Kurt Feltenberger wrote: > 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.
Actually, no. The Cymbeline chips were the _original_ hosts of Virus; but it by no means _required_ them. It wasn't the presence of Cymbeline chips in the transponders that let Virus take over starships and other computerized systems, although systems that used them were considerably more vulnerable; it was the aforementioned psionic-like ability of Virus to subtly alter the hardware of any system that its "seed code" was downloaded to. But like I said, they could have been clearer in their explanations. > > > 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. That's not what I asked. Still... according to this, you would have had just as much of a problem if TNE had placed something akin to an invasion of former Third Imperium space by a Zhodani-like group as its centerpiece. And you oughtn't have a problem with TNE 1248 if it turns out that the Vampire Fleets are no longer running rampant, and have settled down to being merely one of a number of possible threats that the GM may or may not bring into play. Or is the mere existence of Virus in the setting enough to repulse you? > 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. Would you have had as much of a problem if an invasion of Berserkers originating outside of known space had shown up and caused the havok? Or are Berserkers also from the "wrong era" of science fiction, and thus not suitable for inclusion? > >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. And I know of a group that transitioned to TNE without batting an eye, and another one that cut its teeth on TNE. Like I said; anecdotes and hearsay. -- Jonathan "Dataweaver" Lang _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
