Battlechat 22.10.11 – Teil 2

Zuletzt aktualisiert am 23. Oktober 2011 von DarkISI

So, mal eben bis 3:30 wach gewesen, um den zweiten Teil des Chats mitzubekommen. Hat sich aber gelohnt, vor allem da Herb so nett war und noch ein bischen was zur realen Geschichte des Jihads erzählt hat. Hier also der zweite Battlechat:
[[Habeas2]]: Hi there!
[[Frabby]]: Soooo… with Jihad – Final Reckoning out, there’s one more publication to go and we’re officially out of the Jihad era for good?
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – Effectively, yes
[[Suralin]]: ‚Ello!
[[Habeas2]]: Suralin – Hello. And welcome to the Catalyst Game Lab BattleTech Line Developer-aided Public Relations Activity.
[[Frabby]]: I don’t expect you to tell me how precisely you have planned out the storyline for the Dark Age and beyond… but I wonder: Are you going to push the setting ahead at the same speed fortwith?
[[Frabby]]: Or will you be looking back at previous eras a bit more?
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – Hell no. The normal rate of story line advanacement is 1-2 years per real time year. The time period from Jihad to Dark Age is 60 years across, during lot of which nothing terribly interesting happens. Ergo, we will not proceed at the same rate.
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – Expect several Historicals; they have become a semi-established component of the sourcebook line.
[[Mendrugo]]: Herb – I just finished reading Wars of Reaving. (Been a busy couple of months, I know). The book mentions SDS systems a few times, but doesn’t go into much detail. Do (did?) most Kerensky cluster worlds have SDS systems, and under what circumstances would they be used?
[[Habeas2]]: Mendrugo – SDS systems were fairly common, at least on all five Pentagon worlds. Their likely intent was for anti-WarShip duty, keeping potential enemies from „cheating“ with orbit to surface fire
[[DarkISI]]: Anything special you want to get off your chest, now that Final Reckoning is available?
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – Yes. I really wish time would slow down and give me a chance to catch up. I can’t even read my own work any more.
[[Suralin]]: Oh, well.
[[Suralin]]: So, i know this question’s been asked before, but are there any plans to introduce IS-tech Protomech rules at any point in the future? ‚Cause I could see them manufactured as cheap patrol units (ICE engine maybe), and they’d probably be more durable and cheap than Ultra-Lights.
[[Habeas2]]: Suralin – Nope.
Suralin goes to a different window and puts together tentative IS Proto rules to post on the forum
[[Frabby]]: What I meant is, assuming we hit IC 3130 by OOC 2015, what IC year do you expect the BT universe to be in by, say, 2018?
[[Frabby]]: Yay for Historicals!
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – Oh. Well, presuming we hit 3130 by 2015, by 2018, I expect us to be in about 3150.
[[Frabby]]: Whoa. So it’s not going to be slowing down much.
[[Mendrugo]]: Are there any prospects for a RS: Vehicle Annex on the horizon, or is nobody really clamoring for official record sheets of traffic copters?
[[Habeas2]]: Mendrugo – Demand for TRO:Vehicle Annex did not acheive the level we had hoped for. A RS: VA is in the works, but not as a high priority.
[[Yuan1]]: How much thought been given to adding more to the role playing (Mechwarrior) side of battletech? Such as products and adventures?
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – A Companion rulebook for AToW is scheduled for next year. Adventures–in a PDF-exclusive format–are being considered, but have been delayed by the need for other products to be completed.
[[Korsar]]: As I really liked the Rules for different AToW-Eras in the Era Reports: Any chance of more of them or will that be done with IO?
[[drufause]]: Can you give us the title of the Final Jihad book?
[[Habeas2]]: Drufause – Field Manual: 3085
[[Frabby]]: Ah, speaking of the RPG – do you solicit adventures? I have an old set of linked scenarios with tons of background fluff (the Choose-your-own-Adventure concept with lots of combat); would it make sense to submit something like that to BattleCorps?
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – I would suggest attempting to sell your scenarios to BattleCorps if they are more based on BT play than RPG.
