As we are moving toward the fifth edition of Traveller, I think it might be useful to take a look at why the previous editions of Traveller failed. Maybe doing so will help the new edition avoid the pitfalls of the past and be as successful as we want it to be.
Classic Traveller, of course, didn't fail; the reason we're here discussing the game almost 25 years after it was first published was because Classic Traveller did a lot of things right. Compared to other RPGs at the time it was published--even when I first picked up The Traveller Book in 1983--the game mechanics were simple, elegant and usually logical. The main reason that Classic Traveller succeeded, however, was not the game system but the game background. The Imperium, in my opinion, is still the best and most expansive space opera background ever created, including those for the Big Boys (Star Wars and Star Trek). I often purchased Traveller products just to see how the Imperium was evolving. Quite frankly, the Imperium background set the standard for RPG backgrounds that has yet to be equaled.
MegaTraveller, the second edition, had a multitude of problems. Its first problem was that GDW all but completely ceded the development of the game and background to the fellows at Digest Group. The result was that the game mechanics were nothing but a clumsy "house rules" system of adaptations, not a true revision and updating that might have improved the aging first edition engine. Many people didn't care for the Shattered Imperium thing; personally, I rather liked it, as my one complaint about the first-edition Imperium was that it was a bit static. One of the things that MegaTraveller did get right, however, was that both the Digest Group and GDW supplements were well done, with generally good art and good graphic design. They were professional packages, and I was happy to turn over my (very limited at the time) bucks. In the end, however, the horrible game mechanics contributed the most to killing this version.
Traveller: The New Era was a mistake from the very conception of the idea. First, the GDW "House Rules" really weren't very good, and the adaptation of them to the Imperium background was not very well done. Second--and this is something that still makes me angry almost 10 years later--the designers decided to take the thing that was special about Traveller, the thing that made it stand out, the Imperium background, and turn it into nothing but parsec after parsec after parsec of bombed-out rubble. In effect, the guys at GDW decided to destroy what was special about Traveller in a poorly conceived attempt to make that background resemble their then relatively popular Twilight:2000 line. I think the reason for this change was that GDW, at its heart, was always a wargames company, and when they did role-playing games, they often created them as individual-level wargames. By the time New Era came out, most of the storytelling role-players had moved on to other things, leaving Traveller in the hands of the wargamers. What really pissed me off at the time was that the Virus scenario wasn't even necessary; all anyone had to do was to read the MegaTraveller supplement Hard Times to get a good starting point for a new, rebuilt background, which is what my friend Chris Adams and I did when we chucked the Virus Era and extrapolated from hard times what things might be like in the year 1200.
Traveller Fourth Edition failed for several reasons, too. First, it's task resolution system was the definition of terrible. I sat down by myself for a couple of hours one Sunday afternoon and came up with a task resolution system that used every one of the published charts without a single change and with which you never rolled anything but 2d6. It worked, and it worked much better than the published system. Why couldn't the design team of professional game designers working for months come up with that?
Tied in with that reason is that the designers seemed not to have been paying attention to what had been developing in terms of role-playing mechanics in the several years that the classic Traveller system had been off duty. They apparently hadn't examined the Shadowrun system, or the Storyteller system, or even GURPS to see how mechanics had evolved. The result was something that was outdated before the ink on the paper dried.
I also think that fourth edition's designers greatly underestimated the need for a professional level of artwork and graphic design. The interior artwork, while professional, was uninspired, and thus uninspiring. I mean, where was David Detrick? The color plates were interesting, but they were nothing but ships. And the graphic design was, quite honestly, unprofessional. I honestly didn't buy fourth edition for a long time because it was so sloppily done. Sure, the simple elegance of the LLBs was great for its time, but compare fourth edition stuff even to MegaTraveller or late Classic Traveller products, which were all pretty good. Compare it to what Wizards or White Wolf or FASA have been putting out. If you want Traveller to compete in the marketplace, you have to compete in the marketplace, not just dismiss it as being irrelevant. Design matters, and I'm not just speaking as a graphic designer, but as a collector and consumer of game products.
