ThaneCawdor wrote:
And with the latest update, Morgan unseats the Great Carnac...

Print elements are all either finished or going through final adjustments and approvals. Specifically, I can tell you that for the rulebook I have 2-3 final corrections and adjustments to make, and I’m currently laying out the painting and decal placement guide in the back of the book.

When all of the above is finished, the game will immediately go into production. Factory time has already been reserved, and they’ll be ready and waiting to start when the last bit of tooling is finished and approved.

 warboss wrote:

Print elements are all either finished or going through final adjustments and approvals. Specifically, I can tell you that for the rulebook I have 2-3 final corrections and adjustments to make, and I’m currently laying out the painting and decal placement guide in the back of the book.

When all of the above is finished, the game will immediately go into production. Factory time has already been reserved, and they’ll be ready and waiting to start when the last bit of tooling is finished and approved.

Anyone else May 2013 deja vu in that? That is pretty much was said during and in the month after the KS. So... we're basically almost where we should have been last June according to the info I based my pledge on. Well... at least a few of the questions (but certainly not all) were answered and at least the artillery pod sprues are done but that is about as glass full as I can manage looking at this glass with a tiny bit of backwash on the bottom. I agree though that June is just plain out of the question at this point and even Gencon using the only metric that matters (products actually getting to most backers) is still unlikely assuming everything goes perfectly from now on with no further revisions. I'm not sure why they're using slow normal shipping from China when the clock is ticking as it is as well instead of spending the money to overnight it and save 10 business days.

Sining wrote:
cause Palladium doesn't have the money?

 warboss wrote:

Sining wrote:
cause Palladium doesn't have the money?

What do you think in the end costs more? Multiple rounds of 10-14 day airmail post packages going back and forth for less shipping $$ at the cost of bringing your product to the market 1-2 months later (and possibly missing the biggest direct to consumer gaming convention sale opportunity) or paying $20 more per mail shipment to have it overnighted? You can literally make that cost back by selling a single product once for each shipment.

 Duskland wrote:
Well we finally got an update at least. I'm not thrilled by their answers to the questions, but at least we now have pictures of an actual physically produced product (only one of many, but at least it's a start). The sprue for the regult artillery looks pretty good all things considered.

 Duskland wrote:
@Morgan - If they do get delivery prior to Gencon you could probably put them up for sale in the 'auction store'. Give a modest discount (10%or so) and I'm sure the stuff would move : )

Update #137

Apr 10 2014
Questions and Answers
132 comments
66 likes

Hey, everyone. Wayne here. For those who have wondered, yes, I was sick; and yes, I was working weekends anyway. Still fighting off a nagging cough, but anyway...

I’m sorry for the delay on these. I meant to post these answers last week, but I needed some info from the Ninja Division guys, and they were attending Adepticon last week, and are now at PAX East this week, so not only have they been hard to reach, it's been difficult for them to dig up some of the info I needed.

I’m still trying to get some followup information, so I’ll further elaborate on some of these as soon as I can.

Can we get a projected schedule, broken down by dependencies, to allow for product to be shipped to backers before Gen Con?

Not yet, I’m afraid. I’m still trying to get some of that information. Between the conventions last week and this week, and the need for some of that info to come from China, I just haven’t been able to get all the info I need to give you all a detailed schedule. I am working on it.

How close is the project in regards to completion of the First Wave?

Here’s where things stand:

The Zentraedi Artillery Battlepods, Blast Template, Command Tokens, and bases have finished tooling (mold-making). Initial runs of the Arty Battlepods are en route to us for inspection and assembly. I’ll include some photos of those below.
The standard Regult Battlepods and the Glaug Command Pack are in tooling right now, and will be finished shortly.
The Defender/Tomahawk and Spartan/Phalanx Destroids are awaiting final approval of corrected renders we just received, and will begin tooling next.
The Valkyrie is having its sprue layout finalized. We were told over two weeks ago that prototype pieces were being made, and we received new, corrected renders of all three Valkyrie modes on Tuesday, so the prototypes should be showing up any day now. When they have been examined and approved, and sprue layouts are finished, they’ll go into tooling.
Print elements are all either finished or going through final adjustments and approvals. Specifically, I can tell you that for the rulebook I have 2-3 final corrections and adjustments to make, and I’m currently laying out the painting and decal placement guide in the back of the book.

When all of the above is finished, the game will immediately go into production. Factory time has already been reserved, and they’ll be ready and waiting to start when the last bit of tooling is finished and approved.

The seams in the figures that we've been shown appear significant. Is it possible to see versions of the figures that have not been assembled and then disassembled to see how the seams would appear coming off the sprue?

As tooling for various game pieces finishes, we’ll receive runs from the molds that we’ll be able to remove from the sprues and assemble. We’ll document the process and show you photos from every step of the way, up to and including the assembled pieces.

The piece-count on these figures seems high, while the options for alternate poses seem limited. Is there anything that can be done to rectify this situation, both to reduce piece-count and increase poseability?

First, allow me to disagree with the assertion about the poseability. Of course it’s limited to some extent, but some sets have multiple poses of extra arms to choose from, and many game pieces have round or ball-and-socket joints to increase the variation in poses.

As for piece count, we have tried to keep it as low as possible without losing detail. Some will say it’s not low enough, but there’s nothing we can do about that at this point. We've promised highly detailed game pieces molded in ABS plastic from the very beginning, and with the original designs we have to work with and re-create, there are limits to how low that piece count can feasibly go without changing to metal or resin, which we are not going to do.

Is it possible to miss the Gen Con release date, if necessary, to remake the figures with fewer pieces and less noticeable seam-lines?

