Quote from: stuffis;939094To me, Traveller feels a little like Alien or Firefly: ragtag crew operates on thin profit margin in something a little like the (thanks poster up above) Age of Sail. Joss Whedon once described Firefly as 'the second act of Star Wars if, instead of picking up Luke and Ben, Han and Chewie just flew around picking up odd jobs, trying not to get arrested or murdered,' and he's always cited The Killer Angels as an inspiration. That slowness and vastness, the almost Greek-myth sense of humans trying to eke out a halfway decent life before some pitiless god accidentally steps on them or steals their child to be raised by goatherders.

I'm ambivalent about The Force Awakens in general, but the Tolkienesque irrupting-mythic-past setting of Jakoo -- those ruined Imperial ships! -- is perfect, and seems like a perfect Traveller setting.

Traveller grognards, do I have the right sense of it?

You described one world of it so far. 10,999 more to go.

Quote from: jeff37923;939051Mongoose did, and it sucks. It does not reflect well on Mongoose at all.

However, you should take a look at Cepheus Engine.

I'm glad to learn of Cepheus... 'cause I'd rather not buy anything from Mongoose ever again.

Hmmm.....a bit of Mongoose hate going on....

I dunno, to me it's just a business thing, and I don't really know the ins and out of decisions made regarding the pull back on OGL. Mongoose are the Traveller license holders though, and they have the overheads to deal with because of that.

Cepheus is alright but it is a retroclone, and while I am happy that third parties have somewhere to go (especially Paul Elliot's work with Orbital, etc), I don't really see the need for an edition war. We had enough of that with T5 vs MGT.

The basic reason why I am sticking with Mongoose Traveller, is because they have such a great line up of upcoming titles and I appreciate the facelift in presentation. Oh and the RPGSuite software.

So when Mongoose came out with MgT2, did they pull all the MgT1 pdfs?
Ok, still selling everything, good on them, so someone might have learned something from WotC's fiascos.

Quote from: TrippyHippy;939308Hmmm.....a bit of Mongoose hate going on....

I dunno, to me it's just a business thing, and I don't really know the ins and out of decisions made regarding the pull back on OGL.

Why do you assume it's hate and not a business thing as well:)? People want to make their own Traveller variants, Mongoose doesn't allow that for their newest version. The rational business decision is to use the OGL.
I don't want to buy often from Mongoose, either. But it's not hate, I just find their PDFs are priced way too high.

QuoteCepheus is alright but it is a retroclone, and while I am happy that third parties have somewhere to go (especially Paul Elliot's work with Orbital, etc), I don't really see the need for an edition war. We had enough of that with T5 vs MGT.

In Traveller's case, I've resolved the edition war long ago, at least for myself - by getting Classic Traveller, MgT1, MgT2, Cepheus and T5:D.
And I'm planning to get the CDs with TNE and T4 as soon as I can, and maybe GURPS Traveller as well.

QuoteThe basic reason why I am sticking with Mongoose Traveller, is because they have such a great line up of upcoming titles and I appreciate the facelift in presentation. Oh and the RPGSuite software.

Nothing wrong with that, either, as long as I'm concerned;).

Quote from: CRKrueger;939310So when Mongoose came out with MgT2, did they pull all the MgT1 pdfs?

They had not, last I checked.

Quote from: TrippyHippy;939308Hmmm.....a bit of Mongoose hate going on....

My dislike of Mongoose precedes anything they had to do with Traveller. So no edition war from me. They're just one of the few game companies that I won't buy from. Palladium used to be on that list but it's been so long since they've put out anything I might want...

Quote from: CRKrueger;939310So when Mongoose came out with MgT2, did they pull all the MgT1 pdfs?

Nah. All available, and compatible.

Quote from: TrippyHippy;939308Hmmm.....a bit of Mongoose hate going on....

Cepheus is alright but it is a retroclone, and while I am happy that third parties have somewhere to go (especially Paul Elliot's work with Orbital, etc), I don't really see the need for an edition war. We had enough of that with T5 vs MGT.

No edition wars happening. I can't speak for SpinachCat, but my dislike of Mongoose is their "fake" (IMO!!) release of Traveller under an open license, which specifically and explicitly left out rules necessary for playing the game.

I actually have several of their releases that came in Bundles of Holding, I think Megatraveller and Hammer's Slammer (Traveller) that are pretty good.

