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2018/04/17 15:07:08
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
Doing some rough, rough philisophical math. If PB has about two employees working the swap (they only have 6 employees in the first place, Kevin isn’t going to be pulled away from photographing geese and they still have to handle the “day to day” Christmas bundle requests), and they can process an order start to finish in about 30 minutes with a 7 hour workday (got do the “start your morning” thing and “just got back from lunch” thing), that’s about 14 orders per employee - roughly 28, maybe 30 orders a day.
Since it took them a week to respond to my e-mail I sent on the last day, and will take probably another week to actually pull anything, it looks like they have about 6 (work) weeks worth of orders to pull, total.
That would indicate somewhere around 900 swaps in total. Around about 16% of backers taking the swap. Which would have been a percent above the top I’d have gueesed without the psuedomath.
Does this seem about right to everyone else?
It never ends well
2018/04/17 21:13:40
Subject: Re:Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
TalonZahn wrote: I might have mentioned it before, but will again...
My bet is that PB wanted to exchange first with the heavy hitters in the Pledge Manager / Backer Kit.
The people they owed larger amounts of money probably got priority because if they can clear out the big fish, the little ones are less likely to go after them... maybe?
I don't know that this is the case. I put in my message rather late (3/15) and only had a Showdown with $90 extra but I got my RRV very rapidly (received 3/28).
I posted my exact timeline to the comments on the KS.
n815e wrote: Not that I expected anything different, but:
1) people are complaining that they submitted their lists early and are only just hearing back
2) they are being told that what they requested is out of stock
3) yet anyone who gave them a call got instantaneous service
4) which completely contradicts their statement that lists were filled in the order that they came
5) out of stock items include common expansion boxes like Spartans which were still in stock to buy on their site from non-backers until 4/2
I think n815e may be closer to the case. I did follow their exact instructions, had all my info ahead (RRV, backer #, etc...), and called them to follow-up.
I think that they are pulling the calls first as they fear continued calls. They certainly are not pulling them in the order received.
And (not to make anyone feel bad) I got my Spartans and a Miryia.
Of course, it may also matter who you speak to. The first person I spoke with seemed harried/disinterested but I spoke with Alex in the later contacts and he was both professional and pleasant.
(long time lurker, first time poster on dakka)
2018/04/17 22:30:00
Subject: Re:Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
It does make me sad to see things like that... Makes me wonder what the game could have been..
Instead of the train wreak it became...
As for how many people took the trade deal.. no one outside of Palladium will never know..
Just doing napkin math.. I think only about 20% of the backer took the deal..
They still owe me about $150 in product (now a refund per the TOS) and if I am the average
customer they need about 40k to cover it.. I don't think they have ever made that kind of money
in the past few years outside of the kickstarter..
2018/04/18 03:25:58
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
https://www.facebook.com/capricon.org/ Kevin is a "Guest of Honor" at Capricon this year
People are letting the convention know what kind of man this is. I think anyone who has a FB account should.
He needs to be blacklisted from the industry.
Evil Genius at absolutely - Muffins! Dakkamuffins! Gubstop urlurk's big un! 7000 points(and growing!)
Lobukia wrote: One does not simply insult a mega-troll
2018/04/18 05:23:28
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
dreamakuma wrote: https://www.facebook.com/capricon.org/
Kevin is a "Guest of Honor" at Capricon this year
People are letting the convention know what kind of man this is. I think anyone who has a FB account should.
He needs to be blacklisted from the industry.
Apparently Capricon are taking it into account. Granted they've just form lettered most posts with the following message, but it is something at least, and we'll see what the response is after they've had some time to reconsider.
"Capricon Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I have no official statement right now, but please know that what you have written is being looked into."
2018/04/18 07:06:15
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
This is RRT-scaled and done with an Anycubic Photon DLP printer that's being sold at Amazon for less than $500
I'm really interested in buying this 3d printer but i thought that this one was not really easy to handle.
Can you give me your opinion ? Do you have any tips useful ?
Well, I don't have it yet so any information is hearsay more than anything, but a couple of acquaintances already got them, and they were very positive. It's 90% ready to go right out of the box except for bank calibration, and at least with the UV resin included the test results they've shown me were surprisingly good.
Some people on the FB group for the printer have been collating the temp, curing time per layer and so on needed to use for best results with a fair amount of different resins, so that would be a good place to start.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/04/18 12:28:44
2018/04/18 20:10:46
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
dreamakuma wrote: https://www.facebook.com/capricon.org/
Kevin is a "Guest of Honor" at Capricon this year
People are letting the convention know what kind of man this is. I think anyone who has a FB account should.
