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I want a Traveller MMO! ^^

ElikalElikal Member UncommonPosts: 7,912
in The Pub at MMORPG.COM

Ok, I kinda have to out myself here. I am a great fan of the Traveller pen and paper game. Or used to be, since its kinda dead now

Now dont tell me, you dont know what Traveller is? You know Dungeons and Dragons - the BIG pen and paper game, which is swords and sorcery. Now Traveller is also like D&D just that its sci-fi not fantasy. Its a kind of like Star Trek, Star Wars and Asimovs Foundation & Empire worlds put together, kinda.

If you want to read what Traveller is about, check this wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_%28role-playing_game%29

I know saying I want it wont help, heh. But I had to make some noise for my old and hidden love, Traveller. It is a really great game system, and especially a very interesting "world". Quite a shame, it was relatively popular in the 1980ies or so and then more or less sunk into oblivion. Well, it still exists, but its quite a shadow flower now. There were two PC games called MegaTraveller, early sci-fi RPGs; imgagine a scifi Baldurs Gate just on old graphics, which were released 1990 and 1991.

Oh well, I guess some dreams must remain dreams. I just think we have ENOUGH Elves, wizards, Dwarves and Paladins now. Its weird that the high classic sci -fi kinda got out of fashion. I mean, most sci-fi games, single player and multiplayer, are usually merely shooter, not RPGs, which is quite a loss. Why must RPGs always be swords and sorcery? I really would like to see something different now. Traveller was a good sci-fi RPG. Maybe someone, sometimes finds this old jewel and thinks of something. ^^

Dreams...

People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert

Comments

  • gpettgpett Member Posts: 1,105

    So you want another mmo dev team to screw up a classic IP?  Yes travelor was the ultimate open ended role playing system.  But, do you think the open endedness can be captured in an mmorpg?  I dont think so.

    I would prefer mmo developers to strive to achieve fun.  Sure a solid ruleset is a good foundation.  Ultimately it boils down to does a game feel fun.

    Well does it?

  • TorakTorak Member Posts: 4,905

    Well I've mentioned Traveller a few times on this board and pretty much have got the equivelent of the blank stare also lol.

    I tend to agree that Traveller as an MMO would not work out though. Mainly because its just to fricking huge of a universe. There is thousands of years of history even for some of the minor races, hundreds of thousands of star systems, sectors, sub-sectors, empires and whatever else each with its own set of unique issues, conflicts and politics.

    I don't think MMO designers could tackle a project that big or even a fraction of it. Not with the basic gameplay mentality they appear to have. Could you imagine a Traveller MMO with 10 or 12 lame little planets (like another popular IP) and running outside of a town to kill 10 Sci-Fi rats again? The pain would be to much. It would need to be on the scale of EVE but with planet surfaces / stations and all the toys that come with that. (vehicles, cities, housing blah blah...) Plus at least the inclusion of the major races. (which in some cases, are really alien and I don't know how well that would go over with the limited thinking MMO market that apparently can't relate to anything but an elf or dwarf)

    But the mechanics, freedom, depth, history and ideas of Traveller should be what MMO designers aspire to emulate. Unfortunately they seem stuck on making "fantasy stat manager" over and over again.

  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,073

    Thank you for reminding me about this game.  I never played pen and paper version, but I did play the PC versions back in the early 90's and really loved them.  It might be difficult to create a game for this world, but I'd love to revisit this world once again....

    And if not Traveler, I'd settle for an MMORPG in the Mechwarrior Universe.....

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

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  • The_ArchonThe_Archon Member Posts: 49

    From reading the wiki, it reminds me somewhat of Rifts:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifts_(role-playing_game)

    Granted that I'm biased, but I always wanted to see someone do Rifts right in PC medium.  Single player, MMO, anything.  There's such a rich storyline to these D&D offshoots... the vampire adventures alone would provide months of gameplay.

    image

  • mnielsmniels Member Posts: 16

    Due to legal reasons, the contents of this post have been removed.

  • ArcheusCrossArcheusCross Member Posts: 793

     

    Originally posted by gpett


    So you want another mmo dev team to screw up a classic IP?  Yes travelor was the ultimate open ended role playing system.  But, do you think the open endedness can be captured in an mmorpg?  I dont think so.
    I would prefer mmo developers to strive to achieve fun.  Sure a solid ruleset is a good foundation.  Ultimately it boils down to does a game feel fun.
    Well does it?

     

    I disagree in certian aspects. I belive that developers are more than capable of making an open ended sandbox mmo inteded for roleplayers. The problem is that they wont go away from the wow/eq/whatever else you want to lump with this mindset. They just want a piece of wows pie.

    I believe that the above is the next step in mmorpg development. And from what i have been seeing recently in the development part of the forums and even on general, its whats starting to be demanded.

     

    "Do not fret! Your captain is about to enter Valhalla!" - General Beatrix of Alexandria

    "The acquisition of knowledge is of use to the intellect, for nothing can be loved or hated without first being known." - Leo da Vinci

  • TorakTorak Member Posts: 4,905

    Originally posted by mniels


    It's being considered.  It just needs a publisher.  (I know a secret).
    ___________________
    TRAVELLER 
    Science-Fiction Adventure

    In the Far Future

    By who? You let the cat outta the bag....

  • vajurasvajuras Member Posts: 2,860

    hm, I'm not too familiar with this one looks very interesting and wow- just so much depth would take a lot of work

  • VolkmarVolkmar Member UncommonPosts: 2,501

    I always thought the traveller rules were more suited for computer gameplay than pen and paper. Especially character creation where it was literally possible to die even before starting the game.

    Now doing it the old fashioned way, spending some tens of minutes rolling dice or making choices only to have your dude die sucked big time, on computer, it took far less time and it just made you laugh that your 75 years old retired general of the army finally succumbed of old age... it was like a mini game.

    As for a MMorpg, I suppose it can be done, EVE after all is open ended and sci fi.

    I hope to see a revival of classic sci-fi around... not cyberpunk, not science fantasy but some classical hardcore sci fi like traveller was.

    Finding even pen and paper rpgs about that nowadays is quite the feat.

     

    "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"



  • mnielsmniels Member Posts: 16

    Due to legal reasons, the contents of this post have been removed.

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