Should Palladium focus (after RRT) on RPG books only?

[Jorel]

I'm not gonna vote cause I don't know. I am sick of all this judging of stuff pre-production. Yes they were off on their time estimates. They always are. I think they shouldn't do another Kickstarter, but I don't think they should stop doing RRT. If they have themselves to answer for the timeline and the money they only have themselves to let down. People do need to stop acting like this is a failure because they hit some bumps in the road. We don't know how successful this will or won't be. The whole don't count your chickens before they hatch kinda thing. We could have good chickens and we could have mc nuggets.

[Jorel]

Well...that could still be at least 4 more installments.

[Daniel Stoker]

My answer is biased as I don't have an interest in miniature game but I WOULD like to see other expansions like a computer or maybe mobile phone game etc. But I'm more interested in books then any of that and if they do go for something else it'd be nice if it really is something where they won't need to do the 'heavy lifting' because they just don't seem to have the staff to handle anything else and books and not have issues with both.


Daniel Stoker

[The Galactus Kid]

This was a learning experience, so if they do another Kickstarter I think they'll do a better job with it. I would like to see the expansions for RRT through kickstarter, but they'll approach it differently I'm sure.

[Jorel]

I think their inability to create a deadline they can hit is counter to what people should be using Kickstarter for. It doesn't engender fans when it is their money on the line. When it is PB's name and money on the line they can give all the poor time estimates they want. This killed a lot of good will in this customer and fan base. People don't like being mislead.

[The Galactus Kid]

I think their inability to create a deadline they can hit is counter to what people should be using Kickstarter for. It doesn't engender fans when it is their money on the line. When it is PB's name and money on the line they can give all the poor time estimates they want. This killed a lot of good will in this customer and fan base. People don't like being mislead.

And that would lead to a failed kickstarter. I'm not suggesting that all kickstarters are succesful, but I'm contributing to one right now that the creator had a DISASTEROUS first attempt due to work with other vendors for stretch goals. He was very open and honest in the Risks/FAQ sections about his revious attempts, what went wrong before, what he had learnedand how he would avoid those pit-falls in the future.

[Kryptt]

Well it could be years before PB is done with RRT. There's still two more eras. Do you mean when their done with all three or just the macross portion? Yes PB should continue to expand their RPG line of books but I don't know how far back these books will get pushed. It depends really on PB. Will PB jump strait into the next era or will they wait a few years before moving on to the second era which will probably make less money than the macross ks. Although there's this article were the AG of Washington is suing one kickstarter that's two years late. Which will have interesting consequences for the rest of us. Depending on how bad ND and PB are at communicating with one another ( based on the updates) I wouldn't be surprised if some angry backers try to go this route eventually.

[The Galactus Kid]

Well it could be years before PB is done with RRT. There's still two more eras. Do you mean when their done with all three or just the macross portion? Yes PB should continue to expand their RPG line of books but I don't know how far back these books will get pushed. It depends really on PB. Will PB jump strait into the next era or will they wait a few years before moving on to the second era which will probably make less money than the macross ks. Although there's this article were the AG of Washington is suing one kickstarter that's two years late. Which will have interesting consequences for the rest of us. Depending on how bad ND and PB are at communicating with one another ( based on the updates) I wouldn't be surprised if some angry backers try to go this route eventually.

I mean once the Macross era is fulfilled. Other kickstarters for other eras and I wouldn't anticipate them jumping right into the next one.

[Jorel]

I'm wondering if they will do another Kickstarter or Insider. I'd guess with the fact Palladium is basically crowd funded anyway it shouldn't surprise me if they do another round of them. The delays on NG were exactly what I was concerned about when I saw they were doing 2 back to back. For awhile we had 3 open and unresolved crowd finding projects. Least now they are getting down to 1. I think if they cannot deliver exactly when they say they will they shouldn't do more. They should get a normal loan and not use the fan/customer base for investing as that damages the image and the reputation more than a bank loan when handled improperly.

[Kryptt]

I mean once the Macross era is fulfilled. Other kickstarters for other eras and I wouldn't anticipate them jumping right into the next one.

