The following is the latest section of the discussion from GEnie. Please
pay particular attention to the first message, from Dave Nilsen. Also
note Loren Wiseman's plea for a summary of our previous discussions here.
I must add (he says editorially) that I don't much care for the tone of Mr.
Nilsen's remarks, and if they rub the rest of yout the wrong way too, I would
appreciate it if you would all take a deep breath before instinctively flaming
him.
Rob Dean
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Category 11, Topic 3
Message 422 Fri Nov 22, 1991
GDW.SUPPORT [Loren W.] at 21:29 EST
And now a word from Dave Nilsen:
In response to the firestorm of controversy, we would like to present
the following outline of the thrust of the Traveller revision.
-- First things first: THIS IS NOT A WHOLESALE TRASHING OF
EVERYTHING WE'VE EVER PUT OUT. It is an evolutionary development
that will be as true as possible to everything that has gone before.
-- Why the Twilight System? Because other extremely popular GDW
games use the system, and this will allow more people to try other games
in our line without having to learn an entirely new rules system. Once
you know the system, you'll be able to pick up any of our RPGs and
get playing quickly.
Also, and this is of real benefit to you players, it will allow
us to put out more role-playing modules and variant settings along
the lines of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. If we have to design a new
system from scratch every time we want to create a new RPG setting,
there's no way we could make the time to do very many. However, if
we can build on an established system that is already well-known
among our players, it makes it possible for us to produce more fun stuff
for you to play without having to mortgage the farm on long development
times and costs.
And, once you know the new system, playing Dark Con or Twilight
with your friends, even if you don't do it more than once a year,
will be as easy as falling off a bicycle.
Certainly the New Traveller will make evolutionary modifications to
the Twilight system, just as Dark Con did. We will add things that
will allow it to retain that unique Traveller flavor.
-- Of course we will modify the way Traveller skills are quantified
in order to make them work with the Twilight system, and of course we
will provide conversion table so you can make your current
character compatible with the new system. What do you think we
are, communists?
-- What "using the Twilight system" does not mean, is that we will
be adopting that historical background (that was 2300, remember?),
and adopting the M1A1 as the new Imperial MBT. Get real.
-- Vehicle designs will replicate as much as possible the general
results of current vehicle design, as much as MT designs gave results
demonstrably similar to earlier takes on Traveller. However,
the system will not require you to buy time on the MIT mainframe to
generate a fleet of starships.
-- Starship combat will be more fun and more detailed.
-- One major thrust of the revision is to make the game accessible
to first-time players, without requiring them to become disciples of
someone who's been playing since 1977 in order to get the hang of
it, which MT, unfortunately does.
-- Your subsector data will still be useful. We are not leaving
Imperial space. We will be retaining varying levels of technology
in different regions to allow current players to continue play in various
socio-technological environments, according to their tastes.
-- Aircraft carriers are not obsolete! (I'm sorry, that slipped in here
from the
Troubled Waters blurb that Loren was writing today.)
-- We will be returning to many of the themes of pre-Rebellion
Traveller, so it will be kind of like a ten-year reunion. (Except
if you drink, you should drink responsibly.)
Please allow us to assure you that we have been reading your
comments and concerns, and that these have been very reassuring to
us, as the things you have been talking about have reconfirmed to
us that our assessment of what we want to do with the revision is
right on target with our audience. Many of the things you've
discussed are things we are already planning, but it's nice to
get the positive feedback so quickly.
However, since we are still in the fairly early stages of
nailing down specifics, this will be the last bean-spilling we'll
be able to indulge in for a while. We just need time to fully
form our work. But keep the comments coming, we do read them.
This is Free Trader Beowulf . . . Mayday . . . .
Dave
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Topic 29 Mon Nov 18, 1991
DIGEST.GROUP [Staff] at 00:43 EST
Sub: The WISH List
You know that the new Traveller is coming soon to a game store near you - but
is you had your way, what would you want to see in it?
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Category 11, Topic 29
Message 29 Fri Nov 22, 1991
GDW.SUPPORT [Loren W.] at 00:09 EST
Rob,
Thanks for the Internet stuff so far...be sure and ask if someone over
there can prepare a summary of their "What's wrong with MT" discussions
(conclusions, preferably).
