In A&E #26, Sep 1977, there are two mentions of it:
Scott Rosenberg writes:
"TRAVELLER,
GDW's science-fiction role-playing game, is the best non-D&D-related role-play-ing game yet, I think. I've played in only half an expedition so far, but it strikes me as a great game that is sufficiently complex yet does not bog down. Needless to say, the graphics are well done, up to
GDW's high standards."
Mark Swanson has a longer review:
"At ORIGINS III the most interesting new product was the
GDW game TRAVELLER, a science fiction based role playing, game. I suspect that most of the A&E subscribers already have a copy, so I won't bother to review it beyond a suggestion that you buy it if you haven't already done so. It is already as popular as D&D in the MIT group.
It seems to have the same teething, problems D&D had when you start a campaign. It is very easy to run a give-away campaign, especially when there are eight players looking for holes and only you to fill them in! Already a couple of people have managed to produce billionaires by normal trading!
The economics, of the game are rather generous. If nothing "abnormal" happens a character will get rich rapidly: in fact a small free trader will, normally do better than a subsidized merchant! The solution, of course, 'is for the worlds to be less normal- Pirates, tax collectors, OSHA inspectors (some bribable), trade cartels, would be galaxy conquerors who need ships and lawyers should all infest the universe. Not to mention cheats. Buying things blackmarket may make a lot of money, provided you get what you paid for. How many ships will have an expert on drug types aboard? Maybe anti-agathics can be produced for 10% of normal price provided you don't mind including a violent carcinogen?
In short, the TRAVELLER tables, define the situation under ideal circumstances. It is up to the gamesmaster to complicate the situation. I haye not started a campaign because of my Gorree D&D campaign, but would be interested in hearing how people have set up their games. There has already been some discussion of this in my WILD HUNT apa"
and also reports:
"After
GDW brought out TRAVELLER TSR promptly yanked all
GDW products out of their retail store and told
GDW not to bother coming to GENCON. Wonder if TSR ever heard of "Restraint of Trade" lawsuits?"
* * * * *
As an aside, Origins III in 1977 is also where the Holmes Basic set debuted.
