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 warboss wrote:
The macross/robotech one did by almost 20 years.

Yeah, I always got the impression that the Tau were created as an attempt to get anime/mecha fans interested in 40k.

You are probably correct.

Personally, I play tau only because they were the "Mech" army at the time.

But now it seems like Space Marines are quickly getting more and more Mechs. Centurions, Dread Knights, etc.

How long until we have Space Marine combiners like in Transformers.

Dunno... but let's not talk about it here otherwise it'll be the next "innovation" that Paxton comes up with for the PRDF.

ferrous wrote:

 warboss wrote:
The macross/robotech one did by almost 20 years.

Yeah, I always got the impression that the Tau were created as an attempt to get anime/mecha fans interested in 40k.

AFAIK from the conversations I had when working there, it was.

 Albertorius wrote:

ferrous wrote:

 warboss wrote:
The macross/robotech one did by almost 20 years.

Yeah, I always got the impression that the Tau were created as an attempt to get anime/mecha fans interested in 40k.

AFAIK from the conversations I had when working there, it was.

Why, in the world, did they make the lower legs so small?

Not only is it a structural weak point, it looks rather silly on a mech.

What possessed GW to use that design?

((sorry to go off topic here, but I have to know! ))

 warboss wrote:
Dunno... but let's not talk about it here otherwise it'll be the next "innovation" that Paxton comes up with for the PRDF.

*shudders*

 Albertorius wrote:

ferrous wrote:

 warboss wrote:
The macross/robotech one did by almost 20 years.

Yeah, I always got the impression that the Tau were created as an attempt to get anime/mecha fans interested in 40k.

AFAIK from the conversations I had when working there, it was.

You worked at GW hq?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Firebreak wrote:

 warboss wrote:
Dunno... but let's not talk about it here otherwise it'll be the next "innovation" that Paxton comes up with for the PRDF.

*shudders*

Scary but possible. First they crammed in Gundams into Heavy Gear. Next up potentially is Transformers. If you really want to be horrified, just think of the potential revamp of the Northern line into beast wars tranformers! Kodiaks modelled with real fur where the SMS mode is an actual mechabear!

The Ferret already comes very close to Transformers. Probably as close as the "feasible" nature of HG (and reality) allows.

*glares pointedly in the direction of Gearstriders*

Vanguard-13 wrote:Why, in the world, did they make the lower legs so small?

Not only is it a structural weak point, it looks rather silly on a mech.

What possessed GW to use that design?

((sorry to go off topic here, but I have to know! ))

On that your guess is as good as mine. I never asked ^_^.

warboss wrote:You worked at GW hq?

Nope, just at Spain's. That was from conversations with visiting VIPs and the like.

I am staggeringly disappointed by the 20th Anniversary "celebration."

A joke-mini and a jpeg labelled as a poster. This is bordering on insulting, for how much they talked about being 20 years old.

And yes, I realise they're way behind and have no extra money. But they've also had literally years to think of something to do for this. Massive lack of foresight, massive lack of interest in celebrating the heritage and history that was so touted at the outset of the kickstarter. Instead we have a picture that looks like a web banner - featuring only new stuff, by the way - and the same sale they offer a couple times a year. Very poor, very disappointing showing.

Has anyone, anywhere, expressed interest in that ugly chibi model?

Couple people on facebook called it cute.

But it's not even that special, since they already did a chibi, and of course they'd do a Jaeger too.

I had to go take a look at what you were talking about. I basically glossed over the kickstarter update that announced the 20 years. Yeah, that's a bit underwhelming. If it were me, I'd have instead commisioned a special RAFM scale gencon mini for the anniversary to commerate it along with posting stuff like the original gencon ads and announcement of the game from their old mecha press magazine. That gencon rollout was actually how I got into the game as I was a fan of theirs from their macross 2 RPG book days and an occasional browser of the mecha press magazine. I played IIRC twice in those initial RPG games and didn't realize I was credited as a playtester until the original blitz era.

