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..oh, right. Heh, even better. Well, as soon as this hits distribution I'm getting about 30 of those bad boys

 Bolognesus wrote:
..oh, right. Heh, even better. Well, as soon as this hits distribution I'm getting about 30 of those bad boys

I like how everyone in this thread is hyped to buy one... from a retailer, not direct.

He got snippy with me on facebook when they posted the mecha leg update, lol:

...Good lord, he's really 'round the twist by now, isn't he?

 Bolognesus wrote:
...Good lord, he's really 'round the twist by now, isn't he?

In fairness, I did wind him up a bit, but at this point he must be feeling the stress. According to Wai Kee Hu, the guy who bought him out, Wargames Factory was never profitable and always ran in the red. At this point Defiance must be going down in flames.

I don't think he's a bad guy, just a poor businessman. He certainly doesn't understand that you really shouldn't show off product until its boxed up, and ready to go out the door. GW has the policy, and I think they developed it over the years. They announced Battlefleet Gothic back in the 80s, and never came through on it. They named Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader only because they had been promising something named Rogue Trader.

I think it's been a good policy. I'm not sure design-by committee is the way to go. You avoid some errors and get more militarily-accurate models, but then everyone has to stick their oar in.

GW keeps things a secret, but they hire good sculptors. Defiance doesn't, they go the cheapest route possible (China) then act surprised when it blows up in their faces.

GW's keeps things a secret, but hires good staff. They've rarely been surprised, although the response to the Minotaurs, Stormraven and DA flyers was decidedly negative. But most responses are positive, the DE look good, most of the new DA look good, the Hobbit looks good (despite its price) and the Daemons of Chaos look good. Their hit-to-miss ratio is very good.

Defiance should have the benefit of experience, but they keep making the same mistakes over and over again. They should just make a box set, stock some box sets, and sell the box sets, not string customers along with goofy pre-orders that take forever to pan out.

Remember, the Reidy-run WGF only took on extra funding so they could accelerate their release schedule. That was the fatal mistake, but if you believe Wai Kee Hu, the company was never profitable. Each release funded the next. A lot of video game studios run like this. IMO, they would have been better off keeping a slow-but-steady release schedule and hope that eventually addt'l sales from boxes already released would add to sales, but they decided they wanted to do twenty things at once, and it blew up in their face, when China screwed them.

He must certainly be feeling the pressure now.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

To be honest Chris, and I respect you very much... you weren't quite as, ah, diplomatic about it, shall I say? I salute your "forwardedness" but knowing how Tony responds to much lower levels of criticism... did you really expect anything else?

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
To be honest Chris, and I respect you very much... you weren't quite as, ah, diplomatic about it, shall I say? I salute your "forwardedness" but knowing how Tony responds to much lower levels of criticism... did you really expect anything else?

Like I say, I wound him up a bit, but at this point, he must know his reputation is shot, and there's a certain percentage of fans that will never buy direct, only from a retailer.

He's just a bad businessman, endlessly crowing about every step of progress his company makes.

It's fine to take pride in your work, but when delays have gone on that long, people take these releases the wrong way.

If he was really smart, he's scare up $10K and make a sprue of 30mm bases, to solve the Hudson's Bugs problem. Nobody makes 30mm bases in that style.

But I don't think he can raise any money now, with his reputation.

Also, I've heard that Mongoose Publishing is having its own problems, with its own poor repuattion. Distributors are deliberately "forgetting" to stock their product, unless a retailer begs them to. Their latest spaceship releases are not on shelves.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Honestly, he could get a sprue made for a lot less... look at Proxy Models or... that other company making 2 types of bases. You can have a small garage plastic injection kit working all afternoon making bases will you cast the bugs.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
Prepare for a pleasant surprise

3D print (so not final cast) of the marine battlesuit




Automatically Appended Next Post:
If they can cast it decently at the price they originally planned I'm certainly going to be getting some

fingers crossed they've sorted out their issues

WOW that is a good model. If that is really being sold at 8 for 30 at that level of quality with multiple pose options, I think it's a near-guaranteed buy for me, and I don't even play any system where it can plausibly be used.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
Honestly, he could get a sprue made for a lot less... look at Proxy Models or... that other company making 2 types of bases. You can have a small garage plastic injection kit working all afternoon making bases will you cast the bugs.

That's what kills it. His problems are so fixable for just a small amount of cash. he just doesn't have the cash, and with his reputation, doesn't have a hope in hell of raising it.

I really think the "kickstarter" post was trying to get interim funding.

