>From: True Friends Change Your Life 04-Feb-1991 0846
>[email removed]
>Subject: (2126) trade wagging the dog (old message)
>
>RE: Why Trade? Or, the Tail Wagging the Dog. From: MKTESWX at GSUVM1
>
>"I'll try to keep this short (ha!). I have a major problem with the people
>who keep posting messages telling me why trade won't work in Traveller (or
>TDR) and therefore should be dropped. I assume you want to keep the "look
>and feel" of Traveller (large interstellar governments, interstellar Travel,
>etc), and to do that you *MUST* have trade."
^^^^
Sure do, but if the GM doesn't like the rules for T&C and none of the players
are merchants, then no trade. It is all transparent to the game at hand. I'm
in a game where I have a merchant and the whole bit about trading and cargo is
secondary to the game. The trade aspect is just a way to keep my chip out of
hock and get into some adventures. As a matter of fact, when it comes to
trade and commerce, we are tending to keep it out of the mainstream of the
game so it doesn't waste the other players' time. It can take too long.
Also, I like playing a merchant but I don't want to be the ultimate
bookkeeper. If I wanted to role-play an accountant, I would have gotten a
CPA in college and done it for real.
>"If interstellar trade in impractical, there is no economic connection
>between systems unless one is a captive colony of the other, and there is
>very little reason for a system to have these colonies (barring Religious
>Destiny). Therefore, no peaceful cooperation, no interstellar government, no
>passenger traffic, etc. Traveller is now set in ONE highly developed star
>system. I think we have a problem here ;)."
I consider that Traveller being set in ONE star system to be one of the
biggest mistakes by GDW. The most successful role-playing game was not set in
a particular universe or continuum or what-have-you. It is dangerous to think
that if a group is not playing in the Shattered Imperium, that they are not
playing Mega-Traveller.
>The bigger question about this tool kit is, where is it going to be
>manufactured? My point is that it will be manufactured where the materials
>required to manufacture it are located...
Watch out. This doesn't even hold true for the modern world. Raw materials
are going to go where the labor is cheap. Of course, there will be exceptions
due to tech level importation restrictions. Also, I'm sure that there can be
cases of importing the "coolies". Depends what kind of "culture" you want.
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| *-=Carl=-* [email removed] | Sixteen empty missile tubes, and a |
| DELPHI - WULFGAR | mushroom cloud. Now its Miller time! |
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