Procopius
SOC-9
The subscription link for JTAS on the SJ Games site (http://jtas.sjgames.com/subscribe/) goes to a 404 page. Is JTAS still a going concern? Is it still even possible to subscribe?
JTAS Subscriptions?
- Thread starter Procopius
- Start date
Yes, JTAS is still producing issues.
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=123497
This thread describes the problem (They've updated W23, but not put the subscriptions back in). You can email them to (re)subscribe. I would also add your note to the thread to see if we can prod them into fixing the problem.
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=123497
This thread describes the problem (They've updated W23, but not put the subscriptions back in). You can email them to (re)subscribe. I would also add your note to the thread to see if we can prod them into fixing the problem.
I really don't know about JTAS. I have had a subscription for a while, but get very little use or satisfaction out of it. Several strong writers have produced and continue to produce great material, but I can honestly go months without checking in. I've even had stretches where I forgot I even had a subscription.
The overall experience is very meh.
It isn't the quality of the articles; it's got something to do with the pace articles appear, how they are indexed and cross referenced, and promoted within and without the site. There's very little discussion or interaction, no feedback loop, no sense of excitement. The online medium has so much potential and JTAS makes so little use out of any of it.
I think some of it may be that JTAS has a very small audience and is hidden behind a paywall. There just aren't enough users to build up a critical mass.
(I had a very similar experience with SJG's short-lived online d20 magazine 15 years ago. I guess it says something that JTAS hasn't improved the user experience in that time.)
I really, really would like to see this thing flourish, but I struggle to identify the problems, much less proffer some suggestions.
I wonder what the chances are that Marc Miller's FFE site will be offering a GURPS JTAS CD or a GURPS Traveller CD for sale? I've got nearly all of GURPS Traveller in my collection, between paper and e-pub editions. But archiving the JTAS entries is a bear, the way SJG has the site set up.
This is what I hate about the internet, and I've seen it occur quite a few times over my 20+ experience with the Internet and it's precursors. Here today, gone tomorrow...
This is what I hate about the internet, and I've seen it occur quite a few times over my 20+ experience with the Internet and it's precursors. Here today, gone tomorrow...
I wonder what the chances are that Marc Miller's FFE site will be offering a GURPS JTAS CD or a GURPS Traveller CD for sale? I've got nearly all of GURPS Traveller in my collection, between paper and e-pub editions. But archiving the JTAS entries is a bear, the way SJG has the site set up.
This is what I hate about the internet, and I've seen it occur quite a few times over my 20+ experience with the Internet and it's precursors. Here today, gone tomorrow...
Marc doesn't want that info lost, either.
And there was a moot announcement that will be a happy thing for you.
Procopius
SOC-9
Indeed, I feel like that announcement alone was worth the Moot ennobling fee.
Yes, it is.
Now, now, be fair. The fate of the JTAS archives and of the GTU is obviously something that only concerns Moot members.
Hans
Highorbit_drifter
SOC-12
If its not public, and SJ Games hasn't said anything, I'd guess they don't have a deal yet. I'm sure JTAS is worth a bundle and big piles of money usually need a lot of talking about. Everybody seems to want to make sure that material stays available - which is probably the "happy".
And if Mr. Miller wants to sell GURPS material, the other products in the line aside from JTAS, he's going to need a license. Unless they negotiated THAT particular chestnut back in '98 or whenever. Hopefully they didn't put that off until "later" and suddenly its a big problem in their laps.
And if Mr. Miller wants to sell GURPS material, the other products in the line aside from JTAS, he's going to need a license. Unless they negotiated THAT particular chestnut back in '98 or whenever. Hopefully they didn't put that off until "later" and suddenly its a big problem in their laps.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Yep, they will probably only allow moot members to buy them too. 
I can appreciate the need to keep things secret during negotiations. But the CotI Moot is hardly a private venue. It's a public venue with a pay wall. Or am I wrong? Does the pay wall make a legal difference? I don't know enough about the relevant law to say for sure, but it would surprise me to learn that there's a good sound legal reason (as opposed to whatever social reasons there may be) to tell the paying public but not us freeloaders.
Hans
Marc and Steve are working out the implementation details prior to the public announcement.
Hans has objected to moot membership being required for anything in the past... we just politely ignore his grumbling about it, and point out that it's what pays the bills and keeps COTI online.
The primary benefit of Moot Membership is keeping COTI alive, as well as FarFuture.net (Same server). COTI's a significant portion of the server usage. Marc could go a lot cheaper if it weren't for the expensive pet project, COTI.
The secondary benefit set, is the Audience Hall, increased Private Messages space, and the ability to use custom avatars, host Play-by-post in a semi-private subforum, have a COTI blog...
The tertiary is the title on the board, the noble card in the mail, and a few other occasional things.
In this case, Marc's rewarding the people who pay to keep him by, every couple weeks, posting something in the audience hall. Sometimes, it's "Hey, influence me about this proposed bit of canon"... Sometimes, it's "Hey, I'm in negotiations with ___ about ___, so we can do ___"
Soon as the plans are finalized, Marc will have Don, Robject, or I make the announcement in the TAS News Forum, and I'm certain SJG will announce it as well.
FYI: The GURPS Traveller license actually expired 31 Dec 2014, and was handshake-deal extended to 31 Dec 2015. Marc and Steve are hashing out the niggling details. Once the actual final details are done, it will be announced in a BIG way. As in, once I find them out, I'll be putting an announcement that will show up in EVERY COTI forum until you've read it.
That's incorrect. I've complained about Moot membership being required in one or two specific cases where I thought it inappropriate. Not about it being required for anything at all. IIRC it's mostly been about Moot members posting something in the Moot area and then referring to that in the public forums, which I think is a rude thing to do.
Just as posting an announcement about a subject that is of general interest to everybody in an area restricted to some seems rude.
And none of this have I ever complained about. I'm fine with the people who support CotI getting special privileges. They deserve it.
Being excluded from discussion of canon does annoy me, that's true. I don't think I've complained about it, but I may have. It doesn't seem cost-effective to restrict that to the Moot, but perhaps it is.
Hans
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Highorbit_drifter
SOC-12
That is certainly a good argument to join the Moot. I didn't realize it was as public as it apparently is. Or the level of access.
