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 Chemical Cutthroat wrote:


How on Earth are you hibernating in this weather!

You're like a reverse-bear.

When we purchase homes, my wife and I look for refrigeration instead of central air. That helps

 IceRaptor wrote:


When we purchase homes, my wife and I look for refrigeration instead of central air. That helps

I knew there was a reason I liked you!

I'm seriously considering overtime because the office's AC is significantly better than mine.

You're in Canada... just how cold do you need it to be!!?!

First, Montreal is not exactly cold in Summer.
Second, about 15-18.

I'll assume for comedic effect that it is in Fahrenheit. My god, man! That's below freezing!

As a funny side note, I was talking with a Canadian friend who lives in Edmonton about the beautiful spring day we had a few months back. High 70's, low 80's and sunny. He scoffed at that and said in all seriousness that if it gets into the low 80's by him that the local news issues heat advisory warnings and tells seniors to stay hydrated and indoors if at all possible. Temperature tolerance is quite relative!

..

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Ah, right, we're back to this then.

mrondeau wrote:
I'm seriously considering overtime because the office's AC is significantly better than mine.

On one of my first jobs (as a systems administrator) the only open desk for me was down in the server room. Which was kept a constant 12-13 for various reasons. It was wonderful, though humorous during summer when I'd come into work with a fleece on.

 Chemical Cutthroat wrote:
Ah, right, we're back to this then.

Well, this is kind of the core issue there, so... yeah.

I think in 34 pages the core issue has been rather met. If you can't figure out the problems that exist currently in 34 pages of various ragestates then you should apply for a job at your local politcal office.

Now it seems to be just dead-horse-beating.

In their defense, dead horse beating does somewhat accurately portray the last 10 years of HG's treatment of the Silhouette rules system with biennial edition flipflops that don't change enough but cost the full $$.

My hobby brings me very little fun these days unfortunately since I've doubled down on both HGB and Robotech and both are troubled to say the least. My only hope is Infinity 3.0 as a ruleset. The minis are nice even if the names are almost incomprehensible.

 Chemical Cutthroat wrote:
I think in 34 pages the core issue has been rather met. If you can't figure out the problems that exist currently in 34 pages of various ragestates then you should apply for a job at your local politcal office.
Now it seems to be just dead-horse-beating.

The complaining will stop when the core issues are solved. Since that requires DP9 straightening up their act, it's not going to happen anytime soon I'm afraid.

 warboss wrote:
The minis are nice even if the names are almost incomprehensible.

Hey, you can always go back to the non 'fun' names for Gears. HACS-02HG-MPS, HACS-01MG-MP, etc. Just look at the syllables!

I think he meant Infinity's names. If so, play Aleph warboss. Prononcing "Asura" is easy!

 warboss wrote:
In their defense, dead horse beating does somewhat accurately portray the last 10 years of HG's treatment of the Silhouette rules system with biennial edition flipflops that don't change enough but cost the full $$.

My hobby brings me very little fun these days unfortunately since I've doubled down on both HGB and Robotech and both are troubled to say the least. My only hope is Infinity 3.0 as a ruleset. The minis are nice even if the names are almost incomprehensible.

I guess that's my grump then.

It really makes me sad that the hobby doesn't bring you much fun. I've been having a blast, but I think that's mainly because I've been making up things as I've gone along. If I find something I don't like, I change it for the better... or at least for the more entertaining.

I mean really, if a hobby isn't fun, it is no longer a hobby. It is now a job. So if it is now someone's job to complain about things... well, connect the dots. There has to be more productive use of someone's time than complaining about something they once enjoyed.

I don't like the Blitz rules. I find them awful and cumbersome. But I like the world and the models, so I'm gonna work on a way to enjoy the setting and the conflicts involved.

As much as I enjoy Smilodon's insights on things, he isn't exactly the most personable character. And that comes out in his interactions with TPTB as he so says. Diplomacy checks shall never be his strong suit.

