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** TRADE & COMMERCE DIGEST: Cargo, freight, and passenger issues. **
** **
** All followups on this topic should be sent to **
** [email removed]. They will be edited for clarity **
** and resent to the Traveller Mailing List in a following digest. **
** For my benefit, if you would include the word TRADE or COMMERCE in **
** your SUBJECT: this will help me track these articles for inclusion **
** in this digest. Thanks, Greg Givler [email removed] **
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Hi sorry it has been a while since the T&C Digest has been out. Sorry, but
I have had some changes at work, and have been on vacation in there too.
Below are a couple of articles from Maurice Schekkerman. Enjoy, and if you have
any responses, let me know. Don't post any replies to these articles send them
to me. Thanks, Greg
Contents:
1. From: Maurice Schekkerman [email removed]
Subject: [Tech Level Ruminations -- JamesP]
2. From: [email removed] (Maurice Schekkerman)
Subject: Traveller Trade
*****************************
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 89 08:48:09 +0200
From: Maurice Schekkerman [email removed]
Subject: [Tech Level Ruminations -- JamesP]
I have followed the discussions on several aspects of the tech-level a while
ago with interest (yes, I'm new to the list). Still the whole handling of it
just doesn't sound right to me. I will try to explain my view by looking at
the situation as it now exists on Earth.
On Earth we've countries with different technology level. The USA, Japan and
Western Europe have technology level 8. The other countries have a less level.
Especially in Africa the tech level is quite low. Some of these countries have
the tech level of around 1900 (or even less). Still this doesn't imply that
they build steam engines, very primitive cars and so on. They're better of
importing them. The higher developed countries can produce better machines
and cars at lower costs.
So, why aren't they full of all this imported stuff. Because they can't afford
them. In general the higher the technology level of a country, the richer they
are. Low tech countries are poor countries which just can't pay for all the
stuff they want.
This doesn't imply however that all technology is built in the countries with
the highest tech level. Most products can be produced at lower tech levels
(think of the countries in South-East Asia). The production there is not as
advanced as in the high tech countries, but the people are a lot cheaper.
This also solves the problem of computers and jump drives becoming smaller
at higher tech levels. Of course the USA can now built a computer which can do
the same thing twenty years ago, but is x times smaller. But the countries
which lay twenty years behind don't build the computers which were build then,
they just build very cheap computers which aren't very advanced. So they have
the technology of twenty years back but build computers which weren't even
available then!
This is the key-point in my view on technology level. Less developed countries
don't build the same devices advanced countries did when they were on that
level. They build the simpler devices which they can produce cheaper than the
advanced ones.
Now replace countries with planets and you have my basic view on interstellar
trading. The planets with the highest TL are the richest planets. The planets
with a lower TL can produce cheaper. And the difference between spaceships of
TL 12 and TL 15 is that spaceships of TL 12 are simpler to construct and
maintain, so they are cheaper. However, they aren't only used on TL 12 worlds.
Worlds of higher TL may also have use for them.
[This would account for the plethora of Tech 12 startships in the Imperium.
A question, are we being fair to our players. I know I tend to side with
my players and see if I can get them the Newest equipment available. I know
this is digressing a bit, but is it right to give player characters the
advantage. The game already does that does it not? Just a thought - Greg]
I don't know the Traveller rules very well, so perhaps this view is
contradicting with them. Still I think this approach is a neat way to cover
[Bsome of the problems which were discussed in the list.
So again, why doesn't a TL 15 world built TL 12 ships (with much smaller
drives, etc.)? They perhaps do, but the TL 12 world can also build the smaller
drives (after all they only have to buy the technology, it is already
invented). Perhaps the TL 12 drives aren't as small as the drives produced on
the TL 15 world, but they are sure a hell of a lot cheaper.
One last remark. Of course it's still possible that a world of low tech
level build obsolete machinery. Perhaps they can't buy new technology, perhaps
they lay in a remote part of the galaxy, perhaps they don't allow free trade
to protect the government (think of dictators and communist countries on
Earth), perhaps ...(fill in yourself). Furthermore communication is slow in
the Empire and the trade between planets probably isn't as large as between
countries on Earth. So planets with lower tech level may produce machinery
for the local market which is obsolete on the higher TL worlds. But I don't
believe that on one world they are still building Spitfires while on e planet
five jumps further away you can by F16 in a discount shop.
Allright, what do you think of it?
Maurice Schekkerman
[email removed]
*************************************
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 16:21:04 +0200
From: [email removed] (Maurice Schekkerman)
To: [email removed]
Subject: Traveller Trade
Status: R
Hello Greg,
If everything went right James should have send you my article. (I sent it to
him yesterday). I'm sorry, but I thought I had lost your mailing address.
Apparantly I found it somewhere. As you should already have received the
article, I'm not including it here (don't know how to do it without
destroying what I have typed already anyway). However, I do have a copy of
the article, so if anything went wrong, mail me and I'll send it to you.
Furthermore I only want to say I like what you're doing. I haven't seen a
Trade and Commerce Digest in the last few weeks however. I hope it's because
yoBu were on holidays, but I'm afraid it's because of lack of articles.
Don't give up!
Then some advice (their just my opinions, so throw away if you want:-)
What I miss in your Digest are personal comments. In order for people to send
the articles to you instead of the mailing list, you have to add something to
the articles (without changing their meaning). Personal comments or suggestions
for discussions might be a good way of doing that.
Furthermore you once or twice took articles from the mailing list itself
because they hadn't send the articles to you, although the articles were
about trade and commerce. I don't think that's a good idea. Afterall, every-
body already knows the article (it would be something different if you
commented the article and gave suggestions). Why not just mail the 'offenders'
and ask them if they would send such articles to you in the future.
Another problem is that sometimes you just receive no articles (the
average message traffic isn't that high), so there is no digest to send.
And people forget fast (look at me), so if they don't receive your digest
they don't send articles to you (e.g. they forget or are to lazy to look up
your mailing address). There are two solutions:
1. include your mailing address in the standard crap james always include in
the Traveller mailing-list (I suggested this to james also).
2. make sure your digest appears weekly. If nobody else write an article, you
do. It doesn't have to be long. Especially discussion topics might be a
good idea (they result in articles for your mailing list). As you must be
interested in trade and commerce, it can't be hard to think of some good
topics.
That's all. I repeat that I do like what your doing and hope that some of
my suggestions might be usefull to you.
Maurice Schekkerman
Centre for Software Engineering (CST)
Philips, Eindhoven
the Netherlands
[email removed]
P.S. As you can see my English isn't that good, so you have my permission to
correct any error you find in my article (stronger, I would appreciate it!)
[I want to thank Maurice for his comments and his suggestions. I will be
trying to get an Article out weekly, and I will add my comments, stupid
though they may be. - Greg]
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