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Post by Jaymz on Sept 20, 2014 1:50:41 GMT
Ok Since we had someone a bit peeved last time I will do this in a blatantly obvious manner. The commentary to follow is typically critical of Palladium. If you have a problem with that DO NOT READ IT. To post about how you do not like it after this waring will have you warned for trolling unless you can demonstrate an inability to use reading comprehension. That being said on with the commentary www.palladiumbooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=741:palladium-booksr-weekly-update-september-18-2014&catid=52:weekly-updates&Itemid=183"The weather has turned decidedly Autumn." Uh Kevin...... *looks at the calendar* "This list of 12 titles are all finished manuscripts awaiting final edit and rewrites so they can go to press over the next 4-8 months." Stop. Just stop. 12 books? Over the next 4-8 months? I really wonder if he actually thinks we believe this anymore.....They haven't done more than an average 3-4 books a year AT BEST for YEARS and this is what he posts to us....*sigh* "Other exciting stuff is brewing behind the scenes too, but we don’t want to jinx them by mentioning anything too soon." Then why bother mentioning anything at all? Oye,., "Suffice it to say that if everything goes well, the next few months of 2014 and all of 2015 are going to be filled with new game product releases and excitement." Copy/Paste from every other time he has posted about "exciting things going on behind the scenes" that we usually never hear of again. "the BIG excitement is all about the release of Robotech® RPG Tactics™" I hate to say this as I am waiting for my stuff like the other 5300 backers...the excitement is turning more and more to apathy and "just get me my stuff already so I can be done with you people" from more and more names I have not seen before. THAT is not good nor does it bode well for the future of this line. "Jeff Burke went through the current tooling files of Wave Two items listing corrections and modifications that need to be made" Why the hell are models designs STILL being tweaked? How are these NOT done yet? It's been 16 bloody months since the end of the campaign...oye. "UPDATE: Rifts® Sourcebook: Coalition States™ – Heroes of Humanity™" Or what I am going to start calling "How to extend the length of a metaplot beyond what we told our customers even though its already several years late in being completed" "UPDATE: Palladium Fantasy RPG®: Bizantium and the Northern Islands™ This will be a Fall 2014 release." "UPDATE: Dead Reign™ – Graveyard Earth™ Sourcebook This will be a Fall 2014 release." "UPDATE: The Rifter® #68 – Autumn Issue" "UPDATE: Robotech®: Expeditionary Force Marines Sourcebook One – Formerly titled ‘UEEF Marines’ It’s coming. Still planned for a 2014 release." OK none of these have been indicated to be near ready and are still waiting on art and such by all accounts. Above he says 12 books in up to 8 months which puts at end of May next year, as it is nearly the end of September (Giving him the week or so that is left as leeway). 12 books. 8 months. That is 1 book every 2.5 weeks or so. He has 2 in actual production with art or editing. One that has apparently had nothing really done to it so 9 others untouched thus far. With RRT ramping up as more containers arrive and Xmas grab bags ramping up at US Thanksgiving, i think we'd be LUCKY to get the three books above by years end let alone 12 by end of May next year...and those that defend this wonder WHY we go WTF?!?! "UPDATE: 2015 Palladium Open House (POH) – May 15-17, 2015" Still planning to be there on the Saturday....whether or not I play anything is another matter entirely. "Rifts® 25th Anniversary in 2015 - Rifts® turns 25 next year. Looking for ideas on products and promotions for Rifts® at the Palladium Open House (POH) and throughout the year. Please voice your thoughts on the matter." Something better than a reprinted with fancy collectible hardcover main rulebook please. Anyway that's all folks. See you next week. |
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Post by MacrossMike on Sept 20, 2014 3:24:29 GMT
