Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!

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**Genoside07**

That is really sad... when someone in leadership is so Hyper unaware of their surroundings.
And I always thought it was Karma that caused him to get ran over by the truck...

I am waiting for a posting from Kevin that he was not aware of any issues with RTT

One of the other thing I noticed is the low quality of the art they are now using. The cover art
is now just reissued work, colored in line art.. or worse Poser art.. for the people that are not aware
of this type of art is, there are computer programs out there called Poser and Daz3d that are low end
3d graphic programs.
People with some talent can use the program as a springboard for some crazy beautiful looking stuff
but a novice will still be able use it like a computerized version of paper dolls in attempt to make a
sad digital scene. This is what Palladium is putting out now... and they are calling it cover art..

**Alpharius**

That does sound bad - got any links or pics to share?

**Albertorius**

Alpharius wrote:
That does sound bad - got any links or pics to share?

I think this is one of their latest covers:

By the way... is "Carmen" usually a guy name over there? Because it weirds me the feth out every time I see it.

**Alpharius**

Carmen is a rather old school option for a man here in the USA, sure!

Though I only know of 2, and both are over 65.

**GabrielV**

Albertorius wrote:

I think this is one of their latest covers:

I think that one is back from before the RRT Kickstarter started. It definitely marks a low point Does anyone know who is credited as the cover artist for that one? I don't have any art program skills whatsoever, and have only messed with Poser (version 6, I think) years and years ago, and I can say with some confidence that if you gave me a few hours on an asset resource site and with the program, I could easily bang together a cover the equal of that. It doesn't even look like it's been through any post-Poser Photoshop tweaking.

Since then, Uncle Kev has used the RRT money to get some better Rifts covers.

**Alpharius**

Interesting!

Pics of the post-RTT Rifts Covers, showing this improved art?

**Genoside07**

Thank you Albertorius, that is the stinker art in question..
Thank you Gabriel IV for reinforcing my views of poser.

Don't get me wrong there are some true Poser artist out there..
You can see some outstanding work on Renderosity the main home page for this type of work. But the Rift covers are not it.
Another amazing "poser" artist you can look at is Shannon Maer
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNAp-IBGREOyMI6vLhf9Vgg
He understands focal points and other things needed for good art, while using the program as a art model/pre layout instead
of a finished product.

I don't claim to be an expert artist or anything, but I do know how much time is needed to get a certain look.
Again, I'm not trying to shame any Poser artist out there, but you would think a company would want their cover
art to be their best foot forward to attract in customers..not with floating crates and weird looking arm joints.

Even with other Kickstarters you can tell about how much time they have placed in the artwork. That will give you a
barometer on how things will go in the future of the project.

Not trying to high jack the tread, but it just shows the money needed for over seas injection molding of Wave 2 is a lot more
than someone will need to pay for cover art.. And it looks like Palladium can even afford that...

**Talizvar**

I am a bit late in the thread but thanks Mike for that window into PB business.

At least Kevin was saying the right words but it looked like most of the language he used was for positioning so it was legal to use your content.
He was probably thinking he narrowly missed being sued for misappropriation of your "work", the pointing out it was derived from his IP and HG's was an excellent means of trying to prevent any thoughts around that line. BUT it was very clear the work was sufficiently appreciated he made it clear he was interested.

The stealth deletions are rather sad.
I am unsure where I would feel it is a board's best interest to make it appear a post never existed but it would warrant at least a quick PM.
At the very least to explain why the behavior is not wanted and suggest another means of communicating that "improper" post.
Even in self interest it would prevent that rather insistent 10 posts again by the same person until it was acknowledged.

