I just blogged [in German] about my playtest experience:

The new combat rules are not worth the hassle of using them. There are several reasons for this, but the most striking one can be understood from my blog entry without knowing any foreign language:

Look at the pictures, look at time.

http://hofrat.blogspot.com/2008/01/mongoose-traveller-probespiel.html

And that´s three PCs against two guards...

I also tried the squad rules, and they do not speed up things that much. It´s not the fiddlyness of the dice that hamper play.
It´s the small-small-small increments of action per real time that happens.

You can move three square per round, maximum. And you have to wait a lot. There´s also a lot of uncertainty and frustration going on. it´s the worst of all worlds[= action point based, fixed ini, radnom ini] without many redeeming features, except nano-management of actions in two second increments.

I could have told you that the minute they started using one die for speed and the other for damage.  Funky dice tricks are almost never any faster than making another roll.  And setting extra stuff on the table as markers?  Not a good plan.  I've tried it to reduce record keeping for lots of games (including Rolemaster) and it just makes a mess without telling you much of anything.

Oh well, I'm holding out hope for T5.  Stupid I know, if it even ships on the 31st I'll go into shock.

Well, I tried to be open minded about it, unless I actually tried it. Now I´m wiser.

i was feeling good about RTT.  then i read this thread on CotI, where tbeard1999 blows open the timing/effects die mechanic as broken:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=14478&page=9

the whole thread is interesting, but page 9, post #84, is where he shoots it down.

i'll probably still pick it up, and T5 too.  but i'll most likely just pull bits & pieces out rather than try to teach it to my group.

But this was a playtest, right?

So given the negative feedback, there's a chance it could be fixed?

Or does Mongoose playtest the same way wizards does?

I remember Marius Bredsdorff, whom I respect as the number cruncher I cannot hope to be, saying something about combat being utterly broken. Can't find the rpg.net thread right now...

Quote from: Caesar SlaadBut this was a playtest, right?

So given the negative feedback, there's a chance it could be fixed?

Or does Mongoose playtest the same way wizards does?

Well, Mongoose's version of Runequest gets similarly statistically zany when dealing with skill levels above 100%, and has a broken description of how the parrying rules work. According to people who were in the playtest, these things were pointed out early on and were not corrected. I have the distinct impression that the big wheels at Mongoose don't really understand statistics, or do but don't think they matter.

Quote from: WarthurWell, Mongoose's version of Runequest gets similarly statistically zany when dealing with skill levels above 100%, and has a broken description of how the parrying rules work. According to people who were in the playtest, these things were pointed out early on and were not corrected. I have the distinct impression that the big wheels at Mongoose don't really understand statistics, or do but don't think they matter.

At least the 100% thing was only a problem when you actually were over 100%.

The time / effect thing is a problem nearly every time you roll.

I have those exact same dice!

RPGPundit

The grey ones?

BTW, I would like to point out, that it FEELS broken.

Even without any anlaysis on our side, everyone raised the opinion, that the whole "tick & timing" thing is very unfair TO THE PLAYERS. Not neccesarily their characters.
But don´t having much control on WHEN you may act AS A PLAYER was a big, big turndown.

But the killer was the time needed. Over 60 minutes for a short engagement with two clowns is not our idea of a fun evening. You can play whole Ancient Battles, a Battlelore scenario or lots of Battletech turns in the same timeframe.

I´m pretty sure even ASL would deliver more action in 60 minutes.

Quote from: beeberi was feeling good about RTT.  then i read this thread on CotI, where tbeard1999 blows open the timing/effects die mechanic as broken...

Yeah, I twigged to that whole notion of the Effect Die making it virtually certain to wind up with an "exceptional" or "superlative" result.  And junking the Effect/Timing dice pretty much eliminates the new bits that set it apart from classic Traveller.  And considering that QLI is already re-printing the LBBs, what's the point, really?  I've pretty much given up on using RTT as the engine for MARINER.

Quote from: SettembriniBTW, I would like to point out, that it FEELS broken.

Too, too true.

!i!

I feel most RPGs over emphasise fumbles and critical successes. In this case using two numbers (1 & 2, 5 & 6) I think is overdoing it. Using just 1 and 6 as the special numbers would have been a better idea and would help the statistics, but I personally fel it's still overemphasising fumbles & exceptional successes.

Consider effects & timing by considering BOTH die;

Roll 2d6 +/- DMs to match or exceed a target number for success.
Roll double 6 and succeed after all DMs, then you have exceptional success.
Roll double 6 but fail after all DMs, then you have juuust failed.
Roll double 1 and succeed after all DMs (unlikely but possible), then you have juuust succeeded.
Roll double 1 and fail after all DMs, then you have failed dismally.

For all rolls, consult the natural roll for timing with 2 taking the longest and 12 being the quickest.

How hard would it be to just toss out the timing altogether, and go with a regular initiative system?  I haven't looked at the combat section of the playtest rules yet, so I'm not sure.

Quote from: StainlessRoll double 6 but fail after all DMs, then you have juuust failed.

Maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't it be rather dumb to even attempt a roll if you can't possibly succeed even with two sixes?  At best, you fail.  At worst, you critically fail.