[[drufause]]: So Field Manual 3085 sounds like a recap and positioning book does this mean 99% of the story is told?
[[Habeas2]]: Drufause – Technically, with Reckoning, it’s all been told. But FM: 3085 catches the universe up to TRO: 3085 and wraps up the „classic“ setting for us
[[Yuan1]]: Who would win in a fight between Thomas Hogarth and Starscream?
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – Starscream, but probably not without damage.
[[drufause]]: Hogarth would win starscream always fails to beat infereiors
[[DarkISI]]: How long ago has it been decided, what exactly the Machina Domini will turn out to be? Have they always been planed in their current form or were they different, when they were first thought up?
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – I had the idea of the Machina Domini form in mind before I even came up with their name.
[[Korsar]]: Since it’s now nearly over (just two books to go and one of them a story book) Thanks Herb and all the writers for the Jihad books. I liked them a lot, starting with ISP and (hopefully) ending with FM:3085!
[[Habeas2]]: Korsar – You are welcome.
[[DarkISI]]: So, how much fun was it then, to see so many funs talking about them being IS Protomechs?
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – I have not had the time to enjoy watching the fans‘ discussions. Indeed, I’m not even sure what is being discussed in the forums nowadays…
[[Yuan1]]: The Machina Domini might of won if all of them had been issued pants..
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – Hardly.
[[Frabby]]: How intertwined is BattleCorps with CGL regarding submissions? I.e. if I submit something to BC that Jason finds to be out of scope for BC, would the material be given to CGL for consideration? Or am I „burning“ an idea that I submit to BC?
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – Honestly, the fact is that I no longer accept unsolicited proposals and material for source work. At all. Got burned by someone and I won’t tread that ground again. Thus, the only way to get unsolicited material into the universe in any form is BattleCorps
[[Frabby]]: Yup, got it. Unfortunately, I doubt that my adventure concept falls within BC’s scope. The site even says they’re not looking for linked scenarios.
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – Just because the site isn’t looking for linked scenarios doesn’t mean you necessarily have nothing to work with. A primary reason for „no linked scenarios“ is that Jason doesn’t want a half-finished product when/if the author gives up.
[[Mendrugo]]: When the Jihad storyline first began, I immediately recalled a bit from the old Marik sourcebook about a Holovid called „Kingdom of the Gypsies“, which featured a cybernetic madman plotting the demise of the Inner Sphere from a secret base in the Periphery. Was that sidebar bit at all an inspiration for the Master/Jihad, or just an incredible coincidence?
[[Habeas2]]: Mendrugo – Incredible coincidence. Maybe. FASA knew they wanted the Master to be a cybered up „real“ Thomas Marik, but the final form and character of this individual wound up on my shoulders way post-FASA.
[[DarkISI]]: How much of where FASA wanted to go with the Jihad has been done the way they wanted it to go?
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – Aside from the final hero and the length of time taken, most of it went as FASA planned. The Manei Domini, the Five Worlds, and Stone were all add-ins, but many of those would likely have appeared in some form or another…
[[Alex_Knight]]: mmmm….Manei Domini.
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – Actually, there were some changes we also made from the plan, some were even made by the PLAYERS:
[[Habeas2]]: Allow me to expand on this.
[[DarkISI]]: was just going to ask you to
[[Habeas2]]: The original FASA plan for the Jihad was still a war that begins as a temper tantrum when the allied leaders scrap the Second Star League for no good reason….
[[Habeas2]]: The plan held that, upon that failure, ALL FIVE CAPITALS would be assaulted by Word of Blake fleets appearing without warning to bombard and seize them….
[[Habeas2]]: Victor and company would run to Tukayyid to regroup, at which point the false Thomas Marik would „come clean“, reveal his identity, and join their side….
[[Habeas2]]: Meanwhile, all of the CHaos March would be under WoB assault, while Wolf’s Dragoons and NWH banded together to forge a mercenary protectorate around all nearby worlds willing to meet their price. (Yup; no noble sentiment at all here. This was pure „pay or die“ politics)
Alex_Knight hides away his „Death to the Dragoons and NWH“ signs
[[Habeas2]]: Victor would again rally the various factions to put down the Word, a process that would take two years, and be nearly lost before suddenly the slumbering Ghost Bears, with their powerful WarShip fleet and such, would join the war berserker style, believing that the WoB is in league with the long-lost Wolverines.