We have no desire or intention of delaying things any further, and the piece count cannot feasibly be reduced without changing to resin or metal. Most of the seams are located right where they need to be, in order to avoid either losing an element of detail on that surface, or increasing the piece count even further. (In the much-discussed example of the Spartan, the seams running down the legs are necessary to preserve the ridges on the front and back of the legs and feet, as well as the inset half circles on the backs of the legs.)

As for the noticeability of the seam lines, we have been assured that the fit between pieces will be tight and the seams will be minimal, unlike some of the relatively large gaps that have been seen in our primered, glued, disassembled, and hastily reassembled prototype pieces. Those weren't show pieces, but prototypes not originally intended for public display. They were shown on here to keep you all informed and give you a look inside the process, but they were never expected to be pretty or polished pieces. The final production pieces will look much better, as we will show you when we have them.

What are the plans to support this game at launch? Will the Megaversal Ambassador system be used to help spread and advertise the game?

The folks at Soda Pop/Cipher Studios/Ninja Division will be lending their experience and helping us establish and improve our organized play program. The Megaversal Ambassadors will be the backbone of that program. They are a group of volunteers who run demos and regular games in their local stores, as well as conventions they attend. Most of them, and many new applicants, are eager to start running Robotech® RPG Tactics™ games and demos, and we will do all we can to support them and coordinate their efforts.

Are the other generations planned for a future release?

Definitely. We've had some internal discussions of how to deal with potential scale issues (a game that includes both the Mk.II Monster and Cyclones on the same field of play makes scaling of game pieces tricky), and the rules have been designed with future expansions and generations of Robotech® in mind. The Masters Saga™, The New Generation™, and The Shadow Chronicles® are all planned, but our focus for now is on getting the rewards for this Kickstarter done and in your hands.

Can more videos of actual game play be provided? We would like to see videos of games played by experienced testers and players who have only been given the rules with no guidance.

That sounds like a good idea. I’ll see what we can do.

Is it possible to have a community organizer interact with us on Kickstarter to provide regular feedback, and not just in the form of updates?

I’ll try to do a better job of that. Palladium Books is a small company with only six full-time employees. Manpower is severely limited, and none of us can spend significant amounts of time watching the comments sections of these Updates. Jeff reads all the direct messages that come in and answers those as best he can. The rest, I try to address in these Updates. Like I said, I’ll try to do better.

What plans are in place to rebuild credibility and goodwill within the backer community?


My plan is to be as open, honest, and communicative as I can, providing info and updates as often as possible. I think we still have credibility and goodwill with the vast majority of the backer community, but we have a number of very vocal, dissatisfied backers. I think the only way we’ll ever make them happy will be to deliver a high quality game and game pieces, as soon as possible. I know it can’t be soon enough, because it’s already several months late, but we’re doing everything we can.

Can we please have detailed pictures of each figure as it gets completed? Both a detailed, assembled 360 degree set of pictures and also shots on the sprue?

Absolutely. As soon as we have them to show you, we’ll be happy to do just that.

At the moment, the only such thing I have to show you are these photos of the first test runs of the Artillery Battlepod mold. Note: I’m told the white/light gray frames were run for the factory’s own test purposes, and the darker gray ones were the first test color they ran. The actual color the production game pieces will be is still being discussed.

 judgedoug wrote:
Sorry to go against popular vitriol, but those artillery pod sprues look great.

 warboss wrote:

 judgedoug wrote:
Sorry to go against popular vitriol, but those artillery pod sprues look great.

No need to apologize. Disagreement is fine but needlessly attacking those who disagree with you isn't. You're not doing the latter and the artillery pod sprue does look fine... a bit bland as it has no variety but it does the job. I would have preferred (much like with the destroids) having the pod with multiple differently sculpted pieces (like legs at angles) but that simply isn't going to happen with this KS. I'll reserve final judgement on those sprues though for when (and if) Palladium posts pics of the ASSEMBLED models from those sprues. It is still possible to have problems creep up between the 3d print and test sprue stage.

 Swabby wrote:
That would hold up as contract in court.

 Swabby wrote:
From the kickstarter terms of service:

Project Creators are required to fulfill all rewards of their successful fundraising campaigns or refund any Backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill.

Wufai, they accepted those terms just like every backer did. That would hold up as contract in court.

wufai wrote:
Here's some more terms for backers to consider when pledging... so far I really don't see PB breaking any promises that voliate any Kickstarter terms. So again asking for refunds is kinda moot since when you pledge you have already given up that right.

•The Estimated Delivery Date listed on each reward is not a promise to fulfill by that date, but is merely an estimate of when the Project Creator hopes to fulfill by.
•Project Creators agree to make a good faith attempt to fulfill each reward by its Estimated Delivery Date.
•Kickstarter does not offer refunds. A Project Creator is not required to grant a Backer’s request for a refund unless the Project Creator is unable or unwilling to fulfill the reward.
•Project Creators are required to fulfill all rewards of their successful fundraising campaigns or refund any Backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill.
•Project Creators may cancel or refund a Backer’s pledge at any time and for any reason, and if they do so, are not required to fulfill the reward.

 jacobus wrote:
Maybe I'm so frustrated with them nothing will make me happy, but I thought the reasoning for the massive part counts was so the models would offer variations in poses. If this is the case, then why are the legs one piece? Also, I'm counting between 25-30 parts per artillery pod. Am I wrong on this? If I were building one or two for an army, I might be cool with that, but jeez. That's between 150-175 parts just for those six sprues.

wufai wrote:
It's not disrespectful. But I think you got the concept of kickstarter wrong. It's not meant to be a store and no formal contract exists between you and the creator. There is no exchange of consideration, only a promise. I would suggest you not to support kickstarters in the future and buy from the local flgs under the conditions you demand when you purchase goods.