He needs to be blacklisted from the industry.
Apparently Capricon are taking it into account. Granted they've just form lettered most posts with the following message, but it is something at least, and we'll see what the response is after they've had some time to reconsider.
"Capricon Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I have no official statement right now, but please know that what you have written is being looked into."
It looks like the photo announcement and associated comments have be pulled; wonder if this means they'll be announcing a revised guest, or just hoping no one else asks?
2018/04/18 21:03:28
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
TwoGunBob wrote: Word came down from Capricon that Siembieda has been removed as guest of honor.
Yep, see no Kevin in the "special guest" pull-down.
You know, this is exactly the kind of stuff that hurts/enrages Kevin: not getting his attention fix.
Still do not see him listed in Anime North In May just yet.
Ah well, as long as anyone is willing to RPG with him as GM, it is all good.
It is very important to be able to create worlds where you are in control.
A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
Napoleon Bonaparte
2018/04/18 23:01:00
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
Still, it looks like Palladium Books backed out of the convention.
Better to decide you did not want to be there, than to be told not to come.
Proof of more than just a "vocal minority" would be hard to dismiss as well.
I must thank those who were willing to go so far as signing the "ban", with this project apathy is becoming the norm.
The "justice" is rather slight all things considered.
I bet Palladium Books is sitting on more money than they ever had, despite protests to the contrary.
A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
Napoleon Bonaparte
2018/04/19 20:24:45
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
If the community remains vocal and pressures every venue that Palladium wishes to attend, that's another.
Yes, the biggest hit is against Kevin's ego, but even if they only sell a few books and some pencils, it's still a reduced option from an already paltry list of potential sources of profit.
And unlike much 'internet outrage', it's well deserved at that. A signal that one doesn't get to lie to, mislead, and obfuscate matters for thousands of backers for nearly half a decade and then say 'oops, nothing to be done, want some junk, also peace we out' and not suffer the consequences of that notoriety.
Luckily for us, they thrive on self driven publicity. Every event they plan to attend, every possible award or commendation they are supposed to be granted, will be announced well ahead of time. Which gives people time to, in turn, express their displeasure.
A number of people with differing opinions (or just outright trolling) have demanded 'oh yeah, what are you gonna do!' to backers who were angry or frustrated. Well, surprise surprise, there are avenues other than 'do nothing' and 'spend thousands of dollars on a court case'. In this day and age of social media, pissing off a large number of people can be its own consequence, and one that remains for quite some time.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/04/19 21:32:29
2018/04/19 21:53:05
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
Forar got about the size of it. It takes nothing more than a few minutes to rattle off a couple emails regarding Palladium's handling of things to places that might not be in the know. I just generally seem to have a few minutes when I'm letting a miniature dry or resting my hands from balalaika practice to write an email or two. Palladium is far, far from some untouchable goliath in the gaming industry. Being a (virtually) one man operation (as Kevin tries to plead to the various Attorney Generals apparently) also ties these ramifications to one man's ego. A very large ego as well that really feels the smite of such things.
I said on the KS site, Kevin was probably all kinds of puffed up that being Guest of Honor meant that he handled the Kickstarter right and his decisions hadn't affected his reputation at all. This convention, around since 1986, was honoring him!
Oops!
No, they don't want to honor a man that has done wrong by 5,342 people in a niche hobby, imagine that.
2018/04/19 23:47:59
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!
Albertorius wrote: Well... that reminds me maybe we should write to GenCon.
I mean, they're still going, right?
I'd be surprised if they didn't. They've been going for ages, and have a fairly sizable booth. If Gencon is anything like the conventions that I work with my friend's booth, they may even pay a deposit up front for the following year, possibly at or just after the convention itself. Unless they were in absolute dire financial straits (and yes, while I'm sure they're in a bad place, we've seen them muddle along selling decks of cards, mugs, and pencils, they seem to be remarkably resilient from actually hitting zero), I think they kind of have to attend. To get the most out of what resources they've already committed, and as (what I assume to be) one of their larger sources of profit. I'm guessing grab bags, Gencon, whatever they get from the occasional group holding TV/movie/game/whatever rights to one of their IPs, and their meager release schedule are basically what keep the lights on. Not an exhaustive list, but I'm guessing other stuff like Kevin's eBay store aren't exactly bringing in the big bucks.
If PB were told they weren't welcome at Gencon, I think it's safe to say that it would hurt them, on several levels.
2018/04/20 19:49:42
Subject: Robotech® RPG Tactics™-License lost, the end is near!