Harmony Gold Announces: Robotech Academy Kickstarter!

[Grand Paladin]

I'm honestly, happily surprised this is happening!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/description

I hope this means we'll be getting related RPG titles out of this!

[Alpha 11]

I'm honestly, happily surprised this is happening!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/description

I hope this means we'll be getting related RPG titles out of this!

I'm kind of happy to, but if this don't work out, this might be the last straw.

[SRoss]

I'm honestly, happily surprised this is happening!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/description

I hope this means we'll be getting related RPG titles out of this!

I'm kind of happy to, but if this don't work out, this might be the last straw.

On the bright side, maybe if it doesn't work out, HG will sell the rights to someone who'll do something with Robotech.

[Chronicler]

I'm honestly, happily surprised this is happening!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/description

I hope this means we'll be getting related RPG titles out of this!

I'm kind of happy to, but if this don't work out, this might be the last straw.

On the bright side, maybe if it doesn't work out, HG will sell the rights to someone who'll do something with Robotech.

Oh god do I hope so.

[Alpha 11]

I'm honestly, happily surprised this is happening!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/description

I hope this means we'll be getting related RPG titles out of this!

I'm kind of happy to, but if this don't work out, this might be the last straw.

On the bright side, maybe if it doesn't work out, HG will sell the rights to someone who'll do something with Robotech.

Oh god do I hope so.

They would have to have a lot of money and do a lot of rework, really a reboot, to get it done, plus allow Macross in. That last part might even help smooth some feelings in the anime community.

[ilexgarodan]

I want to see this-- I really do! I'm looking forward to this, and any RPG supplements that comes from this.

[Seto Kaiba]

On the bright side, maybe if it doesn't work out, HG will sell the rights to someone who'll do something with Robotech.

Or maybe Tatsunoko'll withdraw Harmony Gold's licenses and we can get true HD remasters of the originals AND the rest of Macross in the west.

Talk about best-case scenarios!

[Alrik Vas]

Yes please, Kaiba-san. Really, I think about a Robotech movie and i'm like..."As much as i love it, i'd rather have Macross. More people would watch it."

[Seto Kaiba]

Yes please, Kaiba-san. Really, I think about a Robotech movie and i'm like..."As much as i love it, i'd rather have Macross. More people would watch it."

When you think about it, it'd be the best solution for (almost) everybody. If Tatsunoko revoked the license Harmony Gold has to Macross and they couldn't sustain their trademarks anymore, Tatsunoko could go directly to Big West and offer its existing distributor infrastructure as a vehicle to move Macross in the west. Tatsunoko would finally get a share of the profits from Macross's sequels, Big West would get a ready-made network to push Macross in the west. Fans outside Japan wouldn't have to pay the huge shipping costs, indulge in grey market fansubs, or purchase inferior-quality Robotech knockoffs of their desired Macross goods anymore. Tatsunoko'd probably find decent incentive to do a HD re-release for Southern Cross and MOSPEADA for western audiences. Toynami probably wouldn't notice a small amount of lost sales, since RT is extremely low-volume goods, and Palladium would be in material to keep all their writers busy for DECADES* if they managed to convince Tatsunoko or Big West to honor their license.


This is kind of a weird situation for Robotech, when you think about it. For once, failure isn't just the ONLY option... it's also the BEST option for practically everybody involved.


* If they put out one book a year, and actually made an effort to cover the events of the major Macross titles, they'd have no trouble milking it for at least twenty books, and since there's more of Macross coming out all the time. My estimation for my own project to cover the main timeline was upwards of thirty volumes.

[MacrossManual]

Oh, Seto Kaiba is just a big fat meanie who blows a lot of hot air. Blah, blah, blah. Best thing he ever did was host that Macross mecha site, built by...what's his name now? That guy. Damn, I'm so terrible with names...

Robotech Academy Kickstarter? Let the Robotech franchise pass to a company that will actually do something with it rather than ask for charity. Harmony Gold is an abusive alcoholic, beating it's Robotech child into the next serial killer. Rescue the child and give a home where it can be loved. Then it will fill the world with joy instead of sadness.

[Kryptt]

I'm in agreement with seto. I'd rather HG lose rt and have macross come to the west. If PB was able to get the rights to macross games they would have new material and money coming in from us macross addicts. When (not if) this fails wether by not getting the funding or it's late a year or two, it'll be the best thing that will happen for rt and macross fans.

[jaymz]

Sadly to me this just shows that HG is unwilling to use it's own money (which it actually has quite a bit of) to fund a Robotech project.

[Alpha 11]

Yes please, Kaiba-san. Really, I think about a Robotech movie and i'm like..."As much as i love it, i'd rather have Macross. More people would watch it."

