Reply To: Re: Battletech XLBS

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I think the major obstacle for the game at them moment is CGL just can’t keep the game (certainly the new plastic miniatures) on retail shelves. Granted the game has always suffered from some rather “dated” metal minis for the Mechs that’s always held it back from new players (used to seeing all the nice GW plastic minis). It’s only with these past two kickstarters that we began to see the minis updated and with proper proportions (to the original drawings), and detail that has started to turn non BT gamers heads with the thought “Oooooh SHINEY”.

 

Alas even as we saw in the video with John, actually grabbing the physical product (certainly outside of the USA), is extremely difficult with the UK retailers usually selling out (GW style) within 30 minutes of the products going live in the webstores. And I’m one who prefers having the rules in hard print vs an electronic version or PDF. For those with a 3D printer (or access to a mate with a good one, who doesn’t mind printing off a few) it’s a bit easier to obtain the Mech minis needed.

 

I’ve heard others say it could be called “piracy”, but as Gabe Newell (owner of Steam) stated “The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.” (or in other words if CGL could keep the things on the store shelves, then probably a lot of people (even those with a 3D printer) would simply buy the things as it would be a lot quicker and simpler (if you think about it most 3D printing is usually for “something” we can’t get by other means).

 

But even with the numbers we saw CGL state they have produced, it still fell short of demand (and I expect the next runs will also fall short of demand as well). And it’s good that the demand is there for the game, as long as customers don’t get frustrated at CGL for failing to meet that demand (one of the things that’s annoyed GW customers of late that’s caused this exodus away from GW to other games (including BT)).

 

However I must admit, although I played a LOT of BT in the past (and my interest is up with all this new stuff arriving for the game and the “Oooooh SHINEY” new minis), I’m still a convert to FASA’s other game (which I suppose in a way was an evolution of the BT rules although even more complicated) in the Renegade Legion universe (especially the grav tank game “Centurion”). But alas the game world never got the time to propagate in the same way BT did (in fact Renegade Legion managed a whole FOUR fiction books written for the setting vs the BattleTech universe (currently at 100+ books and still increasing))

 

I suppose it’s actually these fictional books that “hook” gamers into a game system. BT did it first I suppose, followed by GW (and Black library). It’s the setting for the games that endear the games to the players in the long run (and makes us all grow neckbeards). I’d LOVE to be able to sit down and read all one hundred books for BT (I think I gave all five or six that I owned away to charity shops back in the 90s…probably worth a bomb now), granted these were never “works of literary art” but they were more like a pulp serial that allowed some “light” reading before you dropped off to sleep. So for BT to prosper in the future I’d be keeping an eye out for not only the minis and rulebooks CGL put out, but also how many fiction books are appearing alongside them 🙂