52 replies to this topic

[rolly]

Hello all,

Does anyone else feel that perhaps we are entering a new age of Stompy Robbits?

Back when I was a kid, you had Voltron, Transformers, Godzilla (with stompy robbits fighting him) then Macross/Robotech. As computers came into their own, then came Mechwarrior, Crescent Hawks's Inception, MW2, MechCommander. I would argue that this Age ended with MW4 and Mech Assault, and Harmony Gold/Tomy and the end of FASA.

Certainly, MWO started things with many promises then led us on a merry wallet milking for 4 years. NOW, we the consumers of BT/Mecha/Stompy Robbits are entering a new age of choice. Heck even Battletech is back with HBS and Classic Battletech.

In less than a month Battletech will be in Beta and those of us who are more "hardcore" and craving lore will undoubtedly be driven to this new and more concise version to the BT lore many of us are drawn to. PGI's endgame promise play is to cast the lure of MW5 and see how many of us bite and keep being lead on with the promise of stompy mechs. I see their next step is to ramp up development of MWO and then when their is a slump in demographic to BT or otherwise, then make the port of MWO to the MW5 engine as interest wanes. If all else fails develop faster than the past 4 years, and revisit the forum wish list.

On the other end of the spectrum we have the freeware MW:LL which offers a "home grown" true free-to-play alternative to MWO. However long it will be developed or if it will see a resurgence is anyone's guess. Its still an interesting alternative and viable alternative to get the fix.

Now we even have the return of Voltron, "Transformers" a la Michael Bay and even Pacific Rim, to support our love of the big robots in media.

I think this year will be really interesting because now PGI can no longer rest on its laurels.
Anyone else think the recent developments in media, gaming and table top point to this?

How much do you think PGI will deliver in terms of original promises made now that it literally has real stiff competition?

Do you think its coincidence that they're rolling in a time advance to 3068 now and doing things like engine/mobility cap removal now after years of forum postings wanting for such things to happen?

Now we as consumers actually have more media and actual choice for our love of stompy robbits. Hence at Mechcon we got the MW5 pitch and sharing of resources with HBS.

Does anyone else see that we are entering a new golden age of mecha to feed our stompy robbit fix? Agree or disagree?

[cazidin]

Battletech looks pretty good, yeah. That's coming out in March?

[Bilbo]

cazidin, on 21 February 2017 - 06:07 PM, said:

Battletech looks pretty good, yeah. That's coming out in March?

A limited Beta on the 15th of March.

rolly, on 21 February 2017 - 04:49 PM, said:

Hello all,

Does anyone else feel that perhaps we are entering a new age of Stompy Robbits?

Back when I was a kid, you had Voltron, Transformers, Godzilla (with stompy robbits fighting him) then Macross/Robotech. As computers came into their own, then came Mechwarrior, Crescent Hawks's Inception, MW2, MechCommander. I would argue that this Age ended with MW4 and Mech Assault, and Harmony Gold/Tomy and the end of FASA.

Certainly, MWO started things with many promises then led us on a merry wallet milking for 4 years. NOW, we the consumers of BT/Mecha/Stompy Robbits are entering a new age of choice. Heck even Battletech is back with HBS and Classic Battletech.

In less than a month Battletech will be in Beta and those of us who are more "hardcore" and craving lore will undoubtedly be driven to this new and more concise version to the BT lore many of us are drawn to. PGI's endgame promise play is to cast the lure of MW5 and see how many of us bite and keep being lead on with the promise of stompy mechs. I see their next step is to ramp up development of MWO and then when their is a slump in demographic to BT or otherwise, then make the port of MWO to the MW5 engine as interest wanes. If all else fails develop faster than the past 4 years, and revisit the forum wish list.

On the other end of the spectrum we have the freeware MW:LL which offers a "home grown" true free-to-play alternative to MWO. However long it will be developed or if it will see a resurgence is anyone's guess. Its still an interesting alternative and viable alternative to get the fix.

Now we even have the return of Voltron, "Transformers" a la Michael Bay and even Pacific Rim, to support our love of the big robots in media.

I think this year will be really interesting because now PGI can no longer rest on its laurels.
Anyone else think the recent developments in media, gaming and table top point to this?

How much do you think PGI will deliver in terms of original promises made now that it literally has real stiff competition?

Do you think its coincidence that they're rolling in a time advance to 3068 now and doing things like engine/mobility cap removal now after years of forum postings wanting for such things to happen?

Now we as consumers actually have more media and actual choice for our love of stompy robbits. Hence at Mechcon we got the MW5 pitch and sharing of resources with HBS.

Does anyone else see that we are entering a new golden age of mecha to feed our stompy robbit fix? Agree or disagree?

They have no more competition now or in the near future than they had when they released MWO. Battletech is a completely different type of game and MWLL was around before they even started working on MWO.

