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Robotech RPG, Manga Size, and Lies

Posted On: 09/30/2008 08:46:38

Time for another frothing Palladiumbooks rant.
Lately, Kevin Siembieda has been getting some backlash about his decision to make the new Robotech RPG books manga sized. It seems a good number of fans don't like this format for the RPG and are complaining about it.

Of course, ol' KS never does anything wrong, and never came up with an unpopular idea in his life. He's just a victim of circumstance. So, fans have been told that Palladiumbooks was contractually ordered to release the books in the manga format. KS didn't have any choice. If fans have complaints, they should go complain to Harmony Gold because Kevin's hands are tied.

So, there has been a thread on Robotech.com regarding the manga format. There have been the typical rabid Palladiumbooks defenders who say all the flaws of the new Robotech RPG are Harmony Gold's fault. Then recently, Tommy Yune, one of the big Harmony Gold Robotech head honchos visited the thread. He states:

http://www.robotech.com/community/forum/read.php?id=1899492&forumid=10&pagenumber=2

For the folks who do not prefer their manga size, there's no malice behind the introduction. Kevin Siembieda's always prided himself in trying out new ideas and wanted to experiment with a new format. Of course, Harmony Gold has to approve such proposals, and we ran the format poll (after discussion with Kevin) to see if enough of the fan base was open to the idea. The numbers didn't indicate a majority, but didn't reflect enough opposition to rule out giving it a try and it ended up selling quite well.

When asked for a little clarification, he adds:

There is no contractual mandate for a specific format other than it simply being a conventional role-playing game.

In other words, the manga format was never something Harmony Gold dictated. It was Kevin Siembieda's pet idea. Now that it's unpopular, he's trying to shift the blame, like he always does.

Tags: Robotech Siembieda

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Viewing 1 - 6 out of 6 Comments

From: micronconvoy

10/22/2008 00:53:37

I hate to say I actually bought that book. I was hoping that with the new veritechs and villians maybe they would fix the rules a bit. They didn't.

I'm right ther with you man. I can't stand Palladium. Their robotech system made me hate veritechs. No lie or exaggeration. I simply don't like them now. Everytime I see one all I can think about is how horribly under powered they were, how half the rules never really made sense, and a whole host of other problems.

From: rogue-z

10/01/2008 21:14:25

Man. I'm always bummed when this crap happens. I cut my RPG teeth on Palladium, but it's not matured at all in 20 years. And the worst part is there are some good ideas (I would say the manga format is actually one of them!) and some very nice worlds in the Megaverse, but man, the DRAMA and the SUCKY rules really drag it down. Just so long as Palladium doesn't somehow get it's claws into the Macross franchise, we're ok!

From: Cosmic_Emu

10/01/2008 01:21:32

I personally like the manga format, but that's just a little leftover from my serious anime fan days. However, I cannot abide Palladium's seeming need to do a thousand editions of the same book - special, delux, super boffo hardbound, etc.. I just don't think the company is is good enough financial shape to be thinning out its production elements. Add ot this the fact that they keep having delays on ther regular releases, and it's a pretyt bleh situation.

-Eli

From: Darkforce

09/30/2008 14:25:52 Hey, I like Manga size and current marketing research shows it's popular....... People just like to complain about the big Kev...

From: calico_jack73

09/30/2008 09:33:58

To tell the truth... as long as it is a good game or system the format doesn't really matter to me.

That said, personally I couldn't stand the perfect bound format he has always used. The clear coating on the cover always started peeling off after about a year. I'd end up using packing tape to "seal" the edges as soon as I bought one of his books to prevent it from happening. I much prefer the hardcover format like the new Rifts book. I love that they put some decent artwork within the front and back covers. THAT is how a book should be published IMHO.

From: TwoGunBob

09/30/2008 09:23:44

Typical Palladium. I haven't even kept up if Kevin is still milking the Crisis of Tree-ETCH-ARR-EEEEEeeeEEEE!!! as the root source of Palladium's woes. Personally, that hat out begging forever soured me on ever buying a Palladium product again. Well, okay it added to the already full bowl of soured milk. Well, that's not true exactly. I found the original TMNT game book at Half Price Books for like $2.00 and bought it since mine was stolen back in high school some 15 or so years ago.

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