Why wouldn't PB jump on the next era? Didn't Kevin work on NG-2 after NG-1? Also as a business one should always have projects lined up. I voted PB should try to branch out because I would love to see apps for my tablet were I can generate characters or play a rifts action or RPG games. The future is being able to branch out into electronic mediums. Something unfortunatly PB seems adverse to jumping into. In the last excuse/update Kevin's mentioned that PB lacks the manpower or skilled workers to get these other endeavors into action. As a business man I would fire those without the necessary skills and hire kids right out of college/programming school and start getting apps out so I can increase my profits. The only problem is Kevin is freinds with all his employees and it prevents him from making hard disisions and now his company is in a rut. I don't know who the genius was that decided that coffee mugs and pencils would help PB financially. That guy should be fired! Books, apps, pdf, miniatures that's what PB needs to be successful not simple stuff like unfashionable shirts. That's why I didn't ask for one during the grab bag sale. It would be a different story if the shirts didn't look like hand me downs.

[Jorel]

Northern Gun was handed in as one manuscript initially I believe. Then it may have gone back to the author to be broken into 2. I'm not sure if it was Kevin or Matthew that did that part. Then when it was broken in 2 they came up with the idea for the Insiders. I believe that is the order of what happened and since they did the Insiders 2 months apart they indicated they would produce those books back to back.

[FatherMorpheus]

Originally I voted they should branch out more, but after thinking about it changed it to focus more on their core.

And for me, focusing more on their core would be to take a full year to rebuilding the system and release a true 2nd edition of Palladium. Then start redoing each source book with all the updates and system corrections. With REAL editors and play testers.

Yes, this would require people to rebuy all of the books. But hell, after 20 years I think it would be OK. Especially if each book was redone with cleaned up rules and updated content.

[bielmic]

This was a learning experience, so if they do another Kickstarter I think they'll do a better job with it.

That is a very optimistic view unsupported by decades of experience indicating the opposite. I'm sure NG1 was a learning experience as well with the year long delay but the follow up NG2's delay is significantly longer. This is of course on top of decades of very pie in the sky estimates of their own release schedule and capabilities, the most recent being the 2013 catalog that had a single book of the 20+ advertised books that were planned actually come out. NG1 came out but wasn't even on the "schedule" as at the time of the catalog's creation Palladium had assumed it would come out in 2012. The Dead Reign book was a pleasant surprise I'm sure for fans of that RPG but it wasn't announced in the catalog either and also only had a page count of a large pamphlet so wasn't exactly a "big" release in any case. Palladium hit less than 5% of their goals for 2013 which is likely a low point even for them with decades of missing and/or massively delayed titles so it seems that they're relatively immune to learning experiences.

I don't think they'll do a better job even with wave 2 of Robotech let alone possible future eras that are likely YEARS away at this pace... assuming they don't get delayed by a possible Rifts minis game in the meantime. Expanding takes money, will, and work yet palladium doesn't seem all that keen on investing in themselves with any of them. If a project took in $1.4 million, they should have hired someone FULL TIME to manage that project exclusively at palladium instead of tasking folks who are seemingly already stretched thin to do tiny bits whenever they can in between other stuff like xmas grab bags, halloween costumes, prepping for cons, editing, shipping normal orders, answering the phones, etc.

[The Galactus Kid]

I mean once the Macross era is fulfilled. Other kickstarters for other eras and I wouldn't anticipate them jumping right into the next one.

Why wouldn't PB jump on the next era?

I'm just saying that I don't anticipate them jumping IMMEDIATELY into the next era. I think they'll be looking at some things that worked and things that didn't, look at timelines, success of the Macross line, and then dive into it.

[Razzinold]

Diversifying is all well and good, as long as you do it well, so I guess that puts me in the undecided camp? (perhaps that should be added as an option to the poll?)

If the company can pull off a successful mini line, card game, computer game, etc. then go for it. However it is my personal opinion that nothing kills the success of a company faster then failed attempts at alternate products. Please keep in mind that I am not trying to state that the RRT thing has failed before it's even completed I am simply speaking in more general terms.

For example, look how many actors loose their careers because after 15 years of being an action star (and nothing but) they suddenly want to star in serious dramatic movies only (yes I know there are actors that can do it all, and do it well, but you all know what I mean).

Something with authors that are famous for very specific writing styles. I doubt that Stephen King could write anything other than horror/supernatural type stuff and I feel I can be fairly confident in my statement because many writers publish books under pseudonyms when they fear their new, and very different from their normal writing style, book is published and won't be well received by their fans. They do this to protect their reliable name while enjoying the complete freedom of trying a totally new writing style.

Now staying with my Stephen King example I could not see him writing successful romance novels, I mean good on him if he does lol, simply because he excels at horror or weird mystery settings with supernatural elements like The Dark Tower. JK Rowling was a huge sensation with Harry Potter but lets see how she fares when she deviates from it.

