Battlechat 1. September (Teil 1)

Zuletzt aktualisiert am 10. September 2012 von DarkISI

So, ich war zwar nicht da, aber habe es geschafft an ein Log des ersten Chats zu kommen (stammen tut es von Martian). Der zweite ist leider weiterhin ohne Log. Sortiert habe ich es jetzt im Nachhinein auch nicht – das ist recht kompliziert, wenn man das mit einem fertigen Log macht (im laufenden Chat ist es relativ unkompliziert).

Beim nächsten Mal bin ich dann hoffentlich wieder verfügbar 😉

+++ martian set to mode +x
Live BattleChats, Every Month! Next chat scheduled for Saturday, 1 September 2012, at 12 PM (Eastern)
Topic set by Habeas2 on Thu Aug 23 2012 07:28:23 GMT+0200
<martian>: Hello
+++ ChanServ has given op to Habeas2
+++ ChanServ has given admin to Habeas2
<Clutch>: Good day all.
<martian>: Hi
<Korsar>: Evening from Germany!
<Habeas2>: Hello
<Habeas2>: Small group this morning….
<truthseeker>: First time for me here.
<Korsar>: Yeah, seems so
<Clutch>: Three minutes past the hour by my atomic clock. Let’s get this party started!
<Habeas2>: Korsar, was that an alt you had in the old channel?
<Korsar>: Yeah, my IRC started up on the old chat automatically since I hadn’t configured the new one
<Habeas2>: Hello, and welcome again to another live, official, on-line, IRC, BattleChat. As always, I’m your host and sole guest, Herb Beas. I’ll be answering questions in the order they are received and I will not be logging (that’s on you folks if you want a log).
<Clutch>: Thanks for having us Mr. Beas.
<Habeas2>: Rules are standard: Don’t be a jerk, and I won’t boot you from the chat. Let everyone have a chance to ask questions, and, well, just be generally nice to one another.
<Mimo>: So as DarkISi has holidays I ‚ll log
<Habeas2>: With that, the floor is open to questions!
<Habeas2>: Ah, I was wondering who’d log this one.
<martian>: Will we meet surviving White Tigers in the future?
<Korsar>: If Mimo hadn’t shown up, I would have
<Habeas2>: Martian – White Tigers?
<Mimo>: you can log to, i don’t trust my irc
<Clutch>: Smoke Jaguars is my first guess.
<martian>: Surviving members of Warrior House White Tiger.
<Korsar>: So, with the AToW Companion on the horizon: Did you actually in your long career with CGL and Battletech played one of the RPGs?
<Korsar>: @Mimo: Okay, that way we can be sure
<Habeas2>: Martian – Oh! Nearly forgot all about them! Um, there’s weren’t THAT many of them, and as they were cybered up to the point of lunacy, they probably won’t linger much past the Jihad era.
<martian>: Okay.
<Habeas2>: Korsar – I have played long-running campaigns in both MW2nd and MW3rd (MW1st was before my time). I even ran some campaigns via IRC.
<Clutch>: I’ve played every edition of MechWarrior since Ed 1. It was the color plates by artist Steve Venters that set the BattleTech hook in me.
<Druu1>: I’m always late
<Clutch>: It’s a really fun universe to RP in.
<martian>: Will we see at least some remaining vehicles from Serpentus series?
<truthseeker>: How did you get the idea for the Tiamat? It is so much larger than any of the other assault DropShips that have been published?
<Mimo>: Are there plans to make the assembling of fighter squadrons more comfortable?
<Korsar>: Habeas2 Nice, I wish I would get some more people to play AToW withe me
<Habeas2>: Martian – As far as we know to date, the Serpentus series received no further vehicles, because the Jihad ended before the Word of Blake could complete them.
<martian>: Makes sense.
<Clutch>: I frequently used the Aerotech2 Radar map to run the third dimension alongside a BattleTech game. Any chance you could bring that back?
<Trboturtle>: So, with the major cons over, can we see the PDFs again?
<Paint-it-Pink>: Hi, just want to ask if CGL have any plans for the miniatures games, as in a separate book for example?
<Korsar>: Seen as ISP 3 (yeah, I call it that in my head ) deals with Interstellar expedtions, can we expect to see some new contracts for RPG groups?
<Mimo>: Any chances that the Con exclusive faction dices would be avaible for german cons? Maybe via Ulisss Spiele?
<mib_twaxct>: So how is everyone doing?
<Habeas2>: Truthseeker – The Tiamat was basically envisioned as the epitome of a vessel built ground-up to serve as a Pocket WarShip. It was also, like the Celestial, Demon, and Spectral series of units, proposed as a DropShip series for WoB
<Habeas2>: Mimo – I’m not sure I follow that question. What would you mean by „more comfortable“?
