Mr. Johnson seems to say that GDW's "official" background leaves something to
be desired. He may be right, for him at least. This is my opinion on the whole
subject.
GDW are the aribiters of the OFFICIAL Imperium Space background. They made
it up, and continue to develop it. In terms of what the OFFICIAL supplements
say, their word IS "law".
The point is, NO ONE HAS TO USE THE OFFICIAL BACKGROUND! For instance, Mr.
Johnson offers information on his Earth Colonies campaign. Great! I'd like to
see this! I enjoy reading other people's campaign backgrounds; I appreciate
the creativity which goes into these efforts., Even for those who wish to take
the Imperium and alter it to suit their tastes, such as disposing of the Virus
and even the Rebellion.
I use and follow the GDW background for the following reasons: I've been a
fan of it since the days of the Journal; I can't really see myself coming up
with anything better; and I simply don't have TIME.
The one disadvantage of coming up with your own background or altering the
existing one is that there is less support material that you can just use "off
the shelf". However, if you're creative enough to create your own background in
the first place, writing your own support material shouldn't bee too tough.
GDW owns the "official" Traveller background, but you DON'T have to use it.