Ok Since we had someone a bit peeved last time I will do this in a blatantly obvious manner. The commentary to follow is typically critical of Palladium. ... ... ... Seriously? As criticisms go, this is so goddamn tame. If they wanna see some criticism that's worth getting PO'd over, they should ask me my opinion of Robotech's creative process. "The weather has turned decidedly Autumn." Did Kevin miss the memo that the weather has a tendency to be Autumn-like in... oh, say... Autumn? This kind of observation baffles me. It's not just that he's a middle-aged man acting surprised about the obvious, it's that he seems to be convinced this is a surprise to everyone. I know he's a bit desperate for news... "This list of 12 titles are all finished manuscripts awaiting final edit and rewrites so they can go to press over the next 4-8 months." Y'know how Big Bang Theory is actually depressing as hell if you watch it without the canned laughter? Same deal here. It'd be funny how unrealistic these estimates are if only we didn't know he actually believed he would meet these targets. "Other exciting stuff is brewing behind the scenes too, but we don’t want to jinx them by mentioning anything too soon." It's okay Kevin, go ahead and say it. You've been jinxed for years, even before you voluntarily picked up a second case of that wretched blight called Robotech. When was the last time you actually released a book on time? "Suffice it to say that if everything goes well, the next few months of 2014 and all of 2015 are going to be filled with new game product releases and excitement." Suffice it to say, nothing ever goes well... the next few months of 2014 and all of 2015 are going to be filled with excuses, missed release dates, disappointment, frustration, and a handful of painfully late books kicked out the door to the general irritation of their customers. "the BIG excitement is all about the release of Robotech® RPG Tactics™" The big excitement among the ~5,300 people who backed the game is, yes... mostly because they've been baying for your blood for six months over the delays and massive quality issues, and want the shit they paid for. Of course, since it's going to take you probably six months to a year just to get Wave 1 in the hands of the backers, they'll be back to baying for your blood before long. Among the rest of the tabletop gaming community, let's just say public opinion is somewhere between bemusement and bewilderment at how poorly Palladium has handled this unholy mess, and could otherwise best be summed up with the following sentiments: "What were they thinking? Were they thinking? I've seen better planning from Orks." "UPDATE: Robotech®: Expeditionary Force Marines Sourcebook One – Formerly titled ‘UEEF Marines’ It’s coming. Still planned for a 2014 release." It's coming... but so is the next ice age. |
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Post by kryptt on Sept 20, 2014 7:18:13 GMT
No sure if I read it here or on the PB forums but is HG losing their hold on macross in 8 more years? If so does that mean in that time we'll finally get macross back in the west?
As for RRT I just want all my stuff including wave two so I don't have to deal with PB or it's sad fanatics especially their mods.
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Post by MacrossMike on Sept 20, 2014 17:08:53 GMT
No sure if I read it here or on the PB forums but is HG losing their hold on macross in 8 more years? If so does that mean in that time we'll finally get macross back in the west? You probably read that from something I posted on the Palladium Books forums. Yes, the licensing agreement that Harmony Gold has with Tatsunoko Production Co. Ltd. of Japan expires in 2022. Harmony Gold USA had no choice but to disclose the terms of their contracts when they attempted to threaten Hasbro and Takara-Tomy with legal action in the US over that Transformers G1 anniversary edition Jetfire toy. So, as a result, in addition to having already known everything about the rights they'd been given in those licenses thanks to their accidentally starting the copyright confirmation mess between Big West Advertising and Tatsunoko Productions (the owners and animators of Macross, respectively), now we all know when their licenses expire. Ironically... that attempt at intimidation was spectacularly unnecessary and served only to shoot themselves in the foot, since it reminded everyone about all the times they've tried to screw over successful franchises like Transformers, Macross, and BattleTech, but also let 'em indirectly alienate their most important business partner. *record scratch* Yes, you see... Tatsunoko Production Co. Ltd. is jointly owned by four companies. Their second-biggest stakeholder, owning 20% of the company, is none other than Hasbro's long-time partner Takara-Tomy. This is what's called "biting the hands that feeds you". SO... When we finally get to 2022, Harmony Gold is going to have a damn hard time convincing Tatsunoko Productions that their license is still worth renewing. Thanks to the recent Robotech Academy Kickstarter, Robotech has graduated from being just an ordinary failure with a tiny trickle of revenue from the few thousand people worldwide clueless or optimistic enough to continue buying its merchandise to being rather a high-profile