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From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
To: traveller-digest@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #788
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Traveller-digest     Tuesday, December 24 1996     Volume 1996 : Number 788



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Oh dear...(was "Economics...")
Re: Routine Maintenance
Re: Central Supply Catalog Review
Re: Off-topic (really)
Classic Traveller Art for Sale
Re: Pulp Starships, by Tim Brown
The Festive Season
Re: Pulp Starships, by Tim Brown
Holiday greetings and  contest reminder
Re: GG Refuelling - Economic Factors
Vehicle Design System musings...
RE: Oh Dear; Economics; Ship Construction; etc
Re: Why the Vilani Lost
Re: Jumpspace and Psionics
Re: jtas
Re: Jtas cost
jtas cost/starships
RE: Central Supply Catalog Review 
Re: Routine Maintenance
[none]
New HTML forms 

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 09:25:45 +0100
From: Timothy.Collinson@solent.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Oh dear...(was "Economics...")

              Michael writes in response to Phil:

              >...although I don't agree entirely with your points about
              economics, I have to say >that your opponents are making a
              fairly poor showing and therefore declare you >winner by
              default.

              <loud harumph>  While I certainly don't view myself as one of
              Phil's 'opponents' I think I ought to be offended.   IIRC I
              was the only respondee and while I may well have made a
              'fairly poor showing' it's ungentlemanly to point that out!!

              However, it's Christmas.  I'm in a forgiving mood.

              Have a good one.

              tc

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 00:41:53 -0900
From: Peter Newman <pnewman@alaska.net>
Subject: Re: Routine Maintenance

> From: "Stuart L. Dollar" <sdollar@goodnet.com>
> 
> On 20 Dec 96 at 19:02, Phillip McGregor spewed:
> 
> > Starports and why Planetary TLs are meaningless

> > All Starships need "Routine Maintenance" once per year, right? Two
> > weeks at any A or B class Starport, correct? The key word here is
> > *any* A or B Class Starport - *not* "any A or B Class Starport of an
> > equal or higher TL", but *any* such Starport.
> >
> > Note that, as the rules stand (TL Table on pg. 134) it is possible
> > to score a Type A Starport on a minimum TL7 world and a Type B on a
> > minimum of TL5 - though obviously in those cases *all* the tech must
> > be imported!
> >
> > However, consider a TL9 world - just barely starfaring - with a Type
> > A Starport. What happens when your TL12 Sylean Federation Scoutship
> > wants an overhaul there (or your TL15 Third Imperium Scoutship, for
> > that matter). Is there any delay? Is there any increased cost
> > associated? *NO* to both!!!
> 
> Overhaul?  Let's consider the 20th century Terran equivalent:
> automobiles.  Yes, the local garage is liable to have the oil,
> grease, filters, plugs, etc on hand to do your overhaul, but what do
> you do if you need to replace the block?  Does Al's garage have the
> engine in stock?  Probably not, he's going to need to call a wrecking
> yard, or somebody who sells rebuilt engines, or whatever...  Problem
> is that a TL 9 world isn't likely to have the widget to fix that TL15
> power plant on your far trader.  Especially since they don't repair 
> all that many of them.  They'll have to send out for it.

	The reason that this does not seem to make sense is that 
it_does_not make sense.  The routine maintenance can be performed at any 
type A or B starport rule is WRONG & should be changed.  The rule should 
be Routine Maintenance may be performed at any type A or B starport of 
equal or higher tech level.  Yes theoretically starports could be 
importing higher tech parts & training but we have_no_evidence that they 
are.  There is some canonical evidence that suggests that ships do need 
to be maintained at facilities of their own Tech Level or higher, as 
follows.

	In The MegaTraveller Journal Issue #3 (by DGP) in an article on 
Vincennes (A899AA6-G 1122 Deneb) Charles Kalina wrote "Civilian ships 
produced at Vincennes were of the highest performance & reliability, but 
their high-technology actually became a marketing liability.  As 
Vincennes' designs became more advanced, fewer & fewer starports were 
able to service & maintain these vessels...Currently the only TL-16 
ships in civilian use are either merchants operating soley in the 
Vincennes area, or megacorporations for whom the advantages of TL-16 
construction outweigh the expense of maintaining such vessels."

