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 Albertorius wrote:
But before writing here my opinion, I'll preamble with two facts. Lately, I've been introduced to two new and very cool modern mecha games: one of those is a wargame, named Mobile Suit Skirmish, and the other one is still in beta and is an RPG (made by the author of the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons), named Lancer.

How are those two for use with other settings in that genre (HG and Robotech being the two most pertinent for me)? I'm not particularly a Gundam show fan (although the models look cool). I tried getting into it but it just didn't click with me back in the 90's and early 00's.

 warboss wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:
But before writing here my opinion, I'll preamble with two facts. Lately, I've been introduced to two new and very cool modern mecha games: one of those is a wargame, named Mobile Suit Skirmish, and the other one is still in beta and is an RPG (made by the author of the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons), named Lancer.

How are those two for use with other settings in that genre (HG and Robotech being the two most pertinent for me)? I'm not particularly a Gundam show fan (although the models look cool). I tried getting into it but it just didn't click with me back in the 90's and early 00's.

MSSk would probably work well enough especially for Robotech (and I plan to stat my minis for it), and I don't really foresee many problems using it for HG either, but the prestatted weapons and many of the traits are quite Gundam-centric.

Lancer, OTOH... is another matter. I certainly wouldn't see it working for Robotech, and for HG you'd be needing to prestat all the Gears (the default setting is quite a bit more advanced; the setting is a sprawling space society with thousand of colonized worlds, and the Gears are actually built onsite using high tech fabbers and the fabrication templates the character has access to). But other than that, it would probably work well enough, and the combat is much less map dependent than HG2nd.

(Tangent: What did you watch from Gundam? There's a lot of very bad series out there, but there are also some really good ones. Protip: IMHO, Wing is NOT one of the good ones )

Thanks for the rundown. I might take a look at MSSK then. I don't recall what shows I watched but the last was on the cartoon network in the US about 15 years ago. I just remember a couple of minutes long stretches of characters staring off into space waxing poetically about the meaning of life that was the final straw for me. Cool Gundams and uniforms though.

Sounds like Wing. Liked it for the terroists and politics, didn't like the DBZ esque filler, and hated the other fans.

OTOH, what if HG went G Gundam?

*vomits*

Well, G Gundam was fun for what it was, but it wasn't exactly realistic space warfare


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 warboss wrote:
Thanks for the rundown. I might take a look at MSSK then. I don't recall what shows I watched but the last was on the cartoon network in the US about 15 years ago. I just remember a couple of minutes long stretches of characters staring off into space waxing poetically about the meaning of life that was the final straw for me. Cool Gundams and uniforms though.

Yeah, sounds like Wing, I think, which is not exactly one of my favorites ^^. Out of the new stuff, you might want to take a look at Iron Blooded Orphans, as it's set in a completely alternate settings and you wouldn't need any prior knowledge.

Plus for what little bit of it that I've seen, it hasn't been doing that overly preachy "war is bad, so we need to kill people" shtick that's been a hallmark of the franchise.

 Mmmpi wrote:
Plus for what little bit of it that I've seen, it hasn't been doing that overly preachy "war is bad, so we need to kill people" shtick that's been a hallmark of the franchise.

OTOH, out of the "classic" theme and timeline, I wholeheartedly recommend MS Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Short, 6 episodes OVA series with a much smaller focus, but one of the best (if not the best, outright) out of the classic stuff.

My absolute favorite is 8th MS team. I do have a soft spot for Wing because it was my first Gundam, but I spent $5 on F-91, and that was $20 too much.

 Albertorius wrote:

 Mmmpi wrote:
Plus for what little bit of it that I've seen, it hasn't been doing that overly preachy "war is bad, so we need to kill people" shtick that's been a hallmark of the franchise.

OTOH, out of the "classic" theme and timeline, I wholeheartedly recommend MS Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Short, 6 episodes OVA series with a much smaller focus, but one of the best (if not the best, outright) out of the classic stuff.

And basically where some of Jovian Chronicle's best mecha designs were cribbed from.

 HudsonD wrote:
Guys, it's dead.