Hiring a sketch artist or a 3D modeller doesn't cost that much, even with how new the technology is. He should work on some upcoming designs, and let fans vote on it.

Splitting attention between 15mm mecha and 28mm models is dumb as well.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

So this would all be posturing?

I find it hard to believe, not because of anything you said, just because I can't see myself doing it if this is the case.

I think the mecha is to be used for the 28mm game. Unless you're talking about Dreamforge? There are plans to release the 15mm infantry, I think.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
To be honest Chris, and I respect you very much... you weren't quite as, ah, diplomatic about it, shall I say? I salute your "forwardedness" but knowing how Tony responds to much lower levels of criticism... did you really expect anything else?

With all due respect, that shouldn't matter one bit. Hell, anyone who's ever worked a week of retail knows *never* to treat any customer like tony does - however obnoxious they might be. And Chris, however abrasive he can be at times, barely even registered on the "annoyed consumer" scale.
This goes double when communicating via some public forum, let alone when it's recorded for public view such as on facebook. Anyone who still does gak like this misses even the smallest vestiges of business sense...

Bolognesus: I don't disagree with anything you said. Trust me, I co-own a retail store (not gaming, sadly) and I know how crucial customer relations are. I did say I admired his being so forward with someone not known to take it well.

I couldn't be bothered, at this point, honestly. I'm not even sure I want to see him succeed in his business endeavour. I want those eggs, but are they crucial to my gaming plans? Nope.

I keep hoping that he'll see the light, though, and buckle down, make good decisions and turn out a quality product and then, I don't know, maybe lift him out of this bad spiral he seems to be on.

I mostly hope DFG pulls through for the sake of the folks who preordered stuff from them, so they don't get burned. Those eggs would be a nice bonus

But really, he's been at it for years without showing any sign of improvement. If he still doesn't have a clue now (and really, he doesn't) then it won't hit him anymore either. Ever.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
So this would all be posturing?

I find it hard to believe, not because of anything you said, just because I can't see myself doing it if this is the case.

I think the mecha is to be used for the 28mm game. Unless you're talking about Dreamforge? There are plans to release the 15mm infantry, I think.

They're making two mecha. One is the eggsuit MaK model, the other is like a small sentinel-sized mech for 15mm.

Which could technically work, but if they're expecting 15mm fans to save them, they must be deluded.

 Bolognesus wrote:
And Chris, however abrasive he can be at times,

You know you love me. Seriously, what would you guys do without my witty and insightful commentary?

 Bolognesus wrote:
I But really, he's been at it for years without showing any sign of improvement. If he still doesn't have a clue now (and really, he doesn't) then it won't hit him anymore either. Ever.

This. I don't think he's a bad guy, just a poor businessman, and the stress is getting to him.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Wow, I wish he got snippier. I am surprised he kept responding. Also: multipart leg kits DO suck on mecha.

GBL wrote:
Wow, I wish he got snippier. I am surprised he kept responding. Also: multipart leg kits DO suck on mecha.

Uh-oh, better tell that to Ban-Dai. They've been making Gundam Wing models wrong for the last 33 years! Instead they should have just included fifty thousand variation of a one-piece leg!

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Is there any reason that you constantly trash Defiance and apparently harass them on their own FB page? Most of your contributions here don't seem very productive.

 chris_valera wrote:

GBL wrote:
Wow, I wish he got snippier. I am surprised he kept responding. Also: multipart leg kits DO suck on mecha.

Uh-oh, better tell that to Ban-Dai. They've been making Gundam Wing models wrong for the last 33 years! Instead they should have just included fifty thousand variation of a one-piece leg!

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Bandai kits are made for display. You assemble them, then put them on a shelf. They don't hold the pose you put them in if you move them around on the tabletop.

Has there been any word on what material the power armor will be made of? Please, please, not Trollcast! Here's hoping for good old fashioned styrene...

 Kingsley wrote:
Is there any reason that you constantly trash Defiance and apparently harass them on their own FB page? Most of your contributions here don't seem very productive.

LOL. Hey, I like their stuff, kinda, I'm just realistic about my chances of actually seeing these kits. Or seeing them produced in a professional manner, not plastic-resin farted into molds and warped bases everywhere.

This is a public message board. People discuss things. Not every opinion will be bright and happy and rainbows and unicorns. Accept it.

Ask some more bright questions, genius.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

I'm not saying only positive opinions should be accepted. I myself am often critical of new releases. But hassling someone on their public Facebook page and then crowing on Dakka about making them mad seems to go beyond that.