<truthseeker>: Will we see more ships like the Tiamat in the future in spite of the fact that the WoB is essentially in ruin or in exile?
<Mimo>: in teh moment you must count everey lsaer, lrm or something else from all fighters, needless to say how often I had made mistakes
<Habeas2>: Clutch – The Radar Map for aerospace/ground support is in Strategic Operations already, so…. we already did.
<Clutch>: Rock and roll.
<Habeas2>: Trboturtle – Yes, we will see PDFs again, as soon as we clear some bottlenecks that developed (starting with the fact that we only have one part-time layout guy handling all our book and PDF work for BattleTech…)
<Habeas2>: Paint-it-Pink – A separate book for miniatures-only play? Consider the fact that miniatures play is based on concepts explained in detail across all of the core books, and you might see why a separate book would just be a redundancy. Plus, we want to avoid the „red-headed stepchild effect“ like we had with AeroTech.
<CharlieTango>: Apologies for being late, and if this has already been asked. Randall had tweeted/posted a while back about new molds of the minis for the Introductory Boxed Set, and had said he would post a blog post about it (this was back just after Origins) but hadn’t. Is there a reprint of the Intro Box forthcoming, and will it have new moldings of the ‚Mechs in it?
<Paint-it-Pink>: Okay, I agree, but was thinking that a more miniature wargame approach might work, a bit like what has been done by taking BattleForce and making Quick Strike.
<mib_twaxct>: Any news about Field Manual SLDF coming out in Dead tree form?
<Habeas2>: Korsar – No. We gradually dropped the contracts notion, and didn ‚t use it at all this time.
<Habeas2>: Mimo – The faction dice we had made for con season were sold out completely within 30 minutes at GenCon when some guy bought the entire bucket. It could be some time before we see more. (Randall posted a blog about this on BattleCorps.)
<CharlieTango>: To take P-i-P’s question and stand it on its head a bit… any possibility of official rules for adapting quick-strike to hex-based play? some of us have already done it unofficially but I was wondering about an official ruleset.
<Habeas2>: mib_twaxct – I’m doing ok. Just a bit tired and achey.
<Habeas2>: Truthseeker – Signs point to…. Maybe. The RotS may have captured the design specs and could be using the ships in the future.
<Mimo>: I know, would there be an opinion that Ulisses could have some for selling?
<Habeas2>: Mimo – Ah. That’s a result of the abstraction. If you ran fighter squadrons like regular fighters, gameplay would be drawn out even longer and it would be questionable why you were using squadrons at all, since you’re treating each fighter’s weapons‘ separately.
<truthseeker>: The Tiamat itself? or similar large (or larger) PWS designs?
<Habeas2>: CharlieTango – Yes, and yes.
<Habeas2>: Paint-it-Pink – That’s just it; if we make separate books for miniatures wargaming and regular hex-grid gaming (when the conversions are ultimately so simple), then we’ll either be giving the minis gamers a pamphlet and referencing them to the core rules for basic rules anyway, or we’ll be reprinting an entire core book series JUST for a small segment of our gaming community. Both options are expenses neither we nor our customer
<Habeas2>: Mib_twaxt – Field Manual: SLDF is already out in dead tree form. We sold quite a few at GenCon
<Habeas2>: CharlieTango – That’s possible, too. Again, conversion between miniatures and hex-grid play are really very minor when you get down to it.
<Trboturtle>: Stil no word on the novels I take it?
<Habeas2>: Mimo – I really can’t be sure about that one.
<Habeas2>: Truthseeker – Both
<martian>: This is not exactly a question about products, but are you in contact with Jordan Weisman, Ross Babcock or any other BattleTech veteran from founding years? Are they still interested in CBT?
<Paint-it-Pink>: However, BattleTech is ultimately not a miniatures game, it is a board game. While there are some simple analogs that allow conversion, IMNSHO there are some opportunities to produce a product that would be different, yet at the same time have the core background to draw on. Just think of the minis it could sell?
<Habeas2>: Trboturtle – For now, no novels are forthcoming. In their place, we are moving toward the Blitzkrieg e-novellas, such as „Ghost Bear’s Lament“ (by Steve Mohan Jr.) and „Operation Ice Storm“ (by Jason Schmetzer) for primary fiction, backed up by BattleCorps.
<Clutch>: Follow on to MartIAN…hOW ARE THINGS GOING WITH iRON wIND mETALS?
<Clutch>: wHOOPS.
Clutch types with two fingers…..
<Habeas2>: Martian – I, personally, am in contact with neither Jordan nor Ross (though I have met Jordan from time to time at GenCon). I imagine they have interest of some form or another with BT (in as much as anyone has interest in the places where they used to work), but how much or how little is entirely variable.
