Re: On the Virus

  Mr. White's opinions on the Virus and the New Era background in general were
very thought-provoking. Of course, he is entitled to his opinion, and it isn't
my intent to change those opinions (I doubt if I could anyway), but to present
some of my own on the New Era background.
  I will certainly agree that the Third Imperium was a wonderful background for
a science-fiction roleplaying campaign; one needs only look at some other SFRPG
to see how widely it's been imitated. One nice thing about this is that if one
still desires to use that background, one can.  GDW owns Traveller, and they
can of course do whatever they like with the published background-but once YOU
buy the game, you can do whatever YOU want with it. If you feel that the saga
of the Third Imperium should have a different ending, then it can.
Hopefully, GDW will realize that a lot of others feel this way, and when the
New Era materials have been established, will put out sourcebooks for those who
prefer to game within the confines of the Imperium.
  That being said, I must say that throughout the original Traveller writings,
I always had a feeling that the Imperium was stretched to it's limits, and was
in danger of the very thing that happened to it with the Rebellion. The vast
areas that needed to be governed, and the vast diversity of interests which
were present in Imperial Space virtually assured that the Imperium would fail
in a major way someday. While Virus and it's effects may not have been part of
a master plan (if indeed there was one, whether by Marc Miller or someone else)
it always seemed to me that the disintegration of the Imperium was virtually
assured. I think it's important to point out that a careful reading of Hard
Times points out that the Third Imperium died long before the Virus. Virus
trashed interstellar civilization as a whole, not just what was left of the
Imperium.
  The AI Virus was an act of desperation, somewhat akin to the fears that
people had that the Soviets might have a "doomsday device" which they would use
to destroy civilization on Earth should they be losing a war. The fact that it
was set off by Dulinor rather than Lucan is immaterial; it was still Lucan's
doomsday device, although he didn't intend it to be. Catastrophes happen. Not
all stories are allowed to proceed to a logical conclusion. The very act of
conceiving of the Virus proved that Lucan, like all the other factions in the
Rebellion, was thinking only of his agenda. ARRIVAL VENGEANCE clearly showed
that there was no hope of ever reuniting the Imperium. The logical conclusion
to the story would have been that a series of squabbling interstellar states
would have settled into place, and that somewhere down the line, someone would
have tried to unite them, with a huge war which would have killed trillions.
The Virus, whether by accident or by Hiver design, as some have suggested, has
wiped the slate clean, teaching humanity an abject lesson and hopefully making
sure that the state which replaces the Imperium will be better governed.
  Or maybe that should be states! The Regency will eventually begin expanding
outward, and will run into the Reformation Coalition at some point. It's been
hinted in CHALLENGE that there will be a supplement dealing with this. When
they meet, they may make bitter war at first. Eventually they may become like
the United States and England are now, because despite some differences, they
both beleive in the same thing; the importance of returning humanity to the
stars, and the fundamental rights of all beings. Whereas one mighty Imperium
couldn't rule the stars effectively, two smaller but allied powers just might
be able to make it work.
  I too like the Third Imperium; I also like the New Era. That's why I run in
both. As gamemaster, I can keep or throw out whatever I like. If you like the
Imperium, and wish to extend it's history beyond 1116 or 1130, by all means
do so.
    Sorry about the length; I guess I had more to say than I thought.
                                                    Allen Shock