I'd like to thank Steve Higginbotham for his well-reasoned response
to my flailings on the last TML digest (BTW, Richard, it is precisely
BECAUSE of my thesis defense that I'm as crabby as I am, and after
a fourteen hour day of writing physics it was a handy way to blow off
steam); our disagreement, however, appears to be a moot point, based
on my interpretation of what Cynthia says versus his.
Cynthia's initial statement: "The bad guys have it too."
Steve's reasoning for the existence of this rule: "It is
technologically and societally consistent to assume that all
individuals at a given level of technology and "connectedness" can
access technology of a certain type, and one cannot therefore count on
a technic advantage at any given moment. One should predicate one's
actions based on the assumption that one's 'toys' are inferior, or at
best comparable, to those of one's adversaries."
Metlay's reasoning for the existence for this rule: "One of the most
commonly seen means of game abuse is for parties to arm themselves
heavily with weapons and technology so as to batter their way through
challenges provided by the Ref without forethought or care, regarding
their toys as a crutch for bad roleplaying. We can defeat this by
hitting back with all of the technology at our disposal."
Both are correct and non-exclusive, and if any blame must be laid, it
must be upon me for strictly adhering to my interpretation rather than
giving fair voicing to Steve's (and presumably Cynthia's). However,
that does not invalidate my point. Rules like Cynthia's can and do exist
for the muzzling of players that should simply be shot and left in a
snowdrift, and I would bet money that even in Traveller they exist for
MY reasons in more campaigns than they do for Steve's.
I apologize for any offense I may have caused by failing to consider
both interpretations, positive and negative, of the rule. But I will
NOT back down from my interpretation, any more than I'd ask you to back
down from yours.
That having been said, let me do some more flaming for a moment:
I envy you greatly, Steve, if you can honestly say that you have
rarely if ever seen a bad Ref running Traveller. In my experience of
the fourteen years the game has been in general circulation, the
proportion of truly awful Traveller refs, players and games I have
seen has been uncomfortably high. Maybe I ought to move to where
y'all are, since you seem to have had better luck than me....
(At this point, I had written a very long, gruesomely detailed flame
elaborating on the above points to excess. I then wised up and deleted
it. Y'all have had enough from me, and my lunch hour (well, 15 minutes)
is over and it's time to get back to work....)
- --
Mike Metlay
[email removed]
[address removed]