So if PB feels fairly confident that they could expand their product line with other successful products than they have every right to do so and should take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself to its fullest. However, like I mentioned above it is a large gamble and failing at the new product could also impact your reliable product in a negative way as well.

But I guess that's the whole nature of the business world, nothing is ever a "sure thing"!

[Forar]

Well, we know that work is at least underway for the next series, as they've commented on having people already working on it. I don't believe we ever really got details as to how far along they were, but I'd be surprised if there weren't at least some playtesters at work.

I think they should continue to work on their tactics line ups. They have 2 more series to produce minis for (though between the scale matters and doubt as to whether or not the SC era can support its own campaign/line on its own, I wouldn't be shocked to see them combine the two into one), plus Rifts figures. Obviously they shouldn't abandon RPG books entirely, but having a strong miniatures line to act as ongoing sales material. Looks like expansion boxes cost as much as most of their books if not more, but whereas a group might need one or two copies of a book, a popular figure might be bought by the dozens by some players or groups.

I certainly wouldn't intentionally neglect those lines that saw them to this point, but they've had a third of a century to blow the roof off the RPG market. If miniatures prove lucrative, may as well go with what works for now. They can also be an 'in' to draw people to their RPGs (Robotech and Rifts, at least) as well as an 'in' with shops to start getting more of their product stocked (and if R/R prove enticing to players through the miniatures, it might expand their RPG player/purchaser market as well).

@Razz: well, given that they had a computer game on a long dead handheld, and a CCG that far as I know was pretty much stillborn, it doesn't seem to have crushed them yet.

Granted, the miniatures line may be a vastly larger project than either of those, in terms of personal manpower/resources spent, time and cash, but with crowfunding in play, they've also offset a ton of that as well.

[Marcus]

Is it just me or those two answers kinda loaded?

PB should do, what ever is most likely to succeed and make them Money.

[palladiumjunkie]

[b]In 2001, there was talk of a Rifts Collectable Card game that was going to be done by Precedence Entertainment, allegedly to be in stores that June. This didn't come off, obviously, though it wasn't Palladium's fault.

I know this is nitpicking, but the Card Game did reach production and was in stores. The card company folded (no pun intended) before they could do anything more than the Starter Sets, though. At least, that was my understanding. It did reach production, though. *Looks over at his cards sitting on the shelf*

-Chris

[FatherMorpheus]

[b]In 2001, there was talk of a Rifts Collectable Card game that was going to be done by Precedence Entertainment, allegedly to be in stores that June. This didn't come off, obviously, though it wasn't Palladium's fault.

I know this is nitpicking, but the Card Game did reach production and was in stores. The card company folded (no pun intended) before they could do anything more than the Starter Sets, though. At least, that was my understanding. It did reach production, though. *Looks over at his cards sitting on the shelf*

-Chris

It did reach production, and it was fun to play actually. I almost have a full set even.

[Forar]

Yeah, I bought a bunch of them from the few shops in Toronto that were selling at the time, and found that interest rapidly waned and was able to pick up a bunch more pretty cheaply. I think I still have them, though I'll probably go through them in the near future and throw out a pile of the more common cards (probably hold onto some of the rarer ones and those I like the artwork on).

[ffranceschi]

I answered YES in the poll but this is my complete answer: it's not a question of "going back to its roots or branching out". What they should do, is what every successful enterprise do: create a sort of Resource Allocation Committee and every month take a break to decide what to do BUT with a very important twist. PB needs to have something like this: 50% of the resources should be fixed for RPGs (its roots), 30% RRT (right now, there is no choice with this one), 20% other projects. Every month, they could move the % depending on the situation except for RPGs (the shouldn't lower it) and the most important thing: THEY MUST COMPLY WITH THIS!

[drewkitty ~..~]

Back to it's Roots: PFRPG, BTS, HU.
And maybe N&S if they get a N&S lover to just update the setting and not just change it into a Rifts clone.

[Tiree]

I don't believe Palladium will fulfill the other era's for RRT. With how this Kickstarter has gone, and the fact the other era's aren't nearly as popular. This is it... you might be lucky to get a Rifts RPG Tactics.

[Sureshot]

I agree with Nightfactory. So far it's been more of the same. Delays. Overly optimistic release schedules. Taking on too many projects. I honestly don't see that much of a change now then when I first created a account. No matter if the focus or not on RRT

[Kryptt]

I don't believe Palladium will fulfill the other era's for RRT. With how this Kickstarter has gone, and the fact the other era's aren't nearly as popular. This is it... you might be lucky to get a Rifts RPG Tactics.