SOmeone among the above messages asked for a GEnie Email address to send
comments: GDW.SUPPORT is it. I read it every night, and forward the messages
(and postings) to the appropriate people at GDW.
Loren
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Category 11, Topic 29
Message 30 Fri Nov 22, 1991
R.DEAN14 [Rob Dean] at 07:51 EST
Loren,
I'll look around and see if there has been a summary prepared. Most of
the people asking for email address, I suspect, are hoping that you have
something Internet accessible, so that we can get to you from free work or
school accounts...but I'll see that the other gets posted. Do you folks have
an IBM compatible in your office, or are you all Mac-susers? We could probably
arrange to get the entire archives sent to you if you were interested, as well
as the summaries.
Rob Dean
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Category 11, Topic 29
Message 32 Fri Nov 22, 1991
M.TURNAGE1 at 19:15 EST
Star Viking's miniatures _ground combat_? Ok...Loren, not to second-guess
y'all, but does GDW really think that it'd sell? It's been my experience that
SF miniatures rules have poor sales. Aside from that (and my fervent hope it
was a new space combat system), I'm actually interested in it. Then again, I
grew up reading Piper...
Someone up above mentioned the way TSR revised AD&D. I think they hit the
nail on the head...what's needed is a 3rd Edition Traveller. The revision of
some areas (vehicle design and starship combat especially) and a generally
reeditiing and rewriting of the rules...but otherwise a compatible rules
system. After a lot of reflection, I can't see _any_ good reason for
switiching to a T2k/DC system.
To get into analogies, we've seen Traveller grow like a tree...its started
out small, grown big and branched out. There's definitely pruning that needs
to be done, but cutting the whole tree down to grow a new one...?
I'm not so concerned about background changes...h**l, most of the adventures
I run now are still pre-Rebellion. That was the setting most players were
used to and I was comfortable with. There are some interesting things about
the rebellion era that I do use. An eighty year leap, though, seems a bit
much. I like the idea of the former Imperial territories in anarchy with the
Domain a lone, shining light, however.
Mark
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Category 11, Topic 29
Message 33 Fri Nov 22, 1991
GDW.SUPPORT [Loren W.] at 20:44 EST
Rob: As far as I know, I don't frequent a board that is connected to Internet
(I have a WWIV address, and I MAY (emphasize) MAY be able to touch base with
Fidonet). We have some IBM compatibles at work, and my home machine is a 386
clone.
Mike: AH, well...life is like that. Maybe we'll bump into each other again
sometime.
Mark: Do we think Star VIking will sell...no, we always do games we think
will bomb :) Seriously, we think it will be worth the trouble. I think you
may like it.
I got a message from Dave Nilsen, but it'll have to wait til the next
posting.
Loren
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Category 11, Topic 29
Message 34 Fri Nov 22, 1991
B.BORICH [LA TERRORIST] at 22:44 EST
Scott Kellog had a remark on a computer design system, built upon the info
in Robots, it's a good idea (I had something similar designed before Robots
came out, where the system was integrated).
Concerning the Striker/MT talk, I too liked a lot of aspects of the
Striker system (It even gave me a use for spreadsheet programs, I used a small
screen size one to do the vehicle construction). One of the best things I like
about it was using cubic meters to measure volume, it was a lot simpler and
easier to identify with.
Loren,
Just in case I'll mail you the stuff off by the end of this weekend. While
it takes awhile to go through it, it's not really quite that bad. I'd say a
fair amount of the problems have to do with the Errata, Vehicle Construction,
maneuver/agility, fission plants, and other problems with physics.
TDR (Traveller Done Right) is the TML's attempt at fixing the problems and
creating a version of Traveller they want.
By the way who should I address them too (Rob Dean might want to know
too).
There is a list of what's the subject matter in each letter that should be
helpful too.
I could usually go through about 10 bundles at day, extracting material.
Spending about 2-3 hours. And I have about 211 bundles.
Rob,
In case Loren hasn't answered already, yes they can accept IBM disks.
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