Periphery 2nd edition

[Trace Coburn]

I don't get it.  What "established paradigm" did it break?  Sounds like the "internal consistency" that the book strains is that it fills in the gaps.  It's like when something in a novel is mentioned offhand, yet it isn't until the sequel that you actually learn what that mentioned thing was.  The sequel doesn't strain the internal consistency of the previous book; it merely fleshes it out.

  Well, for just a handful of examples from Periphery 1e which strike a discordant note against later canon:

- During one particular diplomatic impasse, the Outworlds Alliance manages to back off the Draconis Combine(!) by making them a gift of radioactives, including the isotopes used as 'Mech fuel, the implication being that the OA had enough of a reserve of those materials that they could afford to give them away (or, alternately, consume them to fuel their own defences and thus thrash any aggressor).  (Canon has since established that 'Mech fuel is simple hydrogen!)
- The letter from a guy visiting the MoC to a chum back home, talking about the mermaids he just saw.  (This one's kind'a infamous, and it's been pointedly debunked as an overblown spacer's tale in several subsequent products.)
- The MoC is described as having a severely limited educational system, yet at the same time it supposedly produces the finest doctors in known space!  (Isn't this self-contradicting to the degree of 'what is this i don't even'?)

  Don't get me wrong, I love how wild and wooly the book makes the Periphery sound, and it's evocative and rich and fun, just like the other original-series House books... but like the original House books, by today's standards you do need to take it with a pinch (or five) of salt.  :-X

[Kit deSummersville]

Canon has since established that 'Mech fuel is simple hydrogen!)

<Nitpick> The Deuterium isotope of hydrogen</Nitpick>

[Guardsman]

The Outworlds Alliance was never a militaristic state. They aren’t warmongers. I don’t see it as particularly out of character for a peaceful state to pay tribute in valueable materials to a larger state to avoid a conflict.

The letter seems more like fluff to me. If you’re going to use an in character letter by some random guy seeing something, especially in a state where shall we say, pharmaceuticals are abundant, you could pretty much debunk every sourcebook in battletech with flavour like that.

The Magistracy of Canopus is also described as having a strict caste system. I don’t want to get into a real world debate, but there is a certain large country where a surprising percentage of the population cannot read above a tabloid newspaper level and yet has a rather large scientific community.

[Maelwys]

So it seems like the only Periphery book anyone likes is 2nd ed. :o Does everyone hate FM:Periphery too?

Field Manual Periphery is a different type of beast, since it mostly focuses on the Military. You don't get as much of a look at the culture/history, so it doesn't raise as many flags.

About the only problem I had with it is that some of the passages seemed to have been lifted almost verbatim from the 2nd Edition book, IIRC. Considering the short time between them it isn't that unusual for things to be mostly the same, and I can understand why its done, but sometimes its just a little jarring.

[Degman]

I only have the first and the last Per. Book, so I can't judge the other two.

But I am searching the DTF of FM: Periphery, and hope to find it soon.

[joechummer]

But I am searching the DTF of FM: Periphery, and hope to find it soon.

Shouldn't be too hard to find. I got mine from amazon.com proper, for about $25 (cover price?) less than a month ago.

[joechummer]

About the only problem I had with it is that some of the passages seemed to have been lifted almost verbatim from the 2nd Edition book, IIRC. Considering the short time between them it isn't that unusual for things to be mostly the same, and I can understand why its done, but sometimes its just a little jarring.

Well considering that between the publication of the two (1996 and 2001), FASA had closed its doors, and Periphery 2nd was several years out of print, the copy/paste between the two books is completely understandable.

[Dread Moores]

As far as something reading like a "fan book," I'd probably view ANY book regarding a faction I hate as a "fan book" too (but that'd be difficult, since I don't hate ANY faction in BT.... except maybe bandits, but I don't think they count as a "faction" per se).

Who said anything about hate? I don't have a single faction in the game I hate. There's a few I'm not interested in, but I still read the material. I really just don't care for factionalism, i.e. feeling so strongly about a given faction that a) you're convinced of your superior value to the game and community, over other BT players or factions and b) distort material to fit your factional bias. 1st edition failed on both those counts for me (as do at least two of the older Housebooks). I don't know that I've ever "loved" or "hated" a faction. Both seem a little silly to me, and exclusionary, as you limit yourself to missing all the fantastic shades of grey that exist in all the factions. Again, I understand how and why fans do latch on to factions, and that's not meant as a judgement. For me, I'm here for the setting, not one specific faction in the setting.