[[DarkISI]]: Mercenary Protectorate sounds interesting.
[[Korsar]]: Just thought the same thing…
[[Habeas2]]: The Bears would essentially lead the charge on all fronts as the allies led by Victor brought us to Terra (CapCon once again sat it out, going „turtle“ while the rest of the IS fought and bled) and be stopped only in Terran orbit, when Victor points out that their landing of troops would unravel the truce between IS and Clan, something the Warden Bears were not ready to do.
[[Habeas2]]: That, in the short form, was the FASA plan
[[Frabby]]: To me, the single most beautiful aspect of the Jihad was that Wolf’s Dragoons were burned – and how it was done. They had become such a powerful faction that *something* had to be done about them. The way Jaime Wolf’s death (at the hands of Wayne Waco no less!) was used as a funeral pyre for the old BattleTech and usher in a new era was fantastic!
[[Warlord]]: hey us Cappies know better, let others bleed instead of us
Brian_Davion shows warlord a map of the capcon cira 3130
[[Habeas2]]: A few problems popped up in the planning committe, not the least of which was „where did WoB get all that force?“. Second was „I don’t care HOW fanatical they are; nobody fights a war like that unless they think they can win it!“
[[DarkISI]]: hmm… I like FASA’s plan and I like how it turned out in the end. But now I’m hoping for a Mercenary Protectorate at some point in time
[[Habeas2]]: Answerung those questions, and adjusting for things like FASA’s closure, support for the WizKids‘ line, and dealing with the fact that a canon event DESTROYED the Ghost Bear fleet all had to be dealt with.
[[Habeas2]]: That’s how FASA’s Jihad transformed into the one you guys got.
[[DarkISI]]: thanks for clearing that up
[[Habeas2]]: And now, to continue onto other questions (DarkISI, have fun sorting THAT out…)
[[Korsar]]: He isn doing it this time around…
[[DarkISI]]: Korsar is logging this chat
[[insert_name_here]]: Great work on Final Reckoning!
[[ScottSR]]: just wanted to say that I just purhcased 4 pdf only releases and JFR. I am moving apartments today and „felt“ that I should not move my computer just yet. Thank you sir!
[[Habeas2]]: Insert_Name_Here – Thanks
[[Habeas2]]: ScottSR – You’re welcome.
[[Warlord]]: evening
[[Mendrugo]]: What are the official colors of the Stone Lion insignia?
[[Habeas2]]: Mendrugo – Meh, I’m thinking gold and gray.
[[Warlord]]: once your done i have a question, if you may
[[DarkISI]]: Ah… Wolverines. Are the rumors about their connection to the WoB revealed in Final Reckoning? (haven’t had a chance to look into the book, yet)
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – No, nothing about the Wolverweenies is mentioned, I don’t think.
[[Yuan1]]: What kinds of conflicts can we look forward to in the historical that take place after the Jihad but before the Dark Age? Republic of the Sphere verses Capellan Confederation, minor border clashes, IS clans acting up ?
[[Klep]]: Yuan1: we know the victoria war is a thing that happens
[[Klep]]: hopefully that will get some coverage
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – One of the first Historicals we’re tending to are is the Liberation of Terra (back in the 2760s). An Historical for the Jihad-Dark Age setting will likely be Brush Wars-style, covering at least the three major conflicts of the era.
[[Warlord]]: when will the next major plot line start? what is the year?
[[Habeas2]]: Warlord – The plan is that the next „current“ plot line will unfold in the 3130s-3150s. There will, however, be a bunch of Historicals posted to help support recent products like the Reunification War
[[Warlord]]: sounds good to me, ty
[[Warlord]]: bring a cappie player I am waiting for the hammer to fall on them and be the picked on kid of the IS again
[[Habeas2]]: Warlord – 3150 is the next plot arc time period.
