I did mention before that I know that there are several types of Traveller players and game universes to go along with them. People are looking for different things out of their games and who they play the games with. Even on this list, I think I would say each type of Traveller that has spoken up is fairly different than every other Traveller, and it makes me surprised to find like minded players at all. 

Traveller does have a lot of rules for identifying the star and planetary system around that star, and even moons around gas giants or what have you, as needed. Several different atmosphere types are given, and really none of that is necessary for a purely narrative driven story. Everything could be a Star Trek world, earth mass, earth diameter, earth atmosphere - the story progresses without changing those details. I suspect the vast majority of Travellers are like this. 

It is also interesting for some players (but certainly not most) to try to work within consistent, realistic constraints and for the universe to behave in a at least plausible way, and of course it does describe the setting. I have sort of given up on finding Travellers that interested in the kinds of things that I am, other than those I already game with, and it has been pointed out that Traveller probably really isn't for me, but some of what gets discussed here is interesting anyway. 



-------- Original Message --------
On February 6, 2018 12:40 PM, Catherine Berry <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:



It's the equivalent, for a present-day-Earth based campaign, between saying "It will take you an hour to drive from Santa Monica to Koreatown during the evening commute" and pulling out Google Maps to model the specific trip, between specific addresses, down to the minute. In story terms, what would the latter really contribute other than breaking the flow and immersion? But in game terms, the difference between 60 and 54 minutes could be crucial. As I said, neither is better or worse. It's a difference in direction and goals.