When you think about it, it'd be the best solution for (almost) everybody. If Tatsunoko revoked the license Harmony Gold has to Macross and they couldn't sustain their trademarks anymore, Tatsunoko could go directly to Big West and offer its existing distributor infrastructure as a vehicle to move Macross in the west. Tatsunoko would finally get a share of the profits from Macross's sequels, Big West would get a ready-made network to push Macross in the west. Fans outside Japan wouldn't have to pay the huge shipping costs, indulge in grey market fansubs, or purchase inferior-quality Robotech knockoffs of their desired Macross goods anymore. Tatsunoko'd probably find decent incentive to do a HD re-release for Southern Cross and MOSPEADA for western audiences. Toynami probably wouldn't notice a small amount of lost sales, since RT is extremely low-volume goods, and Palladium would be in material to keep all their writers busy for DECADES* if they managed to convince Tatsunoko or Big West to honor their license.


This is kind of a weird situation for Robotech, when you think about it. For once, failure isn't just the ONLY option... it's also the BEST option for practically everybody involved.


* If they put out one book a year, and actually made an effort to cover the events of the major Macross titles, they'd have no trouble milking it for at least twenty books, and since there's more of Macross coming out all the time. My estimation for my own project to cover the main timeline was upwards of thirty volumes.

Ya, unless Palladium goes off like in the 1st ed. books, because I have a little trouble seeing how many more books they could get out of Robotech if they didn't, not with the way HG is doing things this time around. I can see at the max, maybe 4 more books, but no more then that. And if what you said happen Seto, I could see Macross books rivaling Rifts for the number one spot. Which would mean, the other lines would get more business, which would mean, more money for them, and they could hire more people! Which is what we all have been basicly saying they really need to do get things better at Palladium. So, over all, it would be the best thing to happen. Though, I wish for that to happen and Robotch to stay and get better, but that will most likely not happen. Though I wish it with all my heart.

[Seto Kaiba]

That guy. Damn, I'm so terrible with names...

Including your own, apparently...

Robotech Academy Kickstarter? Let the Robotech franchise pass to a company that will actually do something with it rather than ask for charity. [...] Rescue the child and give a home where it can be loved. Then it will fill the world with joy instead of sadness.

Probably not a viable option... or at least, not a realistic one. Putting aside the contempt that the general anime-viewing audience has for rewrites, there aren't really any distributors in the anime industry who have the necessary resources to develop original material for a property like Robotech. Between all of that legal baggage they'd have to cope with every time they wanted to do something with it and the extra cost involved in trying to create their own content, it's a losing proposition for any distributor. That's why they don't do rewrites like Robotech anymore... it's so much more expensive than doing a proper dub.

Likely, any distributor that bought the rights to Harmony Gold's Robotech franchise wouldn't make an effort to keep Robotech "alive". It's a safe bet they'd scrap it in favor of importing the Macross sequels and doing straight sub/dub releases of those, because that way they'd stand to make a good deal more money with a good deal less effort and expense... and all without the onus of being "that guy" who's propping up "that show" that refuses to accept the industry doesn't work that way anymore.

Ya, unless Palladium goes off like in the 1st ed. books, because I have a little trouble seeing how many more books they could get out of Robotech if they didn't, not with the way HG is doing things this time around. I can see at the max, maybe 4 more books, but no more then that.

Pretty much, yeah... Harmony Gold was pretty adamant about the RPG having to maintain tighter proximity to canon this time around, and the use of rejected concept art from MOSPEADA seems to be the limit of their willingness to bend on that matter. Short of the Robotech Academy thing being picked up by an actual network - and it's pretty much a given that it won't be - they're going to be out of material with the UEEF Marines source books unless they revive the spaceships book. That's 3 books tops, and a series cap at 8 books total.

Compare that to what they'd be able to do with Macross, they'd need 2-3 books for almost every one of the shows, bare minimum they're pushing 20 books if you leave out intermediate periods of history and a host of side stories.

[ShadowLogan]

- they're going to be out of material with the UEEF Marines source books unless they revive the spaceships book. That's 3 books tops, and a series cap at 8 books total.

Oh I think they could go for more than 3 more books. And the old line was what 8 numbered books plus 2 for Sentinels, plus IINM 4 Adventure modules. That's 10 books, 14 if you count the adventure modules. If someone wants to count Macross2 in the mix (NOT saying one should) that's another 5.

Marines and Spaceships are/where slated to be multiple books IIRC. So that is 4, not 3 at minimum.

