Will9761, on 02 October 2018 - 07:59 PM, said:
I don't know if we will ever see the Rifleman IIC. As Russ's wording is a little vague. He said PGI can continue to use "Classic BattleTech" designs, so it is unclear if we will ever see a Rifleman IIC at all.
Marauder3D, on 03 October 2018 - 08:02 AM, said:
I got to admit, I'm starting to feel pretty pessimistic about seeing any more of the Classics. No movement by PGI, HBS or even Catalyst Game Labs.
Pretty disappointing finish to the legal troubles.
Arnold The Governator, on 03 October 2018 - 08:29 AM, said:
I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet. They could be saving the announcement for the classics as a way to draw more people into Mech 'Con 2018. Although, I would expect them to primarily focus on IS classics like the Crusader and such if that is what was originally planned. Even though I'd wished they just came out up front with the truth if they were going to release more classic IIC's.
Firstly, PGI stated shortly after the lawsuit concluded that they have their mechs locked in well in advance. Again, if they lock out about 3 months in advance (1 quarter, typical development plan for most gaming companies), and July was just a few days away from being announced, then when the lawsuit ended in late June, it would require that with July's announcement, August, September, and October would already be locked in. Therefore, the absolute earliest that you'd see anything from PGI would be November. At that point, as Arnold points out, they'd likely just save the announcements as hype for Mech Con 2018; and have multiple mech announcements then.
HBS only JUST announced their own first mech to be fully developed in house; and that was the Hatchetman. They would have been working on that for months in advance, especially since they really didn't have a full fledged mech-art pipeline. In order to make the impending October expansion deadline, they probably were working on the Hatchetman, along with the Crab and Cyclops, well before even the lawsuit ended. Considering how dependent they are on PGI for mech art assets, and their first in-house mech was melee focused, then I wouldn't expect much from them for a while. I know they had the Warhammer and Marauder "near ready", but that was pre-melee and before a lot of tech refactoring in their engine . . . those mechs might need to be completely redone from scratch.
Lastly, Catalyst Game Labs, or CGL, are far and beyond the slowest moving out of the bunch. On the other hand, they already had far more redone classics before the lawsuit hit than PGI had done. One of the adamant pieces of evidence that the companies have free reign on the classics is the fact that, despite CGL's default in the lawsuit, HG went for full dismissal with prejudice vs. CGL when CGL had a great deal more artwork done than PGI had mustered.
In reality, if HG had anything to stand on, then they would have only given CGL a pass on the same chassis that PGI had created, if they used PGI's artwork. However, CGL also had artwork for the Ost series, Wasp, Stinger, and Valkyrie. None of those PGI had done. In addition, they have their own unique versions of the Phoenix Hawk, Marauder, Warhammer, and Archer. None of that artwork matched PGI's work; and HG, if they had anything to stand on, could have attempted to hold them at the default. However, HG had nothing, and as such were forced to let CGL go in order to "avoid confusion" on the degree with which the case had ended.
After all, the agreed upon language for the release after the lawsuit was,
Quote
Piranha Games will continue to use the “classic” BattleTech designs
That's not "the classic designs we've already made" or "the classics already done by PGI and CGL", but "the 'classic' Battletech Designs" . . . as in . . . all of them. HG admitted they have nothing and were forced to run away with their tail between their legs.
It's just a matter of time. Give it time and have patience. Again, I'd suspect that Mech Con is going to be where we're going to see more about the classics. After all, Mech Con also puts CGL, HBS, and PGI all in the same place at the same time; and what better time to sing, "Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead!" and, "Joy to the World, the Classics have come!" then at Mech Con? On the other hand, if we see something sooner, then all the better, right?
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