10 replies to this topic

[Khalain Bear]

I've played battletech before long ago and have been recently playing megamek with a friend and i raised a question i wanted to put to you guys to.

Should someone do resculpts of minis based on the models from Mechwarrior online?
some of the older minis to be honest arnt great, and the new mechs in mwo are just amazing, i think the tabletop gamers should benefit from this redesign to.

Your thoughts?

[God of War]

The Ironwind resculpts that are coming on a regular base are enough. no need for the ugly MWO Centurion.

[Atlas3060]

The discussion has been made in other Battletech forums as well. I think the running logic so far is:
*IWM makes the minis based on the board game
*Catalyst has rights to how things look on the board game with blessings from Topps
*Images from the video games are Microsoft's property
*Microsoft property isn't board game territory
*IWM doesn't have permissions from Microsoft to use their images since they aren't based on the board game's images

My head exploded halfway through the discussions.
So yeah I'd agree some would look rather sweet, but we've got a low chance of this happening because of FASA selling off various rights like parting out a car.

[Congzilla]

Atlas3060, on 07 August 2012 - 05:41 AM, said:

The discussion has been made in other Battletech forums as well. I think the running logic so far is:
*IWM makes the minis based on the board game
*Catalyst has rights to how things look on the board game with blessings from Topps
*Images from the video games are Microsoft's property
*Microsoft property isn't board game territory
*IWM doesn't have permissions from Microsoft to use their images since they aren't based on the board game's images

My head exploded halfway through the discussions.
So yeah I'd agree some would look rather sweet, but we've got a low chance of this happening because of FASA selling off various rights like parting out a car.

The companies share a lot of assets so I doubt it would be hard to get the legal permission worked out. The guy that did the mech artwork for MWO also did the art for the cover of the new Total Chaor book. http://bg.battletech...uct=total-chaos

I think once MWO has been out for a bit and built a fan base a release of minis for Battletech would make a lot of sense.

[Kodiak Jorgensson]

i love the MWO artwork but im diehard for the classic designs so no, maybe if PGI released figures or keyrings of MWO deisgnes i'd buy one in a heart beat

[Teirdome]

I would really like to have a model of the MWO Jenner. The TT Jenner is just awkward with its long, skinny legs and weird looking arms.

[Adridos]

Atlas3060, on 07 August 2012 - 05:41 AM, said:

*Images from the video games are Microsoft's property
*Microsoft property isn't board game territory
*IWM doesn't have permissions from Microsoft to use their images since they aren't based on the board game's images

Microsoft owns as much of the Battletech as do I. Well, a bit more, but for the sake of argument.

The current rights for Mechwarrior franchise are in IGP's hands.

Edited by Adridos, 07 August 2012 - 07:52 AM.

[Congzilla]

Adridos, on 07 August 2012 - 07:50 AM, said:

Microsoft owns as much of the Battletech as do I. Well, a bit more, but for the sake of argument.

The current rights for Mechwarrior franchise are in IGP's hands.

That doesn't mean they have licensing rights to allow anyone else to do anything it only means they have permission to use the material.

[Odanan]

Yes, they should.

[Atlas3060]

Adridos, on 07 August 2012 - 07:50 AM, said:

The current rights for Mechwarrior franchise are in IGP's hands.

So then replace Microsoft with IGP in my earlier post.
The Line Developer for Battletech has stated "it actually turns out that Catalyst Game Labs (and Iron Wind Metals) do not actually have the legal right to produce miniatures from the MechWarrior Online game."

Source(http://bg.battletech...ic,19422.0.html)

There's always that possiblity (low one at the moment from what I've been reading), but we still face the problem with FASA's legacy of parting this Universe out the way they did.

Congzilla, on 07 August 2012 - 06:09 AM, said:

The companies share a lot of assets so I doubt it would be hard to get the legal permission worked out. The guy that did the mech artwork for MWO also did the art for the cover of the new Total Chaor book. http://bg.battletech...uct=total-chaos

I think once MWO has been out for a bit and built a fan base a release of minis for Battletech would make a lot of sense.

And a lovely book it is. In fact I need to get the paper version since I loved the pdf so much.
The artwork apparently is a different beast compared to physical minis from what I can tell.
They would have to jump through a lot of hoops as stated in the source link. The bigger question is would this be profitable considering Catalyst's work load, time schedule, and IWM's small staff with their even smaller storage spaces?

Edited by Atlas3060, 07 August 2012 - 09:20 AM.

[Congzilla]

Atlas3060, on 07 August 2012 - 09:16 AM, said:

So then replace Microsoft with IGP in my earlier post.
The Line Developer for Battletech has stated "it actually turns out that Catalyst Game Labs (and Iron Wind Metals) do not actually have the legal right to produce miniatures from the MechWarrior Online game."

Source(http://bg.battletech...ic,19422.0.html)

There's always that possiblity (low one at the moment from what I've been reading), but we still face the problem with FASA's legacy of parting this Universe out the way they did.


And a lovely book it is. In fact I need to get the paper version since I loved the pdf so much.
The artwork apparently is a different beast compared to physical minis from what I can tell.
They would have to jump through a lot of hoops as stated in the source link. The bigger question is would this be profitable considering Catalyst's work load, time schedule, and IWM's small staff with their even smaller storage spaces?

Catalyst wouldn't be involved, they basically just rent the rights to make the books while IWM rents the rights to make the miniatures, it all comes from Topps who is the actual property owner. The Mechwarrior rights all come from Microsoft who have currently rented the rights to Smith & Tinker.

So long story short, Smith & Tinker would have to license the rights to make the miniatures to IWM.