[cazidin]

Bilbo, on 21 February 2017 - 06:16 PM, said:

A limited Beta on the 15th of March.


They have no more competition now or in the near future than they had when they released MWO. Battletech is a completely different type of game and MWLL was around before they even started working on MWO.

So, realistically, anyone could make a game about giant robots and if it was competently made, it'd be successful?

[Mister Blastman]

Voltron is back? I know they brought back Mazinger Z, but the reboot kinda sucked.

[Anjian]

A stompy robot revival is still a big question mark in PC.

But on mobile, and I will keep on telling you people, you have a new big contender.

https://play.google....xonic.wwr&hl=en

Its no Pokemon Go but 10 to 50 million downloads at Google Play is nothing to sniff at. Not to mention a nearly equivalent number of downloads on iOS.

Over a million people has given it a 5 star rating, and it currently has a 4.6 out of 5. Although personally I gave it a one star because it felt like pay to win; some of the most egrarious weapons are inside a paywall.

It has spawned imitators and many other robot games in the mobile.

[razenWing]

Why does everyone clamor for Battletech? You guys realize that it's turn-base game right? Like you are literally NOT playing a stompy robbit. It's for people that like to play the tabletop game and/or enjoy the lore (and that last bit is questionable, as BT has one of the weakest cliche story of all science fiction genre)

[Mister Blastman]

I'd love a hardcore Robotech simulator. That'd be awesome.

[Bishop Steiner]

Mister Blastman, on 21 February 2017 - 07:06 PM, said:

Voltron is back? I know they brought back Mazinger Z, but the reboot kinda sucked.

@ seasons of Voltron Legendary Defender on Netflix, featuring the Lion Force, of course, updated. As to whether it captures the same charms as the old version is subjective...though TBH... the original Americanized Voltron has not aged well... and I still have never found a high quality rip of the GoLion original, or of the other two series.

I would love to see some more love to updating Votoms, Starblazers (as us muricans knew it) amnd other such Anime and Manga. TBH, most of the new breed of Anime, mecha or otherwise leaves me cold and largely unimpressed. I think teh "80s" boom probably had the best overall ideas, etc, compared to the mid 90s to Present, overall.

New Dominion Tank Police
Akira
Fang of the Sun Dougram
Appleseed
Patlabor
Mospeada
Macross
Votoms
Venus Wars
Megazone 23

just to list a couple of the better known ones.

(Admittedly not a huge Gundam guy, though there is the one that I keep forgetting to look up)

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 21 February 2017 - 07:31 PM.

[Lanzman]

razenWing, on 21 February 2017 - 07:22 PM, said:

Why does everyone clamor for Battletech? You guys realize that it's turn-base game right? Like you are literally NOT playing a stompy robbit. It's for people that like to play the tabletop game and/or enjoy the lore (and that last bit is questionable, as BT has one of the weakest cliche story of all science fiction genre)

You are not of the body. BattleTech is the reason all of this stuff exists.

I still want HBO or Netflix to do a BattleTech: The Fourth Succession War miniseries.

[razenWing]

Lanzman, on 21 February 2017 - 07:36 PM, said:

You are not of the body. BattleTech is the reason all of this stuff exists.

I still want HBO or Netflix to do a BattleTech: The Fourth Succession War miniseries.

Don't get me wrong, I love the story telling of Mechwarrior 3. Like, the universe itself is very robust if the story telling is kept on a small scale to show the grit and hardship if each warriors (mech, aerofighter, foot... doesn't matter)

However, you have to admit, the overarching political structure is clearly antique from the 80s... and from someone with far less imagination than Tom Clancy. My point, if you like turn-base tabletop game, then the new Battletech game might be awesome for you. But I just don't understand all these people saying that they will shift to Battletech when they are playing MWO. It's 2 completely different genre of games.

For example, I love Star Wars. But my taste for games are more arcade-y simulators. So I loved Rogue Squadrons. However, I am not going to play Battlefront just because it's Star Wars. I just don't like troopers shooting one another or using clunky lightsabre controls.

[Bishop Steiner]

razenWing, on 21 February 2017 - 07:22 PM, said:

Why does everyone clamor for Battletech? You guys realize that it's turn-base game right? Like you are literally NOT playing a stompy robbit. It's for people that like to play the tabletop game and/or enjoy the lore (and that last bit is questionable, as BT has one of the weakest cliche story of all science fiction genre)

lol.

I'd try to explain,.... but TBH, you just wouldn't get it. I guess the real question is why are you even here, if it's so terribad an IP? For stompy Mech action, pretty sure Titanfall has this beat.

[razenWing]

Bishop Steiner, on 21 February 2017 - 07:44 PM, said:

lol.