	If this ruling is made things will not only make more sense but 
we will also have a better (partial) explanation for why all those yards 
of less than maximum available tech level manage to stay in business; 
that is that they sell to customers who do not want to worry about if & 
where they can get their ship maintained.

	Actually for maximum realism (& to make players lives more 
difficult) the rule should probably be: Routine Maintenance may be 
performed at any A or B starport of the ships tech level or the next 
higher tech level only.  I would think that if you went to a TL-15 
shipyard looking for maintenance on your TL-9 starship this would be 
akin to bringing your Model A car (TL 6) into a modern garage (TL 8) for 
repairs & expected them to be able to fix it (& this is only a 2 tech 
level differance, not 6).

	On a further note I would not want to have the routine 
maintenance for_my_ship done at a type B starport.  What if they 
discoved that the Jump Drive was worn & needed replacing, a type B port 
could not make one (by definition) & you would then have to get an 
import at a higher cost & expense, probably prepaid.

	These rules will also help the referee keep control of the 
campaign because if the players must go to a planet with the appropriate 
 tech level for their maintenance the referee can insure that they will 
go their (or risk problems & misjumps, etc).  For example if you have a 
TL 15 ship in the Spinward Marches circa 1105 you will only have about 5 
 planets in the whole sector who can fix it. (Glisten, Rhylanor, Mora, 
Trin, & debatably Darrian)

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 17:36:15 +0100 (MET)
From: Thomas Biskup <tb@saranxis.ruhr.de>
Subject: Re: Central Supply Catalog Review

On Sun, 22 Dec 1996, Joseph E. Walsh wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Dec 1996, Thomas Biskup wrote:
> > While all this sounds too good to be true (although I really believe in
> > Greg's talents :-) I still wonder about one information nobody yet
> > managed: how many pages does this supplement have?
> It's a 96-page supplement.  Take out 3 pages for advertisements though. 

I really want to start ranting once more but IG needs to do something
about the prices.  $20 for 93 pages is a very, very bad joke.  I really
wanted to buy that book, but at this price... no.  I guess that's it.  My
third failed attempt of having a nice Traveller campaign :-(  The sad
thing about the price is, that usually shops over here in Germany multiply
by 2.5 to get the price in German Marks (which -- divided by about 1.5
once more -- is the price in dollars).  Thus I effectively would have to
pay about $33 -- which is a lot too much even for a very well written
supplement.

I really wonder what makes them think that Traveller has even a decent
chance to survive at such high prices.  You get complete roleplaying games
at least twice (if not three times) as large as that price...

Thomas "Why? WHY? *WHY?*" 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: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 17:30:35 +0100 (MET)
From: Thomas Biskup <tb@saranxis.ruhr.de>
Subject: Re: Off-topic (really)

On Sun, 22 Dec 1996, Mused wrote:
> Would one of the TML's linguistic experts be able to tell me what the following phrase 
> means: "Die Gedanken Sind Frei"

"Thoughts are free."

Merry Christmas to evryone!

- --
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, 20 Dec 1996 18:11:29 +0000
From: "Shadowcat" <kwalsh@cube.ice.net>
Subject: Classic Traveller Art for Sale

I have been notified by a friend who who owns a local hobby shop
that he has the following original Traveller art for sale

these are the actual canvas paintings and are unframed

Traveller Adventure[unsigned]
JTAS #19[signed]
the JTAS with the Vacc Suited Vargr[signed]

these were obtained from the GDW warehouse at least a decade ago
we have no clue why the TA canvas is unsigned

I will take bids on these, starting at 100.00 
they are in very good condition


The Cat of Knights and Shadows
Keeper of the Alt.Callahans WWW archives
Wargamer, Weird Herald, ADHD Advocate
http://www.ice.net/~kwalsh/callahan.html

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 08:35:52 -0500
From: James Garriss <jpg@langley.mitre.org>
Subject: Re: Pulp Starships, by Tim Brown

At 04:09 PM 12/23/96 -0600, you wrote:
>Hi Folks,
>
>Here's some info on the upcoming Pulp Starships products that will be 
>produced by Tim Brown's "Destination Games" company.  I thought you might 
>be interested, given the paucity of T4 adventure products.  The Pulp 
>Starships are technically generic sci-fi adventures, but as you can tell 
>from the descriptions (not to mention the authors), they fit right in with 
>the official Traveller background.

