Keep on trucking.
My first wank in the new place. Don't Be gentle. Be as rough as you can. I LIKE IT THAT WAY.

Here's some RPG wank, from the Traveller Mailing List.

Some background: In 1977, the first edition of Traveller was produced. Since then, there's been a number of revisions, rewrites, changes to the canon, and out-and-out systems changes -- the updated MegaTraveller (MT), The New Era (TNE), a port to GURPS (GT), a d20 version (T20), and then the "4th Edition" (T4) by Traveller's original writer. Each system has its proponents, devotees, and obsessive fans. Each edition tweaked the canon, changed the timeline, what have you -- CT started with a galaxy spanning Empire, MT started a civil war, TNE ended the civil war and brought on a dark age, GT was an AU where the MT civil war never happened, T20 has settings for either after the dark age of TNE or before the civil war; and T4 happens in the early years of the Imperium. Each timeline has its proponents. Some even cross systems, using one system with another timeline. There's plenty of stuff left for individual referees to develop, and left mostly unwritten.

All told, Traveller is a very, very fertile ground for wank.


This particular wank starts when Loren Wiseman, the Line Editor for GURPS Traveller, announces that his new supplement about the nobility is out.

A chap who goes by the handle of Communique asks if GT will ever print other rules systems in their books.

People suggest that conversion isn't that hard.

The wank doesn't start yet; it builds. Someone says that converting isn't all that hard. Communique disagrees.

Now the wank starts. Doug Berry, one of the writers for GT, lets fly: Folks, this sort of thing is about to drive me away from the TML. I am so sick of hearing stuff like this.. people who demand perfection, but don't
want to do one iota of work themselves.

Harma gets one of the better lines in the debate: A company that has spent thousands upon thousands of dollars, hundreds (if not thousands) of man-hours developing their own RPG system over the course of almost two decades must feel obligated to port all of their supplements to an antiquated RPG for which they receive no royalties? [Yoda]Sound business logic this is not.[/Yoda], followed up with This is math. It's not hard... but he loses points for a huffy, "I'll ignore what you have to say la la la" closing.

Doug Berry advises Communique that "people are beginning to dislike you."

Harma says the man has no creativity; Kelly chimes in and uses Latin!

Communique defends himself by self-quoting and bragging about how much stuff he owns.

In weighs Richard Aiken, veteran of many, many, many flamewars (if there's time, I can relate the epic "How the Navy Works" wanks between he and a chap named Hans). He asks if Communique really is that lazy?.

Communique's defense involves a List of Ten Questions he answers, and he warns that this could turn into a flamewar... Richard Aiken tells him that it's too late...

I expect the wank to grow, and grow. If it does... here's where to follow it!