Least Favorite CT Product
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PinkSplice
SOC-12
Veterans, followed by Charts and Forms, and Atlas Of The Imperium.
trader jim
SOC-14 1K
Judges Guild PAPER - i HATE CHEAP PAPER - some of the contents are OK - but the PAPER sucks - starts to fall apart as soon as you open it!!!! 
Leaving aside licensees, of things published by GDW my least favorite would be the 'numbers only' supplements: 1001 Characters, Animal Encounters, Veterans. Forms and Charts is also pretty remarkably useless. As far as books with actual content, my least favorite are probably Book 8: Robots and/or Alien Realms (by this point it seemed like GDW had pretty much stopped caring about CT). However, despite its hideous cartography and utter lack of flavor-text, Atlas of the Imperium is actually one of my FAVORITE CT supplements. I can study those maps for hours on end.
ArchTangent
SOC-6
I was moderately annoyed to discover that some of the books were almost completely tables of numbers. I'm new to Traveller and am waiting for T20 to come out (and some free time!) before I start running a game, but I got some of the reprints for setting material. I don't mind stats, but I would have liked some character and story hooks to go with it. Grrr...
I guess that's just how they did stuff at the time. Oh well.
I guess that's just how they did stuff at the time. Oh well.
Shadowdancer
SOC-14 1K
Veterans and Book 8: Robots were my least favorite CT products. Also never used Solomani Rim too much, as we stayed in the Spinward Marches and adjoining sectors.
Shadow Bear
SOC-12
Has to be Atlas of the Imperium.
Veterans and 1001 Characters were pretty bad. However, I really dislike the concept of the Atlas. I was told it is poorly done. It may be, I never read it. I hate the concept, as it spoils the pleasure of creating my own sectors, which I think it is one of Traveller's main strengths.
Didn't like 1001 Characters, though the write ups for characters from works of fiction was interesting.
The Judges Guild product that include character sheets, ship papers, and manifests.
I beg to differ on Animal Encounters. I found that was quite useful when an unexpected overland trek happens.
The Judges Guild product that include character sheets, ship papers, and manifests.
I beg to differ on Animal Encounters. I found that was quite useful when an unexpected overland trek happens.
I thought most of CT was so amateurish that it had its own charm and that it left blanks that Players could fill in.
Remember it was about 1980 when most of the things came out and even TSR were putting out things like Monster and Treasure Compendium (equivalent to Animals) and the first Rogues Gallery (1001 Characters or Veterans.)
I think that Alien Realms was quite good actually and gave good scenarios for the Alien Modules.
If I had to choose something I thought was c**p it has to be the above mentioned or the Atlas - a product that could have been so well done and was just a shameful way of making a few bucks!
Remember it was about 1980 when most of the things came out and even TSR were putting out things like Monster and Treasure Compendium (equivalent to Animals) and the first Rogues Gallery (1001 Characters or Veterans.)
I think that Alien Realms was quite good actually and gave good scenarios for the Alien Modules.
If I had to choose something I thought was c**p it has to be the above mentioned or the Atlas - a product that could have been so well done and was just a shameful way of making a few bucks!
I'm a little surprised at the widespread unpopularity of Atlas of the Imperium (which, as I said above, is one of my favorite CT supplements). Why does everybody hate this book so much? Just because the maps are so ugly? Because it gives too much information? Or not enough? IMO the balance of info is ideal -- the maps make me really able to visualize the Imperium in concrete terms, rather than the vague generalities of early CT, and yet enough is left unspecified that individual GMs still have pretty much all the creative freedom they could ever want. I love locating something familiar and small-scale, like Kamsii or the Linkworlds or some random world mentioned in a TNS entry, juxtaposed to the scale of the Imperium as a whole. It gives me a real sense of the breadth and scope of the setting that I don't get just from the abstract Charted Space map.
But then I suppose I'm just a sucker for maps in general -- I've been known to spend hours poring over RW Atlases too, or even just maps of the city of Los Angeles...
But then I suppose I'm just a sucker for maps in general -- I've been known to spend hours poring over RW Atlases too, or even just maps of the city of Los Angeles...
