When a system name is mentioned in text, which hotlink would you prefer as a reader?

[Prodromoi]

In a couple of books I'm working on at the moment, I am planning to include hotlinks for the names of systems to that on the PDF the reader can, if they so wish, click the link to open up a new page/tab to view more about the system, or see where it is. The hotlinks won't "leap out" of the text - I'm not going to make them blue, etc. A brief mention in the introduction will explain, but otherwise they won't be interrupting the flow or look of the text.

In this situation, would you prefer the link to go to the Traveller Wiki, or the Traveller Map? Each already contains a link to jump to the other, so it's really a question of which "landing spot" one might prefer. (One can't include two links in one reference, and that would be very confusing anyway!)

Please select a choice in the poll (assuming I've set it up correctly!) and let me know, and/or comment with your views.

Regards
Alex

 

[whartung]

They should link to the Wiki, which can add extra details and narrative. And the Wiki should have a link to the Map.

 

[inexorabletash]

Note that Wiki URLs can include query parameters for sector and hex to aid in disambiguating.

 

[bookwyrm]

I chose Traveller Map, because I like to see where a location is in relation to other locations, especially for Traveller, where Characters are travelling from one planet to another. And I already knew T-Map has Links to Traveller Wiki.

In spite of my choice, if the focus of the stories are the planets between jumps, then T-Wiki would be better, and if a reader wanted, they could then check the Link to T-Map.

 

[Captain_Ahab]

Hotlinks of those sorts would only be worthwhile for players that use the OTU.
Travellermap seems to hotlink to travellerwiki already.
Travellermap info seems to be generated with T5 rules making it useless for anyone who does not use canon or T5.

 

[aramis]

Hotlinks of those sorts would only be worthwhile for players that use the OTU.
Travellermap seems to hotlink to travellerwiki already.
Travellermap info seems to be generated with T5 rules making it useless for anyone who does not use canon or T5.

Travellermap has several ATUs already supported. Such as the Judges Guild domain sized chunk of Glimmerdrift Reaches, Ley Sector, Maranatha-Alkahest, and Crucis Margin.

 

[Captain_Ahab]

Nonetheless, presented as part of the Imperium when published in 1981, though eventually overwritten by GDW.
And generated, most likely using '81 edition rules.
Useless if one is not using OTU, OTU-style play, or using house-rules for world generation.

 

[whartung]

Hotlinks of those sorts would only be worthwhile for players that use the OTU.

Indeed, but without the OTU, you just have a list of 7 characteristics, for you to do with what you will -- and also don't forget to move that circle with the 7 stats someplace else, since the whole layout of the systems is part of the OTU as well.

Book 3 provides the values, the "U" (OTU/ATU/MTU/YTU) provides everything else.

 

[Spinward Flow]

useless for anyone who does not use canon

Useless if one is not using OTU, OTU-style play, or using house-rules for world generation.

IF ... you're using homebrew rules ... THEN ... linking to "official" (or OTU, if you prefer) sources becomes impractical and counterproductive.
IF ... you're not using the OTU ... THEN ... linking to "official" (or OTU, if you prefer) sources becomes impractical and counterproductive.
IF ... you're using something unsupported by Travellermap or the Travellerwiki ... THEN ... linking to "official" (or OTU, if you prefer) sources becomes impractical and counterproductive.

I'm not seeing the problem here.

If you "wander off the map/reservation" you need to start making your own maps, rather than relying on the mapping done by others (the OTU).

If you're using the "commonly accepted sources" (OTU), then by all means, provide links to OTU sources of information.
If you're NOT using "commonly accepted sources" (homebrew world generation, non-OTU, etc.), then the OTU stops being relevant and you just drop the links to the OTU.



Of course, if you're really after that White Space Whale™ ... well ... that's on you.

 

[Captain_Ahab]

Well, so much for expressing an opinion that was asked for.
Some things never change.

 

[bookwyrm]

Some things never change.

I don't know what golf has to do with this, but isn't this par for the course with this CotI community?

Well, so much for expressing an opinion that was asked for.

Your opinion was to the point and made a lot of sense. That's probably why it got responses instead of some other opinions that said the same as yours, but with different words/terminology (I could be wrong, but it could be possible).

 

[Enoki]

I think the answer is, It depends...

Traveller Map as a link is useful when you are discussing a system in the context of where it is in the overall Traveller map or in say, the 3I.

Traveller Wiki is a useful link when discussing details of the system itself like it's UWP. Here, where it is on the map is less important.

If the discussion is about something specific to the world or system, like say a patron or particular scenario, it might not be necessary to link either.

Spinward adds some other variants on this. In the end, it depends...

 

[Prodromoi]

Thanks, all, for the responses.

Interestingly there have been two very different outcomes to the poll, in having posted this on two Traveller forums - which I suspect reflects more of a difference between the player cohort using the forums than I expected.

55.6% Wiki
27.8% Map
16.7% No hotlink

vs

5% Wiki
75% Map
20% No hotlink


The books I'm working on will tie in with existing canon, thus will refer to the OTU. It was useful and interesting to see the opinions about how including hotlinks would have different value depending on the setting; it was what I'd expected, but always nice to see confirmation!

My current plan is to link to TravellerMap so the reader gets a rough overview of the system and the location, and can then jump through the link from the map to the wiki if they so desire. As per the first post, the links won't be blue, or underlined in the text so they won't break the flow when reading or show up if printed out, but will be mentioned in the introduction.

I may or may not include a table of locations with the links as a sort-of-index. I haven't decided on this yet.

Thanks again,
A

 

[Spinward Flow]

I may or may not include a table of locations with the links as a sort-of-index.

In which case, why not do the links AS an index page, so they're all comfortably found in the same place? That way, you won't have to go scanning through text in order to find them, one by one.

 

[coliver988]

In which case, why not do the links AS an index page, so they're all comfortably found in the same place? That way, you won't have to go scanning through text in order to find them, one by one.

 

[kilemall]

In which case, why not do the links AS an index page, so they're all comfortably found in the same place? That way, you won't have to go scanning through text in order to find them, one by one.

A linkpage or link glossary.

 

[Spinward Flow]

In which case, why not do the links AS an index page, so they're all comfortably found in the same place? That way, you won't have to go scanning through text in order to find them, one by one.

A linkpage or link glossary.