So what's the big deal about MgT2 systemwise?  Why do I want to do this (Mercenary, High Guard, Central Supply, Aslan, etc) all over AGAIN?

Quote from: TrippyHippy;939308Cepheus is alright but it is a retroclone, and while I am happy that third parties have somewhere to go (especially Paul Elliot's work with Orbital, etc), I don't really see the need for an edition war. We had enough of that with T5 vs MGT.

Serious does it make it a difference in regards to the rules with Cepheus considering CT, MT, TNE, T4, T20, GT, HT, MgT1, MgT2, and T5*. Between what was released under the OGL with Traveller 20 and what was released by Mongoose there enough to make a true clone that is very much Traveller. The trade rules, starship building, character creation, the tech assumption, the use of 2d6 is all there.

QuoteCT = Classic Traveller
MT = MegaTraveller
TNE = Traveller New Era
T4 = Marc Miller's Traveller
T20 = Traveller d20
GT = GURPS Traveller
HT = Traveller for Hero System
MgT1 = Mongoose Traveller, 1st edition
MgT2 = Mongoose Traveller, 2nd edition
T5 = Traveller 5th edition.

Quote from: CRKrueger;939347So what's the big deal about MgT2 systemwise?  Why do I want to do this (Mercenary, High Guard, Central Supply, Aslan, etc) all over AGAIN?

Nothing the big deal. It yet another variation of Classic Traveller in the same family as CT, MT, T4, and T5. Using 2d6 similar trade rules. If you don't have a later edition of the classic rules then this edition will work great. The only nice thing that there is a license for third party Third Imperium setting material. But nobody really taken advantage of that. I have issues with the TAS when it comes to original settings but for Third Imperium stuff I think it is a fair deal.

Part of the issue is the concerted work done part of the Traveller community as part of the Second Survey project housed at Traveller Map. The entire Official Traveller Universion has been or is under review and the result is stamped officially canon. So most of the intellectual excitement of Third Imperium fans has been poured into that project. And it looks like will be around for a long time as Traveller Map revamped itself last years to support different time periods in the history of the Third Imperum. Particularly the First Imperium Era.

Quote from: estar;939350Serious does it make it a difference in regards to the rules with Cepheus considering CT, MT, TNE, T4, T20, GT, HT, MgT1, MgT2, and T5*. Between what was released under the OGL with Traveller 20 and what was released by Mongoose there enough to make a true clone that is very much Traveller. The trade rules, starship building, character creation, the tech assumption, the use of 2d6 is all there.

Well, a lot of those rule-sets are actually quite different. CT, MT and MgT1 and 2 are pretty compatible, but TNE and T20 are based on D20 rolls, GT and HT use their own systems and T4 and T5 use dice pools.  

Not sure if anything matters with regards to an OGL or Cepheus but, y'know, Mongoose aren't obliged to share their license as an OGL. I do just see it as changing business arrangements for all parties involved - and I don't hold prejudices with any of them. Sarah Newton's Mindjammer will be another major, third party setting for MgT2 coming shortly, so I don't see Mongoose as holding anybody back on this sort of thing. They are just establishing what they want to get from their own license, and the arrangements to which they are responsible for. Fans can pick and choose what they want to play accordingly.

Quote from: CRKrueger;939347So what's the big deal about MgT2 systemwise?  Why do I want to do this (Mercenary, High Guard, Central Supply, Aslan, etc) all over AGAIN?

There are a few changes in rules, but nothing major really. More of a tidying and streamlining thing, where supplemental ideas have been incorporated into core. You can go to prison during character creation now though!

The real update is simply that the books are all full colour now and look much more appealing. For me, that's a big plus. For Mongoose, it was probably essential considering their competitors. For you, it may not be a big deal.

Quote from: TrippyHippy;939355The real update is simply that the books are all full colour now and look much more appealing.

I totally disagree. The isometric starship deckplans look like ass and the artwork for the equipment is not much better. Especially when compared to the work of Traveller artists who are still in the business and could have been tapped to do the work.

Quote from: jeff37923;939365I totally disagree. The isometric starship deckplans look like ass and the artwork for the equipment is not much better. Especially when compared to the work of Traveller artists who are still in the business and could have been tapped to do the work.

Well, that just sounds like grudge talk to me.

The artwork for equipment and deck plans, I think, is due to be associated with the electronic software. So, in time, that is the design that will come out when you design stuff yourself.