I'd try to explain,.... but TBH, you just wouldn't get it. I guess the real question is why are you even here, if it's so terribad an IP? For stompy Mech action, pretty sure Titanfall has this beat.

[Redacted] By the way, where did you read anywhere that I said the IP is bad or that I didn't like it? I said I like the mech actions. I even said I would support a TV series featuring a Mech 3 style narration. Yet, I find fault in the overarching political world that the original creators created, which is both bland and basic. Somehow, you read those statements, and came up with the conclusion that I didn't like the IP.

So, yea... the inability to reach a sensible conclusion, that's on you, man.

PS if you want to stretch it a bit, I am also implying that moving away to Battletech the game from MWO is a false transition cause those are 2 completely different genre of games. But again, somehow you read that and reached the conclusion that I just don't like the IP. But hey, what do I know? [Redacted] So good for you.

Edited by draiocht, 02 March 2017 - 12:52 AM.
insults

[Mister Blastman]

Bishop Steiner, on 21 February 2017 - 07:31 PM, said:

@ seasons of Voltron Legendary Defender on Netflix, featuring the Lion Force, of course, updated. As to whether it captures the same charms as the old version is subjective...though TBH... the original Americanized Voltron has not aged well... and I still have never found a high quality rip of the GoLion original, or of the other two series.

I would love to see some more love to updating Votoms, Starblazers (as us muricans knew it) amnd other such Anime and Manga. TBH, most of the new breed of Anime, mecha or otherwise leaves me cold and largely unimpressed. I think teh "80s" boom probably had the best overall ideas, etc, compared to the mid 90s to Present, overall.

New Dominion Tank Police
Akira
Fang of the Sun Dougram
Appleseed
Patlabor
Mospeada
Macross
Votoms
Venus Wars
Megazone 23

just to list a couple of the better known ones.

(Admittedly not a huge Gundam guy, though there is the one that I keep forgetting to look up)

Not that hard to find high quality GoLion if you know where to look...

I grew up watching Star Blazers.

70s/80s anime was the best. Don't forget...

Battle of the Planets
Shin Getter Robot (and all the spinoffs)
Tranzor Z
Go Bots (Because they were cool, too)
Transformers (because!)
And some weird Japanese submarine anime from the 1980s I can't remember the name of.

and newer delights such as...

Trigun
Cowboy Bebop (because Spike is cool)
Evangelion (need I say more?)

But pretty much anything post 2000 kinda stinks, almost as if Japan forgot what made older anime so great. I think Eva perfected the art--a nergasm's wet dream of hard sci-fi meets fantasy, and then the snow melted and well... it just ain't the same!

Hell, the writing in Eva beats many modern non-Anime shows, at least when it comes to dialogue and characterization.

I wish I could lump Mask in with anime, but I can't, but whatever, 80s cartoons kicked ***.

Edited by Mister Blastman, 21 February 2017 - 08:36 PM.

[Bilbo]

cazidin, on 21 February 2017 - 06:44 PM, said:

So, realistically, anyone could make a game about giant robots and if it was competently made, it'd be successful?

No idea. MWLL, for instance, holds no interest for me. Battletech scratches an itch that MWO doesn't and the others you mentioned were nice to watch but don't really appeal to me as any kind game. It's possible somebody can come up with something but I haven't seen, nor heard, of anything that might qualify as competition for MWO. It's a pretty specific niche and trying to fill it with some other generic giant robits is a tall order.

[razenWing]

Bilbo, on 21 February 2017 - 08:36 PM, said:

No idea. MWLL, for instance, holds no interest for me. Battletech scratches an itch that MWO doesn't and the others you mentioned were nice to watch but don't really appeal to me as any kind game. It's possible somebody can come up with something but I haven't seen, nor heard, of anything that might qualify as competition for MWO. It's a pretty specific niche and trying to fill it with some other generic giant robits is a tall order.

Have you tried Brigador?

[Bishop Steiner]

razenWing, on 21 February 2017 - 08:15 PM, said:

[Redacted] By the way, where did you read anywhere that I said the IP is bad or that I didn't like it? I said I like the mech actions. I even said I would support a TV series featuring a Mech 3 style narration. Yet, I find fault in the overarching political world that the original creators created, which is both bland and basic. Somehow, you read those statements, and came up with the conclusion that I didn't like the IP.

So, yea... the inability to reach a sensible conclusion, that's on you, man.

PS if you want to stretch it a bit, I am also implying that moving away to Battletech the game from MWO is a false transition cause those are 2 completely different genre of games. But again, somehow you read that and reached the conclusion that I just don't like the IP. But hey, what do I know? [Redacted] So good for you.

let's see, you spend the last part of the post attacking how bad the IP is, gosh wonder where that impression could come from. But of course, as soon as questioned, go and attack people. Stay classy.