If I were still posting on the forums, I'd snap some pics of my gencon prereg book (it was early internet days so you had an event catalog mailed to you.. no online registering!) to post for the anniversary. It was ironically my first gencon as well so I kept that book.

Edit: Actually, I was off by a year. My first experience with HG was actually 1994 so apparently prerelease beta testing. The rest of the above is still true though.

 Firebreak wrote:
[..] And yes, I realize they're way behind and have no extra money. [..]

The strange thing about that is that even the most ardent Pod supporters were telling TPTB right from the start that no matter if this was the company's first KS or not delays were going to happen, with some probably being all but inevitable.

Amusingly enough (or not so amusingly, depending on your personal leanings) that basic fact of life for all intents and appearances continues to not be understood.

ferrous wrote:
Has anyone, anywhere, expressed interest in that ugly chibi model?

Apparently, as with so many things, Robert for one.

/shrug - it is what it is, and things are as they are.

_
_

It's been pretty quiet here on the thread but Terra Nova keeps on turnin'! A friend, whom I shall refer to as Nicosa Renault, sent me these links with some thoughts. Any legal eagles or business beavers out there care to comment further? (is a business beaver "a thing" or did I just coin that phrase?) I'm no accounting wizard so won't add much of my own thoughts beyond that I took a peek at the Heavy Gear Assault videogame page and the designs for gears have gotten even worse (specifically the unrecognizable jaguar) and the youtube gameplay footage looks like an HD upres of the 1998 game with no attention paid to advances in game design or changing styles of gameplay. It looks like bunny hopping robots shooting airsoft pellets at each other.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stompy-bot-corporation-formerly-scorp-energy-ltd-and-stompy-bot-productions-inc-complete-business-combination-2015-06-22

http://www.investorx.ca/search/00036950/stompy-bot-corporation

Highlights :
- Stompy Prod posted 600k $CA deficit for the 2014 year.
- Most of that deficit comes from paying Mektek salaries, in the form of shares.
- The IP deal with DP9 was 15% of the sale, with a 20k advance. It looks like DP9 has made 20k, and not more above that...
- As recently as late june, Stompy Prod merged with another company Scorp Energy, searching for non-existent records revealed SE was an empty shell created for the sole purpose of merging with Stompy, and owned by another company, Web Watchers Systems. WWS looks to be a venture capital investment fund.
- As part of the above deal, SE offered a 340k $CA loan to Stompy in march, secured by Stompy assets.
- Prior to the merging, Stompy posted a deficit of 1.3m $CA (if I'm reading right).
- Stompy released HGA for sale on the month following the merger.

Her forecast was grim judging from the finances.

Looks to me like Stompy is bleeding in the water, and the sharks are already circling...
Given the timing, I'm betting the early release is simply a desperate attempt to reach for the raft.

There's many files in there, including one about their director resigning in july, right after the merge. Not sure if that's a good sign.

Ironically, by getting the 20k in advance, DP9 probably ended up with the best deal overall.

 warboss wrote:
A friend, whom I shall refer to as Nicosa Renault, sent me these links with some thoughts.

I see what you did there . Also, that looks extremely bad.

Also, also, 20k plus a small percentage seems kind of like chump change. But even then, I still can't understand why would someone pay 20k greens to another someone and go right on to make sure nobody aware of the licensed stuff can even recognize it. Looks to me that they would have been better off just pocketing those 20k...

I am summoned from the outer dark to offer explanations.

This sort of deal occurs in two primary cases.

The first is that a company is perceived by the venture capitalists to have potential but cannot continue in its current form due to structural problems; incompetent management is the usual but far from the only one; they might also want to bring in people of real talent, at least at getting turds into boxes for a release; or they think that Stompy Bot has a future making third-rate games for iOS and Android just as soon as they finish this project.

