I know Mongoose get a lot of flack for not getting things right the first time, but I give them credit for trying to sort things out and set 'em right. I remember the errata sheets that I got with the rolemaster books (1e I think) and it made the whole thing turn from an incomprehensible mess into a mess that was incomprehensible. We picked the bits we knew from Merp and ignored most of the rest if I recall. Spacemaster 1e was worse if I recall, and I really wanted Merp in space. Gutted to stare at that and toss it aside in disgust/confusion. In hindsight I could've done some houseruling and fixing, but the rolemaster/spacemaster games weren't cheap, and no internet back them meant you were screwed, more or less.

The only thing I'd berate Mongoose for is the pricing of the Lone Wolf line (£10-15 for a thin pamphlet when one combined book for £30 would've easily done the trick, and still wouldn't be a bullet stopper either. Big font+small pages = poor value, especially at the price they charge.) and the quality of paper in the Traveller core book. Like toilet roll on a train.

They got things right with the Legend re-release of the Runequest II game. Dropping the baggage of Glorantha will make me run that (I never got on with lizards and ducks with arms) with my own generic fantasy world, plus the pricing ($1) of the core book made it a no brain buy and got the game out there.

On the whole I like what Mongoose do, and while they don't get things right all the time, they do try to sort 'em out. I might be sounding like a fanboy, but I'm far from it - if they do something crap I'll be in line to slag 'em off - but fixing the errors in their books costs time and money, and they are dishing them out as free pdfs, so there's not much (I think) to moan about.

Quote from: The_Shadow;508452I've held out on MongTrav so far, but I'd definitely be interested in a revised core.

Same here, largely for the reason of Mongoose's dubious reputation several years ago, and a lack of local players interested in Traveller.

If the revised core turns out to be done right, I'll pick it up largely for reading and possibly some one-shot evening pickup games.

Quote from: The_Shadow;508452I've held out on MongTrav so far, but I'd definitely be interested in a revised core.

Skip it, and buy a Classic Traveller reprint if you don't have it.

Mongoose Traveller is basically the same game, but stripped of its flavor in an effort to compromise with modern expectations.

The result is that by its own admission, character creation doesn't work, and the rest of the game feels dull and compromised. There's also quite a lot of page padding.

Think of it as the AD&D 2e to CT's OD&D. It's not a bad game, and if you want a cleaned up version of the rules it's an option, but the soul of it is missing, and what it adds could easily be house ruled or borrowed and used with CT.

Quote from: J Arcane;508896Skip it, and buy a Classic Traveller reprint if you don't have it.

Mongoose Traveller is basically the same game, but stripped of its flavor in an effort to compromise with modern expectations.

The result is that by its own admission, character creation doesn't work, and the rest of the game feels dull and compromised. There's also quite a lot of page padding.

Think of it as the AD&D 2e to CT's OD&D. It's not a bad game, and if you want a cleaned up version of the rules it's an option, but the soul of it is missing, and what it adds could easily be house ruled or borrowed and used with CT.

I'll second this.

The one thing I do prefer about MGT is that it is not limited to the Traveller Universe.  I don't have to do boarding operations on a spaceship with a Colt .45 and a Cutlass, and my personal computer doesn't have to be the size of a Cray.  

Quote from: CRKrueger;508899. . . and my personal computer doesn't have to be the size of a Cray.

In Traveller, a hand computer can be used to jump a starship a parsec through space.

Try that with your iPhone.

Quote from: Black Vulmea;508901In Traveller, a hand computer can be used to jump a starship a parsec through space.

Try that with your iPhone.

Ok.

I do credit Mongoose for putting a version of the Trav rules out in open format, but they sure do make it damn hard to find the fucking SRD.

Quote from: CRKrueger;508899The one thing I do prefer about MGT is that it is not limited to the Traveller Universe.

While MegaTraveller and TNE were slanted heavily towards the Official Traveller Universe, no version of Traveller has ever limited itself only to the OTU. You could always use it as a toolkit to create your own campaign setting and were always encouraged to do so, that is part of Traveller's enduring charm.

Quote from: J Arcane;508902I do credit Mongoose for putting a version of the Trav rules out in open format, but they sure do make it damn hard to find the fucking SRD.

Ask and you shall recieve.

I have them in PDF and zipped form so message me your email and I can send them. I tried to attach them to the post, but the file size is too large for a forum attachment.

Or you could just download the Developer's Pack from the lower part of this web page.

Quote from: jeff37923;508908Ask and you shall recieve.

I have them in PDF and zipped form so message me your email and I can send them. I tried to attach them to the post, but the file size is too large for a forum attachment.

Or you could just download the Developer's Pack from the lower part of this web page.

I think I have the developers pack somewhere, I was more commentingon the fact that they do little to draw attention to their presence.

Quote from: jeff37923;508907While MegaTraveller and TNE were slanted heavily towards the Official Traveller Universe, no version of Traveller has ever limited itself only to the OTU. You could always use it as a toolkit to create your own campaign setting and were always encouraged to do so, that is part of Traveller's enduring charm.

if anything, I think Classic Trav, at least in the corebook, is less tied to the OTU than Mongoose is. There's very little setting in the first three lbbs beyond that implied by the systems.

Quote from: jeff37923;508907While MegaTraveller and TNE were slanted heavily towards the Official Traveller Universe, no version of Traveller has ever limited itself only to the OTU. You could always use it as a toolkit to create your own campaign setting and were always encouraged to do so, that is part of Traveller's enduring charm.

Right, but it always came with base technological assumptions, for example magical anti-gravity plates, yet ships need an ocean of liquid hydrogen to jump.  

MGT brings in more technological options, for which it gets bashed alot, but personally I like.  You can basically use MGT for 40k, all the higher tech stuff is in there in the Tech Book.

good to hear--i've been meaning to check out MGT, but now i'll wait for the less-errata'd version.

Quote from: CRKrueger;509072Right, but it always came with base technological assumptions, for example magical anti-gravity plates, yet ships need an ocean of liquid hydrogen to jump.  

MGT brings in more technological options, for which it gets bashed alot, but personally I like.  You can basically use MGT for 40k, all the higher tech stuff is in there in the Tech Book.

OK, I may have misinterpreted.

As far as those base tech options, using Mongoose Traveller, you can make the TARDIS and you can write up any character or mecha from Ghost in the Shell.

A lot of the base tech assumptions in Traveller can be viewed as both a bug and/or a feature.

Quote from: beeber;509147good to hear--i've been meaning to check out MGT, but now i'll wait for the less-errata'd version.

The core book is probably the least problematic book in terms of errata, I find it works pretty well. MGT sound more likely to just release an errata sheet for it, and concentrate on fixing some of the more broken supplements.