Forum:Trade classification: Ht and Lt
Discussion (2017)
There are two Trade classification codes used by Mongoose Traveller which are not in T5: Lt (low technology) and Ht (High technology). In the Mongoose definition, Lt is (IIRC) any world below TL–8, and HT is any world TL–12 or higher.
This definition works ok for the Mongoose data set, which is the Third Imperium in 1105. But the Wiki covers a broader area, in both time and space, it's quite easy to find places where the definition no longer conveys the intention of the trade classification code.
The obvious example would be Milieu 0, where the maximum TL is 12. Wouldn't a TL–11 world also be counted as Ht, as it is at or near the top of the TL scale for the time.
So I'm recommending we adopt the Ht/Lt trade classification code, but with a slight change. If you read the generated summary for each subsector (e.g. Shallows Subsector/summary), and each sector (e.g. Dagudashaag Sector/summary). The last sentence of these summary as a range of TLs for the area. For example: The average technology level is 9 (with most between 6 and 11).
The average TL is exactly what would would think (sum TLs divided by number of worlds, rounded to an integer). The upper and lower numbers are one standard deviation, covering about 68% of the worlds.
In this Wiki definition, the Lt code would apply to any world with TL–5 or less, the Ht code applied to any world with TL–12 or higher.
For areas or eras with different set of TLs you would get a different range for Ht and Lt worlds. This would be much more useful than a fixed set of values that may or may not apply to the space or time.
The only question I have is how large an area should we consider. We could use either the Subsector or Sector. Tjoneslo (talk) 23:41, 8 June 2017 (EDT)
- I support this notion. Sounds imminently logical.
- - Maksim-Smelchak (talk) 22:09, 9 June 2017 (EDT)