There are 15 "Armies" in the UEDF-ASC. Some of them might make interesting Sourcebooks on their own, while others might be logically combined. That and there is no reason the period of use for the book has to be focused on just the ASC since TMS era likely had equivalents to.

For instance they could cover OCC/MOS mods/new, along with hardware variations or new hardware (hardware might be harder to sell depending on where it comes from in terms of new, but variations might be an easier sell):
-UEDF-wet Navy, covers TMS/TRM/NG era wet navies (NG period more of a what's still left and might find exploitable).
-RT Intelligence, this would be the GMP and other intelligence related groups (maybe even Zent/Masters). OCC/MOS won't be a show stopper, but hardware might be since the epsionage angle doesn't get played up to well with the human factions.
-UEDF Special (Environmental) Forces, the CWOS, Desert Squad, Mountain Offensive Squad, etc. This might be one of those books that can be done in 1 go, or broken down into multiples depending.
-UEDF Civil Defense Forces, this would cover both the TRM and TMS periods
-Sentinel Worlds (if each race gets its own book, and we avoid the Haydonites, that's what 5 books, though realistically likely looking at 1), granted to do this HG would have to do some heavy consulting with them, its a questionable possibility I admit
-UEDF R&D, this would be more focused on stop gaps developments and hardware that didn't make it (the VF-X-4/5/7, early Cyclones). This last bit is unlikely I admit, though might also be covered in part in other books if it makes sense.
-then you have the RRT mini's game and mecha variants for their line, though I'm not sure how subjective it will be to plug in material from the mini's game into the RPG proper so this one might not be necessary
-this doesn't even consider them doing adventure modules, granted PB hasn't done a pure adventure module in I don't know how long and HG might not like the idea as it requires a break with canon
-Cosmic Units and TASC might be covered via the space ship books so short of giving them hardware MOS that don't fit the theme of the book won't need a SB
-I don't see a need for an ATAC book, but others might and it might even cover the TC proper, so that's a questionable book.

That's an extra 4 books right there before getting into the more questionable areas that can add another 1-9 not counting the mini's and treating the SEF as one book and them not doing adventure modules. The main hic-up is in terms of new hardware for the books and how to get it. Variations make sense, but they'll also need new hardware (which might come from sanctioned UEDF "IMUs" though that goes against the flavor of the IMU, but to be honest PB's IMUs already seem to do that) to avoid feeling cheated.

[Seto Kaiba]

Oh I think they could go for more than 3 more books. [... a whole lot of stuff ...]

The question isn't whether they could... I have no doubt that Kevin could probably make up enough total nonsense with no bearing on Robotech proper to keep them busy for a while. The problem's in that Harmony Gold won't let them, because they want to keep the RPG in the same territory as the show.

Personally, I can't see Palladium being allowed to waste time and effort on stuff that doesn't actually exist in Robotech and/or has no actual relevance to anything, which covers pretty much your entire list...

They might consider letting Palladium do it if Academy doesn't even get funded... but even then I imagine most of that will be considered insufficiently relevant to merit a section within a book, let alone an actual book.

[MilkManX]

Even if this gets made and it makes it to its 2015 date that means the RPG supplement wont be out till 2025 or so.

[ilexgarodan]

Wow, I just checked up on the Kickstarter-- as of this writing, it's at $82K; almost at the 1/5th mark after only four days! Colour me impressed.

[Alpha 11]

Wow, I just checked up on the Kickstarter-- as of this writing, it's at $82K; almost at the 1/5th mark after only four days! Colour me impressed.

I'm a little surprise myself.

[Seto Kaiba]

Wow, I just checked up on the Kickstarter-- as of this writing, it's at $82K; almost at the 1/5th mark after only four days! Colour me impressed.

I'm a little surprise myself.

Eh... most of that is from the first day or two, it's really slowed down since. Nothing at all like the massive momentum we saw with the RRT Kickstarter, and the size of the average donation has actually shrunk a bit instead of growing (it's sitting at $46.32, it was $49.98 two days ago). I'm not sure whether to attribute it to the damage inflicted by the handling of the RRT Kickstarter or the frankly astonishing way many fans are rejecting the whole project over sentiments like those expressed in the other thread... but either way it's a stunning and heartening subversion of the stereotype that Robotech fans will buy anything.

[Colonel Wolfe]

https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/13815 ... hart-daily

There was a drop in funding on the 4th day, it seams all the bashing by various groups around the web may be taking its toll on the project.
it doesn't help when HG's business partners website is full of posts hoping HG goes chapter 11 and/or loses the Robotech license... foretelling the best thing for Robotech is for the creators to be jobless and the company going under...

[Jefffar]

Agreed Col.

Topic locked.