Sounds good.  Have ordering info?  Or will these show up in my gamestore?

 James Garriss                   http://www.cs.odu.edu/~garriss   
 Systems Engineer, MITRE                  jpg@langley.mitre.org
                "Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge"
                  Actual Newspaper Headline

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 14:04:44 -0800
From: Richard talbot <Richardt@post.almac.co.uk>
Subject: The Festive Season

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

FROM THE BIG MAN IN SCOTLAND 
___________________________________________
In the darkness there shall be Christmas Lights
In the light there shall be Fairies
And so all shall be Merry..................
___________________________________________
Richard Talbot from Alloa, Scotland
Homepage:HTTP://www.almac.co.uk/personal/rtalbot/index.htm
Email: richardt@post.almac.co.uk

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 08:58:37 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph E. Walsh" <ransom@connect.iconnect.net>
Subject: Re: Pulp Starships, by Tim Brown

On Tue, 24 Dec 1996, James Garriss wrote:

> Sounds good.  Have ordering info?  Or will these show up in my gamestore?

My FLGS doesn't carry ANY of the Pulp adventure products. :(  So, I ended 
up ordering direct from Destination Games.  They just set up a web-site 
at:

http://www.destination2.com

But the site's still under construction.  Not much there other than the 
rules for Chaos Progenitus (a collectible dice game).  Destination Games 
should have the page all fixed up by the time Pulp Starships is out.

Oh, and you can probably tell whether your FLGS will carry Pulp Starships 
by whether they presently carry Pulp Dungeons.  


- -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: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 09:24:48 -0700 (MST)
From: Bruce Johnson <johnson@pill.pharm.Arizona.EDU>
Subject: Holiday greetings and  contest reminder

Happy Holidays everyone! 
Don't forget! we have only 7 more days to enter the Grand Foss Art Contest
#1, "Explain the Foss Art on T4 rulebook, page 140, in Traveller Terms" 

Send your entries directly to Joe Walsh: ransom@iconnect.net not to me.

The Prize: One copy of Starships...hey it may be bad, but getting one for
free can't hurt! ;-)

Joe posted the rules, but here's a quick synopsis:

Explain the illustration (once widely derided as a typical Foss stupid
non-traveller illustration) in Traveller terms, preferably so that the
idea can be the genesis of an adventure. 

TTFN

Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 08:38:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Douglas <douglas@teleport.com>
Subject: Re: GG Refuelling - Economic Factors

For the standard merchant, I tend to agree with your well reasoned dialog.
But for the non-standard...shall we say entreprenual types that have good
reason to stay out of Imperial starports (and away from imperial customs
agents)?  How about people operating ship types other than the three you
mentioned...mercenaries and the like who don't want to leave the paper
trail that landing at a starport is bound to generate.

There are a plethora of legal, semi-legal and illegal reasons to use GG
refueling.

- --------------------------------------------
Never anger a dragon, for you are crunchy and go well with Brie!

Douglas@Teleport.Com
http:\\www.teleport.com\~douglas\

MSPS: Windows95, Windows NT 3.51 Server, Windows NT 3.51 Workstation,
Networking
- --------------------------------------------

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 12:27:58 -0500
From: Thad Coons <104765.503@compuserve.com>
Subject: Vehicle Design System musings...

Roderick Darroch Elliott speaks:


>        Second, the  beta system is gravely, gravely, and annoyingly
>broken in that it does not take aerodynamics into account; there's no >way
that a stock Honda Accord can do 360 km/h in an atmosphere (without >JATO
units, that is :>), and a Yugo certainly won't do 213 km/h without >being
dropped from a great height.  Anybody have numbers for how air >resistance
affects speed, and how the system could be fixed to deal with >it?

Air resistance is approximately proportional to the velocity or square of
the  velocity. This has the effect of giving objects a constant terminal
velocity. Another S.W.A.G. (involving more assumptions than I have any
right to make) gives a 
terminal velocity = cube root of (vehicle power/a constant).
The constant has to do with the density of the atmosphere, frontal area of
the vehicle, streamlining, among other things.