Unfortunately I think your right. If PB past history is any indicator of finishing what they start...
The way things went down with this project I doubt ND wants to continue their association with PB because now the PB negativity is coming down on them as well. Even if Kevin wants to do the next era I doubt it won't start for a few years if ever. Macross may be all we get.

[Alpha 11]

I don't believe Palladium will fulfill the other era's for RRT. With how this Kickstarter has gone, and the fact the other era's aren't nearly as popular. This is it... you might be lucky to get a Rifts RPG Tactics.

Unfortunately I think your right. If PB past history is any indicator of finishing what they start...
The way things went down with this project I doubt ND wants to continue their association with PB because now the PB negativity is coming down on them as well. Even if Kevin wants to do the next era I doubt it won't start for a few years if ever. Macross may be all we get.

I so hope that is wrong. As for the question, I really can't vote, because, what I hope for, is for Palladium to sill try to branch out, but not to were its taking so much time away from writing books like it seems to now.

[Spinachcat]

1. I love RPGs.
2. Palladium has some GREAT intellectual properties.
3. RPGs are dead.

It's the #3 that's the reason PB has got to branch out with their IP and refocus their efforts on boardgames and card games and other ways to reach potential new fans. Freelancers should be used for RPG writing and those should be more Kickstarter focused to do them as pre-sale for a finished freelancer manuscript so the KS turnaround time is less than 1 year. However, the day to day focus for game design should be working with people in the board game and card game world.

It's not what I really want, but its what the current business climate requires. Since WotC hasn't done squat to promote D&D to teens in two decades, there is no influx of fresh blood. The current teen and young adult population has no interest in reading giant college textbooks just to play a game. Today, we can just click and load and play. Boardgames and card games with 5 minutes of rules learning is what works for teen and adult face to face play.

[Razzinold]

Well, we know that work is at least underway for the next series, as they've commented on having people already working on it. I don't believe we ever really got details as to how far along they were, but I'd be surprised if there weren't at least some playtesters at work.

I think they should continue to work on their tactics line ups. They have 2 more series to produce minis for (though between the scale matters and doubt as to whether or not the SC era can support its own campaign/line on its own, I wouldn't be shocked to see them combine the two into one), plus Rifts figures. Obviously they shouldn't abandon RPG books entirely, but having a strong miniatures line to act as ongoing sales material. Looks like expansion boxes cost as much as most of their books if not more, but whereas a group might need one or two copies of a book, a popular figure might be bought by the dozens by some players or groups.

I certainly wouldn't intentionally neglect those lines that saw them to this point, but they've had a third of a century to blow the roof off the RPG market. If miniatures prove lucrative, may as well go with what works for now. They can also be an 'in' to draw people to their RPGs (Robotech and Rifts, at least) as well as an 'in' with shops to start getting more of their product stocked (and if R/R prove enticing to players through the miniatures, it might expand their RPG player/purchaser market as well).

@Razz: well, given that they had a computer game on a long dead handheld, and a CCG that far as I know was pretty much stillborn, it doesn't seem to have crushed them yet.

Granted, the miniatures line may be a vastly larger project than either of those, in terms of personal manpower/resources spent, time and cash, but with crowfunding in play, they've also offset a ton of that as well.

This is true and I won't dispute that fact, but keep in mind I did use the words "in my personal opinion" and "could" not "would".

The examples that were given, the Ngage game and card game, was probably mostly known to a smaller market as well. I knew about the game but not about the cards and I've been purchasing their products since high school.

However this RRT line has a lot larger spotlight on it, in my opinion, so there is a chance that if the mini's fail it could impact badly, same thing goes for the movie if it's ever made.

All I'm saying is that there is a chance that these alternate products that fail could hurt their image/sales and would obviously effect them financially. They spent money to make these products but did not recoup that money through their estimated sales.

Like I said I'm on the fence for this one, I think branching out could be a good idea if executed properly. A video game was a great idea, a video game on N-Gage....not so much.

[Forar]

That I agree with. This is a much larger project, with vastly greater potential to help or harm their reputation and business. If this flops, it could cause noteworthy damage to an Intellectual Property that HG is very, very fond of and protects fiercely. They recently renewed that license, and I'm not sure for how long, but if things go sideways on this it could put a significant dent (if not kill) a potential revenue stream, not to mention all the time and money invested on their own end, and further souring of fan bases (existing and potential) towards either or both companies and their respective product lines.

