In reply to some points brought up by the esteemed Mr. Bonneville:
VIRUS: It is reasonable to assume that many worlds were not touched by the
Virus per se; I beleive there is a world like this in Path of Tears. Most
worlds which were low tech level (perhaps 7 or lower) and habitable probably
didn't feel the effects of the Virus itself, since their computer technology
would not have been advanced enough. What WOULD hurt them was the extreme
slow-down of interstellar trade. It is implied throughout Traveller that the
Imperium wanted planets to economically dependant on it. Many worlds imported
high-tech items which became relatively important to the functioning of their
society which would suddenly have become unavailable with the crash of the
Imperium. A lot of worlds had simply become too dependent on the Imperium.
As for the scientific plausibility of Virus: yes, you're right. It is blatant
"rubber science", as bad as Jump drives, contra-grav lifters and artificial
gravity. It's also a plot device; a way to get from there to here. Robots can
be infected through radio communications systems, just like ships and other
computers. Robots which were completely self-motivating and had no need of
computer direction were fairly rare in the Traveller universe, or so I have
been led to beleive.
NPC's
> I'd rather see UPP's for NPC's and figure out their assets...
The major NPC's in Smash and Grab are written up this way. I do this for
important NPC's and use templates for cannon fodder types.
ALIENS
It takes time to develop and write game supplements.especially when you are
dealing with other things such as lawsuits, and trying to get work done on
other games AND publish a magazine, and your staff isn't that large. There is
a book announced called "Aliens of the Rim". When they start developing the
Regency, I'm sure we'll see "Aliens of the Regency" or some such thing.
It would be really nice if GDW would at least tell us whether they will ever
detail the Regency and if so, approximately when. But they don't have to do
this. It will happen some day; GDW at least claims to be interested in making
money. and they won't miss the chance to sell you a book! :)