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At a recent convention HG said they were pushing and helping PB to complete this, I think that they have a new guy in HG and perhaps the complaints and brand damage are finally sinking in.

I seriously doubt it. Kevin has proven time and again that he will do what he is(n't) going to do when he feels like it. HG may try to nudge, but Kevin will just shrug and return to what he was(n't) doing.

After all, he has Rifts, and he knows that will make him money. And that can't be taken from him.

It does get me thinking - how did PB ever lose the TMNT RPG license? Did it simply get too expensive?

Theoretically, HG could pull the license. That would probably end this farce and put PB on the line for refunds.

 n815e wrote:
Theoretically, HG could pull the license. That would probably end this farce and put PB on the line for refunds.

There you go spreading hope again.
But wait, what happens to their inventory?
A fire sale?

 Stormonu wrote:
I seriously doubt it. Kevin has proven time and again that he will do what he is(n't) going to do when he feels like it. HG may try to nudge, but Kevin will just shrug and return to what he was(n't) doing.

After all, he has Rifts, and he knows that will make him money. And that can't be taken from him.

It does get me thinking - how did PB ever lose the TMNT RPG license? Did it simply get too expensive?

it got too expensive.

 Talizvar wrote:

 n815e wrote:
Theoretically, HG could pull the license. That would probably end this farce and put PB on the line for refunds.

There you go spreading hope again.
But wait, what happens to their inventory?
A fire sale?

LOL. The last thing I want is to spread hope! :-p

OK, at this point, I don't care how many parts the "models" come in. They can be a single cast, or have 800 parts. I don't care. I don't care what material they are cast in. I just WANT WHAT I PAID FOR. This is beyond stupid.

Is there anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who lives in the same city that the PB offices are located in? At this point, a complete outsider would be able to do this job better than the "experts" that are currently ruining this project.

Seriously, I will pay someone to apply for a job with PB, and at least TELL US WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.

I would work for them, FOR FREE, if I lived in their state, just so SOMETHING was done with this disaster...

If I still lived in Ann Arbor, I'd have already gone over there, pitchfork and torch at the ready!

I think that ship has sailed.
Some accountant with a cattle-prod and mace immediately after the KS closed was needed.
I suspect with little or no money to rub together CaptainLoken could be a genius and not be able to do much for them now.

 CaptainLoken wrote:
OK, at this point, I don't care how many parts the "models" come in. They can be a single cast, or have 800 parts. I don't care. I don't care what material they are cast in. I just WANT WHAT I PAID FOR. This is beyond stupid.

Is there anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who lives in the same city that the PB offices are located in? At this point, a complete outsider would be able to do this job better than the "experts" that are currently ruining this project.

Seriously, I will pay someone to apply for a job with PB, and at least TELL US WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.

I would work for them, FOR FREE, if I lived in their state, just so SOMETHING was done with this disaster...

Don't bother. I did plenty for them for free and they ignored it all or waited a couple years and then proclaim the idea as one of their own.

 Mike1975 wrote:

 CaptainLoken wrote:
OK, at this point, I don't care how many parts the "models" come in. They can be a single cast, or have 800 parts. I don't care. I don't care what material they are cast in. I just WANT WHAT I PAID FOR. This is beyond stupid.

Is there anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who lives in the same city that the PB offices are located in? At this point, a complete outsider would be able to do this job better than the "experts" that are currently ruining this project.

Seriously, I will pay someone to apply for a job with PB, and at least TELL US WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.

I would work for them, FOR FREE, if I lived in their state, just so SOMETHING was done with this disaster...

Don't bother. I did plenty for them for free and they ignored it all or waited a couple years and then proclaim the idea as one of their own.

Well if youd done your research you should have known.... I couldn't be bothered going back and finding you saying that to quote, but ha!

Um, there's a few people who have bandied that sentiment around in the past, but I don't recall Mike being one of them.

Oh he did I can assure you, I remember losing respect for him when I read it.

Joyboozer wrote:
Oh he did I can assure you, I remember losing respect for him when I read it.

