Kurt Feltenberger wrote: > > > Thrilling. I wish they'd just abandon the whole Virus storyline. > > > > Why? The technical aspect is no more absurd than psionics. And it > > contributes a source of robot characters to the mix that would > > otherwise only be available as the property of cutting-edge R&D > > organizations. > > I thought the whole premise of *how* Virus operated was more than hokey, > it was contrived. Psionics I can handle, to a point, as there is some > genuine unexplained mental phenomena that's been documented. But > Virus? The explanation just didn't make sense to me as I could see > every transponder being compromised, but past that? If you weren't > using an Imperial transponder you should be safe.
I don't see why that would be. A "Virus" entity was exactly as much a pattern of electrons in the circuitry as a human mind is a pattern of electrons in the nervous system - and given the presence of psionic capabilities in Traveller, it's safe to assume that there _is_ more to the human mind than mere patterns of electrons. Given that, Virus was essentially a psionic phenomenon, albeit one geared toward computer hardware instead of organic brains. Letting it transcend the usual rules about how computers normally function and communicate is no different than letting a human use telekinesis or telepathy; it's an extension of the same idea. And when you think about it, they were very conservative about exactly how much Virus was allowed to transcend the usual rules; very conservative, and very precise. Just not very clear. > But, in the end, I could suspend my skepticism for one item, not two. > When they added the "house rules" and turned everything on it's head, > the game lost any appeal it might have had. I could have dealt with one > or the other, but not both. So you're saying that if Traveller had never included psionics, you would have been _more_ inclined to accept the concept of Virus? Forgive me for being skeptical; but somehow I doubt that it was the number of "rule-breaker" items that was the issue. Especially considering that Traveller already had a boatload of them: psionics, gravitics, meson screens, Jump Drives, Black Globe generators, etc. I doubt that the absence of any or all of these would have "made room" in your skepticism for the Virus concept. > Call me one of the few who really liked MT or one of the many who liked > CT, but I was not one who liked, enjoyed, or shed a tear when TNE was > released, played, or died, respectively. I did shed a tear when it > drove players away and GDW folded. I won't debate the matter of whether or not TNE drove players away, other than to express my own skepticism; I'm sure each of us could come up with plenty of anecdotes and hearsay to support our respective positions, but I doubt that either of us could back it up with anything more substantial than that. -- Jonathan "Dataweaver" Lang _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
