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Wednesday 14 May 2014

Robotech RPG Tactics #3

Or really What has Palladium been doing all this while?

You know, you really wouldn't think it'd be possible for Palladium to shit even more over their backers would you? But yeah, apparently it is...

My last update was 20th March. Since that time, Palladium has gone on to exhibit in GAMA, miss Adepticon; one of the major miniature game-cons during this period of the year, received 10 questions from backer/s who are closely connected to them the way and then answered some of them, said they would answer the rest, totally forgotten about it, as well as promised to assemble an artillery pod properly and then also forgot about that. Not necessarily in that order. In the meantime, in between their busy work schedules that involves not coming out with books on time, not answering questions on time (or ever), they've managed to take dozens of pictures of turkey and ducks. (I'm not joking about that)

Congrats PB, you schmucks. I'm not saying you guys don't deserve a break, but for people who keep complaining about how you're overworked, that's a lot of photos of ducks in a fairly short period of time. Also, how can we forget about Kevin's murmurs or updates where he talks about how all they do is try and rush RRT out. 

Based on some rumblings we have been hearing, I would like to try to clear up what seems like a misunderstanding by some people. Robotech® RPG Tactics™ has not been delayed because Palladium Books is continuing to produce role-playing products or putting our efforts elsewhere. In fact, it is the other way around; many of the RPG products we had planned for 2013 release were delayed until this year and they are only now just starting to be released in 2014. That’s because we have been devoting so much time toRobotech® RPG Tactics™. The Robotech® Kickstarter has been our top priority since day one.
Yep. That and take photos of ducks. Btw, Kevin, we backers of RRT don't really like being used as a scapegoat for your continual delays of your RPG products. Seriously, look here. You guys have been delaying books since BEFORE RRT was even an idea. At this point, I'd strongly suggest the problems lie with your side and not the projects or your partners or whoever you're using. 

And then there was GAMA...a b2b miniatures trade show. That Palladium attended...with these products....



Wow Grandma, what big teeth you have. Why are there seams on the front of EVERY single mech?? Why are they so frigging obvious?? Why is everything bisected?? Why on earth are some mechs on square bases while the others are on round bases??? What on earth is wrong with Palladium? 

Apparently Wayne, the guy who's been in charge of KS communication so far, claims he didn't have time to get the proper bases for the mechs on square bases so he just picked some bases out of the warehouse and stuck them on. Okay...ignoring the fact that this is a trade show and probably something you KNOW you're attending a few months in advance, the base sizes for RRT aren't special in any way. You could easily just use malifaux/warmachine bases for them. Are you telling me Wayne couldn't be ass bothered to go down and get proper bases from the nearby FLGS so that he could actually have a better representation of his product? For a TRADE FAIR?!?! Not to mention, the sheer 'quality' of the models displayed during GAMA is mind-boggling; other than the painted ones which were prototypes 3d printed by Ninja Division. These are supposed to get retailers to want to buy and stock their product? Uh...kay. 

Or maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just fussy about miniatures since I ACTUALLY have experience building and painting miniatures. Which you think would be one of the first criteria they would look for in someone to take charge of this project. Especially since they brought those same miniatures to Penguicon and Kevin had this to say about it.
EVERYONE loved the Robotech® RPG Tactics™ prototype game pieces and painted game pieces on display. Jeff ran a few demos and seemed to be enjoying himself doing so. The next day he mentioned to me that he forgot how much fun people have playing the game. We all forgot to take photographs, because we were too busy talking with fans. I think it was a very nice change of pace for all of us, and especially fun to see so much enthusiasm and appreciation for the Robotech® game pieces. “Amazing,” was the most common refrain, along with many comments about the detail and quality. My personal favorite comment was, “Perfect. They are absolutely perfect.” I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call them perfect, but they are damn gorgeous. The Ninja Division sculptors did an outstanding job capturing the mecha from the show, and the Ninjas are making sure the manufacturer holds the detail and makes these Robotech® game pieces the detailed and accurate pieces we’ve promised. I was surprised by the number of Kickstarter backers who stopped by to see and praise the pieces on display and flip through the rule book. All walked away smiling and happy. It was very gratifying, and I was pleased to be able to thank them in person for their support.
I don't know but sometimes I have this sneaking suspicious most PB fans are brain-damaged in some way. That or Kevin is a hilariously bad liar. I'd say it's the latter but I've interacted with quite a few fan-friends who make me suspect the former as well. Or it could be both. 

However, their latest update seems to have alleviated some worries since the photos of the Valkyrie they showed weren't horribly cut up like the original. It actually almost looks passable compared to the original, which had the head bisected for some reason. What a relief they didn't do that right?
Or did they... One sharp-eyed KS commenter pointed out that the arms seemed to have seams on them...
Um...wtf, they do? Granted you have to zoom in to see them but WTF, they DO. Which means these valkyrie parts were partially assembled and then HAD the photograph taken, which means sprue part layouts are going to be nothing like what's actually shown on the photo. There's going to be more parts than shown in the photo. 

Otoh, it also means PB is actually starting to find even shiftier ways to lie to backers now. Good Job PB. You do realise this only works if no one else finds out and when they do, your reputation; shitty as it may be, is just going to take even more of a hit. So GJ PB, I can't wait to see how you screw this up even further. 

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