 Dr Mathias wrote:
Has there been any word on what material the power armor will be made of? Please, please, not Trollcast! Here's hoping for good old fashioned styrene...

I'm pretty sure their using their "semi bootleg" trollcast for everything now

 Kingsley wrote:
I'm not saying only positive opinions should be accepted. I myself am often critical of new releases. But hassling someone on their public Facebook page and then crowing on Dakka about making them mad seems to go beyond that.

Screws fall out all the time. The world's an imperfect place.

They have a reputation. They've earned it.

Water seeks its own level. People treat them with the respect they deserve.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Ghost Studios is either really bad at sabotage or really good at sabotage. They apparently sabotaged Tony's company so hard that Tony's next company was still feeling it.

Chris,

The base problem was fixed. Ed Fortae of Troll Forge admitted that was his fault -- a poor design choice that won't be fixed -- and the bases for the Germans were just fine; the entire kit was mostly decent, if unexciting. There really is no need to invest in an expensive sprue and equipment just to make bases where there are dozens of places to get them from cheaply (I'm still working through the packs of econo-bases I bought from Gale Force), especially when the technology they have (Troll Cast) really does work just fine.

Also, the Mech is intended for 28mm. Defiance doesn't, to my knowledge, have ANY plans to target the 15mm market. Maybe indirectly, but us 15mm mans are used to kit-bashing anything we can get our hands on. Hell, I keep eyeing Space Marines and wondering how they'd look as 15mm battlesuits

 chris_valera wrote:

 Kingsley wrote:
I'm not saying only positive opinions should be accepted. I myself am often critical of new releases. But hassling someone on their public Facebook page and then crowing on Dakka about making them mad seems to go beyond that.

Screws fall out all the time. The world's an imperfect place.

They have a reputation. They've earned it.

Water seeks its own level. People treat them with the respect they deserve.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

You enjoy typing nonsense, don't you Chris? ^.^

 AlexHolker wrote:
Ghost Studios is either really bad at sabotage or really good at sabotage. They apparently sabotaged Tony's company so hard that Tony's next company was still feeling it.

HA HA HA, I love this thread so much I wish I could box it up and take it home with me.

 Xeno wrote:
The base problem was fixed. Ed Fortae of Troll Forge admitted that was his fault -- a poor design choice that won't be fixed -- and the bases for the Germans were just fine; the entire kit was mostly decent, if unexciting. There really is no need to invest in an expensive sprue and equipment just to make bases where there are dozens of places to get them from cheaply (I'm still working through the packs of econo-bases I bought from Gale Force), especially when the technology they have (Troll Cast) really does work just fine.

You can't just "buy" 30mm bases, no-one makes them in that style. Spending $10K (or less as some have said would have been a wise use of company funds. But hey whatever, let's just make a ton of poorly cast warped bases outta trollcast, whatever, that works too.

 Xeno wrote:
Also, the Mech is intended for 28mm. Defiance doesn't, to my knowledge, have ANY plans to target the 15mm market. Maybe indirectly, but us 15mm mans are used to kit-bashing anything we can get our hands on.

If it's 28mm I'll believe you, but I distinctly remember them saying it was 15mm, and oh yeah, you can use it for 28mm, sorta.

 Xeno wrote:
Hell, I keep eyeing Space Marines and wondering how they'd look as 15mm battlesuits

They look good, there's a FoW army that has them with West Wind heads and machine guns for weaponry.

 IdentifyZero wrote:

 chris_valera wrote:

 Kingsley wrote:
I'm not saying only positive opinions should be accepted. I myself am often critical of new releases. But hassling someone on their public Facebook page and then crowing on Dakka about making them mad seems to go beyond that.

Screws fall out all the time. The world's an imperfect place.

They have a reputation. They've earned it.

Water seeks its own level. People treat them with the respect they deserve.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

You enjoy typing nonsense, don't you Chris? ^.^

Prove me wrong.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Battle Eggs look good. Hopefully they wont take too long to appear for sale.

 Bolognesus wrote:
I mostly hope DFG pulls through for the sake of the folks who preordered stuff from them, so they don't get burned. Those eggs would be a nice bonus

But really, he's been at it for years without showing any sign of improvement. If he still doesn't have a clue now (and really, he doesn't) then it won't hit him anymore either. Ever.

They STILL haven't fulfilled all the pre-orders?

Marines are done,

Germans are suposed to be done (but at least one recent FB post wondering where they are)

Bugs, not certain