And yet, people keep pledging the KS. Its no 40K but it never was. That doesn't mean its dead.

 John Prins wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

 Mmmpi wrote:
Plus for what little bit of it that I've seen, it hasn't been doing that overly preachy "war is bad, so we need to kill people" shtick that's been a hallmark of the franchise.

OTOH, out of the "classic" theme and timeline, I wholeheartedly recommend MS Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Short, 6 episodes OVA series with a much smaller focus, but one of the best (if not the best, outright) out of the classic stuff.

And basically where some of Jovian Chronicle's best mecha designs were cribbed from.

I kinda think JC's Syreen was their best design. Which Zeon MA was it based on?

 JohnHwangDD wrote:

 John Prins wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

 Mmmpi wrote:
Plus for what little bit of it that I've seen, it hasn't been doing that overly preachy "war is bad, so we need to kill people" shtick that's been a hallmark of the franchise.

OTOH, out of the "classic" theme and timeline, I wholeheartedly recommend MS Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Short, 6 episodes OVA series with a much smaller focus, but one of the best (if not the best, outright) out of the classic stuff.

And basically where some of Jovian Chronicle's best mecha designs were cribbed from.

I kinda think JC's Syreen was their best design. Which Zeon MA was it based on?

I think part of it was from 0083's Dra-C. 0083 was another big source of obvious JC designs.

 Albertorius wrote:

But before writing here my opinion, I'll preamble with two facts. Lately, I've been introduced to two new and very cool modern mecha games: one of those is a wargame, named Mobile Suit Skirmish, and the other one is still in beta and is an RPG (made by the author of the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons), named Lancer.

Welp, now I know what my weekend looks like. Thanks for the references, Albertorius. I assume http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/ and the https://www.reddit.com/r/LancerRPG/ are the correct starting starting points?

 IceRaptor wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

But before writing here my opinion, I'll preamble with two facts. Lately, I've been introduced to two new and very cool modern mecha games: one of those is a wargame, named Mobile Suit Skirmish, and the other one is still in beta and is an RPG (made by the author of the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons), named Lancer.

Welp, now I know what my weekend looks like. Thanks for the references, Albertorius. I assume http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/ and the https://www.reddit.com/r/LancerRPG/ are the correct starting starting points?

Indeed you are correct .

There's also a big thread on rpg.net about Lancer discussin the different versions of the beta, in case you're interested:

https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?816357-LANCER-a-mecha-RPG-from-the-creator-of-Kill-Six-Billion-Demons

And an actual playtest:

https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?817926-Lancer-Playtest-In-which-I-putter-around-with-running-a-mecha-game

Apparently Dave has left/is leaving . I didn't see that coming. At the very end:

Dream Pod 9 News: Line Developer, Dave McLeod, is leaving DP9, we wish him well and thank him for all the hard work he has put in over the years on the Heavy Gear Blitz and Jovian Wars gamelines. In the short term Robert will be taking on his duties, working with the players on the new Rules Committees to improve the rules and will continue to do layout as before. We'll be looking for a few players that are knowledgeable about the rules to form the core of the Rules Committees and work with Robert on future updates for the games and to help answering online rules questions from players.

http://www.dp9.com/content/jovian-wars-joins-feedback-friday-hgb-week-2-post-news

 warboss wrote:
Apparently Dave has left/is leaving . I didn't see that coming. At the very end:

Dream Pod 9 News: Line Developer, Dave McLeod, is leaving DP9, we wish him well and thank him for all the hard work he has put in over the years on the Heavy Gear Blitz and Jovian Wars gamelines. In the short term Robert will be taking on his duties, working with the players on the new Rules Committees to improve the rules and will continue to do layout as before. We'll be looking for a few players that are knowledgeable about the rules to form the core of the Rules Committees and work with Robert on future updates for the games and to help answering online rules questions from players.

http://www.dp9.com/content/jovian-wars-joins-feedback-friday-hgb-week-2-post-news

That explains why the next KS is getting pushed back to March.