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

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 11:53:16 -0600
From: Ernest N Rowland <erowland@ionet.net>
Subject: RE: Oh Dear; Economics; Ship Construction; etc

It seems to me we have a convergence of ideas on a few different threads
(economics of different tech levels; ship construction economics)

Michael.Barry@FINANCE.ausgovfinance.telememo.au wrote:
>  Why would you spend an hour, at a staff cost of $25-, to repair a $10-

eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch) replied:
> If the component is necessary and a replacement is *completely* unavailable

This is a way to distinguish products by manufacturer/shipyard or by mileau -
MegaCorp A's laser turrets are faster to build (and therefore can be used to
crank out that new fleet in record time), but their field maintenance stinks;
whereas MegaCorp B's laser turrets are of a higher quality (ie, easier to
repair in the field), but can't be rushed as much (eg, only half the bonus for
cutting ship construction time).

That same turret at a higher tech level (or just after 50 years of experience
in building the same type of device) would either be easier to maintain (by
design) or harder to maintain (the disposable integrated components problem).
I'm of the opinion that the IC problem will just get worse - things will be
designed to be disposable and spare parts will be critical (as they always are
in the military anyway).  The machine tools and sophisticated electronics that
it would take to repair many items just wouldn't be available to a trader,
except at Class A starports, or the Corp Repair Depot.  The military would
have their own maintenance departments and perhaps whole ships that jumped
with the fleet to handle this problem (the Fleet Tanker would also be a spare
parts depot; electronics and gravitics repair labs, etc).

Those brave souls in the Far Trader that jump into unknown systems would be
wise to have a significant portion of their cargo tonnage devoted to spares,
and trade would be only for the most valuable of commodities until a regular
trading/shipping service was established to frontier worlds.

(Ieeee! The dreaded maintenance points! Ieeee!)

From: Michael.Barry@FINANCE.ausgovfinance.telememo.au
> A: Of course it *could*. That is, if the local authorities permit them to. 

I agree completely.  Local politics and self-interest would dominate the
situation of a high-tech starport on a lower tech world; unless it was the
military that just plops down a naval base and dictates to the locals what
they can and can't do.


8-)
Ernest N Rowland
erowland@ionet.net
"The flag is solid red, except where a thin ring-shaped hole has been cut
out of it, through which one can see the sky."-DRH

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 96 17:58 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Why the Vilani Lost

In-Reply-To: <199612230005.LAA10764@curie.dialix.com.au>

<< My suggestion is that the Vilani Military was run as a commercial 
operation and that the wars that they fought were run according to 
strict economic principles ... profit was the bottom line. >>

Makes sense. The Vilani wouldn't consider *not* running it that way. 
(Reminds me of _THX-1138_, where the police chase is stopped because it 
went over-budget).

One problem: if your theory is correct, once the Ziru Sirka reached a 
certain size (and so a long travel time to/from the frontier), the first 
race to seriously fight back would destroy it. I suppose the Terrans 
could have been the first to do so, but it seems unlikely.

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 96 17:58 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Jumpspace and Psionics

In-Reply-To: <961222.154757.7x0.rnr.w165w@krypton.rain.com>

> I decided that I wanted to read "The Demolished Man". And was *very*
> unhappy to discover that it is not in stock at any of the bookstores I
> checked. I haven't had a chance to see if it's still in print, 

According to amazon.com:


The Demolished Man 

by Alfred Bester 

Rpt Edition 
Paperback
List: $11.00 -- Amazon.com Price: $9.90 -- You Save: $1.10(10%) 
Published by Vintage Books
Publication date: July 1, 1996
Dimensions (in inches): 8.04 x 5.21 x .61
ISBN: 0679767819


The Stars My Destination 

by Alexander Eisenstein , Phyllis Eisenstein , Alfred Bester 

Rpt Edition 
Paperback
List: $11.00 -- Amazon.com Price: $8.80 -- You Save: $2.20(20%) 
Published by Vintage Books
Publication date: July 1, 1996
Dimensions (in inches): 8.06 x 5.25 x .63
ISBN: 0679767800

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 96 17:58 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: jtas

In-Reply-To: <961222210518_2052967145@emout03.mail.aol.com>

<< The good news is that JTAS will be out the first week of January. >>

What year?

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 96 17:58 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Jtas cost

In-Reply-To: <199612230412.XAA19884@Mithril.MPGN.COM>

<< Isn't that exactly what they are doing here...raising the price of a
product *after* accepting payment? >>

That sounds pretty illegal to me.

