[You can post this to the entire TML if you want]
> Yeah, well, there's a lot of brain time invested in the old rules for a
> lot of us; what can I say?
In general I was getting the impression that the TML in general didn't
seem to understand that GDW was definitely using the T2K rules (i.e.
that it wasn't a debatable point).
Though I had thought this point should have been cleared up long ago.
> As a result, anytime someone suggests changing the rules, there are a lot of
> flames. Does it do any good to send the flames to GDW? No.
Agreed in general. But than I believe in Freedom of Speech, presumeably
others do, so therefore I don't see any reason to edit out the vitriolic
material (now if I were uploading it to the GEnie topic areas, I might
do some editing on any four letter stuff and such, but that's another
matter, teens and such).
And of course calling each other names doesn't do much good either
(in point of fact GDW has taken the name calling rather lightly compared
to what some other companies would do).
If things got to serious I would probbly do some editing though.
> I am also of the personal opinion that having GDW looking over our
> shoulders, so to speak, tends to have an inhibiting effect on the discussion.
> It seems to me that the discussions on GEnie are pale and insipid compared to
> the discussions heere, and that seems to be one of the causes. ($6/hr is the
> other, of course.)
Well, offhand I haven't exactly seen all the inhibiting effect yet
(but than of course not everything is posted to everybody). Though
it's interesting (recalling a much earlier discussion about whether
GDW had any inhibiting effect on conversation on GEnie).
As for whether the discussions on GEnie are pale and insipid is another
matter. The Traveller topic area is probably more of an area for HIWG
to meet and talk than GDW or DGP (though I don't think this had been the
original intent, it just happened that way) and HIWG being what it is,
most discussions don't occur on GEnie (the $6+ per hour, lack of access by
most members, etc... being an inhibiting factor), and a large part that
occurs happens via Email (being loads cheaper, the T2K<->Traveller
conversion being one such).
Most of the TML stuff seems wasted disk space to me, but there is the
occasional nugget to be found.
> The current little fracas began with Loren forwarding a generalized
> request for help, with no indication of what sort of help was desired. The
> message included above clarifies that. However, what would be nice ( and you
> can pass this along) would be some notion of schedule and boundaries of
> activity.
Yeah, I had sent a note to GDW just after recieving that message that
maybe they should give you guys a pointer as to what they wanted
(although I probably could do it for them).
Basically my suggestions would be the following, and you can post
it to the TML in general (for that matter the entire letter could be,
but than that's not exactly what you want):
...........
Taking for fact that GDW is going to be using the T2K system in general
as the basic rules. The background is generally going to be lower tech
and small kingdoms are the way to go.
Admitted it would be easier to criticize actual material, but....
What areas need to be fixed?
One set of problems has been some of the science behind Traveller,
to be specific, Power Plant outputs/fuel use for Fission were off,
Fusion Drives were off, and some didn't like the thruster drives (well,
we could always use Robert Forwards new drives).
[One thing to keep in mind here, is that GDW is an RPG company,
not a scientific research organization. And DGP was just a
parttime RPG company at that. Granted, they might have done
slightly better, but than Traveller is also a mass of widespread
information that needed to be rewritten.]
Another set of problems was the combat system, from personal to
starship.
The third was vehicle/starship design. Basically the idea seems to
be something easier while still retaining the variety and detail of
the existing system. (and we mustn't forget to install those airlocks
in starships.....)
The fourth was system generation (and what Hard Times does to certain
worlds, like those low tech, high pop, vacuum worlds. Although if you
asked me, I'd try to figure out how such worlds would make sense first
before throwing them out, after all this is SF, no sense having every
world behaving and looking like Earth right? Of course, making sense
also helps).
The fifth was starport generation and capabilities (a favorite
topic of many, and seemingly the hardest thing to adequately describe).
And I'm sure there are others that come to mind....
Offhand I'd say the first was the most important (and it would be best
if 2 out of 3 people could agree on that part).
...........
> As far as complaints go, if you look back through the material from the first
> pass last fall, you'll find a good bit of material that they should read, once
> the flames have been extracted.
I'm currently missing said info....though hopefully that will be
corrected in the next couple of weeks.
In conclusion, it would be nice if GDW passed out certain sections
of the material so that it can be picked apart. But I'm not sure it's
their style (I've seen only three companies actually pass the info
to any large extent, FASA with parts of the Shadowrun material,
DGP experimenting with AI, and than Star Fleet Battles. And some
Traveller writers with their material.).