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Competition.

Thanos

SOC-12
Peer of the Realm
Will Marc be pulling Mongoose’s license or not renewing it when the contract is up? Does it make sense to have two competing editions of the same game? Isn’t that going to split the base?
 
Will Marc be pulling Mongoose’s license or not renewing it when the contract is up?

AFIAK it was recently renewed.

Does it make sense to have two competing editions of the same game? Isn’t that going to split the base?

Do they compete or are they differentiated products?

Would MgT players go over to T5?

IMO T5 and MgT are differentiated enough, with their own unique value; but both with utility for a GM. So the T5/MgT question is not either/or but and/or, and in that way it won't split the base, outliers may go with one or the other, but no moreso than they do now with the other rules sets such as GURPS.
 
Mongoose Traveller already has a steady fanbase; there's no reason to upset that. I'm not Marc, but I think there's every reason to renew the license.

The two systems have significantly different flavors, and appeal to different types of players, but both are recognizably Traveller. I can't see either one cutting into the other's base. Quite the opposite: I see a synergy, as supplements for each are relatively easily ported between the two. They will support each other.
 
I don't know much about such things, but based on how long Mark has been working on T5, I don't see him being expedient dealing with authors of supplements.

Would Mongoose's license allow it to handling 3rd party licensing for T5 too?
 
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I don't know much about such things, but based on how long Mark has been working on T5, I don't see him being expedient dealing with authors of supplements.

Don't confuse his slowness with expediency in dealing with others...
 
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From my own point of view, I already use both T5 and MgT. Robject is quite correct in that the two rules systems are inter-lockable and things port from one to the other very easily.

As for dealing with Mark, hes always been prompt and very friendly when I have had to deal with him on anything.
 
From my own point of view, I already use both T5 and MgT. Robject is quite correct in that the two rules systems are inter-lockable and things port from one to the other very easily.

Don't get me wrong, there are hiccups in the process, because after all they are different systems. And it's probably better to "regenerate" characters rather than "port" them. But otherwise, yeah.
 
Would Mongoose's license allow it to handle 3rd party licensing for T5 too?

I doubt it, but I wonder if Mongoose's license allows it to produce material for T5? (Really, why would they want to do that? Better to write stuff that supports them directly, and T5 indirectly. That's a win-win.)
 
Mongoose is presently about halfway through their ten year license.

I'm already mixing T5 with MgT, too.

As for dealing with Mark, hes always been prompt and very friendly when I have had to deal with him on anything.
I'm glad Cryton thinks I'm easy to deal with, let me pass that same recommendation on about Marc. :rofl:
Seriously, when Marc has a real issue to deal with, he's right on it.

Mongoose's license doesn't cover T5, AFAIK. T5 and MgT were known to be products that would co-exist by all the principal players in the licensing from the outset. For my own part, I'm really excited about T5 coming up to the starting gate now.

And I'm looking forward to the MgT core book reboot for the second half of the license period.

-Mark
 
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So what's the difference in flavor?

MGT is rules light-medium, 1-3 skills per term, low ship detail, lots of stuff ready to go.
T5 is Rules-heavy, 4-7 skills per term, high ship detail, construction set mentality.
 
So what's the difference in flavor?

I'm not sure how this can be answered in a totally neutral manner.

I'll take a stab.

Mongoose Traveller is closer to Classic Traveller in its character skill levels, the task system, and in its relatively light core rules. Supplements add to the rules by topic, as needed, including careers. I've seen people mention that MgT feels like a cleaned-up and updated Classic Traveller. Nevertheless, MgT also attracts gamers from outside the Traveller fold, so it's not a grognards-only rule system.

Traveller5 is built around benchmarks relevant to Traveller games. As a result, material that would typically appear in a Traveller supplement (things ranging from environmental effects to robotics) is part of the core rules. There are also many "tools" in the core rules, using benchmarks, for building and describing animals, equipment, sophonts, and more. With these tools, the referee (and 3rd party publishers) can construct guns, armor, vehicles, ships, robots (and so on) which are consistent with the game rules. There are also generated examples for use out of the box.

Okay, that's my take, and I'm not very satisfied with what I wrote.
 
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Will Marc be pulling Mongoose’s license or not renewing it when the contract is up? Does it make sense to have two competing editions of the same game? Isn’t that going to split the base?

Check other threads on this subject. In my opinion, the release of T5 will bring some players to Mongoose for books, since T5 won't have any books for awhile.
 
Check other threads on this subject. In my opinion, the release of T5 will bring some players to Mongoose for books, since T5 won't have any books for awhile.

And I expect that some Mongoose Books will always be used with T5 - sector books, for example. And it is possible that Mongoose players who want more crunch will incorporate the T5 book for its tools.
 
I can say I've been discussions between Marc and Matthew on this subject, and they both knew this would come, and they are both prepared for it. I unfortunately cannot divulge specifics, but I can say 2013 should be a good year for Traveller fans.

And the stars and planets might yet align for some other Traveller events in 2013. I dream big :rofl:
 
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