Oookkkkk..... doesn't matter really. I'm way past the giving a gak with anything PB or RRT related but I'm pretty sure Forar is correct since I'm not a long term PB fan. It was only through luck, rather bad luck, that I ever heard of the KS. I was only somewhat aware of the PB reputation beforehand too. I may have referred to the idea that we should have done more research but I was also included in those that should have done more checking. Either way....meh.

Latest PBWU is up.

Wayne's on vacation for the week.

They found more Raw Previews. Cause please buy them.

Kevin's in talk with Hollywood again. About a non-Rifts IP. And then mentions shopping several more. Why would anyone want to license anything not Robotech or Rifts related? I'm not knowledgeable on PB's IP's, but what else is there that isn't just a straight genre clone? I mean that seems to be their schtick. Take a genre (fantasy, superheroes, spys, supernatural, zombies) slap a PB framework on it, and voila, a new product line that they'll ignore, is born. Anyways, he was super excited. And we know often Kevin's enthusiasm translates into results.

That's the point my eyes start to glaze over, and I start skimming.

Oh Rifter. Whoopee. Another shift up of a promised release, and the ignoring of the several promised releases that are now late. Wowee! Oh, another spiel to please buy Raw Previews. Wheee!

Oh look, Christmas Grab Bags are back! With that very specific pricing again! Just say you'll get at least double the initial fething price, and quit with the "$89 to $95 OR MORE" crap. And all the claims it'll be great. There's even a disclaimer!

WARNING: Many gamers cannot stop with just one Christmas Surprise Package. Many order two or three. Some order six, seven and more. We always try to make each Grab Bag truly special, as the thousands of you who have ordered in the past know well. If you have never ordered a Palladium Christmas Grab Bag before, give it a try early, because you’ll be blown away and probably want to order a few more! You have been warned.

Seriously, I've been ill, and that makes me a little queasy.

Mention of the RRT cards hidden in a general DTRPG spiel that more heavily promotes the stuff that they give a rat's ass about.

Another "Please Buy Kevin's Crap At Auction" notice.

And as for RRT, they have a short spiel about it being the number one Anime on Crackle (wtf is Crackle?), the movie might be more a reality (seen no evidence of that), more Robotech is being licensed (Harmony Gold's last effort?), PB is gearing up for Wave 2 (*makes spanking motion*), and PLEASE BUY OUR STUFF.

Then the usual advertising spiel, with six, I repeat SIX books, advertised as being out by "Fall". Not including two Rifters. That's HOH:Arsenal, Secrets of Atlanteans, Disavowed, Haunted Tech, Garden of the Gods, all due before Winter, which I have been told by Forar in the US ends changes late December. And Hell Followed, due to ship October. I hope Kevin realizes that's THIS month. Note, that all of these books were on the "Completed by End of July" list, except Arsenal which is an extension of the original HoH. So for those keeping track, of the 8 books promised for first half, they got one done. And I don't have much hope they'll accomplish much more than that in the second half. Because they have zero ability to focus and complete a project.

Maybe he's trying to sell the rights to his life story.

His life story (if told truthfully) would actually make a great movie, culminating into the meltdown of what we are seeing happen right now.

I would honestly rather pay money to see it than the live action robotech movie. Especially if it involves something akin to a "hitler finds out how much wave 2 is going to cost" kind of scene.

Man, I am up way too late, tommorow I finally get to play this damn game, will get some pics for you guys.

Morgan, you forgot to mention that all of kev's energies in October wil be directed to his "Halloween" party. Shucks I believe this is the only thing he has been known to deliver on time.

No mention at all of the supposed tenders they were waiting on. Probably waiting on that Hollywood gold to pour in, but like you I am baffled as to which of their generic IP's is such a desirable commodity

Let's see. Going by Wikipedia's list, we have;

- After the Bomb: post-apocalyptic mutant animals. Cartoon or video game, maybe, but probably too effects heavy for tv or cinema. "Isn't this just TNMT without the Turtles?"

- Beyond the Supernatural. Generic horror. Nothing that I know that distinguishes itself from any other of thousands of comics, books, or other such genre work. Bonus points; they'd probably have to change the name to avoid getting squashed by Supernatural, which I'd need an entire barrel of popcorn to enjoy watching happen.

