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From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
To: traveller-digest@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #755
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Traveller-digest     Saturday, December 14 1996     Volume 1996 : Number 755



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Starship Personalities
Re: Ship Design Formulas
Re: AOL (Kenneth)
Re: Joe's List 
Re: Mech mobility kills
Re: Reviewing T4 Products
Courtney Solomon
Re: Joe's List 
What T4 Starships should have been.
Foss art and what's "Travelleresque"
Re: Refueling from Cometary bodies (OPINION)
Re: I've changed my mind...
Starship building
TRAVELLER NAVIGATOR NOW FREE
Re: Foss art and what's "Travelleresque"
Deckplans: Get 'em in Jumpspace
I scream, you scream, we all scream for TCS...
Decplan Grids
Re: [T96#748] Wierd Place Names
Re: Joe's List 
Re:LONG-- Imperium Games, Starships, future products 
RE: Imperium Games, Starships, future products 
Re: Deckplans: Get 'em in Jumpspace

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 12:45:56 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Starship Personalities

I just got through reading the Personalities and More Personalities 
in the Starships book.

And you know what?  My Grand Adventure posts are just as good, if not 
more detailed, than Don Perrin's stuff.

What gets me is this.  I wrote the GA stuff for my players to do four 
things:  1) flesh out the events that happened during character 
generation;  2) tell the player a little about his character's 
homeworld;  3) show how the character came to be involved in the 
Grand Adventure and a member of the March Harrier crew;  and 4) lay 
down some hooks for adventures that I have planned down the road.

From reading Perrin's stuff, it looks like he did the exact same 
thing.  He rolled up a character and filled in the holes.  

Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing for a published Traveller 
supplement, but I was looking at the writing level of the stories.

My GA posts are one through first drafts.  I could do a lot more with 
them if I only put in the time (and it does take a lot of time to 
write those things).  Eventhough they were first drafts, they served 
my purpose, met my 4 goals, and were entertaining enough to read.  I 
thought, hey, they are as good as most of the other NPC character 
bios I've seen in most RPGs.

I guess my point here is that, if I was going to publish the GA stuff 
in an official Traveller supplement like Starships, I'd make damn 
sure that they were written well (meaning interesting and exciting) 
and that there were no problems with them.

For example, look at pg. 45 under Marine Captain Melissa Von Sarnoff.

	"Captain Von Sarnoff noticed a discrepancy in the fake ID's, and 
then infiltrated the band and capture them."

She infiltrated and capture?  Maybe this is not Don's fault.  It 
looks like an editing problem, so this is either Tony Lee's or Lester 
Smith's area.  But, Don should have written those bios more 
professionally.  He's got several short stories and books to his 
credit, doesn't he?

My point is that most of us could have written bios as good as what 
is in Starships.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I expect professional writing.  I want to be 
entertained with this type of stuff.  I want to say, "Cool!  Did you 
read the one about...?"

Instead, I read and say, with a befuddled face, "Huh."

OK, I'm done ripping Starships apart.  That's enough for me.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 12:49:28 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: Ship Design Formulas

On 14 Dec 96 at 17:41, Rob Prior wrote:


> This won't work for QSDS, because the 'hull' is actually a hull plus other
> components - ie. there is not a linear relationship there.  (Rather like a
> basket of groceries: you could establish a pattern but not a precise
> formula.)
I like the tables.  Its a Traveller tradition that has lasted through 
each of the Traveller incarnations.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:56:32 -0500
From: COsborne@aol.com
Subject: Re: AOL (Kenneth)

FYI - AOL has offered unlimited service for Cr19.95 since 335-1996.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 14:07:52 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: Joe's List 

That Computer Guy wrote:
> That said, I will mention that hands down, bar none, Rob Caswell *is*
> Traveller art.  Everything he did was simply beautiful and well laid
> out.  And his equipment drawings were spectacular to boot!