So, Dave who was also doing the casting, is leaving, and not getting replaced. Meanwhile, Robert will be managing rules development ( ! ), and is looking for fan-friend unpaid labor. That looks real hopeful, yeah...

Well, looks like I shouldn't be expecting much out of DP9 for a while.

 John Prins wrote:

That explains why the next KS is getting pushed back to March.

I wasn't aware of that. Yeah, that would be a good reason (i.e. having half the company leave).



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 HudsonD wrote:
So, Dave who was also doing the casting, is leaving, and not getting replaced. Meanwhile, Robert will be managing rules development ( ! ), and is looking for fan-friend unpaid labor. That looks real hopeful, yeah...

I suppose if you wanted any hard to find resin/metal minis from the traditional Blitz line and were waiting for a super sale from a third party (which frankly are hard to find for years.. the 3rd parties, not sales), it might be good to order sooner rather than later in case there isn't anyone there for the forseeable future to cast. I don't know if Dave lined up a replacement or not before leaving...


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 Mmmpi wrote:
Well, looks like I shouldn't be expecting much out of DP9 for a while.

Were you prior to my post other than crowdfunding campaigns?

No replacement, as none was named. Sounds like the Pod is going to be short-handed for a while.

 warboss wrote:

 Mmmpi wrote:
Well, looks like I shouldn't be expecting much out of DP9 for a while.

Were you prior to my post other than crowdfunding campaigns?

Ok, less then before. Which wasn't much after the rules update debacle.

 Mmmpi wrote:

 warboss wrote:

 Mmmpi wrote:
Well, looks like I shouldn't be expecting much out of DP9 for a while.

Were you prior to my post other than crowdfunding campaigns?

Ok, less then before. Which wasn't much after the rules update debacle.

I forgot about the rules thing. I wonder if that issue (since the rules were largely his responsibilty) was the straw that broke the camel's back (either his or Robert's regarding the poor reception to almost two years worth of rules playtesting/revision). I could definitely see that being a source of friction.

 warboss wrote:


I forgot about the rules thing. I wonder if that issue (since the rules were largely his responsibilty) was the straw that broke the camel's back (either his or Robert's regarding the poor reception to almost two years worth of rules playtesting/revision). I could definitely see that being a source of friction.

FWIW, Dave still has his page on the DP9 forum. If he were fired, I'd expect that to vanish rather quickly.

Edit: Never mind, it seems Robert doesn't delete people's profiles from the forums

 warboss wrote:
I wonder if that issue (since the rules were largely his responsibilty) was the straw that broke the camel's back (either his or Robert's regarding the poor reception to almost two years worth of rules playtesting/revision). I could definitely see that being a source of friction.

I think it's more likely to be a money issue, with Robert unable to pay a full-timer. Knowing in advance when it'd run out would fit with rushing out the rules before he leaves.

I thought that Utopia was supposed to be a big money-maker for the Pod, right? According to their fans, it was an easy sell, right?

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
I thought that Utopia was supposed to be a big money-maker for the Pod, right? According to their fans, it was an easy sell, right?

I don't really remember any of their fans saying that, honestly. Most said the contrary to that.

Anyways, interesting news, those, and even though Robert seems to be using the regal "we" there, it seems he's all fresh alone now manning DP9. It would be interesting to see what effect, if any, that has on metals/resin production.


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 John Prins wrote:
Edit: Never mind, it seems Robert doesn't delete people's profiles from the forums

Honestly, that's not a bad thing. He could, and he never has, AFAIK.

HudsonD wrote:I think it's more likely to be a money issue, with Robert unable to pay a full-timer. Knowing in advance when it'd run out would fit with rushing out the rules before he leaves.

Quite possible. I was under the impression that Dave was minority stake owner in the company by now but admittedly that was largely inferred from various comments he made over the years rather than a flat out statement.

Albertorius wrote: It would be interesting to see what effect, if any, that has on metals/resin production.

Or the upcoming plastic production. With Dave gone/going, that's more things for Robert to focus on instead of making sure the barely squeaked by Utopia kickstarter gets done right and on time.

At this point I'd settle for done. But Rob seems rather stressed out already, based on his tantrum in the news thread.