Battletech BattleTech discussion thread: May the light of Hanse Davion guide us
- Thread starter PsihoKekec
- Start date
Bear Ribs
Well-known member
By all accounts, they're doing well. The Battletech: Mercenaries Kickstarter raked in seven and a half million dollars recently.
Now granted, there might be something hinky going on there. The Kickstarter only had about 23,000 backers which means the average donation was well over 300 dollars, whereas the average Kickstarter donation hovers around 25 dollars. However, that could just be because they had a large number of 5000-dollar+ tiers intended for brick-and-mortar stores to pre-order inventory.
I doubt anything hinky is going on. There are a LOT of people interested in big stompy mech fights. I have stopped supporting them, but I'm trying to figure out if I need to actively push AGAINST them now.
I'm very sad about it. I love the BT'verse, and I've been an active participant since the late 80's.
Bear Ribs
Well-known member
That's exactly why I think something hinky may potentially have happened, there are NOT a lot of donors, just a few who are donating massive amounts. If there were a couple hundred thousand donors each throwing twenty-fifty bucks in plus a few whales, that would be typical but they seem to have somehow attracted all whales which is highly unusual.
Knowledgeispower
Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
stupidly good deal offered with the battalion level commitment probably explains it. 9 packs plus the mercenary box and a fair bit of other stuff
Blasterbot
Well-known member
keep in mind how many people used to 40k prices migrated to BT. $300 dollars is a codex and 2-3 units for them. while a fair number of people left 40k for political reasons the majority hopped ship over predatory company action. I admit I bought the wolf's dragoons set a couple weeks back as I got dragged to Barnes and Noble and really wanted the annihilator. rest of it was nice too but it was the annihilator that pushed me over the edge there.
I will also add in that most BT people? they don't pay attention to CGL. they got used to not needing a company and they just don't care beyond they are glad someone is making good reasonably priced plastic models. I think the Kickstarter model they are running is also very good at advertising their products and driving hype. something that the BT community in general is grateful for.
I think when looking at boycotts we need to understand how much of it is actually conservative. when it comes to sci-fi stuff? it appears that it has a lot of left wing appeal. probably in part because they have captured the institutions and can push their propaganda in it. this turns right wingers off the genre in general and has been going on for a bit it seems. figuring out how to address that is gonna be a different issue. because the Right in general is starving for good stories and media.
I will also add in that most BT people? they don't pay attention to CGL. they got used to not needing a company and they just don't care beyond they are glad someone is making good reasonably priced plastic models. I think the Kickstarter model they are running is also very good at advertising their products and driving hype. something that the BT community in general is grateful for.
I think when looking at boycotts we need to understand how much of it is actually conservative. when it comes to sci-fi stuff? it appears that it has a lot of left wing appeal. probably in part because they have captured the institutions and can push their propaganda in it. this turns right wingers off the genre in general and has been going on for a bit it seems. figuring out how to address that is gonna be a different issue. because the Right in general is starving for good stories and media.
PsihoKekec
Swashbuckling Accountant
Blasterbot
Well-known member
but the math is my favorite part...
PsihoKekec
Swashbuckling Accountant
Get away from me you freak!
Blasterbot
Well-known member
math is easy. painting is hard...
Typhonis
Well-known member
Depends upon the standard you are painting too. Base coat and speed paints don't take too long.
Knowledgeispower
Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
Or in my case I haven't bothered with it yet. Hard to do so with just the armored combat box set.
Robovski
Well-known member
You can still play Battletech without giving money to CGL, you can buy used/aftermarket, much like how I'm only buying older editions from the TSR days of D&D. Plenty of scans and old merch out there and really Battletech players have never been sticklers for "painted official minis only" BS.
PeaceMaker 03
Well-known member
Steiner blue Rustoleum
Most of the guys in my local group were $150 and up, plus various add ons (eg, "I was gonna buy x anyway, guess I'll grab it as part of this pledge and toss in a few more bucks" and the like), so I think you're just underestimating how much the average backer is putting in.
I was one of the guys that spent more...told myself, "Gotta catch 'em all!"
Actually regret it b/c I just don't have the time to really play.
Actually regret it b/c I just don't have the time to really play.
prinCZess
Warrior, Writer, Performer, Perv
Alright, hold up. As resident Canopus fan, the 'sex-deviancy' is a tourist-trap phenomenon and, usually I think, not the main draw.
The MAIN draw is feminist power-fantasy complete with the subjugation and restriction-of-civil-rights on men!
...
Okay wait, that was a joke! The main draw is more 'Not psychotic assholes'. They, especially for some folks*, occupy the same space as the Taurians...except without the Taurians kneejerk animosities and memetic nuke-happiness. They've got asshole history, but that sits comfortably alongside those Star League assholes forcibly correcting that asshole-history so, y'know...there's some interesting color/depth there! Unlike the other successor states they don't get dragged into mustache-twirling villainy to suit the needs of the storyline (likely mostly becuase they never feature much in storylines but...y'know...that's their FEATURE! You can just make shit up in this vague, wibbly-wobbly ball of space that has 'madwoman power-fantasy' as it's deep background but is otherwise relatively well-adjusted as a country with, like, civil institutions that aren't fug-buck nuts and a degree of nobles-who-actually-DO-something at the edges.
*Notably here folks like yours truly who've not read any of the fiction past the FedCom Civil War and have only briefly glanced at sourcebooks occaisonally looking for flavorful notes of stuff...So this is all probably coming from a thoroughly unfamiliar and divorced-from-how-Canopus is actually portrayed in anything that portrays it since Canopus doesn't really get much focus in any of the 3025-3060 fiction...So grain of salt/I'm just bullshitting in the name of defending Glorious Canopus from vicious slander by men
As to the kickstarter discussion...
I threw in a few bucks to get one of the slick, signed books, but the fiction and occasional video-game is about the only way I've ever interacted with or wanted to interact with battletech, so...meh to the rest. Probly won't even listen to my inner completionist to get the other hardcovers of the series until/unless I can get them used at a discount since I've still got the old paperbacks and what they're charging on the books ($15 hardcovers, $25 signed nicer) seems a little steep to me even if realistically not being too bad objectively.