failure that's been publicly shamed by its own fans for being so hopeless its own owners won't invest in it, and is SO lacking in basic decency that they're honestly trying to ride the coattails of Carl Macek's corpse to nostalgia-driven profit. It's a bit telling that Tatsunoko doesn't even list Robotech on the English side of their website... Personally, I suspect that Robotech Academy was more than just a desperation move badly camouflaged as Carl Macek's "creative vision" for Robotech... I think the project was Harmony Gold testing the waters to see if they could hack it without having to lean on Tatsunoko's licenses. Even though it was advertised as being a sort of Sentinels side story that existed between the Macross Saga and Masters Saga, they went well out of their way to avoid using any IP belonging to either. They learned quite swiftly that Robotech fans really don't care about Harmony Gold's original characters, what they give a damn about is the continuing story of the Macross Saga cast. (Which is, of course, why I maintain there's almost no such thing as a "true" Robotech fan. Very few people actually care about the few original concepts in Robotech, which makes them more like "closeted" fans of Macross, and sometimes MOSPEADA or Southern Cross.) |
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Post by kryptt on Sept 20, 2014 20:10:46 GMT
So what's happens when to macross when it expires? Will that allow macross here in the west?
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Post by MacrossMike on Sept 20, 2014 21:07:08 GMT
So what's happens when to macross when it expires? Will that allow macross here in the west? Assuming that Harmony Gold is unable to convince Tatsunoko Pro to renew their license to Macross's original series in or before 2022... - The Robotech franchise is effectively over, unable to continue distribution of their "original series" or any other material produced using the rights licensed from Tatsunoko... meaning no more Robotech home video releases, no more comics, no more novels, no more stuff from them at all unless it's 100% original.
- Palladium Books is required to cease the development, production, and distribution of any and all Robotech merchandise based on the licensed material... any unsold inventory is now unsellable, essentially demoted to bootleg status. (Palladium would be allowed to put that down on their taxes as a business related loss.)
- The Macross license expires, opening up the opportunity for other distributors to acquire those (and other) rights to Macross.
- Within a few years, Harmony Gold's trademarks on the Macross name, logo, and other related iconography of the franchise expire and Harmony Gold can no longer legally file to renew them. Distributors might wait for the trademarks to expire, or might challenge those trademarks in court with a fair expectation of being able to win handily.
So... put simply, it might take a year or two to straighten everything out, but eventually it would permit Macross to be distributed in the west.
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Post by kryptt on Sept 20, 2014 21:25:46 GMT
I hope tatsunoko doesn't allow HG to renew the license. 2022 is a long ways of but I hope the train wreck that is RT finally dies.
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Post by MacrossMike on Sept 20, 2014 21:48:48 GMT
I hope tatsunoko doesn't allow HG to renew the license. 2022 is a long ways of but I hope the train wreck that is RT finally dies. Personally, I keep hoping that Tatsunoko will yank Harmony Gold's rights before then... there's no goddamn reason for Robotech to continue existing, and there really hasn't been one since 1987. It's just sort of there. It squats on the rights to Macross and does nothing worthy of mention except occasionally tell hilarious lies. |
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Post by kryptt on Sept 22, 2014 4:15:22 GMT
What funny lies?
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Post by MacrossMike on Sept 22, 2014 14:59:16 GMT
Oh, all sorts... here are some of the more hilarious examples: - Robotech writer/actor Greg Snegoff claimed that the Japanese creators of the original shows thought the Robotech story was superior to their own work on the original shows.
Amusingly, this claim proved to have no relation to objective reality, as Macross staffers from Studio Nue and Artland have gone on the record to say that they find Harmony Gold's (mis)treatment of their work cause for confusion and dismay. Said staffers include Noboru Ishiguro, Macross's chief director and director of Megazone 23, Shoji Kawamori, Macross's co-creator and franchise headwiz, and Studio Artland's Haruhiko Mikimoto, Macross lead character designer.