Add Blair Reynolds to the list of artists that ARE Traveller

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 14:08:52 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: Mech mobility kills

Armand Suarez wrote:
> I think spider mech drivers' worst fear would be a TDX overhead proximity
> mine.  That could take out all the legs at once!  A cookie to anyone who
> remembers what TDX is. ;-D

Gravitationally Polarized Explosives, e-mail me a cookie

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:08:24 -0600 (CST)
From: Joseph "Chepe" Lockett <jlockett@io.com>
Subject: Re: Reviewing T4 Products

Quoth Kenneth Bearden:
> On 13 Dec 96 at 16:54, JEFF ZEITLIN wrote:
> > Freelance Traveller has a self-imposed responsibility to _support_
> > Traveller.  Because of this, Freelance Traveller can not in good
> > conscience print outright negative reviews of a product.
> 
> Althought we agree on your reasons for doing this, you may want to 
> re-think your position.  You are basically saying that Freelance 
> Traveller is biased, and people won't trust your reviews in the 
> future.

I whole-heartedly disagree.  Many professional magazines in the RPG
industry have this policy: "Pyramid Picks," which John Kovalic has already
mentioned, only reviews products, in their words, that make them think
"Gee, we wish we'd done that!"  (T4 might be a borderline case here....)

The _reviews_ will be unbiased, and Jeff's already said that _constructive_
criticism is acceptable.  He just doesn't want to fill the site up with a
lot of bad press from old Traveller-grognards with more history to compare
products with than the prospective new Traveller player has.

(Sorry if I'm putting words in your mouth here, Jeff!)

- ----------------------------*------------------------*------------------------
 Joseph L. "Chepe" Lockett  |"Nullum magnum ingenium | GURPS fan, Amiga user,
http://www.io.com/~jlockett | sine mixtura dementiae | Shakespearean scholar,
  Email: jlockett@io.com    | fuit." -- Seneca       | actor and director.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:45:28 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph E. Walsh" <ransom@connect.iconnect.net>
Subject: Courtney Solomon

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Matthew Harelick wrote:

> I must have missed something somewhere. 
> 
> Who is Courtney Solomon? 


Courtney is the owner of Sweet Pea Entertainment (a film production 
company that has the film rights to AD&D and Traveller), and the owner of 
Imperium Games.

Just for completeness, I'll also mention that Authority Publishing & 
Design is the name of the company that includes all the designers we're 
familiar with - Tony Lee, Ashe Marler, etc. etc.  AP&D has the contract 
to design Traveller products for Imperium Games.

So, what does that give us?  A company that has the money to finance this 
project of producing the fourth edition of Traveller, but which is 
unfamiliar with the RPG market (Imperium Games); and a company that is 
familiar with the RPG market, but which only designs the products, 
leaving the sales and customer service to IG (AP&D).

It's a pretty good distribution of the varius functions necessary to 
bringing Traveller products to market.  In the last several months we saw 
that game designers don't necessarily do the business end of things real 
well - you may recall credit cards were charged months before products 
were shipped, etc. etc. etc.  And I'm pretty sure that the average 
business person isn't a good game designer [grin].  AP&D just has to 
learn enough about business to make their designs more easily 
marketable, and IG has to learn enough about the RPG industry to allow 
them to understand what their customers want out of the game designs 
they're commissioning.

The person trying to stretch himself to bridge the gap between the two 
worlds is Tim Brown (of CT and 2300 AD fame, and who owns his own game 
company, Destination Games (producer of the Chaos Progentious 
collectible dice game, and the Pulp Dungeons series of generic adventure 
modules)).  He works for IG, overseeing Traveller product development by 
the AP&D crew.