[[No-Face]]: Habeas: I have heard an ugly rumor that in the near future that the game is going to be more focused (or entirely focused) on Quickstrike, that the game is going to be dumbed down and that all the old technologies are going to be superseded / not going to work in-game anymore. Please allay my fears & tell us that this isn’t true!
[[Habeas2]]: No-Face – One thing to bear in mind is that Quickstrike is a simplified form of standard BattleTech, meshed with BattleForce. These are established elements of the game setting and rules structure and thus should not be seen as „dumbed down“. They are, however, faster-playing, a valid area of gameplay considering BatleTech’s sheer age and the amount of play time our ever-older audience has to work with (many of us are married)
[[Habeas2]]: No-Face – That said, there are plans to improve emphasis of Quickstrike games, but NOT to cut out classic BT rules, since one is derived from the other.
[[Trboturtle]]: So,m how did Devlin Stone wander into this….
[[Trboturtle]]: Why this Devlin Stone and not Victor Steiner-Davion?
[[Habeas2]]: Trboturtle – Not Victor because even back in FASA’s day, Victor was seen as over-used. He WAS the Deus Machina of the universe.
[[Brian_Davion]]: and some guy who comes out of no where to save us all ISN’T by definiton a Deus Machina?
[[Habeas2]]: Brian_Davion – No.
[[Frabby]]: Somehow I got the distinct feeling that the small-time merc unit (lance to company sized) is kinda dying out post-Jihad, and that even the big names of the business are reduced to mere shadows of their former selves. Yet at the same time, player groups (the ones I played in, at least) typically fit into that exact niche.
[[Frabby]]: So Herb, what’s your vision for small-time merc units post-3085?
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – A lot of post-3085 merc activity will likely be helping the various factions, companies, and minor powers stabilize their territories, especially in the Fallen Worlds League.
[[Klep]]: ooh Fallen Worlds League… I like that
[[Klep]]: Habeas2: will there be a product to bring us up-to-date on the 3130 status quo?
[[Habeas2]]: Klep – Yes.
[[Klep]]: good. i just realized that without having read the dark age novels, i have almost no idea what’s up at that time
[[Trboturtle]]: Klep — I Recomend all the novels from „The Scorpion Jar“ forward. Most of those before that novel are either fair or poor…..
[[Klep]]: Trboturtle: i intend to read them all eventually
[[DarkISI]]: Trboturtle the NWH trilogy is still giving me nightmares
[[Korsar]]: @Isi: Meh, if that is giving you nightmares, thank god you didn`t read „Früchte voller Bitterkeit“
[[Frabby]]: I’m currently reading Früchte voll Bitterkeit and two thirds through the novel it isn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting from the back cover text. (Sarna plot overview coming up.)
[[Trboturtle]]: Früchte voll Bitterkeit ? (MY German is noexsistant…..)
[[Korsar]]: @Trboturtle: Fruits of bitterness. Don`t ask, I won`t tell
[[Trboturtle]]: Korsar — is that a translated DA Novel?
[[DarkISI]]: Trboturtle there are good reasons to stay away from the German novels FanPro came up with in the end (and Ulisses is releasing right now). The newest one basically includes Goa’ulds…
[[Korsar]]: @Trbturtle: No, German only novel from Fanpro
[[Frabby]]: Früchte voll Bitterkeit is one of the German novels that FanPro published after they lost the US license. It’s original material and wasn’t translated.
[[Trboturtle]]: DarkISI — Well, it would have been a problem fitting a ‚Mech through a Stargate…..
[[Frabby]]: @DarkISI: Actually, Karma ranks high up among BT novels for me; but the others were admittedly not nearly as good. Then again, there’s some english BT fiction out there that didn’t quite strike me as high literature either.
[[Trboturtle]]: Frabby — Its hard to gage how good the German-only stories are as compared to the English…..
[[DarkISI]]: @Frabby, my problem is more the fact, that they simply aren’t BT novels, but some strange scifi novels where the ‚Mechs were added as an afterthought. They just feel wrong
[[Brian_Davion]]: sounds like some of the DA novels Dark.