<truthseeker>: Are you going to be publishing material for new writers who have not been published before with these e-novellas?
<Mimo>: better 2 fingers than with cats on the desk
<CharlieTango>: Any word on progress on RS:3067 Unabridged?
<Habeas2>: Paint-it-Pink – Were we a straight miniatures company, like Games Workshop, you might have actually seen a business model just like that, but Catalyst Game Labs does NOT sell miniature. We sell books, and many of our scenarios and rules still actually reference mapsheets to determine special abilities and the like. Making BattleTech a straight minis game is not our goal, but we also know there’s great appeal in using terrain wit
<Habeas2>: Clutch – Iron WInd Metals seems to be doing fine. Or at least, I’ve heard no complaints or word of crisis from them.
<Habeas2>: Truthseeker – New writers off the street? No. The novellas will go to only the most experienced fiction writers we have available to us. The standards will be high, since we expect to be running spine fiction that way.
<mib_twaxct>: Can you tel us if there wil be anthing new coming out for Batletech in the next thre to four months? For example PDF Series or boks.
<Dru>: Did Catalyst Game Labs see the Kickstarter that Reaper Miniatures put on to quick start their ‚Bones‘ Line of Miniatures. I realize there are a lot more generic fantasy miniatures fans then Mechwarror Miniatures Fans but has there been a discussion of using something like this to expand the hard plastic miniatures to help cover some expense?
<Habeas2>: CharlieTango – Development hell. Maybe someday we’ll learn to stop making variants for every single thing, or introducing new technologies that no design software has kept up with.
<Clutch>: Follow up: You have no input on miniature design? I guess that’s a strength in the line. Your BattleTech may not look like my BattleTech, but it’s still BattleTech…..If that makes ant sense at all.
<truthseeker>: „spine fiction“?
<Habeas2>: Mib_Twaxct – As noted earlier, A Time of War Companion is due to come out next; it was rushed for GenCon but once we missed that deadline, we pulled it back so we could add an index and give it an extra layer of polish before it goes to print and PF sale. Following that is Interstellar Expeditions (IP3), and then the last of the 3067 Handbook series, Handbook: House Kurita. We hope to have all of those out before next year. PDF-
<Daemion>: Has a central aspect for tech depiction been developed for future fiction? Considering the order of canonicity, a lot of the early novels have widely divergent tech depictions.
<Cateran>: truthseeker, „spine fiction“ is the core of the ongoing fiction. The main storyline, so to speak, with other stories being “ Meanwhile on Timbuktu“
<Daemion>: Re: consistancy in fiction – Or, will the ‚pick your own flavor‘ be a continuing feature of BattleTech fiction?
<Habeas2>: Dru – Again, Catalyst Game Labs does not produce miniatures. We have to subcontract for any that you see. It gets us into some very expensive and legally thorny areas if we try to produce BattleTech miniatures for ourselves.
<truthseeker>: How does one get started writing fiction that would be published in the BattleTech universe?
<Paint-it-Pink>: I must admit I prefer what is happening on Timbuktu to spine novels in general, as I prefer to have the spine stuff in source books and the like, because spine books make the faction appear more important. Again IMNSHO all are equal, or not equal as each other.
<Trboturtle>: Truthseeker — simeple — submit good stories to Battlecorps
<Habeas2>: Clutch – Ultimately speaking, we can ask for whatever miniatures we want, but it’s basically picking our order via another miniature producer. CGL does not own IWM, for example. Unlike Reaper or Games Workshop, we don’t have that kind of direct control, and we never really had it to begin with.
<Habeas2>: Truthseeker – „Spine fiction“ is basically what most of the novels were for BattleTech; they moved the main universe plots forward. The latest „spine fiction“ was Bonfire of Worlds by Steve Mohan Jr.
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Yes. We have internal documentation covering what tech is and is not allowed in the setting. Still, clashes with older novels are inevitable, since it’s been 20-25 years since they were written and some of them used concepts we know to be wrong today.
<Habeas2>: Daemion – What do you mean by „pick your own flavor“ here?
<Habeas2>: Truthseeker – submit stories to BattleCorps. You HAVE to e able to write well, tell a good story, and stay in canon, though.
<Daemion>: RE-pic your own flavor – that was simply an extension of my first question. What I mean is that in some novels, you have weapons missing widely, etc. In some, it bounces off armor hamrlessly, etc. In some you have high level of automation. In others its more direct operator control…
<Trboturtle2>: Now i’m twins…..
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Depends on the setting of the story.
<Habeas2>: Giving you guys 17 minutes more.
