Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: szielins@oracle.com (Stephan Zielinski)
Subject: Re: Dumb Moves By Game Companies
Organization: Oracle Corporation
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 03:07:34 GMT
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In article <1992Dec30.195744.525@afterlife.ncsc.mil> acadams@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Arthur C. Adams) writes:
>I was setting around thinking today:
>what are some of the dumbest moves made by game companies?

<GRUMPY OLD MAN MODE ON>

GDW's bungling of the entire Traveller line.  "Traveller classic" had
mind-bendingly simple game mechanics.  (By modern standards.  As far
as I can remember, Traveller had the first skill-based character
design in a mass-marketed game.)  Crude skill system, various
arbitrary numbers used to determine success or failure.  Interstellar
space was two dimensional, in fact... 

... but (IMHO) Traveller also had THE best thought out alien races and
interstellar politics I have ever seen in a sci-fi game.  And for the
ravening killer, there was Striker-- 15mm miniatures rules with a
fantastic treatment of command and control (you don't move your units,
you declare what the officers order the units to do-- if you're lucky,
they obey; and very low initiative troops do NOTHING unless actively
led...) and a fairly reasonable equipment design system.  Ah, how my
players cringed when the police skimmer with the 20mm cannon passed
overhead... "Hey, does anybody know if that thing's big enough to
carry a nuclear damper box?"

Ergo, I ripped the skill system out of James Bond {yes, I know, I
know, but this was a Long Time Ago, when one could walk into the store
and buy all the Fantasy Trip stuff you wanted. :-)} But it would be so
much nicer to not have to grow my own rules.

And then I hear: GDW planning Major New Changes for the product line!
"Aha," said I, "they're going to do something about those dratted
mechanics; a sane skill system, rules for those annoying little things
like falling damage, a wound system, maybe even 3D space..."

Next thing I know, Striker's out of print, the emperor is dead, the
entire Imperium has fallen to a computer virus (?!!!), and GDW's
pushing some bizzare prequel line involving a beanstalk.

I wonder if Steve Jackson games wants to buy a Traveller classic
license... but silly me!  GDW has Dangerous Journeys now; if anybody's
going to do a (legal) port of the background to a modern set of
mechanics, DJ will be the platform.  The idea of Gygax getting at the
Aslan and Droyne is enough to make me ill...


Come to think of it, T$R's bobbling of Gamma World annoys me as well.
Yes, I owned the first edition; yes, I know it was a slightly hacked
Metemorphosis Alpha.  But what a beer and pretzels game the old ones
were; roll up a mutant lobster and go talk to the radioactive palms.
And sometimes a flipped out cyborg would throw you in boiling water
and eat you with drawn butter, and we LIKED it!  We LOVED it!  :-)

<GRUMPY OLD MAN MODE OFF>
_________________
Stephan Zielinski                                       szielins@us.oracle.com


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc