Re: Supplement publication idea

Joachim Heck - SunSoft wrote:
> 
> njp@cyberramp.net writes:
> 
> @:) Step 1: Writer of Cool New Idea/Background/Ship submits document
> @:) to a review group (or the whole mailing list).
> 
> @:) Step 2: Reviewers of the document send feedback to writer and
> @:) document is modified accordingly.  Some playtesting probably might
> @:) happen here.
> 
> @:) Step 3: Semi-final draft is sent to mailing list/GZG/Jon for OK
> @:) and supplement number.
> 
> @:) Step 4: Final doc is formatted and proofed and post to
> @:) official/semi-official web site.
> 
>   Joh has already spoken about this issue and seems to be fairly
> well-disposed to it, so my criticism of this idea should be read with
> that in mind.  I think the idea is good but possibly inappropriate.
> I would expect two problems:
> 
>   First - what Jon has already mentioned - the submissions will tend
> not to fit well into the game universe, or perhaps more importantly
> into the game system.  By the universe I mean the various human fleets
> and the Kra'Vak and Sa'Vasku, their fleets, weapons and other systems.
> It is not difficult to invent weapons, systems or vehicles that don't
> make sense for any of these groups.  By system I mean not just the
> rules of FT (or the other games) but the spirit of those rules which
> specifies that they will remain as general and flexible as possible.
> It is very easy to produce a non-general system; we see it all the
> time as list members post "lasers" rather than "beams".
> 
>   Second - the process is designed to handle out-of-place submissions
> such as those described above.  I would expect a large number of
> submissions to be rejected as happens in any editorial process.  What
> worries me is that some of these rejected submissions may take on a
> life of their own and become generally used, or possibly even
> developed into products.  On second thought, though, perhaps this is
> less a problem and more an opportunity for expansion.
> 
> -joachim
One of the reasons people on the list post specific systems to the lists
is that in the books Jon Tuffley himself explains the weapon tech he
uses in the "official" universe; i.e. Beams are particle weapons. From
that simple statement you can project the other tech, such as screens
being simple EM fields designed to disrupt incoming particle beams,
which is why they don't work on solid projectiles or pulse torps. from
that start you can add additional weapons (lasers and the like) because
you have a starting tech point. Also for the drive system and pulse
torps, you know that; from their description that they have gravitic
components. So you could justify development of an improved Gravitic
Railgun in the future. Just because Jon has tried to keep it generic for
those who want to use the rules for many varied settings doesn't mean
that you can't mess with the system, if you want to add more (or more
specific) weapons and systems.