I replied on his site, and asked him here, in the interest of getting him answrs and counsel from as many folks as possble.

NOTE: Cross-posted to The RPG Lounge.

Okay. It's lunchtime, and I now have the time to reply. Soon, I will also have beef stroganoff.

At the risk of repeating what I said in the show, Traveller's greatest strengths lie in its openness and in its generic nature. Anything can happen, anywhere, at any time, within its framework, and it gives you the tools not only to build game elements (characters, planets, ships etc.) but it absolutely requires that you fill in the blanks and interpret the data that you generate with it.

In other words, it drives, no, demands creativity on you part.

It's as simple as that.

The dryness of the rules is inarguable, but the end product of your game will not be its rules so much as what you do with them. If the writing style is dull, well...that's a small obstacle to overcome, and quickly forgotten when you're turning "X-656974-6" into a newly-settled low-tech utopia with loose laws and perhaps a serious need for what your PCs have.

You cited the character creation rules as looking kinda useless, or at most, ineffective. They're not; they're simply no more thorough than they need to be. Again, character creation is a sort of game-within-a-game, not just one of risk-taking ("Do I try for another 4 years of service in the Scouts, which might kill me, in exchange for another level of Pilot?") but also in terms of interpretation, turning (again) a string of numbers into a living, breathing character. Imagine a very bright, very well-educated young man who aspires to join the Navy, but fails his enlistment roll and ends up joining the Army instead. How does he feel about that? Does he accept his fate and move on? Does he carry a grudge? Does he feel like a failure?

The trick, I think, is in getting used to looking at randomly-generated stuff and turning it into something. Then, the dryness and the leanness of the rules quickly take a back seat, and the writing is a non-issue compared to what YOU make out of it.

Does that help?

Quote from: HalfjackI'm not sensing a lot of sincerity on the part of BD in this.  I'm just reviewing my CT book 1 on character creation and not only does it seem quite clear, I recall it seeming quite clear when I first picked it up at age 13 with only Dungeons and Dragons as a touchstone.  While I wouldn't hold it up as a model of clarity, it's certainly more straightforward and clearly delivered than much of what I've read since 1978.

ditto...
 and having recently re-acquired a copy of the LBB's, it STILL seems clear.
In contrast, i have yet to "get" DitV...i'm sure it's a good game, but apparently there's a part of my brain that will not accept the mechanics.

Furthermore, Blue Devil, if you don't get, or like, CT...*shrug* Some folks don't like sushi, either.  Big deal.

I loved Classic TRAVELLER!!

 Even tho  now I play and GM  the GURPS version of that universe - to me it still feels like TRAVELLER.

 Sushi ? Never tasted good to me.

- Ed C.

Quote from: KoltarI loved Classic TRAVELLER!!

 Even tho  now I play and GM  the GURPS version of that universe - to me it still feels like TRAVELLER.

 Sushi ? Never tasted good to me.

- Ed C.

Have you tried Mega Sushi or New Era Sushi?  I bet there's a type you'd like.

Quote from: NicephorusHave you tried Mega Sushi or New Era Sushi?  I bet there's a type you'd like.

 I think that Virus I heard about might worry me a little.

- Ed C.

Quote from: KoltarI think that Virus I heard about might worry me a little.

- Ed C.

****SNRKK****

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!Furthermore, Blue Devil, if you don't get, or like, CT...*shrug* Some folks don't like sushi, either.  Big deal.

Yeah, but I've found in my life that the vast majority of people who claim to dislike sushi haven't actually tried it.  Most people who do wind up surprising themselves, especially if their only seafood experience is with the Western mode of seafood that's well past it's real freshness date, with the shit cooked out of it.

This may seem like a tangent, but it's a point that applies to RPGs as well.  If I actually have a group available that wants to play a game, I'll almost never turn it down.  If a game doesn't seem to be my thing I can be honest in saying that I won't actively hunt it down, but if there's a group going, I'll try it.

You never truly know what something's like until you've at least given it a bit of a try, and the nice thing about RPGs is, even if you find you dislike the game itself, if you've got a good group it really doesn't matter in the end.

And as for CT, well, I love the fuck out of lifepath type stuff, and CT chargen is ALL lifepath, which is why I've always wanted to try it (and thanks to a generous poster here, soon will).

Quote from: J ArcaneThis may seem like a tangent, but it's a point that applies to RPGs as well.  If I actually have a group available that wants to play a game, I'll almost never turn it down.  If a game doesn't seem to be my thing I can be honest in saying that I won't actively hunt it down, but if there's a group going, I'll try it.

You never truly know what something's like until you've at least given it a bit of a try, and the nice thing about RPGs is, even if you find you dislike the game itself, if you've got a good group it really doesn't matter in the end.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a true gamer's style.  In other words, QFT and then some.  As much as I may bitch about game x, y or z, there are damn few games I could honestly say I would never actually play if the group were right... and most of those imply the group most certainly ISN"T right...

See D&D, which I run and play in regularly, despite the grief I give it on line...

Traveller was one of those games that I had a lot of fun playing as a kid, but not many of my pals were ever into.  As I got older, I found more people who were fans, but my interest had waned.

One of the things I found really fun about it was how there was this vast implied setting to it, but out of the box, you could do whatever you wanted.  My first adventures of Traveller were this unholy mish-mash of Star Trek, Star Wars, Alien, Call of Cthulhu and Thundarr the Barbarian (I was 12, bite me).

Up until eight years ago, I had a pretty complete collection of everything GDW had produced for the 'classic' version of the game, but sold it on ebay when it seemed I'd never get any use out of it.

I still consider picking up some of the 'compilations' which Far Future has produced, just to have it around in case I ever get the itch to play it or run it again.