And then there's us - the people on this list know more about Traveller 
than anyone in the world (and I can confidently say that because Marc 
Miller is a subscriber to the list![Grin]).  The folks at AP&D have 
brought us into the process in the past (Don Perrin asked us to do ship 
designs for Starships, and also had the wisdom to acknowledge that Guy 
Garnett, Dave Golden, and the rest of the QSDS/SSDS design teams knew how 
to make design systems that would make everyone happy), they're doing so 
now (the Rumors project), and will undoubtedly do so in the future.  Marc 
himself has asked for feedback several times - on the skills list for T4, 
on the vehicles list for T4, on the sector data for T4, and the outline for 
Milieu 0, among other things.  We have a place in the process, too.

We've all been disappointed - to one degre or another - with the products 
and services we've gotten from IG over the last several months.  But, 
they've recognized those problems, and they've been working consistently 
to change things.  AP&D is no longer responsible for doing 100 things at 
once - their sole tasks are product design and development now.  Sweet Pea 
is no longer sitting back just waiting for the money to roll in - 
they've become Imperium Games, and they're running the business 
end (doing customer service, taking orders, shipping products, and so 
on).  

And, Courtney's trying to get some understanding of the industry he's 
involved in, as well as specifically what Traveller fans want.  I think 
we're helping there, too.

IG and AP&D are beginning to, as my business-jargon-prone co-workers are 
fond of saying, "do the right things right."  The coming months will 
bring additional changes, as each of the people involved becomes better 
at his or her new role, and become more attuned to customer needs.

Here's hoping 1997 is The Year of Traveler.


- -Joe
______________________________________________________________________________
Joseph E. Walsh      |  Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
ransom@iconnect.net  |  Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
Stuck in the '80s    |  Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
       .....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:50:50 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph E. Walsh" <ransom@connect.iconnect.net>
Subject: Re: Joe's List 

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Mused wrote:

> That Computer Guy wrote:
> > That said, I will mention that hands down, bar none, Rob Caswell *is*
> > Traveller art.  Everything he did was simply beautiful and well laid
> > out.  And his equipment drawings were spectacular to boot!
> 
> Add Blair Reynolds to the list of artists that ARE Traveller

Am I the only one who liked Liz Danforth's work?


- -Joe
______________________________________________________________________________
Joseph E. Walsh      |  Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
ransom@iconnect.net  |  Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
Stuck in the '80s    |  Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
       .....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 15:03:09 -0500
From: sturm <sturm@tiac.net>
Subject: What T4 Starships should have been.

I had a chance yesterday to check out Starships and I must say I'm
underwhelmed.  IG should have taken a look at some of the BattleTech
source books for their artwork, their quite good and have a nice
science-fictioney feel.

The deck plans that are included with T4 Starships are pretty much a
joke, and the price is way too high.

I would much rather had none of those worthless color plates from Foss
(sorry chris) and seen the product split into 2 lower priced books, one
with a number of ships of different tonnages, each with an appropriate
illustration (read: Vilardi, Reynolds, Deitrick), then have an entirely
separate book with deck plans.

IMHO

sturm@tiac.net

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 15:53:33 -0500
From: Rob Beck <beck@mail.all-net.net>
Subject: Foss art and what's "Travelleresque"

Ok, quite a few people have taken a stab at this. I know there are those who
like the Foss art and there are those who don't like it. Yes the Foss art is
nice. Some of the pictures actually do inspire me to think Traveller, but is
it too much to ask that Traveller ships, vehicles, and equipment be in these
ever so intriguing paintings?
IG wants color art? Fine, but throw us a bone. How about some designs we
would use in those pictures? Heaven forbid, how about a classic Traveller
ship in one of those masterpieces? Maybe that would placate a few angry
voices and lighter wallets, eh IG?

Rob.

                         Robert Beck
                         E-Mail: beck@mail.all-net.net
                         Send E-Mail For My Public PGP Key.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 15:54:45 -0500
From: Thad Coons <104765.503@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Refueling from Cometary bodies (OPINION)

Bolie IV says:

> Either these ships go hurtling through the top of the atmosphere 
> where the gasses are relatively thin (and composed of who knows what).