**Merijeek**

Mike1975 wrote:

I was unaware that Jeff sent Carmen YOUR material (additions to rules and fixes to certain rules questions and clarifications), so all this time I was under the misconception that this was all Carmen Bellaire's work. When I got your email saying "I think something like 80% or more of this is word for word what I had done up," I was surprised. When I was able to contact Carmen, he said, "Yeah, a lot of this is Mike's or inspired by Mike's work. He has some really good ideas." Carmen went on to explain that Jeff Burke had led him to believe this was material created for Palladium Books for future rules. Since Carmen liked a lot of what you had done, he incorporated it into the rules believing it already belonged to Palladium Books. He was shocked and apologetic to learn otherwise. Neither Wayne nor I were kept in the loop on this matter.

I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

But he still finds time to blame an entire chain of people. Because it's Kevin "The bad things are never my fault!" Simbieda.

**Albertorius**

Alpharius wrote:
Carmen is a rather old school option for a man here in the USA, sure!

Though I only know of 2, and both are over 65.

Interesting... over here (and I think the general spanish-speaking world) it's exclusively a female name.

**jaymz**

Hey Mike....wasn't kevin the one you emailed the conventional rules to in the first place, not jeff burke?

**Genoside07**

Another thing I noticed is the Rifts board game miniature videos are being posted to his personal YouTube channel.
He started the channel about five years ago and posted a number of videos, but the channel has been abandoned
for the past few years until he posted the new prototype videos.

That is True Palladium Games work ethic shown on his own channel..
1. Promise Big
2. Work Hard for a short while
3. Loose interest and stop
4. Abandon project
5. Wait years to restart process.

**Merijeek**

#2 is debatable, and there should be a #2.5 showing "try to get other people to do the work".

**jaymz**

Iirc most of his videos are "reviews" of pb product

**Talizvar**

jaymz wrote:
Iirc most of his videos are "reviews" of pb product

Well, I am glad there is someone impartially reviewing their product!

When you spend enough time in a hobby, you can pretty much make "a silk purse our of a sow's ear" the trick is finding the incentive to do so.
I think PB repeatedly over value their IP and figure that as long as it has the name Rifts or Robotech that we will buy it just for that reason alone.
They tend to underestimate that making a clunky product that is difficult to use / build is a bad idea for those who have not drunk the PB cool-aid.
That is unless they are like GW and do not want those kinds of customers: they need to be PB fan/friends.

**CaptKaruthors**

Wow. These emails imply that Jeff was at fault. Is that why he got fired? He had to take one for the team? The fact that Kevin was "unaware" is shameful. It's your business, pal...a business that has roughly 5 FN employees reporting to you. sheesh.

Mike1975 wrote:
On the plagiarism here is the email content....Kevin was not aware initially of the issue until I brought it up this way. Trying to be professional but at the same time I was really pissed at the blatant theft and the idea that Carmen was somewhat innocent in this is completely preposterous. He knew exactly what he had and where it came from.

My Initial Email......

I've not gone through it all in detail. I think something like 80% or more of this is word for word what I had done up. Glad it was useful and I hope to work with things some more. The guys on the Facebook page are testing some of the other stuff I did like the other conventional units not included here and for the most part are happy with how things are working out. I like the change from units doing infantry damage to just all MD. It will make the game a bit faster. I've made some notes here and will make a few more. We can discuss on the RRT MA Facebook page some more over the weekend. I'm confident we can have it all worked out quickly.

Mike Arnold

Response......

Hi Mike,

I want to apologize for some confusion. As you know Jeff Burke is no longer with Palladium Books. Jeff was the guy who was the go between with you and Carmen and others.

I was unaware that Jeff sent Carmen YOUR material (additions to rules and fixes to certain rules questions and clarifications), so all this time I was under the misconception that this was all Carmen Bellaire's work. When I got your email saying "I think something like 80% or more of this is word for word what I had done up," I was surprised. When I was able to contact Carmen, he said, "Yeah, a lot of this is Mike's or inspired by Mike's work. He has some really good ideas." Carmen went on to explain that Jeff Burke had led him to believe this was material created for Palladium Books for future rules. Since Carmen liked a lot of what you had done, he incorporated it into the rules believing it already belonged to Palladium Books. He was shocked and apologetic to learn otherwise. Neither Wayne nor I were kept in the loop on this matter.

