weapons & armor.

My Two Cents, anyway...

 

[Merxiless]

I like the flavor of character generation, gave me a lot of ideas.

Patrons book, all sorts of things to like, plus it's compatible with my traveller stuff that I've been collecting for 30 years.

 

[Tysis]

I have not looked at it yet (other than reading the product info), but I am considering it. For me, it is the support. Material that is actually available for purchase is a big plus.

The OGL means that if someone comes up with a good idea they can pursue it (well I think this is correct). I am sure Mongoose will be more focused on fleshing out the game material, but I think third parties being able to write adventure material is great. I know we can all do that but it is a real time consumer is it not?

My gaming group is stuck on the design rules in TNE, and it is really hard to get them to give it up. I like them too, but the time required is significant. I find it odd that they would rather just not play; that is exactly what is happening.

 

[Britti_Lover]

I rather like Mongoose Traveller, and I'll never run it. I'm a GURPS kinda guy and play Gurps Traveller.

That being said, I play GURPS and GT allows me to play GURPS in the Traveller Universe - I love it!

NOW - if you are not a GURPS player, the version you should be playing is the Mongoose one, it is a major update from Classic Traveller and the quality is quite good.

I got a friend thaT RUNS it and it plays like a dream, Traveller fans must be happy to see their game back with a bang!

 

[saundby]

I like the addition of new settings, and the general ability to separate rules from setting. The B5 book is a real mixed bag, both dross and golden nuggets between the same covers, but it does what is claimed.

By contrast, I ran a non-Glorantha RQII game for many years. I feel that other versions of RQ I've seen since have too much of Glorantha has been encoded in the rules to allow them to form the base for my game. I'd do as well starting from CoC, perhaps better (bronze age Cthulhu, anyone?)

Anyway, MGT still lets me pick pieces out and insert others without breaking. I'm about to start a B5 campaign, I'm already working on a Doc Smith campaign for sometime next year, re-using a bunch of my Doc Smith stuff from my old CT campaign.

 

[Poppyseed45]

Yay! My thread lives!

ON a side note, I got through character generation with my group and they absolutely loved it. More importantly, they knew a lot about their characters thanks to the event tables and the connections rules. Very very sweet.

We'll be playing next session in a few weeks and it should be fun, as we've a large group of 7 players which means, for the first time in my life, all crew positions are filled! (we even ahve a steward!).

Problem is, that means only one empty stateroom...

 

[spinwardpirate]

I don't recall if I posted in this thread before or not. And I'm not going to go back and look!
:rofl:
I really like the character generation system, some of the newer tech items, and some of the new additions to ship construction.

 

[kafka47]

For me, it is the sheer simplicity of it which reminds me of CT. Once you have modified combat by doubling the armour value, then things fall into place.

Secondly, they do have a schedule and with the exception of a few instances...delays are no more than 1-2 months overdue...compare that to any Traveller company plus they post regular updates and previews.

The quality and the errata issue is there, for sure, but not really glaring different than any other edition that was in print during its first run. MT, anyone?

Plus, I find the quality keeps on getting better...something that I have not seen since the DGP days.

It ain't your grand daddy's Traveller Universe but it certainly reflects a portion of mine...and given me new ideas to expand upon the old. And, it has been a while since any Traveller product has done that.

 

[Klaus]

For me, it is the sheer simplicity of it which reminds me of CT. Once you have modified combat by doubling the armour value, then things fall into place.

Have you tested that in play? Last few games I've run, if armour is boosted, let alone doubled, combat becomes endless dice rolling.

After a vicious firefight vs ACR armed, AT6 (vac suit) troops, my player in combat armour had taken 3 hits overall and downed 8 with his gauss rifle, while the other player, in AT8, had taken a few bursts while he charged to melee range to kill the other 4 (by stabbing them in their open faceplates - let him do it for the chutzpah of charging 4 guys with automatic weapons and actually making it), and still, just about, survived conscious.

The rolls were not particularly extraordinary, an average mix of good and bad.

 

[beowulf2044]

Now that PC's get to work all the way through their Endurance rating, and then use up either Strength or Dexterity before they fall unconscious, then doing an armour upgrade would make for some long combat actions. Unless you want to roll back to basic Classic Traveller and take them out when one stat is used up.