Mister Blastman, on 21 February 2017 - 08:35 PM, said:

Not that hard to find high quality GoLion if you know where to look...

I grew up watching Star Blazers.

70s/80s anime was the best. Don't forget...

Battle of the Planets
Shin Getter Robot (and all the spinoffs)
Tranzor Z
Go Bots (Because they were cool, too)
Transformers (because!)
And some weird Japanese submarine anime from the 1980s I can't remember the name of.

and newer delights such as...

Trigun
Cowboy Bebop (because Spike is cool)
Evangelion (need I say more?)

But pretty much anything post 2000 kinda stinks, almost as if Japan forgot what made older anime so great. I think Eva perfected the art--a nergasm's wet dream of hard sci-fi meets fantasy, and then the snow melted and well... it just ain't the same!

Hell, the writing in Eva beats many modern non-Anime shows, at least when it comes to dialogue and characterization.

I wish I could lump Mask in with anime, but I can't, but whatever, 80s cartoons kicked ***.

the Submarine one...was it ....er Blue Submarine 6... ?

Also, Captain Harlock.......

It seemed like in the mid 90s too many Anime started trying to get super metaphysical and stuff, and tbh, I don´t think a lot of that translated as well. There is still some good stuff, but i's a lot more sporadic, and oftentimes seems like retreads of earlier stuff.

Pity that pretty much NONE of the Macross sequels lived up to the original. As much as HG pisses me off, I do think what they did with Robotech was better than any of the original source material.

Edited by draiocht, 02 March 2017 - 01:01 AM.
Quote Clean-Up

[Bogus]

I'd call it likely. What's great about the crowdfund era is that our gaming options are no longer limited to what a handful of ******* MBAs at 4-5 major publishers think will maximize revenue per title. Sure there's some lemons out there and one has to be mindful of the risks, but let's be real here it's gotten to the point where the AAA games aren't guaranteed to even be playable on a non-console so there we are.

[Mister Blastman]

Bishop Steiner, on 21 February 2017 - 08:53 PM, said:

let's see, you spend the last part of the post attacking how bad the IP is, gosh wonder where that impression could come from. But of course, as soon as questioned, go and attack people. Stay classy.


the Submarine one...was it ....er Blue Submarine 6... ?

Also, Captain Harlock.......

It seemed like in the mid 90s too many Anime started trying to get super metaphysical and stuff, and tbh, I don´t think a lot of that translated as well. There is still some good stuff, but i's a lot more sporadic, and oftentimes seems like retreads of earlier stuff.

Pity that pretty much NONE of the Macross sequels lived up to the original. As much as HG pisses me off, I do think what they did with Robotech was better than any of the original source material.

No, it wasn't Blue Submarine, it was something else. I can't remember the name, and it's driving me nuts. We had a station here in town that showed all the cool anime when I was a kid.

I loved Robotech, and yes, Captain Harlock was AWESOME! One of my favorite all-time series. The movie was great, and the series was even better. There's a more modern Harlock series that looks pretty good (haven't watched it), and then there's the movie which was okay. Oh, and Space Battleship Yamato (the live action film based on Star Blazers) was pretty good, too.

I wish my daughter could watch Robotech, but my wife complains it is too "violent" for her. Ah well, I'll give her another year and wait until she's eight...

Edited by Mister Blastman, 21 February 2017 - 09:27 PM.

[Anjian]

Sadly though, in anime we are seeing the reverse. Big mecha in anime has been in a gradual decline, though Sunrise needs to keep pounding out the yearly Gundam anime to maintain the franchise and the model kit business. In all irony, the series that specialized in Gunpla (Gundam Try Fighters) was more amusing to watch than many of the late series Gundams. I do say that Gundam Iron Blood Orphans --- perhaps the only big mecha anime series being run currently --- is quite interesting particularly in its second season. But that series struggles from so many high quality non mecha anime that is currently running.

The last Macross, Macross Delta, by Shoji Kawamori's Studio Nue was a bit of a meh. Of series of late, the Fafnir in the Azure, is probably the most interesting and might still be headed for yet another sequel after Fafnir: Exodus. The show feels late '90s to mid 2000s where there is quite a bit of metaphysics as the mechs themselves battle an alien species that border on the metaphysical. Personally I think any series done by Xebec is better than Studio Nue or Sunrise in terms of quality, production and story telling. I am also hoping for a continuation to Knights of Sidonia.

Current anime trends continue in terms of moe, slice of life, fantasy and magic, the sports anime, the occasional girls in military anime (Haifuri, Flight Witches, Kancolle), and anime series done from games, e.g. Monster Hunter, Rage of Bahamut, Monster Strike, and Puzzles and Dragons.

Its also said that Square Enix is trying to revive its Front Mission franchise with the help of a former FromSoft director, and that FromSoftware themselves appear to have plans to revive their Armored Core franchise.