Running even a thin atmosphere through scoops at merely supersonic
velocities would yield respectable volumes. There's no need to go deep. Gas
giant refueling *is* hazardous, though.
Since the atomic composition of the universe is some 90% hydrogen, 10&
helium, and maybe 1% everything else, any sufficiently large body is likely
to be mostly hydrogen. Gas giants are almost by definition sufficiently
large.
Since hydrogen is the lightest of gases, the upper layers of a gas giant
atmosphere will be richer in hydrogen than the lower ones. The other gases
are most likely to include helium, neon, and the hydrogen saturated
compounds water, ammonia, and methane. 

> Of course, that's the problem... they're all mixed up.  I wonder if you
> could even scoop anything since hull friction may be igniting all the
> gasses around the ship...

Separation of the hydrogen from all the other stuff is the problem.
You shouldn't worry about igniting the hydrogen: In a gas giant, you can
assume that all the oxygen that can combine with hydrogen already has.

Thad Coons
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sapience/






   

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 15:54:51 -0500
From: Thad Coons <104765.503@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: I've changed my mind...

>>     Seriously though, an 8-legged walker would be *less* vulnerable 
>> to a mobility hit than an MBT. Mind you, I don't think I'd trust
>> anything less than a TL9 or 10 robot brain with moving those legs. 

>  Absolutely, and will TL 12 controls or better be sufficent?

Research in electronic analogues of neural networks was being done on Terra
at about TL-7. By TL-8, successful robots which duplicated the walking and
jumping motions of insects and spiders had been developed. These were
initially only curiosities. Specialized military vehicles based on these
designs were in use about TL-9, but their use declined as grav technology
was perfected.

Encyclopedia Imperica: Solomani (History of the)
  

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 15:54:55 -0500
From: Thad Coons <104765.503@compuserve.com>
Subject: Starship building

> Hans Rancke has been arguing about the strength of the Imperium vs the >
Vargr.  

> In one post you mentioned that a planet would be able to produce
> several hundred 50,000 ton cruisers in rather short time. That seems a
> bit high to me.  I am guessing that you are basing your numbers on
> Trillion Credit Squadron, I don't own this, but is it possible that
> this produces inacurrate results. 

Someone at GDW (Challenge No. 75) stated that the ship construction times
in TCS were far too short, and promised that as soon as they came up with a
system they liked better, they would publish it. Sigh...

It seems that the rate of ship production depends on the size of the
shipyard.  In the absence of better data, the economic model of TNE World
Tamer's Handbook suggests 1 to 2 MCr of starship per hundred line employees
per month, depending on TL. This does not include the rest of the company
staff nor any dependents.
I've done a couple of estimates of rates of production of a few craft, and
I like the feel of the numbers I get.
I'd need to guesstimate the percentage of a world's population devoted to
starship building and the cost of a 50,000 ton Imperial Cruiser to get a
number, but I'd have a hard time believing any rate greater than about a
half dozen of those in a year.

Thad Coons
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Sapience/




   

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 17:57:45 -0500
From: 34zbtxq@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu (Susan M. Shock)
Subject: TRAVELLER NAVIGATOR NOW FREE

A friend of mine clued me in to the fact that the Traveller Navigator's
sectors produced by Planet III software (which has changed it's name to
Davtech or some such) are now available as freeware. They will not be
supported, but the designer, Jeff Davies, has made them available. There are
five sectors; Deneb, Diaspora, Old Expanses, Reft and the Spinward Marches.
These sectors also include EVERY ship published for TNE as well as few new
ones (like a 55-ton Jump Boat). These are available from:
        ftp.best.com/pub/jdavies

There is a web page telling about this at kttp://www.davtechsys.com/ftp.htm

BUT the ftp links don't work. so use the ftp site above.

I'm sorry to see that Planet III has thrown in the towel on doing Traveller
software, as I was looking forward to their Traveller Shipyard program. But
now at least those still playing TNE and Brilliant Lances can get these sectors.
                                Allen

P.S. This is about 5.5 megs of files altogther,so pack a lunch if you plan
on doing it all at once!