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 13:05:02 -0500
From: Kagehira@aol.com
Subject: jtas cost/starships

   <Hey how about this. IG probably made a honest mistake. They cant afford
to ship You your copies for free.> Maybe, but since when did a magazine
subscription charge extra for S&H, it's always been included in the
subscription cost.
    It's also the fact that I'm now paying $7 an issue for a 48 page magazine
which is a little high considering what I get for the money from related
subscriptions, plus the fact that I'd have been better off getting it at the
local gaming store.

    <However (there's always one of these), it's the principle of the matter
that is the issue here.  Forget the fact that they aren't honoring a
price they posted, forget the fact that they didn't tell anyone sooner,
forget the fact that right now many people aren't happy with IG because
of previous mistakes.> Yeah definitely, that's what upsets me the most, plus
I was charged in June for a product I'm not getting till January, and
considering IG's haphazard product quality, so far....

     <I'll be the first one to defend IG tooth and nail to be allowed to make
Traveller products.> Change that to good Traveller products (but I won't
defend any company making shoddy products, at least not when there's better
on the market).

    I'm not cancelling my sub yet, but I suggest strongly that IG set up a
feedback area on their web site so we can complain there instead of here.


Joe Walsh,
    One suggestion for starships, is that they redo it entirely for the next
printing. And that perhaps we should send them an example of what's expected?
(I tried posting this before but it didn't quite make it). As it seems their
missing the entire point of such a product (IMHO).
     Offhand I want to see something like supplement 7 with the GDW/DGP
enhancements.

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 14:16:36 -0500 (EST)
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@UDel.Edu>
Subject: RE: Central Supply Catalog Review 

In Reply to Your Message of Mon, 23 Dec 1996 17: 36:15 +0100
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 14:16:36 -0500
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@strauss2.udel.edu>

: I really wonder what makes them think that Traveller has even a decent
: chance to survive at such high prices.  You get complete roleplaying games
: at least twice (if not three times) as large as that price...
: 
: Thomas "Why? WHY? *WHY?*" Biskup.

The problem is that if you look at the market, their prices aren't high
at all for a small gaming company.  Take Dream Pod 9, all of their
products which are the same size as the Traveller products, cost just as
much.  Even the big companies charge similar prices.  WEG now charges
$18 to $20 dollars for 96 page supplements (and I'm sorry, but a $3
difference isn't enough to bitch about).

Now Big Companies can afford *much* larger print runs and thus get a
lower printing cost (and thus having a lower priced product).  Looking
around the shelves, I see that most TSR and WW supplements are still
going for $15 to $18 dollars for 96 page supplements (I wonder if this
lends and credence to comments about both of these companies being in
dire straits).

Now SJG actually puts out a 128 page product for the $18 to $20 dollar
range--I think that they end up being the best deal on the gaming
market.  Unfortunately, they are the exception, not the rule.

Oops, I forgot my mandatory BTRC plug.  8)  The latest edition of 3G^3
hit the shelves.  It clocks in at 128 pages or pure gun-toting fun and
sells for $16.  I do however think that since BTRC is a company of one
they (okay, Greg) have/has a slightly lower overhead than most of the
aforementioned companies.

I'll be honest in saying that DP9's products are good enough that fans
of the game are fanatical and don't mind paying and extra $2 to $4 per
book.  I still believe that IG could stand to look at their entire Heavy
Gear product line and take some pointers.

Sorry folks, but the days of $6 supplements and $15 hardbacks are long
gone in the gaming market--and with the way things are going, don't
expect prices to begin lowering.  8(

       --Jerry

8) Jerry Alexandratos                %  "Nothing inhabits my    (8 
8) darkstar@strauss.udel.edu         %   thoughts, and oblivion (8
8) darkstar@canary.pearson.udel.edu  %   drives my desires."    (8

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 12:42:43 -0600
From: "David Blustein" <dtb@NASCRAG.ORG>
Subject: Re: Routine Maintenance

Peter Newman <pnewman@alaska.net.> wrote:
>
> The routine maintenance can be performed at any type A or B
> starport rule is WRONG & should be changed.
>
> The rule should be Routine Maintenance may be performed at any
> type A or B starport of equal or higher tech level.
>
> If this ruling is made things will not only make more sense but we
> will also have a better (partial) explanation for why all those
> yards of less than maximum available tech level manage to stay in
> business; that is that they sell to customers who do not want to
> worry about if & where they can get their ship maintained. 

