Hull/meta

Notes (2019)

Traveller has developed organically over many decades since 1977 CE. And by organically, what I really mean is haphazardly, uncoordinatedly, chaotically, crazily... and you get the drift.

• Hulls are one of those crazy areas, where until T5, a consistent system was never developed. T5 now has the CBPUSAL Function Designation Streamlining Spectrum. That's my mouthful name for it, but MWM just calls it CBPUSAL. MWM has a very good time coining new neologisms. I do too.
• At any rate, I am writing this metanote to point out the enormous number of inconsistencies, duplicative meaning, and semantic overlap over the different versions of Trav over the years. It is what it is. Just don't expect it all to make easy or consistent sense.
• I recommend looking up Theme and Traveller Ethos while you are at it. Those two articles pretty much explain the Organic Traveller Process AKA Chaos. You can throw Canon on the pile as well.
• One last note, Traveller is neither hard nor soft sci-fi, but a sort of combination of the two. Hard Sci-fi fans often feel that it doesn't go far enough and soft Sci-fi fans often feel it goes too far down the science path. After all, a lot of classic and really great sci-fi concentrated on really great, compelling stories, not a slavish attention to scientific detail over story. In my opinion, the best sci-fi combines a good, very subjective balance of the two. I really like E.C. Tubb, C. S. Lewis, and E.E. "Doc" Smith and science has certainly grown by great leaps and bounds since their stories were first published. And the fact that the science of those stories was outdated decades ago, doesn't diminish their enjoyability, inspiration, or imagination prodding… for me. You're welcome to disagree, I'm still going to enjoy those stories.
• Why did I bring this up? Oh yes, Trav occupies a sort of middle ground in the question of whether stealth exists in space. The great and quite quirky Traveller fan Winchell Chung would probably argue for the hard science approach to this question as his writing at the Atomic Rockets web site might indicate, but... I'll just enjoy Traveller for what it is: quirks, blemishes, inconsistencies, and all that.
• Different versions of Traveller have taken different approaches, hard sci-fi and/or soft sci-fi, to the question of stealth in space. The wiki tries to occupy a non-judgmental middle place between the two ends of the "stealth-in-space" opinion spectrum. It appears in published canon, so it appears here.

- Maksim-Smelchak (talk) 11:49, 3 June 2019 (EDT)