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 16:35:46 -0600 (CST)
From: Joseph "Chepe" Lockett <jlockett@io.com>
Subject: Re: Foss art and what's "Travelleresque"

Quoth Rob Beck:
> Is it too much to ask that Traveller ships, vehicles, and equipment be
> in these ever so intriguing paintings?
> IG wants color art? Fine, but throw us a bone. How about some designs we
> would use in those pictures? Heaven forbid, how about a classic Traveller
> ship in one of those masterpieces? Maybe that would placate a few angry
> voices and lighter wallets, eh IG?

Foss is probably expensive for custom color work.  That's one likely
reason they're using his extensive collection of prior paperback covers: 
second-publishing rights are often quite low, and much more viable for
cash-short RPG companies.  (Steve Jackson Games used quite a bit of
recycled cover art for a while there).  So you might get what you want,
but it depends on IG being successful to build up the capital.

- ----------------------------*------------------------*------------------------
 Joseph L. "Chepe" Lockett  |"Nullum magnum ingenium | GURPS fan, Amiga user,
http://www.io.com/~jlockett | sine mixtura dementiae | Shakespearean scholar,
  Email: jlockett@io.com    | fuit." -- Seneca       | actor and director.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 96 17:35:04 -0600
From: Glenn Hoppe <starcity@eagle.wbm.ca>
Subject: Deckplans: Get 'em in Jumpspace

Rob's recent post and all the crappy reviews of Starships has given me 
the kick in the rear I needed to post to my website a couple deckplans I 
made a few years ago.

One is of a Type A2 Far Trader, and the other is of a few Small Craft 
(Cutter, Ship's Boat, Launch). The plans bear more than a passing 
resemblance DGP's excellent deckplans. I made them from scratch to 
Snapshot scale (1":3m) Unlike the original T&G plans, the Far Trader is 
actually of a 200 ton size. (IIRC, the plan in T&G was 2x too big!)

The originals were created in Deneba Canvas verison 3.5.2. Though Canvas 
isn't normally my "main ax", at the time I found the ruler scales and 
other functions useful in the creation of deckplans. I have posted two 
versions of each deckplan: The Canvas version, stuffed, for those with 
Mac's and Canvas; and an Adobe Illustrator version, zipped, for those 
with PC's and Illustrator (or *ugh* CorelDraw, which can import .ai 
files). If you have Illustrator on the Mac, the zipped version is the one 
to get. (Stuffit handily unzips files)

If anyone on the list has Adobe Acrobat Distiller or whatever, to make a 
.pdf version of the plans, please contact me. That's probably the ideal 
solution for distribution of the plans, as Acrobat Reader is free and 
truly cross-platform.

Except possibly for your Atari, Joe! ;-)

Get them here: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8275/traveller.html

Query: Am I in copyright trouble for distributing these things? I did 
make them from scratch, and they aren't *exactly* like published 
versions. Standard disclaimers apply.

- -- 
===== Glenn Hoppe =====\ /--- MailTo:jumpspace@geocities.com ----
\ . . Enter Jumpspace --X-> http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8275 \
 ----------------------/ \========== Eschew Obfuscation ==========

- -- 
===== Glenn Hoppe =====\ /--- MailTo:jumpspace@geocities.com ----
\ . . Enter Jumpspace --X-> http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8275 \
 ----------------------/ \========== Eschew Obfuscation ==========

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 15:35:35 -0800 (PST)
From: Wes Payne <n9548326@cc.wwu.edu>
Subject: I scream, you scream, we all scream for TCS...

Thus spake "K.C. Komosky" <kc@mb.sympatico.ca>:

[snip]

> Its time for me to look further afield. Does anyone know of any stores, 
> brokers, whatever that have GOOD inventories of CT and MT material? 
> Preferably in Canada, but anywhere in North America would be just fine.
> 
> Thanks a whole lot. I've been lusting after a copy of TCS for years, among 
> others...