Obviously your work is derivative of Palladium Books' published works (and Harmony Gold), but we can NOT just "take it" and use it!!

So Mike, first, I want to apologize for not giving you credit in the Weekly Updates.

Second, I need your permission for Palladium Books to use your work (with changes and additions and additional stats as we deem necessary or desirable) and make them "official" parts of Robotech RPG Tactics rules. Of course, YOU will be given credit!

Third, I need to send you a contract and pay you something for your contribution. I cannot afford to pay a lot. I'm hoping something like $100 and credit will suffice.

Please let me know at your earliest convenience if this is acceptable. And sorry for any confusion. Just too much going on and bad communication the part of Jeff.

Nice work, btw, on the material you turned in. Obviously we like it a lot.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda

Later from Wayne Smith....

Hi Mike,

I'm writing because I haven't heard back from you yet, and I want to make sure things are good between us. As I said in my previous email, we (Wayne and I) were not aware that Carmen was incorporating your rules, which is why your name was not included in Updates about it. I will certainly make sure you get the credit you deserve (assuming you allow us to use them) and would like to see you more directly involved in the future of RRT.

Of course, that's if you are interested in future contributions to the RRT game system and product line.

If you are willing to let us use the current rules as sent to you by Wayne (incorporating a lot of your work), we'd like to post it very soon as "official" material, and offer you a token payment and credit. I can not afford a lot, and rules are always tricky. Wondering, has this already appeared on your own website?

Working more formally in the future, we'll need to work out some ideas for fair compensation, we'll need signed agreements and of course you will get credit for your contributions, past and present.

I hope this confusion on our part (particularly my own) has not caused you any serious consternation. Thank you for caring about this product line. I hope this recent incident with the rules has not upset you. Take care and thank you for all you've done to promote and encourage RRT.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda

My future contributions will ONLY be upon request for and by the fans, such as Brian Ledbetter wanting to finish up the Robotech Masters stuff. I have only been working on Nodal Wars, which I like a lot more although it takes a bit more time to play, since late last year when I threw in the towel.

Now the question is how long until this gets passed on to KS by his partners in crime here.

**Mike1975**

jaymz wrote:
Hey Mike....wasn't kevin the one you emailed the conventional rules to in the first place, not jeff burke?

I'd have to go back and look. Can't remember offhand.

**Merijeek**

CaptKaruthors wrote:
Wow. These emails imply that Jeff was at fault. Is that why he got fired? He had to take one for the team? The fact that Kevin was "unaware" is shameful. It's your business, pal...a business that has roughly 5 FN employees reporting to you.

Well...that and a couple dozen unpaid freelancers.

**evilsmurf**

I call bs on him being unaware. More like he got caught and was trying to get a feel for what Mike might do.

And of course he's blaming Jeff. Thats what buses are for.

**Genoside07**

evilsmurf wrote:
And of course he's blaming Jeff. That's what buses are for.

Hey... Whats that coming down the road??, Looks like a bus marked Carmen

**jaymz**

^I see what you did there lol

**Merijeek**

I believe it's called "predicting the future".

**CaptKaruthors**

Lolz. So true. I wonder what Jeff thinks. Someone should track that guy down and hear his side of the story in that mess.

evilsmurf wrote:
I call bs on him being unaware. More like he got caught and was trying to get a feel for what Mike might do.

And of course he's blaming Jeff. Thats what buses are for.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
I predicted the future once...

Merijeek wrote:
I believe it's called "predicting the future".

**megatrons2nd**

Oh look, PB posted an "update" on KS. So much sales pitch, so little information.