Its a little funny to me, because I was originally drawn to this thread simply because I loved the Heavy Gear series, but had zero experience with the miniature game. I have all the Blitz rules and some other downloads, chewed through them, and then read all the stuff that has been posted here.

All the stuff.

Drinking may have been necessary.

But what I'm getting at is that, 'Hey, even if the tempo here is really down, the people who are posting here do care about the Heavy Gear universe.'

So is that true? Because if it is, why don't we try to do something about it? I know it is a lot easier to talk about what someone doesn't like than it is to talk about what can be improved. And a few folks have taken the effort to do something 'else'... at least with the ruleset.

I'm just not as much of a negative person. If I see something that can be salvaged, I try and work the good out of it.

I dunno where DP9 is going. Obviously with what I hear, it isn't the best of thoughts. But if anyone still cares about the game, there isn't anything stopping us from coming up with something better than what they give us.

mrondeau wrote:
I think he meant Infinity's names. If so, play Aleph warboss. Prononcing "Asura" is easy!

I'm aware. As an occasional Haqqislam player, I had to stop myself from thinking that learning Arabic might help comprehension. Now they get labeled alphabetically and I got from there.

 Chemical Cutthroat wrote:
I guess that's my grump then.

It really makes me sad that the hobby doesn't bring you much fun.

Eh, it's my own fault in liking robot anime style tabletop games. Switching "hobbies" isn't easy either as tabletop games require a significant investment of both $$ and time to do properly. I wouldn't mind getting into infinity even though frankly I'm not interested in infinity. I don't have an interest in weird named scifi modern world analog infantry warbands... but supposedly the rules are solid and the company cares about the game. If I got into it, I'd likely go TAG heavy simply because that is the style of game I actually want to play. My hopes were on the Gecko but I'm not liking the fact that there is ZERO that you can customize on the Gecko as I'd really prefer the look of the big rifle on both the geckos instead of the one with the two smg style weapons (combirifles IIRC technically but they look like SMGs on a TAG). In the end, infinity may not help either as no one plays it locally; I've literally never seen anyone playing it. One of the shop employees used to play it but got tired of the rambo-ing apparently inherent in the game which I found out when trying to get him to try HG. If anyone feels like trading Gecko bits btw and want the combirifle version, feel free to pm me.

In the end, I pick up games to play them not simply as a purchasing hobby (like GW would like). If I can't get in games on a semiregular basis, they fail at their primary purpose. HG is a complete failure for me personally in that regard as I've played less non-demo games in person since getting back into it with the Field Manual than the number of years that have passed. I suspect Robotech will likely fall flat in that regard as well. I'll paint up a small army for each side, play one or two games with friends that don't convince them to buy in, and then shelve the forces.

Something I've noticed over the past thirty'ish years of dabbling with all kinds of gaming, or life in general really, is that the end products of someone's own creativity are quite often only acceptable to other fans of whatever if it provides something that aligns with their own ideas.

Yet, perhaps oddly enough, or maybe not, everyone expects those creative types to just keep on bringing new things forth.

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 Chemical Cutthroat wrote:
(...)
So is that true? Because if it is, why don't we try to do something about it? I know it is a lot easier to talk about what someone doesn't like than it is to talk about what can be improved. And a few folks have taken the effort to do something 'else'... at least with the ruleset.

Emphasis mine.
You might not realize it, but most of the regulars in this thread are DP9 veterans. Not HG fans, though we are, but I mean, actual DP9 and HG veterans, that have been involved with the universe, the game, and the company in one way or the other for years, usually two-digits.
We have tried, very, very hard, to improve things, from both the outside and the inside. Most of us have our names in one or more books, and not just in the playtester sections.

Just as an example, the current alpha rules started as the home-rules from one of the proeminent poster in this thread. Of course, this would also be yet another example of DP9 turning gold into lead...