The second is they're going to take the company for everything that's not nailed down, and they've got prybars on standby for the nailed stuff. The money is operating budget while the pink slips go out and keeps the lights on while the venture capital guys steal the chairs so they don't constantly whack their shins on things. This is by far the more common of the two. The loan-and-merger technique gives them a mechanism to take everything the company owns without assuming any of Stompy's financial liabilities. Unless HGA has been significantly more successful than circumstances suggest, it's very likely WWS will take any money that made, all of Stompy's physical and financial assets like computers, chairs, lightbulbs, toilet paper, their licensing deal, whatever, and then moonwalk out of the building whistling a jaunty tune and leaving Stompy a ruined shell of a company unable to pay its rent or any other loans it has.

 warboss wrote:

Her forecast was grim judging from the finances.

Sorry to burst that pretty little analyst's bubble but the merger was complete. Which is exactly what the Market Watch Report said.

Stompy Bot Corporation (formerly Scorp Energy Ltd.) (the "Company") and Stompy Bot Productions, Inc. ("Stompy") are pleased to announce the completion, effective June 18, 2015, of the business combination by way of a three cornered amalgamation (the "Transaction") as contemplated by the plan of arrangement of Web Watcher Systems Ltd. ("Web Watcher") which was completed on June 5, 2015.

As part of that merger Stompy Bot was provided with upfront financing via a promissory note from the public shell to complete the business merger. Now that the merger is complete those funds convert to equity and the shareholders are now Stompy's.

As of Q3, Stompy will be posting that the merger with SCorp Energy Ltd was successful and that is now the company's asset not liability.

Heavy Gear is ongoing development thanks to these assets acquired by Stompy. Of course Heavy Gear alone is not supporting itself to be developed. Much can be said for most other companies with products in development both big and small.

vamman wrote:

 warboss wrote:

Her forecast was grim judging from the finances.

Sorry to burst that pretty little analyst's bubble but the merger was complete. Which is exactly what the Market Watch Report said.

Interesting... what does "complete" means in this context, and why that changes everything? I'm afraid that english lawspeak is not really my forte.

Stompy Bot Corporation (formerly Scorp Energy Ltd.) (the "Company") and Stompy Bot Productions, Inc. ("Stompy") are pleased to announce the completion, effective June 18, 2015, of the business combination by way of a three cornered amalgamation (the "Transaction") as contemplated by the plan of arrangement of Web Watcher Systems Ltd. ("Web Watcher") which was completed on June 5, 2015.

As part of that merger Stompy Bot was provided with upfront financing via a promissory note from the public shell to complete the business merger. Now that the merger is complete those funds convert to equity and the shareholders are now Stompy's.

As of Q3, Stompy will be posting that the merger with SCorp Energy Ltd was successful and that is now the company's asset not liability.

Heavy Gear is ongoing development thanks to these assets acquired by Stompy. Of course Heavy Gear alone is not supporting itself to be developed. Much can be said for most other companies with products in development both big and small.

I'm... not sure I've really understood much of that. Let's see if I got any of it:

As part of that merger Stompy Bot was provided with upfront financing via a promissory note from the public shell to complete the business merger. Now that the merger is complete those funds convert to equity and the shareholders are now Stompy's.

Stompy Bot got a... credit, I guess?, from the public shell to pay for the merger. Is that it? I don't think I understand that "those funds convert to equity" actually mean.

As of Q3, Stompy will be posting that the merger with SCorp Energy Ltd was successful and that is now the company's asset not liability.

Heavy Gear is ongoing development thanks to these assets acquired by Stompy. Of course Heavy Gear alone is not supporting itself to be developed. Much can be said for most other companies with products in development both big and small.

If the credit part is correct, then, even if Scorp is now a company's asset, they would still have to pay back the credit, wouldn't they? And I guess that if they are using Scorp's assets for the game's development, how are they paying for the merger's credit? Or is it just company's deficit to be paid at a later date, with the expentacy that the game will eventually pay that off?

Did I get any of it right?

I see you're new here, btw. Welcome to the forums! Could I politely ask if you have any involvement with the above companies or if you're just elaborating from the public documents?

vamman wrote:

As part of that merger Stompy Bot was provided with upfront financing via a promissory note from the public shell to complete the business merger. Now that the merger is complete those funds convert to equity and the shareholders are now Stompy's.

If the money came from Scorp directly this would be true.