[[DarkISI]]: the early ones, yes
[[DarkISI]]: that’s why the NWH trilogy is giving me nightmares
[[DarkISI]]: and the fact that that one is really bad writing
[[Trboturtle]]: Ruins of Power for me…..
[[Frabby]]: @DarkISI: I couldn’t bring myself to spend money on Wiege der Basilisken yet. After reading a review and a plot summary, I’m not sure if I want to read this at all. (Probably will, for the sake of producing another Sarna article and spare others the effort.)
[[Trboturtle]]: is there any „Offical“ CGL presence over at Spiel Essen?
[[DarkISI]]: Trboturtle Ulisses Spiele is the official presence at SPIEL
[[Frabby]]: Sigh. Can’t make it to SPIEL this year.
[[DarkISI]]: They are selling the German intro box
[[Trboturtle]]: ah. I’m not in europe, but I’ve been hearing about Spiel Essen and how its a major event in the gaming world over there….
[[Habeas2]]: Trboturtle – Not that I am currently aware of.
[[Frabby]]: @Trboturtle: Actually, the SPIEL is the world’s biggest games and toy fair. Bigger than GenCon.
[[Yuan1]]: With the normal TRO production plans pushed back to one every two years will there be more XTRO’s added to fill the gaps for players who always want something new to play with?
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – We have plenty of XTROs in the schedule. No worries.
[[Suralin]]: Are there plans to inject the reconstituted FWL into more events post-3139? The Mariks have always seemed very under-used to me…
[[Habeas2]]: Suralin – As our plans for the Dark Age setting pick up in 3150, when the FWL is reformed, yes.
[[Suralin]]: Eeexcellent. ]]:]
[[Warlord]]: being a longtime battletech player I am happy with the progress of the game and universe, mind you the biggest things I have seen that I like are the addition of actual wet water units and the newer tech, since you are trying to add a bit more things we are used to in RL, with the Btech twist
[[Warlord]]: longtime = 25 years+
[[Mendrugo]]: Looking at the Track titles in Final Reckoning, I’m seeing a lot of love for G.I. Joe. Any clues to other easter eggs in Final Reckoning?
[[Habeas2]]: Mendrugo – Ben Rome can be blamed for the GI Joe reference; he changed the original Track names and apparently picked the Joes as his theme. WHen I caught it, I yelled on every public forum and then let it go. No time to tweak.
[[DarkISI]]: Will we see many changes between Bonfire of Worlds and the picking up of the story line in 3150?
[[Talz]]: Habeas2 – Are there any plans in the works to increase the amount of Battlecorps content (fiction and/or other) from what we’ve seen over the last year?
[[Habeas2]]: Talz – In all honestly, Jason needs more quality writers capable of giving us good story, able to accept criticism and direction, and without tons of continuity headaches. It’s simple as that. (And a bigger budget maybe, but that’s actually outside my department.)
[[Trboturtle]]: Talz — Can’t speak for anyone else, but I am writing as fast as I can….
[[Frabby]]: Have you already decided on the nature of the Republic’s „jump shield“? Depending on the technology, and what Clarion Note allegedly did to hyperspace according to Bonfire, this could be a game changer in the strategic level. Heck, it already is.
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – Clarion Note and the „Jump Shield“ are technologies I have devised explanations for, yes.
[[Frabby]]: Yeah, I’m told the Line Developer busted my latest BC submission because of factchecking concerns… :
[[Trboturtle]]: Frabby — was that the one we were discussing in the workshop?
[[Frabby]]: @Trboturtle: Ayup. I removed all technical references from the story, completely rewrote it with another piece of technology after thorough research, and as of yet it hasn’t been rejected.
[[ScottSR]]: what is NWH?
[[DarkISI]]: Northwind Highlanders
[[Suralin]]: NorthWind Highlanders.
[[Warlord]]: what they said
[[Suralin]]: In unison.
[[Habeas2]]: Huh. I caught up.
[[DarkISI]]: Had WizKids explanations for them or did you have to come up with your own?
[[Habeas2]]: A few different explanations were attempted. A few made me …. unwell.
[[Warlord]]: ty Herb for releasing Final Reckoning today, my budget hates you, but it’ll live
[[Habeas2]]: Warlord – You are welcome.