 HudsonD wrote:
Just as an example, the current alpha rules started as the home-rules from one of the proeminent poster in this thread. Of course, this would also be yet another example of DP9 turning gold into lead...

That's true, and I probably have more right to criticize than most. But I think the point is - that's in the past. I could complain about the way that Dave's handling this or that - but it won't accomplish anything. If people don't know what we've had a bad experience with DP9 by now, they haven't been reading. But by this point complaining only has the value of being cathartic, not constructive. IMO.

I'm just sad that so many people have been burned out from such a vibrant setting. The squandered opportunity is simply depressing.

While I'm mostly in this thread for the catharsis, the thread has at least one big function: it warns potential players. If there has been such a thread when I started HG, I would at least have been warned.
Quite honestly, if I can prevent DP9 from essentially scamming players by complaining, I consider that the time spent was both useful and cathartic.

One gentlemen who has made a great deal of headway with a particular ruleset besides Iceraptor and warboss would be Banzai, in my opinion. His most recent addition to Aurora was worth downloading.

http://dp9forum.com/aurora/Issues/Aurora_Magazine_Issue_8_3.pdf

-Brandon F.

 HudsonD wrote:

 Chemical Cutthroat wrote:
(...)
So is that true? Because if it is, why don't we try to do something about it? I know it is a lot easier to talk about what someone doesn't like than it is to talk about what can be improved.

Emphasis mine. We have tried, very, very hard, to improve things, from both the outside and the inside. Most of us have our names in one or more books, and not just in the playtester sections.

I was unsure on how to take some of the points trying to be made in that quoted post, but I perceived one to be that most here have either not been sufficiently creative in the past, or else have not been creative enough in a useful manner of late.

I've found though that creativity isn't something that can be turned on and off like a switch, and quite often trying to force some idea to conform to an expectation you may not share ends up being so mediocre as to have not been worth the effort.

mrondeau wrote:
While I'm mostly in this thread for the catharsis, the thread has at least one big function: it warns potential players. If there has been such a thread when I started HG, I would at least have been warned.
Quite honestly, if I can prevent DP9 from essentially scamming players by complaining, I consider that the time spent was both useful and cathartic.

Sometimes you really do need that catharsis when dealing with entities like the Pod, and there aren't a whole lot of folks who'll understand, or a place to talk about it without being modded or banned.

Plus, it is assuredly not a bad thing at all to hope a few potential players might chance across this thread and be aware of how things stand behind the Pod's curtain.

I know I've kind of said this before, but it should not be at all acceptable for anyone else to go through some of what multiple players did just as testers, let alone those actually trying to freelance as a writer or artist for Dream Pod 9.

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Any chance of the cathartic ex-players and ex-testers would join in offering up suggestions and advice on Arkana?

-Brandon F.

What is Arkana ? That a new game system coming out ? Oh wait, is that your Arkrite blog page? I think I've been there.

@Dire Wolf, Yes, Arkana is Arkrite Press's blog.

I don't write on it though. That is for the company.

My personal blog, Heavy Gear Thunder Run, is completely unofficial.

-Brandon F.

Gotcha, thanks for the info.

I think I'm going to buy that book that you guys put out. It looks good. And it comes with maps!

Dire, feel free. Though "Rumble in the Jungle" wasn't my own work. That was all Mr. Wong, Mr. O'Connor, Greg and Jason, plus the good editors and layout folks.

-Brandon F.

Brandon, is that rule in your Thunder Run stuff about the Stone Masons, et al being able to carry ammo, going to make it in to the new Beta rules? That is a good rule.

BrandonKF wrote:
Any chance of the cathartic ex-players and ex-testers would join in offering up suggestions and advice on Arkana?
-Brandon F.

A whole 34 pages of posts, and you still can't figure that one ?

To be fair, I hold no grudge against Jason, and I'm perfectly willing to provide proof-reading and editing if he apologizes to me for the rules thread fiasco.