At 11:35 PM 3/8/2006, you wrote:
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.
Actually, based on what they wrote, it required the Cymbeline chips
and the chips were activated by Virus. The chips then went out and
took control, something that would be pretty hard to do locked up in
the transponders.
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?
Never said that. But yes, I could handle more psionics, but then I
rarely used them and they never made an impact in my games. You
can't remove virus from the TNE setting because Virus *is* the setting.
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.
Frankly, I thought it sucked. How's that? All the other items you
list have legs in popular science fiction. A malicious computer
virus that will make your cell phone hate you, that's not that
prevalent in works of the time.
> 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.
Perhaps. I know that the groups I ran with at the time at three
different game shops universally dumped the game and went back to
something else.
Kurt Feltenberger
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
TEOTWAWKI Fiction And Discussion http://www.teotwawki.net
"To our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations,
may she always be in the right, but our country, right or wrong!"
~Stephen Decatur
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