Okay, yes, Traveller is expensive. The books are very high-quality, color, excellent paper, and hardbacks. You will pay for that these days, and it is costly. But the universe is impressive and in the top ten of science fiction, even when you include movies and films.
Yes, the Traveller Universe is just as old as Star Wars and, in many cases, more compelling.
I read that Marc Miller, creator of Traveller, recently sold the rights to Mongoose to keep his legacy alive. Marc also had nice words for the Cepheus Engine side of the 2d6-i-verse, and having an open, community-supported implementation is critical for the legacy to survive. Mongoose is working on extending an open license to Cepheus publishers, and there was work on this and updates this year.
It takes a while since this has to go back and forth between publishers, legal, and owners and get community feedback. A license nobody will use wastes time, so I applaud all sides trying to get this right. Nobody wants another OGL.
This is an excellent step in supporting and continuing the legacy and ensuring "everyone can play." The Traveller, part of the legacy, belongs to a good steward in Mongoose, and the 2d6 system belongs to the world. This is important since a lot of creative development and R&D is happening in the community games, which benefits us all.
Also, the Cepheus games are often printed at a lower cost than the Traveller game, being in print-on-demand. This makes them more fun! I love both Hostile and Cepheus Engine games, and there are a bunch of exciting mods and developments in these systems that make them more suited for generic sci-fi or modding to play in universes like Star Trek, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect, or Star Wars, which Cepheus handles easily. It is nice to have a game with no Imperium or backstory and no iconic ship designs so players can morph the system into any universe they can imagine.
The CD game has a "traits" system (like talents) that enhance character customization. This game also expands psi-powers to be on parity with 2022 Traveller.
And, no, "officially licensed games" do not do a better job of playing Star Wars or Star Trek. I can't tell you how many of these I have before the license runs out and the game is forced to switch publishers and systems repeatedly. Also, some games move to a second edition far too quickly.
Also, if you know where to look, you can get "Trek" and "Wars"-like experiences inside Traveller, and at times, they are even better. There are modules and sourcebooks for naval and mercenary campaigns. You can get cruiser deck plans for giant ships and run a "Trek-like" exploration campaign, with complete rules for simulating the ship's crew, encounters, missions, and full support for an entire game. While the licensed Star Trek game does this, very few Star Wars games do this, and the level of support is never as good.
You would be hard-pressed to find mercenary games in an officially licensed Star Trek game, and while it is possible in Star Wars, the support is feeble. Traveller has a boxed set and adventures for these types of games. Exploration? Strong in Trek, non-existent in Wars. In Traveller, you generate systems and make star maps; the game has done this since day one. Space piracy? Non-existent in Trek, weak in Wars. Traveller has a boxed-set slipcase deluxe adventure regarded as one of the best space pirate campaigns ever.
If you can get over not playing in "officially licensed IP," the universe is yours. Traveller has become the "D&D of sci-fi," absorbing all the best concepts and campaign types of every sci-fi universe and making a universe that does it all.
The only weak area of Traveller is the "star knights"-style campaign, which has "force-like" power. The first edition of Mongoose Traveller has a psionics book, and one is needed for the Second Edition. Part of me feels a mythic "Star Knight" faction would fit well in Traveller, who go around, protect psionic adepts, and prevent exploitation and brutalization of psi-sensitive peoples.
This would be a "better Jedi than the Jedi" and give them an "X-Men" style cause to travel the universe for (which the Jedi do not have). This faction could be supported privately by wealthy psi-supportive people and work behind the scenes. If you look at what the Jedi in Star Wars has become, it has fallen far from the ideal.
For me, an X-Men-style campaign of Star Knights protecting psi-sensitive people would be far more compelling and exciting than the muddled mess of the Jedi, which has turned into a strange mish-mash of an intelligence agency, political faction, self-important trainers of Jedi (who have no real reason to be doing anything other than 'they just are'), planetary explorers (?), and Coruscant police force.
You could also have an evil faction led by a megalomaniac "Magento" figure who preaches psi-supremacy over ordinary people, with its own "Dark Knights" who hunt and corrupt psi-sensitives for its side. This would fit well in Traveller, and you could ignore it if this isn't your thing - which, to be honest, applies to Mercs and Naval campaigns, too.
Cepheus Universal has the "force sword" if you want it, and you can rule this weapon as a legacy of ancient psi-knights from long ago. It isn't "on-sale" at weapon shops or mass-produced anywhere. CU is another excellent adaptation of 2d6 sci-fi gaming, with gritty art and more gear.
Cepheus is a lower-cost and community-supported version of the game. You can find fantasy gaming and many other genres in the open system, which expands the appeal of the 2d6 system. And lower cost means just as much fun! Traveller and the official books are more suited to support the Imperium setting, and a lot of work is done for you - which is why you pay for the full-color books and all the information you don't have to come up with.
Traveller, along with the great work in the Cepheus area, is quickly becoming the "D&D of space" and absorbing all the best ideas in sci-fi gaming.
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