<Habeas2>: …..Unless you really don’t need it
<CharlieTango>: Any more tidbits to drop about the ilClan?
<Daemion>: If the setting is say, a maruader’s cockpit, then wouldn’t there be a problem with one story depicting high automation directing the pilot’s actions versus another showing direct pilot control of complex systems?
<Daemion>: So, how did your last game go?
<Habeas2>: CharlieTango – Are you kidding? That thread on the official BattleTech forums is hysterical without me having to add another word about it!
<Trboturtle2>: I still say it’s Clan Blue Wombat……
<Daemion>: Nah. Clan Pink Fuzzy Bunny all the way.
<Mimo>: from a german novel book i’ve heard its clan fog penguins
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Depends how much writing the author puts into it, but ultimately, the handwave is that many cockpits are customized. We try to discourage too much in the way of explaining the controls, because hyper-detail tends to break any fictional system.
<Alex_AFK>: it’s Clan Domestic Cat, actually
<CharlieTango>: figured I’d give you a chance to stoke the fire if you wanted to.
<Mimo>: domestic cat sunds god
<Mimo>: good
<Habeas2>: Daemion – My last game of BattleTech went great! Which is to say, I died as expected.
<Mimo>: damn cats
<Alex_AFK>: no no, you had it right the first time
<Daemion>: Was it a pick-up game, or were you playing opfor for someone’s ’special force‘?
<Habeas2>: CharlieTango – Oh, ok. Some of them probably got it right.
<Habeas2>: Daemion – It was Masters & Minions at GenCon
<Daemion>: Ah. Pick-up
<Daemion>: Is it true that the majority of Word of Blake knows/knew nothing of the hidden five?
<CharlieTango>: He died but at least he had fun dying. maybe because this year it didn’t go until 3AM.
<Daemion>: Ugh.
<Daemion>: Someone had to drag that one out, huh? Who was it?
<Daemion>: Rumor has it that the ranges as listed in the rules actually have a handwavium explanation as being accurate for the actual BTU. Is this accurate?
<Habeas2>: Daemion – True. The majority of the Word of Blake had no idea about the Five Worlds
<Daemion>: Is it also true that few WoB personnel actually knew of any master plan?
<Habeas2>: Daemion – I’m bad with names; don’t recall who they were.
<Daemion>: How small a circle was the fab5 held to? Would precentor Blaine have known about it, for example?
<Daemion>: Will we ever see Precentor Berith again?
<Habeas2>: Daemion – The ranges listed in the rules are designed to facilitate tabletop play. They reflect a weapon’s effective range, but–as demonstrated by advanced rules such as Extreme and LOS Range–they do not reflect a weapon’s actual maximum range. Many of the rifles at the AToW scale, for example, can hit targets as far as 1-2 kilometers away, but at the platoon level, these ranges drop drastically to reflect their need to mass f
<CharlieTango>: You mentioned „spine fiction“ earlier. When can we expect to see those spine fiction novellas beginning to show up on Battlecorps?
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Yes. Few WoB personnel ever learned the Master’s plans.
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Blaine was not trusted with that information, but may have suspected or known of Jardine at least
<martian>: Is XTRO: Primitives 3 planned for this year or the next year? I’d like to see primitive Orion, Thunderbolt or Archer.
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Berith has gone into exile. If we see more from him, it’ll be surprise.
<Habeas2>: CharlieTango – We’re still discussing the schedule.
<Daemion>: Is the rumor still true that Blaine was spaced at the outset of the Jihad, and is it still… accurate?
<Habeas2>: Martian – There’s a big bottleneck on all PDFs. They’ll emerge when we get them done, but I cannot offer a schedule at this time
<Daemion>: Will we see guidlines for running word characters in the AToW Companion?
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Yes. Blaine was dumped over Tharkad. He probably burned up on entry.
<Daemion>: RE Blaine burning up on reentry – how long did that take? Days? Hours?
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Not really; the focus of AToW Companion moves us slightly past the point where WoB is relevant, though you WILL see all the lovely cybernetics rules they gve us
<Habeas2>: Daemion – Are you just having fun with me now?
<Daemion>: Yes.
<Korsar>: Daemion – Afaik you already can play Word characters with the basic AToW
<Habeas2>: 1 minute. Last call
<Clutch>: Are there Smoke Jaguar Truborns out in the coreward periphery?
<Habeas2>: Clutch – ANything’s possible.
<Daemion>: What year do you predict the third Star League will encoutner the Tetatae Empirium
<Clutch>: 1103.
<Habeas2>: Daemion – I’d love to answer that one but oh, look at the time!
<Daemion>: And, can you predict a date when we see the development of Grav drives and shields?
<Daemion>:
<Clutch>: That’s why everything tastes like chicken.