- Rifts Chaos Earth. Apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy. Don't see how this would have greater appeal than, say, Shadowrun which is (far as I've heard) actually releasing books and games these past few years, and I hope I don't have to argue that Shadowrun presumably has a larger fanbase. But it also probably costs more, we'll get into that later.

- Dead Reign. Generic zombies. Zombies are hot right now, but see above point; there's nothing I'm aware of that makes it its own thing.

- Heroes Unlimited. Generic superheroes. See Dead Reign.

- Macross 2. Licensed, not actually theirs.

- Mechanoid Invasion. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. No.

- Nightbane. This... maybe. Of their in house settings, this one hits a few current topics, has some effects that might work with low effort or practically with minor enhancements. Setting doesn't require a lot of set dressing, can be put anywhere (teen high school drama, police procedural, X-Files rip off with a more supernatural bend to the larger arc, etc.

- Ninjas & Superspies. Genericy McGenericface.

- PFRPG. Lawl. I shouldn't even need to go into why this isn't happening. If D&D or Pathfinder can't have a tv show (currently on the air) and the D&D movies are stains on cinema, this D&D house mod isn't getting into theaters or onto screens anytime soon.

- Phase World. I cannot believe there's much demand for this.

- Revised RECON. Generic war-fighter stuff.

- Rifts. Already optioned, hasn't even gotten as far as 'development hell' in nearly a decade and a half.

- Robotech. Licensed, obviously.

- Splicers. Offshoot of Heroes Unlimited, as I recall, has an actual setting.

- Systems Failure. With Stranger Days' popularity, I could see a pre-Y2K 'period piece' having some appeal. Not too different from current times to make locations easy, get some music, build into something people might remember (young adults at least) or on the mystique of what we all supposedly thought (I should check on my beans and ammo stockpile).

- TMNT. Licensed.

- Valley of the Pharaohs. No. Just reboot The Mummy ffs (spoiler: this is a joke on like three levels... at least two... but it's two levels less than Palladium are innately)

Palladium's problem is that their goal/system is basically "here's the tools for the genre/setting, now build your own!" Very few of their lines have, as far as I know at least, a driving narrative that's really pulling people in. A few have more detailed world building effort put into them, but I can't fathom some producer gushing about how audiences will respond to The Wolfen Empire.

Which brings me to my next thought; that's why people are talking to them. Their entertainment industry clout is non-existent, they struggle to put actual products on shelves (both in terms of completing them, and in how few stores seem to be willing to hold onto them). Frankly, their gaky standings may be the appeal; get a name/setting with a little world building in place for a song, work from there. It's not the existing fandom that holds appeal (all hundreds of them), but someone lazy looking for part of the work to be done that they can get for a pittance.

I could be wrong. Maybe DC and Marvel's income is giving more legs to HU or Splicers, maybe CGI is getting cheap enough that doing Rifts well (fighting future nazis, woo!) could work, maybe some video games want to do Super Heroes or Horror or Sci-Fi or Fantasy but can't be bothered to buy up a license with enough pull to actually require more than pocket change?

But I doubt it.

And all of that still ignores the fact that not only do they have a small (admittedly rabid) fanbase, but the active dislike that exists out there, from people who hate their system, to RRT backers, to the simply toxic environment they cultivate on their own forums. Any dreams they might have of leveraging such a project would have to overcome the fact that finding people who actively dislike or loathe them online is not remotely hard to do, and anything big enough for general/global distribution will have people poking around for info/history and gleefully writing up about this company that appears to be subsisting on hairline margins ($89-95! Just say "double or more!", the specificity raises more questions than it allays, and shoutout to Morgan for being on the same page there!) and via the owner selling off art and toys on eBay.

The one product line that seems to have real legs in the gaming community (at least in the "oh, yeah, I played that back in high school..." sense) is already optioned. I can believe another maybe catching someone's eye in the bargain bin. I'm having a hard time believing people are chomping at the bit for Generic War Stuff and Generic Horror, unless it's about getting $500 worth of work for $5 and then doing the other million yourself. Y'know, save a little for the Christmas party's drink budget.