This could also explain why the Type A Free Trader should be a TL 9
design in M0 and M1100.

Also, since TL 15 starports would know there are lots of TL 9 Free
Traders out there, they'd want to keep stocked up on enough supplies
to get all that maintenance business. The same could be argued for 
other TLs and other starships.

It is also possible that TL 10+ Type A Starports could produce TL 9 
Free Traders that cost less. Now, there's a deal!

Cheers,
     David
- -- 
David Blustein
http://www.nascrag.org./~dtb/
mailto:dtb@NASCRAG.ORG

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 10:16:33 -0900
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com>
Subject: [none]

>If the component is necessary and a replacement is *completely* unavailable
>then it isn't a $10 component..it's value is whatever it takes to repair or
>replace it.  If it costs $500 to repair that $10 part, and the alternative
>is waiting on the ground 6 weeks for the part to be shipped in, then the
>*economic* thing to do is pay the $500 and put the ship back into service
>earning money.
>
>Wouldn't as much of a ship's equipment as possible be designed to be field
>repairable?  On ships that will be travelling to places where replacement
>parts aren't readily available, I'd want
>*everything* really important to be field repairable.

Case in point (real world): my office has a computer that is down more than
up. We are NOT allowed to replace it. Thus, I am stuck spending 2-3 hours
per week (costing the gov't $12+ per hour) fighting with the machine to
keep it running so that a higher paid employee can do her work on it. In
the long run, it would be cheaper to surplus the machine and replace it
with one that is working.

Budgetary provisions will necessitate many similar "Fix it cause you ain't
allowed to repair it" situations... another real world case: the car that
eats lots of maintenance time... but you MUST have to get to work (a common
problem in alaska). You will keep fixing it to minimize down time from
work... so you can't save up for that new one, cause it eat's that
percentage of your income.

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

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 14:41:12 EST
From: galliand@juno.com (Scott M Galliand)
Subject: New HTML forms 

Hi, all.

I've created a few forms on my web page that you might be interested in
using in your design process.  I did this partly because I felt I needed
something standardized to help me when I design stuff, and partly so I
could develop a presentation format for the web page for my upcoming PBEM
I'm planning.

The first is a blank career description form.  It has a similar look to
the design in the T4 rulesbook.  This is the format that I use with the
alternate career description that I have posted on my page.  When a new
career pops up here all I do (after I get the permission of the creator,
of course) is cut and paste the material into the form from the TML post
and voila', the career is ready for posting.  It prints out on two pages
if printed from a browser, though.  So far, I have the Bureaucrat,
Journalist, Military Intelligence, Pirate, and Secret Agent careers up
already.

The other two forms have to do with QSDS.  The first is a QSDS Worksheet.
 I've (hopefully) set it up in a easy-to-understand step-by-step format. 
The columns set up are: Component, Volume, Power, Cost, Surface Area,
Crew, and a large notes column which has any additional information that
might be required for the particular component.  This is in a tabular
format.  At the bottom is a separate table allowing for calculation of
the required crew needed.

The other form is the QDSD Display Form.  This is the familiar format
we've come to know and love from the QSDS.  There is a main section for
the statistics for the ship.  Below that is a table which allows you to
present the number of members per assignment in the crew.  Finally, the
rest of the page will allow you to add more descriptive notes on the
ship.

I tried to make these forms easy to use.  Any comments are welcome, of
course.

Here are the forms addresses:

Career Description:
http://members.aol.com/sgalli5794/traveller/forms/CareerDescription.html

QSDS Worksheet:
http://members.aol.com/sgalli5794/traveller/forms/qsdsworksheet.html

QSDS Form:
http://members.aol.com/sgalli5794/traveller/forms/qsdsform.html

My main Traveller page is at http://members.aol.com/sgalli5794/traveller/

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone (even those who might not
celebrate it with us. :))

Scott M. Galliand
************************************************
E-mail: galliand@juno.com
WWW:  http://members.aol.com/sgalli5794/

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

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #788
**********************************

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