[[Warlord]]: I was the one bitching from the day you announced the book, now I finally get my pretty
[[Warlord]]: bitching cause I wanted it asap, lol
[[DarkISI]]: want to share the one that made you the most unwell?
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – Until we get there, I can’t.
[[Mendrugo]]: Was there anything you wanted to destroy in the Jihad that somehow escaped unscathed?
[[Habeas2]]: Mendrugo – The Wolf’s Dragoons, the Kell Hounds, House Davion, the Northwind Highlanders, Victor Steiner-Davion, Texas, All Remaining WarShips, the Niops Asociation, Sun-Tzu Liao, Texas, New Avalon, Strana Mechty, and Texas.
[[Warlord]]: basically the whole universe and rewrite it
[[Yuan1]]: I think Herb may of missed Texas on that list…
[[Kit_Hartford]]: You missed Texas …
[[Warlord]]: so even you can’t destroy everything, you got people to tell you NO!!!!
[[Yuan1]]: Most of the Jihad books were written in a chaotic news report format for flavor. Making it hard to follow and find fact from rumors. Will your new books be written the same way or will you return to the straight facts way of old?
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – In all probability, yu will not see the concentrated CNN-style coverage style for some time; fact is, it was a deliberate style choice to reflect the chaos of the Jihad (it would get very boring and seem very uncreative to keep saying „and WoB surprised them again“ through so many books, after all), and most of the books planned for the future are going to get a more distanced viewpoint.
[[Yuan1]]: Good I hated the Chaos…
[[Klep]]: i actually really liked the chaos
[[Korsar]]: Yeah, me too
[[Klep]]: it felt more immersive
[[Klep]]: but it wouldn’t work if it was done for every event
[[DarkISI]]: Chaos can be interesting, but it shouldn’t be overused.
[[Trboturtle]]: To Do the Jihad like the other sourcebooks would have been a ten-volume epic that no one would read…..
[[Klep]]: Habeas2: are there any rejected explanations for the jump barrier that are particularly amusing you’re willing to share?
[[Habeas2]]: Klep – All I will say is that the original explanations I got for how the HPG grid went down and how that applied to the jump barrier made it sound like the worst, most over-powered concept in the history of BattleTech–all just to explain why no one would be allowed to see Terra for a few years. I felt it was too extremely powerful for my tastes.
[[Klep]]: ah
[[Habeas2]]: Hmmm. Looks like I caught up again. For everyone’s conveneince, I will continue chatting for another 26 minutes, because I’m sad and lonely.
[[Warlord]]: srry your sad and lonely
[[Yuan1]]: You haven’t ordered your pizza yet?
[[drufause]]: I did not think Oscar lets you be lonely
[[Yuan1]]: Oscar is chewing on a Decepticon
[[Brian_Davion]]: drufause: yeah but at least he doesn’t screw his siblings!
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – Pizza! Erm… Not sure if I will this time….
[[Suralin]]: (Have the Marians invade Niops! Bwahaha!
[[Trboturtle]]: How much of the LD work is actually creating stuff and how much of it is cracking the whip over others, and trying to keep the product line surging ahead?
[[DarkISI]]: I watched Transformers 3 between chats
[[Warlord]]: awesome
[[Mendrugo]]: Do you have any desire to resolve any of the outstanding mysteries from earlier Btech products, or is the drive for future projects to have a clean break and map new territory? (For example, the MW RPG 2E note about the MoC getting military equipment from a mysterious source circa 3030-ish.
[[Habeas2]]: Mendrugo – One thing we try to never do: SOlve every mysetry without having something to replace it. We took out quite a few lately and added more…and kept the MoC myserty alive
[[Alex_Knight]]: Ladies have to have secrets, after all
[[Klep]]: i really like the magistracy mystery
[[Frabby]]: @mendrugo: There is a possible explanation for the Magistracy’s mysterious source of military equipment that can be extrapolated from the Blackthorne BattleForce comics. (Check out the Sarna article on the comics.)
