This is a brief article about what referees did just after the release of Traveller
The Burgess Shale Period of Traveller
I write about it on my blog here
http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/20...traveller.html
from reading various accounts over the years about what people did, most campaigns revolved around one or two sectors with small empire, federations, etc. Even after the advent of the Spinward Marches, the hints in the various early adventures lead some to conclude the Imperium wasn't that big as it ultimately turned out.