Morgan Vening wrote:

Oh look, Christmas Grab Bags are back! With that very specific pricing again! Just say you'll get at least double the initial fething price, and quit with the "$89 to $95 OR MORE" crap. And all the claims it'll be great. There's even a disclaimer!

WARNING: Many gamers cannot stop with just one Christmas Surprise Package. Many order two or three. Some order six, seven and more. We always try to make each Grab Bag truly special, as the thousands of you who have ordered in the past know well. If you have never ordered a Palladium Christmas Grab Bag before, give it a try early, because you’ll be blown away and probably want to order a few more! You have been warned.

Seriously, I've been ill, and that makes me a little queasy.

Honestly, I'm wondering what effect FFG's Thanksgiving sale will have on this? Even if I were the type to spend money on PB's garbage, this year, with FFG losing their GW license, I imagine I'm not the only one keeping some money ready to go for that clearance sale.

Guys Id bet money he just made the whole thing up. I have no doubt some volunteer is trying to shop their IP around, just as I have no doubt noone cares. Plenty of other properties around where the owner is more reasonable.

Palladium has historically had an agreement with a licensing agent to try and get their I.P.'s into other realms.

I forget the name of the firm, but it was the same one who did the licensing for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is probably why Palladium wound up with that RPG for a while.

Could be that the guy managed to get a few nibbles.

Yup. And since Kevin would never lie or exaggerate, clearly that must be what is going on.

The Malcontents traverse the wasteland to bring death to the UEDF!




We ended up playing a 4 player game at Rincon (2 teams, 1 squad each player) and the way the game works with alternating squad activations it went really smoothly. The game itself was brutal. My teammate lost both his valkyries and a couple of gnerls early on, but I was able to use my phalanx and take out an entire squad of enemy valkyries in one turn, while my artillery pods put a huge amount of hurt on the enemy destroids. The Malcontents ended up winning the field on turn 3. Missiles make or break a team when there isn't a ton of cover on the table. The pics I took of the battle in the gallery linked in the spoiler for anyone interested. I had a blast finally getting to play and really look forward to more, but man, there are aspects of this game that need serious revision.




Edit:

I forgot to mention that there was actual prize support for the game, and swag in the form of a dogtag (granted it was dated for last year). I find it worth mentioning because handing out minis for a win is more than I have seen from any other casual event in a loooong time.

Based on the product line subforums, their most popular series are:

Rifts: 485k posts
HU: 108k
Robotech: 108k
Rifts Dimension Books: 69k
PFRPG: 56k

Everything else is under 20k, some by a very considerable margin (Mechanoids has 1,854, Systems Failure 1,842, Recon is under 4k, Chaos Earth is under 9k).

This isn't necessarily relevant to how a given development team might use a property, but it's pretty clear what the breadwinner is, what actually has an existing fanbase.

Which means either it's Rifts (already optioned) or something that they don't care about having an existing fanbase for (my 'they just want an existing setting to save time/heavy lifting on that aspect)

Edit: topical if because PB's financials being in question has been a long standing issue, and their alleged Hollywood Connections keep coming up, so it's fair to look over their gak and say "well, what's actually there".

And that's not haters. That's active participation by fans and detractors and everyone, all in their house. Anyone can go look at them and see what's drawing eyes and comments, and what isn't.

RRT itself sits at 6,661 posts, which struck me as a little funny.

Jefffar wrote:
I forget the name of the firm, but it was the same one who did the licensing for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is probably why Palladium wound up with that RPG for a while.

Nope. Only the comic was involved initially.

TMNTaOS was published 1985.

First cartoon was 1987. First movie was 1990.

And it's not like it did any favours for PB. Kevin is apparently on record (it's an audio interview, so I ain't listening) saying those two things killed the commercialization of, and in turn, the license for Palladium.

Nice photos Swabby, the minis look great and that shuttle makes a cool terrain piece. It's nice to hear about people actually enjoying the game.

Shuttle wasn't mine, I just brought the minis and the playmat. In my head canon the malcontents were trying to secure the shuttle to head into orbit. It was pretty entertaining.

Nice paint jobs, Swabby. You really captured the show style.

Have an exalt swabby, nice work