As a former writer for 2020 I can say that the idea for exotics came from other source material and not the furry “culture” as it were.

This is one of the many reasons why the lab ship design makes no sense.

There isn’t really a consensus. There are as many “haters” as well as “lovers” of each timeline and ideas. I didn’t much care for IW, but I know and respect people who do. For me, a little chaos in the Imperium was sorely needed.

The everything from MT and TNE were definitely disliked. I thought the Hard Times setting was really fantastic.

There are three major dislikes, and all of them came from MegaTraveller and The New Era. The Empress Wave, the Assassination of Strephon, and the Virus. All of these are catastrophic changes in the setting, they rob the players of agency, and remove huge chunks of continuity.