- Carl Macek claimed, in a 2001 interview, that the Japanese creators of Macross were so in awe of the Robotech series had "improved" to their story that they were basing Macross's sequels more on Robotech than on any development of their own series' themes. In particular, he identified an alleged diminishing focus on music, and particular on the key concept of music-as-a-weapon.
Hilariously refuted by the sheer fact that this has pretty much no connection to reality... the last four Macross titles at the time he did this "interview" were all part of the Macross 7 story arc, in which the paramilitary rock band "Fire Bomber" fights brainwashed soldiers and soul-sucking bioweapons with the power of rock, before going to save the space whales by rocking the fuck out at them too... and leaving us with the awkward question of whether Macek was lying through his teeth to an audience that could call him on it given five seconds on Wikipedia, or really was that clueless.
- Harmony Gold claimed, in 1999 and 2000, to have the exclusive, rest-of-world rights to the original Macross TV series as well as all derivatives and sequels based upon it. Based on this claim, they sent a number of letters threatening lawsuits to import toy dealers in the US, who had been importing goods for Macross Plus and Macross 7, alleging that this was an obvious violation of their rights.
Hilariously refuted by a simple read-through of their licensing agreement with Tatsunoko Pro in 1984... but massively and very publicly shot down by the Tokyo District and Appellate Courts when Tatsunoko and Big West were forced by Harmony Gold's claim to sit down and confirm who owned what. It was publicly revealed that Harmony Gold was talking out of its arse and in fact had no claim at all to any Macross material beyond that of the original series, and had therefore been making fraudulent claims in its cease and desist letters to import toy dealers in the US. In retaliation, Harmony Gold obtained the merchandising rights to DYRL from Tatsunoko in 2001 and filed for trademarks on the Macross name and logo to ban any further US distribution of Macross.
- Harmony Gold's marketing staff persistently claims that Robotech was an extremely successful series in 1985, being an unprecedented presentation of mature material that laid the groundwork for the modern anime industry.
Hilariously refuted by the Nielsen ratings on record for Robotech in every US airing. The series was, at best, a mediocre performer in 1985 that was thoroughly plowed under by its closest competitors, Hasbro's twinned merchandising giants Transformers and GI Joe. Its merchandise line was an unqualified disaster thanks to interference from Revell. Subsequent airings in the US and Canada have also met with mediocre performance, with Toonami dropping the series after just one year and never even airing the New Generation, and Canada's SyFy knockoff SPACE depositing the series in a 7am Saturday timeslot, the sort of time slot normally reserved for cheap infomercials.
- Harmony Gold's marketing staff persistently claims that Robotech merchandise sells "gangbusters" and that the whole franchise has never been stronger.
Hilariously refuted by their own staff, current and former, who have admitted on various interviews and public forums that Toynami's "Masterpiece Collection" almost never sold more than 1/2 of its Limited Edition run of any toy. The run itself was scaled back to just 33% of what it was at launch by the time they reached the Masterpiece Cyclone line, due to slipping sales. Sales of their comic book crossover with Voltron have been made public by the distributor, and show a fairly linear decay from the unremarkable total sales of just 6,408 copies of issue #1, an average loss of almost 1,000 readers with every subsequent issue. The Voltron crossover lost the relatively low ranking it had on the Top 300 new releases, eclipsed by such big sellers as Duffman (yes, the Simpsons beer mascot), Spongebob Squarepants, and practically every mainstream or indie superhero comic currently in print.
EDIT: Here's another good one from the front page of Robotech.com: - Harmony Gold publicly thanks its supporters for raising over $190,000 from over 2,000 backers on Kickstarter for their Robotech Academy project, which was supposedly Carl Macek's last project at Harmony Gold.
Fmr. Harmony Gold events coordinator Tom Bateman has refuted the idea that Robotech Academy was Carl Macek's last project, and that it was even his idea to begin with. Mr. Bateman's last conversation with Macek before Macek's untimely death was about how he wanted to go back and finish Robotech II: the Sentinels. The only mention of a Robotech Academy in Macek's released concepts was for the finale of Robotech Part IV, which would loop back to episode 1.