The documents we have access to do not support that.

vamman wrote:
As of Q3, Stompy will be posting that the merger with SCorp Energy Ltd was successful and that is now the company's asset not liability.

This is a gross misrepresentation of my point. While an ongoing merger is treated as a liability since it can fail, the source of the money to provide for it, according to documentation, is WWS and not Scorp. They cannot erase the debt by absorbing the person to whom it is owed if they're not absorbing that entity. Scorp provided a mechanism for the ongoing infusion of cash without the requirement for as much documentation, but the initial loan for costs didn't come from Scorp and won't magically disappear.

Stompy Bot Corporation (formerly Scorp Energy Ltd.) (the "Company") and Stompy Bot Productions, Inc. ("Stompy") are pleased to announce the completion, effective June 18, 2015, of the business combination by way of a three cornered amalgamation (the "Transaction") as contemplated by the plan of arrangement of Web Watcher Systems Ltd. ("Web Watcher") which was completed on June 5, 2015.

Emphasis mine. This is a three-way transaction, as admitted in documents. WWS has an ongoing interest in the proceedings via their initial loan.

 Albertorius wrote:

I see you're new here, btw. Welcome to the forums! Could I politely ask if you have any involvement with the above companies or if you're just elaborating from the public documents?

vanman is from Stompy Bot. He's the chair.

BrandonKF wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

I see you're new here, btw. Welcome to the forums! Could I politely ask if you have any involvement with the above companies or if you're just elaborating from the public documents?

vanman is from Stompy Bot. He's the chair.

Ah, I don't frequent their page. So then that means what he says is insider knowledge? Then hopefully he'll be back and we will be able to clear things up a bit.

Or it could just be vanman trying to convince us there is no war in Eurasia

 doc1234 wrote:
Or it could just be vanman trying to convince us there is no war in Eurasia

I always try to expect the best of everyone, at least until they prove me wrong ^_^

 Albertorius wrote:

 doc1234 wrote:
Or it could just be vanman trying to convince us there is no war in Eurasia

I always try to expect the best of everyone, at least until they prove me wrong ^_^

That is truly the best attitude to take in life, but you have to admit, it is difficult to hold in regards to people involved in making Heavy Gear products.

I don't have much invested in Assault, but I do hope this isn't a "writing on the wall" scenario. They had a bad start with the first (ridiculous) Kickstarter, and the models aren't to my taste, but it doesn't appear to have been as grossly 'd up as Transformers Universe, another recent DOA, arena "mech" game which I had hopeful interest in.

Plus if this IS a big bad omen, my hopes for ever getting a HG3 will sink faster than a Mekongese Mammoth.

BrandonKF wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

I see you're new here, btw. Welcome to the forums! Could I politely ask if you have any involvement with the above companies or if you're just elaborating from the public documents?

vanman is from Stompy Bot. He's the chair.

Ah, thanks. In that case, it would be nice if he could address any other concerns raised like the varied (and seemingly unpopular look) of the models, the gameplay concerns (bunny hopping robots with pellet guns!), or my personal favorite of what the heck happened to that sandboxr idea of printing out minis from the models. I actually like the hunter design they came up with and would love to see a tabletop scale version to use as a Hunter XMG.

 warboss wrote:

BrandonKF wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

I see you're new here, btw. Welcome to the forums! Could I politely ask if you have any involvement with the above companies or if you're just elaborating from the public documents?

vanman is from Stompy Bot. He's the chair.

Ah, thanks. In that case, it would be nice if he could address any other concerns raised like the varied (and seemingly unpopular look) of the models, the gameplay concerns (bunny hopping robots with pellet guns!), or my personal favorite of what the heck happened to that sandboxr idea of printing out minis from the models. I actually like the hunter design they came up with and would love to see a tabletop scale version to use as a Hunter XMG.

Yeah, that Hunter would make a much better Hunter XMG than the official one, which is... not very pretty. The Hunter is the only HGA design I actually like, I think.

 warboss wrote:
(bunny hopping robots with pellet guns!)

Ah, the jump jets of HG2.