Mark Power says:
> Getting back to my original posting, is anyone interested in
> revamping the speculative trade system? I've got a few entries into my
> master cargo table ready. If there is enough interest, I'll send them
> to this list. If not, I'll be happy to send them directly to anyone who
> wants them.
Yes, there's a lot of interest already, judging from postings on the
list. I'm interested, too, in contributing. I think all it needs is
someone to volunteer to lead the discussion. We need a VOLUNTEER.
An ideal format would be for the topic coordinator to come up with an
initial explanation of a rough strategy. Then collect responses on it,
produce a digest of the responses and an amended strategy. Iterate
until half-baked ideas become fully baked. Naturally these
digests/strategy reports are posted to the whole list; individual
discussion can go directly to the topic coordinator.
This list can really contribute to Traveller, all it takes is some
commitment. I think the level of commitment and quality is way up
lately. Thanks everyone for a great effort. Thanks to the listeners
that lend support by their presence.
I realize we're all really busy, but all it takes is a commitment from
one person to handle and synthesize the responses, and we all benefit.
I'm doing as much as I can coordinating this list. If you're fired up
about Traveller, and can spare the time (it does take time), and have
some organization skills, this can really contribute to the quality of
the game. I really want to see some of this discussion result in
something (maybe of quality good enough for publishing!).
Topics needing coordinators:
Star system generation/database management
Trade route generation/database management
MT/Merchant Prince Trade and Commerce System replacement
Others?
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On another topic, I think I've gotten all the response I've gotten on
changing the mailing list to a digest format. The results were:
Yes! Yes,but No,but No! News
7 5 1 4 1
Average delay between digests: 3 days
One listee was interested in starting a newsgroup, rec.games.traveller.
I'd say yes! Except... we need 150 members and at least 2 messages/day
for 6 months to accomplish this, according to Gene Spafford (News Guru
Extraordinaire of our humble planet). We currently have 142 members,
and have had a (phenomenal!) 51 messages this month. Almost, but not
quite. I also am uncertain if we will sustain this level of traffic.
One member suggested we move to a dual list, where people desiring to be
put on a digest list could have that, while people liking the current
mechanism could stick with it. Aside from added complexity, this is my
favorite idea.
Someone else wanted digests, and suggested that we all agree on certain
number of subtopics, and then have everyone carefully place the subtopic
in their Subject: line. People could then easily skip messages that
way. Two problems with this; one is, people are never that careful.
That causes problem #2, I have to adjust subjects on every piece of mail
going through the list.
One person really liked the "instant delivery" of the current mechanism,
because if he had a question it could get answered very quickly.
Several people seemed to pick up a concern about peak hours mail
overload at my computer. This has not been a problem, so rest asssured.
When I find time, what I will do is this:
I will follow contacts to get some digestifying software.
I will implement a dual list with digestifying for those who
want it, or the standard method. Once it is tested, I will make
it known and those who want their mail digested can get it that
way; everyone else can stay the way they are. This "voting with
your feet" will really indicate how desired digestifying is, and
may make the traffic more acceptable to people.
The Traveller Archives will still be organized as it currently
is, with Archive-Message-Numbers, Bundles, and Packages.
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By the way, it's much easier for me to distribute archive bundles now,
send archive tables-of-contents and add people to the list... a little
tool work often really pays off. Don't be shy if you want some old
archives.
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Oh yes, the UUCP-style address [email removed] no longer works,
because tektronix insists you use the full name for dadla. Those of you
still using uucp, route through [email removed], or if
possible, ask if domain-style adressing will work at your site, and use
[email removed]. The same goes for the "traveller" and
"traveller-request" mailboxes.
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There will be a new MegaTraveller-compatible gensec sector generator and
mapsub subsector mapper program coming out soon, due to the hard work of
Fred Schiff. Stay tuned to this channel.
James
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James T. Perkins Traveller Mailing List Administrator
Tektronix Digital Systems Division "Load Auto/Evade, Beowulf!"
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INTERNET: [email removed]
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