On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 02:51:37PM -0800, Jim Vassilakos wrote:
> For one thing, if he was able to find a way to live forever by using
> TL10 as a jumping off point, why hasn’t the Imperium been able to
> find the same at whatever its maximum tech level happens to be?

It has.  There are at least 4 different ways, using only existing
canon tech, that they can do it.  The question is not so much "why
could Grandfather do it", but "why doesn't the Imperium already do it
routinely?"

As far as I can tell, the answer is basically just "we didn't want
that sort of game".

> 2. Humans/Earthlings being all over the place

Well, yeah.  I figure this is pure pandering to appeal to players who
happen to be humans.  Especially combined with the following point
about the Solomani conquest, so players can imagine that the far
future is basically just a continuation of their own present-day
culture taken to the stars.  It makes it easier to identify with, and
easier to play while still allowing plenty of "you're not in Kansas
anymore" moments if desired.

> It feels to me like somebody was trying to wedge magic into science
> fiction, and the result is, predictably enough, science fantasy.
> That’s fine if that’s the genre you want, but just understand that
> that’s the genre you’re getting.

Yes, though I think it has always been very clear that's the genre
Traveller fits into.

> 5. The Imperium

I find a lot of the detail in this area somewhat unbelievable also,
especially the rather stretched timescales.  There's also the massive
institutional and cultural conservatism somehow combined with being at
the technological forefront of the known universe throughout thousands
of years of history.  How does that work again?

> Traveller purists and those longing for a sense of nostalgia would
> no doubt rue the day the fan-base fragmented, but I think that
> ultimately it would be for the good, as although Traveller has been
> kept alive by a succession of publishers, my sense is that it has
> grown increasingly out-of-touch with the changing face of
> science-fiction in the 21st century.

I agree. It has now been quite a while since I played or GMed any
Traveller, and this is mostly the reason.  The rules don't cover most
of the stuff that players expect to be able to do in The Far Future
anymore.  The setting is definitely also showing its age, as well as
being basically too large and rigid to give room for some storylines,
while being not detailed enough to be a lot of use in others.

- Tim