Also, the actual total raised by the Kickstarter campaign was $0. Over $190,000 was pledged, but because Harmony Gold pulled the plug on their own Kickstarter once they could no longer ignore how it was unlikely to reach even 40% of the $500,000 pledge target and they never reached the goal, Kickstarter never actually collected on any of the pledges. It also sort of ignores that almost all of their funds came from less than two dozen fanatics who pledged thousands of dollars... some with a stated intent to withdraw their support either because of Harmony Gold's jackassery or because they just wanted to see it fail.
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Post by kryptt on Sept 22, 2014 20:13:08 GMT
I'm an hours drive from HG. I wish I could go down there and throw water balloons at them as they come out of their slick looking corporate building and yell how much they suck as well as RT. In fact when I used to go down there to the sunset strip to pay my union dues it was always tempting to do so. It was only a block away. Thanks for the answers seto.
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Post by MacrossMike on Sept 22, 2014 20:50:24 GMT
I'm an hours drive from HG. I wish I could go down there and throw water balloons at them as they come out of their slick looking corporate building and yell how much they suck as well as RT. In fact when I used to go down there to the sunset strip to pay my union dues it was always tempting to do so. It was only a block away. Thanks for the answers seto. Probably not worth it, on balance. Robotech is a tiny, insignificant part of Harmony Gold's overall business plan... it's more a glorified hobby than something they actually care about. I'm told they're actually halfway competent as a rental property management company though. Such as it is, since they can't get resources from management to make Robotech not suck and they're thirty-one special flavors of screwed when it comes to the legal roadblocks that require them to waste months running every last little thing past their legal counsel before they obtain permission to actually DO anything, that the only way they can make themselves look good is to lie. You'd be hard-pressed to spot even one Robotech press release, article, or announcement that doesn't contain at least one outright lie or deliberate obfuscation. They're quite fond of blurring the lines between Robotech and Macross in the name of indirectly taking credit for Macross sequels in the little press coverage they get. They love to claim they created the anime industry (and the industry takes it just as seriously as the public took those famous misspoken words about Al Gore inventing the internet), and they love to put Carl Macek forward as some kind of beloved visionary creator equivalent to Gene Roddenberry or George Lucas even though the anime industry sees him as more of a Uwe Boll and his name is LITERALLY a watchword for doing a shitty job (see "Macekre"). If they were actually honest about everything, they wouldn't have an audience... You could piss on them if you like, but really... what use is pissing on people whose careers are already in the toilet? EDIT: In cheerier news, SoftBank Creative released Variable Fighter Master File: VF-22 Sturmvogel II today. This'll be the seventh main book in the Variable Fighter Master File series of technical manuals, and the first book in the series devoted to a fighter designed by General Galaxy. My copy's already en route, along with the index book for Macross Chronicle 2nd Edition. |
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Post by kryptt on Sept 23, 2014 22:46:12 GMT
Now that there's a fire at the port of LA it really does seem like even Murphy's Law himself wants this to fail.lol All kidding aside I'm glad our plastic crack is ok. If it had turned to ash I can only imagine Kevin begging the backers for more money. CoT II?
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Post by MacrossMike on Sept 24, 2014 2:40:32 GMT
Now that there's a fire at the port of LA it really does seem like even Murphy's Law himself wants this to fail.lol All kidding aside I'm glad our plastic crack is ok. If it had turned to ash I can only imagine Kevin begging the backers for more money. CoT II? Well, business as usual then... If we didn't know that a mixture of complete, laughable incompetence and massive, preening arrogance were at the root of every failure in Robotech's history, it'd be easy to think that Robotech is suffering from a curse that'd leave an Egyptian pharaoh feeling inadequate. Every effort to make Robotech commercially viable runs aground on some terrible luck to put the metaphorical cherry on the ineptitude of the RT staff at Harmony Gold, but Robotech RPG Tactics has been like some kind of terrible year-long morality play designed to demonstrate all of the game development cardinal sins. |
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