Anyway, that's my addition to the debate, for what it's worth.
L.
Classic Traveller, of course, didn't fail; the reason we're here discussing the game almost 25 years after it was first published was because Classic Traveller did a lot of things right. Compared to other RPGs at the time it was published--even when I first picked up The Traveller Book in 1983--the game mechanics were simple, elegant and usually logical. The main reason that Classic Traveller succeeded, however, was not the game system but the game background. The Imperium, in my opinion, is still the best and most expansive space opera background ever created, including those for the Big Boys (Star Wars and Star Trek). I often purchased Traveller products just to see how the Imperium was evolving. Quite frankly, the Imperium background set the standard for RPG backgrounds that has yet to be equaled.
MegaTraveller, the second edition, had a multitude of problems. Its first problem was that GDW all but completely ceded the development of the game and background to the fellows at Digest Group. The result was that the game mechanics were nothing but a clumsy "house rules" system of adaptations, not a true revision and updating that might have improved the aging first edition engine. Many people didn't care for the Shattered Imperium thing; personally, I rather liked it, as my one complaint about the first-edition Imperium was that it was a bit static. One of the things that MegaTraveller did get right, however, was that both the Digest Group and GDW supplements were well done, with generally good art and good graphic design. They were professional packages, and I was happy to turn over my (very limited at the time) bucks. In the end, however, the horrible game mechanics contributed the most to killing this version.
Traveller: The New Era was a mistake from the very conception of the idea. First, the GDW "House Rules" really weren't very good, and the adaptation of them to the Imperium background was not very well done. Second--and this is something that still makes me angry almost 10 years later--the designers decided to take the thing that was special about Traveller, the thing that made it stand out, the Imperium background, and turn it into nothing but parsec after parsec after parsec of bombed-out rubble. In effect, the guys at GDW decided to destroy what was special about Traveller in a poorly conceived attempt to make that background resemble their then relatively popular Twilight:2000 line. I think the reason for this change was that GDW, at its heart, was always a wargames company, and when they did role-playing games, they often created them as individual-level wargames. By the time New Era came out, most of the storytelling role-players had moved on to other things, leaving Traveller in the hands of the wargamers. What really pissed me off at the time was that the Virus scenario wasn't even necessary; all anyone had to do was to read the MegaTraveller supplement Hard Times to get a good starting point for a new, rebuilt background, which is what my friend Chris Adams and I did when we chucked the Virus Era and extrapolated from hard times what things might be like in the year 1200.
Traveller Fourth Edition failed for several reasons, too. First, it's task resolution system was the definition of terrible. I sat down by myself for a couple of hours one Sunday afternoon and came up with a task resolution system that used every one of the published charts without a single change and with which you never rolled anything but 2d6. It worked, and it worked much better than the published system. Why couldn't the design team of professional game designers working for months come up with that?
Tied in with that reason is that the designers seemed not to have been paying attention to what had been developing in terms of role-playing mechanics in the several years that the classic Traveller system had been off duty. They apparently hadn't examined the Shadowrun system, or the Storyteller system, or even GURPS to see how mechanics had evolved. The result was something that was outdated before the ink on the paper dried.
I also think that fourth edition's designers greatly underestimated the need for a professional level of artwork and graphic design. The interior artwork, while professional, was uninspired, and thus uninspiring. I mean, where was David Detrick? The color plates were interesting, but they were nothing but ships. And the graphic design was, quite honestly, unprofessional. I honestly didn't buy fourth edition for a long time because it was so sloppily done. Sure, the simple elegance of the LLBs was great for its time, but compare fourth edition stuff even to MegaTraveller or late Classic Traveller products, which were all pretty good. Compare it to what Wizards or White Wolf or FASA have been putting out. If you want Traveller to compete in the marketplace, you have to compete in the marketplace, not just dismiss it as being irrelevant. Design matters, and I'm not just speaking as a graphic designer, but as a collector and consumer of game products.
Anyway, that's my addition to the debate, for what it's worth.
L.
