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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
 Posted - 16 Feb 2009 : 20:24:43
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I've never owned or played Traveller, the most venerable of SF RPGs, but parts of its Wikipedia entry are eerily familiar:quote:
[MegaTraveller] was set during the Rebellion era which shattered the Imperium. Supplements and magazines produced during this era detailed the progression of the Rebellion from the initial assassination of the Emperor in 1116 to the collapse of large-scale interstellar trade in roughly 1124 (the beginning of the supplement Hard Times). . . .
The game mechanics were changed to GDW's standardized rules system which had originally appeared in the second edition of Twilight: 2000. . . . Where MegaTraveller left the Third Imperium in its death throes, The New Era smashed it flat and turned it into fertilizer to begin the game anew. A common complaint from players new to Traveller was the feeling they had to learn 3000 years of history to play; TNE removed that. Another perceived problem was that players couldn't make much difference to a polity of trillions of beings. TNE made the standard game world one of a few, in which players would be the difference between their survival and destruction. And for those who had been with the game from the start, a pocket of the original Third Imperium was partially preserved, where high tech and frivolity were still rampant.
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2009 : 20:57:18
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And we all know what happened to GDW a couple years later... never played TNE Traveller, and the history part never bugged me...mainly cuz I wasn't really aware of it.
As I said elsewhere, I hope and pray none of the FR-has-too-much-background-complainers will ever attempt to play in a real world historic setting... oh how much would they complain then |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2009 : 23:29:22
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Oh, yeah... This is part of what drove me from TRAVELLER originally -- the loss of all that history. And what drove me to GURPS TRAVELLER for that matter, which follows the alternate path that the Emperor was still alive, and preserved much of the original timeline.
But this is too deep a topic for me to get into now. Maybe later. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 16 Feb 2009 23:33:14 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2009 : 23:29:38
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quote:
Where MegaTraveller left the Third Imperium in its death throes, The New Era smashed it flat and turned it into fertilizer to begin the game anew. A common complaint from players new to Traveller was the feeling they had to learn 3000 years of history to play; TNE removed that. Another perceived problem was that players couldn't make much difference to a polity of trillions of beings. TNE made the standard game world one of a few, in which players would be the difference between their survival and destruction.
That does sound familiar, and I don't know whether to laugh or groan. I guess there really isn't anything new under the sun.
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
But this is too deep a topic for me to get into now. Maybe later.
Darn it, I was hoping to hear more. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2009 : 23:32:25
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-What is it another Star Wars Rip-off?  Or did I just miss the whole point yet again?  
BRIMSTONE |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2009 : 23:52:03
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| Don't know about Traveller, but I'm pretty certain there were space opera stories/settings before SW. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2009 : 00:27:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
But this is too deep a topic for me to get into now. Maybe later.
Darn it, I was hoping to hear more.
I'm a bit reluctant to post my thoughts here, mostly because they'll be ramblings about the TRAVELLER universe. And, thus, really not appropriate for an online community devoted to Realms discussion. Though, it would make for a rather entertaining entry in my blog.
Yes, that's it. I'll outline some points and post it to my blog. Eventually. *wink* |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2009 : 00:44:02
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Glad to hear it. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Afetbinttuzani
Senior Scribe
Canada
434 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2009 : 04:17:38
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| As it turns out, I am playing a PC in a Classic Traveller campaign (pre-death of the Emperor Strephon), and I DM in 2E Forgotten Realms campaign. In both cases the campaign settings as they are offer infinite possibilities, so that I feel no need to buy into later editions, with their RSEs and annoying simplifications. |
Afet bint Tuzaní
"As the good Archmage often admonishes me, I ought not to let my mind wander, as it's too small to go off by itself."
- Danilo Thann in Elfsong by Elaine Cunningham |
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Realms-2008 and Traveller