After seeing this theme a couple of times, I've arrived at the following 
conclusion:  I, too, want a copy of TCS.

If anybody is willing to sell theirs, or knows where I can buy/beg/steal 
a copy, please let me know (by e-mail).

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wes Payne, known to you as:  n9548326@cc.wwu.edu
Western Washington University -- Bellingham, WA -- The Great Northwet!  
"We place two copies of PEOPLE magazine in a DARK, HUMID mobile home.
 45 minutes later CYNDI LAUPER emerges wearing a BIRD CAGE on her head!"
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:55:56 -0900
From: aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com (William F. Hostman)
Subject: Decplan Grids

>Deckplans made with a 1.0m square grid are 100% compatible with T4
>and T:TNE. (Heck, a 1.0m square grid is compatible with every game
>that uses the metric system, for that matter!)
>
>Why not use a 1.0m square grid for deckplans, and be done with the
>issue of compatibility?
>
>Cheers,
>     David

Sorry, david, but that makes it incompatable with that which uses 1.5m
grids for combat: CT, MT, Snapshot, AHL, and several other (non-traveller)
games. It's a game design consideration. 1.5m gridding allows 4 persons per
square in combat capability... 1m doesn't. 1m makes 2 per square but just
barely, also, 1/"=1.5m is roughly 15mm (Feet to eyes) minis just a wee tad
oversize; also a consideration when CT and MT were in use, and for those of
us switching back to CT/Mt/T4 hybridizations. (BTW, most everyone I've
talked to is UNHAPPY with T4 as far as my local area traveller community.
I'm still unsure.)

If you're gonna reduce to a common denominator, I'd rather see 0.5 meter
grid with heavier lines at the 1.5m breaks... but that approach can lead to
reductio ad absurdium. (My b*stardizsed latin may not be acurate, but I
think it makes the point).

William F. Hostman
Aramis@asylumbbs.com

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 96 16:22:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
Subject: Re: [T96#748] Wierd Place Names

aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com (William F. Hostman) hath scriven...

T::>>> << At present (although I'm moving in 2 weeks thank god) I live in the
 ::>>> small mining community of Flin Flon >>
 ::>>>
 ::>>> Aw, c'mon...you're making these names up!
 ::>>
 ::>>Nope, he is for real, and so is Flin Flon, Manitoba (and for that matter,
 ::>>Come by Chance,
 ::>>Newfoundland and Dildo, Newfoundland)

T::>As are Eek, Tok, North Pole, Igagik, Unalaska, and Clear, all in Alaska.
 ::>Tok's High School motto was (for many years) "Tok High, it's an
 ::>experience!" (Tok is pronounced Toke [long o, silent e]). THeir Fight chant
 ::>was "Tok High, It'll get ya!" but the state board of education has banned
 ::>both since the state recriminalized Marijuanna...

 I understand that there is a "Hell" in Pennsylvania.

 There used to be a "6" in Kentucky (yes, spelled exactly that
 way).

 There is also a "North Pole" in New York.

 "Hoople" can be found in southern North Dakota.

 "Tar Heel" is a well-known town in North Carolina.

 There is a "Chipping Norton" and a "Leighton Buzzard" to the
 north of London, England.

 One of the five towns that joined together to form Queens
 County, New York (part of New York City) is named "Flushing".

 New Jersey Transit has a station on its main rail line in the
 village of "Ho-Ho-Kus".

 Some of you might remember the early days of FASA, when it
 actually stood for something - "Freedonian Air and Space
 Administration".  "Freedonia" is a town in New York, west of
 Buffalo.  They have (or had) a highly renowned jazz ensemble.

 Shall I continue?

==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
  OLXWin 1.00b  Renegade Tagline!! We're tired of Being Kidnapped!!!

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 16:51:57 -0800
From: Rich Ostorero <stormhvn@inreach.com>
Subject: Re: Joe's List 

Joseph E. Walsh wrote:

> 
> Am I the only one who liked Liz Danforth's work?
>

Hell no! I was pleased to see her work shop up on M*&^c cards . . . ;)

Okay, you can now get out those napalm-hoses.