One of the things on my Traveller eventual 'to do' list is to make a couple sets of photocopies of the entire AotI so I can play around more with the maps -- trace mains, draw in borders and cultural regions, figure the entire xboat system, make a GIANT poster, all kinds of fun stuff. With the prohibitive cost of getting a replacement copy (it usually goes for $60+ on eBay -- I felt lucky to get it @ $20) I dare not risk destroying my original.
For me, it's all of the above. I can live with the maps. But what I can't stand is the often randomly generated garbage that is simultaneously too detailed - if I'm writing with an eye to publication, I must use this source - and not detailed enough or detailed with silly data - yet another A212A20 2 orbiting a M0V, M2V, M9V trinary system and in the life zone too? (ok, that one is made up, but there are too many that are just as bad.)
I would have far rather they hadn't put it out. It smacks of a DGP preference to detail everything down to the mm size of the bolts holding the armor plate on but done without the time to even consider the implications through.
As always, YMMV and if you enjoy the book, then the book is a good thing.
William
David Thomas
SOC-1
Atlas of the Imperium had its faults, but I have a violent dislike for some of the adventures, particularly Double Adventure Mithril/Shadows, Research Station Gamma, and Secret of the Ancients.
The Chamax double adventure is bug-stomping heaven, though.
David
The Chamax double adventure is bug-stomping heaven, though.
David
matrix cypher
SOC-12
My least favorite product was the one(s) they did not publish.
Gallowglass
SOC-12
Interesting. Personally the Shadows part of that double I love, as a classic enigmatic alien ruin. Pairing it with Mission on Mithril(?) is from the starter set, IIRC. The Mithril adventure I always thought a bit thin, but for doubles I found that acceptable. Secrets of the Ancients on the other hand is really rather too linear and lacking in drama for me. Which, given it's a sequel to Twilight's Peak, is a great shame: the latter for all its flaws can work very well.
IMO the worst ever CT products were the original Spinward Marches and Solomani Rim (although IIRC there was a bit more info in the Sol Rim), closely folowed by Veterans. Books of numbers are bugger all use to me, Veterans at least had the advantage that it saved me creating stats on th f ly (but in CT that's hardly a huge chore...). The original Spinward Marches gave lots of lists of numbers, which I could then interepret, but it gave NO sense of place, history, culture, current events, ANYTHING. I would rather have SOMETHING, no matter how brief, to spark my imagination than just raw UWP's...
My least favorite is the Judge's Guild Traveller screen followed by 101 Robots, as the illustrations leave much to be desired. Overall, I think that if we could have more mood inspired pieces rather than the one-shot adventures that seemed to dominate CT, Traveller would be better off. As I think most agree that the Traveller adventure was the better offerings of GDW.
I found the illustrations in Fighting Ships to be highly disappointing.
We found Spinward Marches was very useful for its time. Although it was lacking in detail as a campaign setting there was enough data in it to be intriguing and to let the Ref develop off of it. It became more interesting as subsequent adventures and supplements fleshed it out.
I never quite understood the switch to the Solomani Rim (boredom?) for later GDW CT products & Adventures as we pretty much stuck to the Marches.
The 'number crunch' supplements were certianly no fun for offline reading but proved *very* handy 'in game' when the Ref needed an NPC or animal encounter on the fly.
But really - least fav would have to be Book 8 Robots. Never got my hands on the original LBB and pretty much bought the reprint to get it - very anti-climatic.
We found Spinward Marches was very useful for its time. Although it was lacking in detail as a campaign setting there was enough data in it to be intriguing and to let the Ref develop off of it. It became more interesting as subsequent adventures and supplements fleshed it out.
I never quite understood the switch to the Solomani Rim (boredom?) for later GDW CT products & Adventures as we pretty much stuck to the Marches.
The 'number crunch' supplements were certianly no fun for offline reading but proved *very* handy 'in game' when the Ref needed an NPC or animal encounter on the fly.
But really - least fav would have to be Book 8 Robots. Never got my hands on the original LBB and pretty much bought the reprint to get it - very anti-climatic.