[[Warlord]]: I like everything so far you’ve done (Mostly), but if you could just kick the Davions one more time for me I would appreciate it
[[Brian_Davion]]: I don’t think there’s much left to kick warlord.
[[drufause]]: Warlord for your pleasure they end up with a nub for a leader in the dark ages
[[Yuan1]]: Please do tell us you have huge plans for bringing the Davions down a few notches.
[[drufause]]: Are we sure on that the rumor is Sunny and Victor are dna related so its is cousin he decided to rape
[[Alex_Knight]]: Guys, have you bothered to read the Jihad books and the DA novels?
[[Warlord]]: if the Davions get their act together they could wreck the CCAF
[[Trboturtle]]: Yuan — What they’re not low enough for you??
[[DarkISI]]: Yuan1 you have read the DA novels and the crazy stupid first prince the Davions now call their own, have you?
[[Warlord]]: I haven’t as of yet
[[Alex_Knight]]: I’m wondering if you guys want the Davions to be weaker than the Taurians
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – Yes.
[[Warlord]]: Herb, are you going to mostly keep to the DA stuff that was put out before Jihad?
[[Paladin1]]: oh HELL no
[[Habeas2]]: Warlord – Yes. Dark Age is canon. We will preserve as much of it as we can
[[Frabby]]: Herb, can you tell us if there are any significant new factions going to show up (Tetatae invasion), or if we’ll continue with the Five Great Houses, handful of Clans, and the established periphery nations? Personally, I think we need less factions rather than more.
[[Habeas2]]: Frabby – Don’t worry. We got it.
[[Trboturtle]]: Tatatae were run over by the Blue Wombats…
[[DarkISI]]: Will we get to see more units totting around the Enhanced ER PPC? It’s a shame we have only seen it in the Blake Documents so far
[[Warlord]]: the Enhanced ER PPC is a gamechanger for the IS, imo
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – Hopefully not, actually
[[Warlord]]: if they get it
[[DarkISI]]: Why is that? I can live with the no, but the „hopefully“ is interesting
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – Because honestly, the only reason the weapon would stay gone is pure fluff: They didn’t make enough to survive the years of Clan wars before the Invasion and attrition and upgrades replaced the ones that existed. But that’s also what we’d say to explain away Primitive Mechs
[[DarkISI]]: You know, now I’m thinking it would have been a nice idea to put one on the Omega
[[Brian_Davion]]: Herb: you say „as much as we can“ this implies there may be some things you belive will have to be ignored.. any particular examples your willing to bring up?
[[Habeas2]]: Brian_Davion – The only things we would have to change would be anything that specifically „breaks“ the setting and cannot be adjusted credibly. This would basically be „errata“. Thinks like having a lunatic run House Davion? Not broken; won’t be fixed.
[[Alex_Knight]]: meh, just as long as he’s about 3/4 as competant as Romano was
Brian_Davion wasn;t expected caleb to be retconned. my soul hope is the line developer to go „crazy people are boreing! kill em!“
[[No-Face]]: @Brian_Davion yeah but then tehre would be no characters left in the Dark Age.
[[Brian_Davion]]: LOL yeah that might be a problem
[[drufause]]: oh because im having such a great day the headless horseman’s mount dropped for me today
[[Brian_Davion]]: WoW?
[[drufause]]: yes
[[Brian_Davion]]: I’m sorry…
[[drufause]]: im not
[[Habeas2]]: Drufause – Cat damn it! I really need to get back into WoW, but NOOOOOO! BattleTech must be appeased!
[[Yuan1]]: Ok silly question but… Why are there no wire guided missiles in Battletech? *ducks for cover*
[[drufause]]: I thought in one of the novels the Dragoons had some FBW missiles
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – Acording to old fluff, there were. Then there weren’t. And they never came back until someone decided to develop harpoons and Taser misiles
[[Korsar]]: Soo… now, after Convention Season seems to be over, are we having these chats in a regular intervall again?