[Deadborder]

Yeah, I definitely did not read what Deadborder read when I read Periphery 2nd.  Of course, Periphery 2nd WAS a FASA book, and back in the FASA days they were less concerned with being utterly realistic and far more concerned with creating fun places to play in.  And they created a Periphery that was fun to play in.  I suppose that is one of the reasons I still play in that universe.  :)

I was referring to HB:MPS, not Periphery 2nd. P2 is a book I'm largely "meh" over. It's HB:MPS that annoys me.

For the record? Periphery 1st is one of the worst-written, inconsisten, poorly fact-checked disaster areas I've ever read. yet I love it becuse it's gorgeously illustrated, if nothing else.

[joechummer]

For the record? Periphery 1st is one of the worst-written, inconsisten, poorly fact-checked disaster areas I've ever read. yet I love it becuse it's gorgeously illustrated, if nothing else.

Considering it was the 6th BT sourcebook published EVER (IIRC), I don't think there really was a concept such as fact-checking back then.

[Dread Moores]

Considering it was the 6th BT sourcebook published EVER (IIRC), I don't think there really was a concept such as fact-checking back then.

There was, though it wasn't anywhere near as extensive as it is today. Even compared to tomes of the same era, there is a distinct drop in quality in editing, consistency, and fact-checking. I enjoy the Periphery factions, but I enjoy them for what they are. When they begin to look as if they are eclipsing the Successor States in capabilities, it pulls away one of the biggest things I enjoy about them. Periphery 1st felt that way to me, hence why I don't enjoy that specific book about the Periphery. I'll definitely have to look closer at HB: MPS now.

[Underscore]

Which two HB were you thinking of?

[joechummer]

There was, though it wasn't anywhere near as extensive as it is today. Even compared to tomes of the same era, there is a distinct drop in quality in editing, consistency, and fact-checking. I enjoy the Periphery factions, but I enjoy them for what they are. When they begin to look as if they are eclipsing the Successor States in capabilities, it pulls away one of the biggest things I enjoy about them. Periphery 1st felt that way to me, hence why I don't enjoy that specific book about the Periphery. I'll definitely have to look closer at HB: MPS now.

Well, if you dwell on the fact that HB:MPS was written by Periphery reporters and Periphery-based news services, you'll probably find it aslant in the pro-Periphery direction like some others do.  At any rate, I honestly didn't know a ton about the Periphery before reading it, and I found it a refreshing change of pace from the Successor States, which I would never accuse of being "terribly interesting" in my book (disclaimer:  I don't hate the SS as factions; I just find the Clans and the Periphery far more interesting by comparison).

[Dread Moores]

Which two HB were you thinking of?

Davion and Liao Housebooks.

[Deadborder]

Well, if you dwell on the fact that HB:MPS was written by Periphery reporters and Periphery-based news services, you'll probably find it aslant in the pro-Periphery direction like some others do.  At any rate, I honestly didn't know a ton about the Periphery before reading it, and I found it a refreshing change of pace from the Successor States, which I would never accuse of being "terribly interesting" in my book (disclaimer:  I don't hate the SS as factions; I just find the Clans and the Periphery far more interesting by comparison).

The flaw is that the HBs for the Successor States were also written by in-state sourceas and certainly didn't display the same degree of slant. While I won't deny that it was there, it certainly wasn't as gushing or as in-your-face about it as HB:MPS was. Don't get me wrong, I like a chage of pace and certainly feel that the Periphery has a lot of potential and a lot to offer from a writer's perspective, but at the same time, I don't feel that this book was the right way to go about it.

(For the record: I do admit that I find the periphery in general to be less interesting then the Successor States. But I do find it to be more interesting then most homeworld clans. Milage, vary, etc)

[Dread Moores]

I was a little confused when I was quoted above. I wasn't talking about Handbook: MPS as the book I had issues with. Deadborder covered that though. :)