**Alpharius**

Update #196

Feb 3 2017
Robotech® RPG Tactics™ – 2017 release
36 Comments
7 likes

I know it has taken a very long time to fulfill this Kickstarter, and for that I am very sorry. More sorry than some of you may be able to imagine. But we are dedicated to getting Wave 2 done and in your hands by the end of 2017. Not only that, but we want to make it amazing. Our Kickstarter backers and fans have waited so long for RRT Wave 2, that if we can make improvements we want to do so. We have been frustrated by many aspects of production that clash with what we know would make a superior product. Moreover, we want to offer organized play support, scenario books, and the next several Waves of RRT products. We have never given up on our dream to make Robotech® RPG Tactics™ amazing.

We are working on something exciting right now that, if it pans out, could change everything and help us bring you RRT Wave Two by the end of 2017. We want to bring Robotech® to life on the table top like never before, and we are working hard to make this happen.

We have not released details these many months because everything has been in motion, and still is. There have been times when we thought we had firm plans for moving forward, only to have something occur to change them – good or bad. Case in point, we had pretty much resigned ourselves to being unable to significantly lower the part count in the RRT game pieces. However, we are suddenly readdressing that as we explore new possibilities that have surfaced. In fact, I have spent most of the week on this very matter. We are working on all of this with the desire to bring you something great, not just crap it out to be done with it. We have big dreams for Robotech® on several fronts, and are trying to make them all happen. To that end we have had many positive and exciting conversations with Harmony Gold and other interested parties. I know it is a lot to ask, but please hang in there with us. We think we have something truly fun brewing.

On a smaller scale, Harmony Gold has approved our proposal and art concepts for the first RRT Scenario Book and our plans for the Ghost Fleet Saga™ series.

The RRT Macross® Saga Scenario Book One will present mission scenarios based on the first half of the Robotech® Macross® Saga era of the television show. That means many missions and battles that are part of the iconic events, characters and story of the Robotech® Macross® Saga. RRT Macross® Saga Scenario Book Two is already in development and will provide all the remaining chapters of the Robotech® Macross® Saga.

The Ghost Fleet Saga™ is expected to be a series of RPG adventure sourcebooks that will create new Robotech® RPG and RRT factions and settings to game in. The time period is the decade between the UEEF’s departure from Earth and their return in New Generation. This means the setting incorporates the mecha of several Robotech® eras (Macross® Saga, The Masters Saga, New Generation and the beginnings of Shadow technology). The UEEF uses the new (and dangerous) Shadow technology in covert operations against the Regent and his Invid and Inorganics, as well as space pirates and renegade Zentraedi. This series will offer a wide range of stories, new mecha and adventures in space and on alien worlds.

If you need to change/update your address in BackerKit, please send us a message through Kickstarter, or an email to kickstarter@palladiumbooks.com, and we’ll take care of it. A lot of people have been submitting address changes. Excellent! Please, keep those address changes coming in. Thank you.

– Kevin Siembieda

**Morgan Vening**

Sooo.... much..... wankery.

I think maybe backers should report that Update to Kickstarter. I know these things are subjective, but I'm pretty sure that post is offensive.

Not insofar as profanity, or sexual content. Just an insult to backers intelligence.

**Forar**

I still hold that updating my address for this clusterfeth may be the greatest unintentional evidence that I am in fact an eternal optimist.

**Alpharius**

"Updating Your Address" feels like the equivalent to clicking 'unsubscribe' on a spam e-mail - i.e., the wrong thing to do, because now they now you're there, and paying attention!

Forar - isn't there a 'drop dead date' here for when they promised ACTUAL details on Wave 2 stuff - and not the usual "We've got plans - BIG PLANS - but we can't tell you - just in case they don't work out and/or there are changes!" line?

An interesting wrinkle this time around was how there were unexpected changes to their plans and that was a...good thing?

**Genoside07**

We have big plans for RTT until Rifts Board game Kickstarter backing is complete...

**Asterios**

Morgan Vening wrote:
Sooo.... much..... wankery.

I think maybe backers should report that Update to Kickstarter. I know these things are subjective, but I'm pretty sure that post is offensive.

Not insofar as profanity, or sexual content. Just an insult to backers intelligence.

Kickstarter has their money so they do not care and have said as much.