[[Habeas2]]: Korsar – We will try to, yes. „Regular“ may be loosely defined, however
[[Paladin1]]: Hope no one has ever asked this, but what’s the chances of seeing a true black hat Davion after the lunatic in the DA setting is gone? Lawful Evil I can handle, but crazy? Not so much…
[[drufause]]: Technically speaking you could say that Hanse Davion was a Lawful Evil
[[Habeas2]]: Paladin1 – There have ben plenty. On camera, though…. Give us a while. Till maybe 2015, I think
[[Paladin1]]: that works, I’ll wait.
[[Trboturtle]]: All sucessful Sucessor state Leaders are Lawful Evil….part of the job description…..
[[drufause]]: Theodore was more Chaotic Good
[[Brian_Davion]]: except Victor which explains why he’s such a colossal screw up
[[Paladin1]]: it’d be nice to see a real feudal warlord instead of VSD
[[Brian_Davion]]: drufause: read between the lines theodore was a right bastard, he just was good at presenting a good exterior
[[Brian_Davion]]: this is a man who hid the existance of kitsune from Victor, and had salvage choppers secertly cleaning up after bulldog
[[Trboturtle]]: Victor was Grey Meh……
[[Trboturtle]]: Not really good, not really evil, not really brillant, not really a moron — still, he’s come the closest to reuniting the Inner Sphere……
[[Yuan1]]: Which one of the Wizkid Battlemechs left you wondering what were they thinking with this design?
[[Warlord]]: I know the mech that made me confused, one they never statted, the Behemoth mech (FASA) it looked like a thing we can’t say from Japan
[[Warlord]]: they had no way of statting it
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – Practically the whole line, especially any one that had an extra number tacked on (Dasher II, Ryoken II, Mad Cat III, Vulture IV, Pheonix Hawk I) or was laden with AC/2s.
[[drufause]]: At least wizkids never made an Ultra-LB-2X
[[Brian_Davion]]: I gotta say I’m glad you offically ruled that the variants on the cards may be one off variants herb. I wasn’t looking forward to TROs filled with lemons
[[Habeas2]]: Brian_Davion – That’s actually truth; because the WK click-dial figures were set to represent specific machines and their pilots, virtually all were custom.
[[drufause]]: Im still wating for a Jump Jet Atlas
[[DarkISI]]: Do you already have an explanation in place for the really, really strange name „Phoenix Hawk I“? The bunch of IIs, IIIs and IVs make some sense, but that one…
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – Yes; I „errata“ed the name. Tada!
[[DarkISI]]: Since I can’t come up with a new toilet paper question for this chat: Has there ever been a recorded case of a MechWarrior trying to drink the fluid in his cooling vest?
[[DarkISI]]: okay, now that I have asked the question, a positive answer could lead to a lot of scenarios where dozens of rolls of toilet paper would be needed….
[[Brian_Davion]]: LOL
[[Habeas2]]: DarkISI – In various cooling vest training manuals, maybe, right after the phrase „Do NOT drink the contents of your cooling vest.“
[[DarkISI]]: Like that solution *thumps up*
[[No-Face]]: So from the sounds of things we’re going to see at least three years or so (RL) of Dark Age era products before any further jump down the timeline?
[[Habeas2]]: No-Face – Sort of, yeah
[[Habeas2]]: 4 minutes remaining….
[[Yuan1]]: Is there anyone who will survive the Jihad in comicbook style to come haunt us later?[[Brian_Davion]]: SunTzu Liao?
[[Brian_Davion]]:
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – Victor Steiner-Davion
[[drufause]]: Technically there is rumor that even at 3135 Devlin Stone is not dead : )
[[Habeas2]]: Actually, not really. Kai Allard-Liao.
[[Yuan1]]: I was hoping some of the more famous WoB’s would have a escape plan.. drat!
[[Alex_Knight]]: all according to The Master’s Will!
[[Trboturtle]]: WOB’s escape plan didn’t stand up to a PO’ed inner Sphere…..
[[drufause]]: time to go drool over an ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3
[[Brian_Davion]]: I looked at the Master’s Will Alex, it’s not legal, guess the republic will confiscate his posessions after death
[[Habeas2]]: Yuan1 – I didn’t say they didn’t escape
[[Alex_Knight]]: bah. guess probating it on Gibson was a bad idea