- --Rich
stormhvn@inreach.com

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 16:06:36 +0100 (MET)
From: Thomas Biskup <tb@saranxis.ruhr.de>
Subject: Re:LONG-- Imperium Games, Starships, future products 

On Thu, 12 Dec 1996, Rich Ostorero wrote:
> > V)   Future Products
> Since the previous products established the fan expectation level, looking
> at precursor products is a no-brainer.
> >          3)  Keep the useful content (i.e., not the art) high,
> sacrificing
> >              art if necessary.
> Sacrifice the art. On a sanctified altar. Please!

You all just should consider that books are sold to newcomers by first
impressions.  Books without arts probably will sit like a duck in a shop
and won't be moved.  Compare T4 to other current products (Feng Shui,
Castle Falkenstein, even the older Underground and many others).  They
have a lot of color and they have a lot of art... and that's basically
what you need on this stuffed market.  If nobody notices your product you
are dead pretty soon.

Thomas Biskup.

- --
Thomas Biskup                               email to: tb@saranxis.ruhr.de
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Would you choose one life over one thousand?
 I refuse to let arithmetic decide questions like that."
                          -- Data and Picard, "Justice", stardate 41255.6

 

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 16:20:40 +0100 (MET)
From: Thomas Biskup <tb@saranxis.ruhr.de>
Subject: RE: Imperium Games, Starships, future products 

On Thu, 12 Dec 1996, That Computer Guy wrote:
> I think that IG could stand to use some quality control.  But I also
> think that some of us are so old that we don't know what the RPG
> industry is today.  Someone said that $20 was outrageous for Starships.
> Looking around the shelves I noticed that most books of that size
> clocked in around the same dollar amount.

You really should look a little more.  Most rulebooks seem to cost $25
these days but are at least twice the size of Starships (I yt have to see
it and then write my own review): take a look at some recent $25 products:
Deadlands ($25, 224 pages, great art and good editing), Bloodlands ($25,
240 pages, overall ok art and ok editing), Immortal ($25, 296 pages [!],
lots of colors [although IMHO ugly]), Conspiracy X ($25, 224 pages), ...

The average price for a 100-128 pages supplement these days seems to be in
the range of about $15 (take a look at Earthdawn stuff e.g.).

IMHO the T4 rulebook already was a little overprized (I heard something
about the price being raised to $30 for the softcover -- is that true?),
but demanding $20 for 100 pages book is pretty much a very bad joke.  If
this prizing policy continues I'm pretty soon gone (I promised I'll give
them another chance but they better should do something good very soon).

There are many companies out there who know how to produce a good-sized
book with art and color stuff for a decent product.  IG should learn
quickly from them.

Thomas Biskup.

- --
Thomas Biskup                               email to: tb@saranxis.ruhr.de
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Would you choose one life over one thousand?
 I refuse to let arithmetic decide questions like that."
                          -- Data and Picard, "Justice", stardate 41255.6

 

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 19:04:08 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph E. Walsh" <ransom@connect.iconnect.net>
Subject: Re: Deckplans: Get 'em in Jumpspace

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Glenn Hoppe wrote:

[Discussion of home-grown deckplans snipped]
> Query: Am I in copyright trouble for distributing these things? I did 
> make them from scratch, and they aren't *exactly* like published 
> versions. Standard disclaimers apply.

I imagine Marc could answer this better than anyone, but my guess would 
be that, as long as you aren't making money from them, and as long as 
they are your original works, and as long as you note the usual stuff 
("Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises." and 
whatever else people have been asked to put on their web sites), it 
should be fine.

Marc?  Any additional comments?


- -Joe
______________________________________________________________________________
Joseph E. Walsh      |  Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
ransom@iconnect.net  |  Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
Stuck in the '80s    |  Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
       .....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #755
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