[Razzinold]

That I agree with. This is a much larger project, with vastly greater potential to help or harm their reputation and business. If this flops, it could cause noteworthy damage to an Intellectual Property that HG is very, very fond of and protects fiercely. They recently renewed that license, and I'm not sure for how long, but if things go sideways on this it could put a significant dent (if not kill) a potential revenue stream, not to mention all the time and money invested on their own end, and further souring of fan bases (existing and potential) towards either or both companies and their respective product lines.

My second post was the point I was originally trying to get across with the first one I made. I guess I found a better way to type it out the second time around.

I guess that's what happens when the conversation in my mind is 10 steps ahead of my typing fingers, they can't keep up
I am always thinking ahead, trying to make sure I get all my points across, so I guess some clarity gets lost along the way, lol

[zyanitevp]

1. I love RPGs.
2. Palladium has some GREAT intellectual properties.
3. RPGs are dead.

It's the #3 that's the reason PB has got to branch out with their IP and refocus their efforts on boardgames and card games and other ways to reach potential new fans. Freelancers should be used for RPG writing and those should be more Kickstarter focused to do them as pre-sale for a finished freelancer manuscript so the KS turnaround time is less than 1 year. However, the day to day focus for game design should be working with people in the board game and card game world.

It's not what I really want, but its what the current business climate requires. Since WotC hasn't done squat to promote D&D to teens in two decades, there is no influx of fresh blood. The current teen and young adult population has no interest in reading giant college textbooks just to play a game. Today, we can just click and load and play. Boardgames and card games with 5 minutes of rules learning is what works for teen and adult face to face play.

Well said, and very true.

[Dreamstreamer]

1. I love RPGs.

Me too!

2. Palladium has some GREAT intellectual properties.

They sure do!

3. RPGs are dead.

I know! Wait. That can't be right...

There are more RPGs now than there have ever been before, that cater to a wider demographic than ever before, and that doesn't even have to include the availability of previous or out-of-print releases that are still available in a digital medium. Like a particular genre or setting? Chances are that there is a specific RPG that has rules tailor-made for it. Even better, many publishers are opening up their engines to be licensed to third-parties!

RPGs are certainly not dead! They are referenced all over geek culture (and from there to a broader spectrum of people), with less and less stereotyping, as an acceptable hobby. Perhaps you meant that they are no longer a viable source (and sustainable stream) of income? That also doesn't seem to pass the smell test. Kickstarter shows the revenue brought in for many RPG titles. They can command anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. From 20th Anniversary Editions (or as reprints) to remixed, system-free compilations to brand new endeavors, it is still a strong market. Mismanagement of resources or over-promising can of course be a problem, but there is significant money to be made in RPGs. Patreon is another avenue being used by RPG publishers for creating additional streams of revenue in a subscription-like manner.

What has changed is that the former gatekeepers of the industry (the big publishers) now have to fight for their ever narrower slice of the pie. Digital distribution and print-on-demand, coupled with better and better desktop publishing software, provides a level of presentation that used to be limited to the big publishers. Quality and production values keep improving.

Freelancers should be used for RPG writing and those should be more Kickstarter focused to do them as pre-sale for a finished freelancer manuscript so the KS turnaround time is less than 1 year.

I can get behind that. I'm far more likely to back a project if doing so grants early access to the work-in-progress, too. That said, I would hate to see a backlog accrue because of a jam in editorial rewrites.

The current teen and young adult population has no interest in reading giant college textbooks just to play a game. Today, we can just click and load and play. Boardgames and card games with 5 minutes of rules learning is what works for teen and adult face to face play.

Sounds like a call for streamlined rules...I'm all for it! Even better if there is cross-over with board and card games.

I teach my pre-teens to play, giving them only the information they need to play. They'll sometimes ask to read the rulebook, but that's mostly to get an edge by checking out the competition in the included bestiary, or to look at pictures and spark their imaginations.

So, should Palladium focus (after RRT) on RPG books only? No, I'd like to see them continue to branch out into other types of games, media, and more. That said, I think they could focus only on RPG books and still do fine.

[Razzinold]

However this RRT line has a lot larger spotlight on it, in my opinion, so there is a chance that if the mini's fail it could impact badly, same thing goes for the movie if it's ever made.

All I'm saying is that there is a chance that these alternate products that fail could hurt their image/sales and would obviously effect them financially. They spent money to make these products but did not recoup that money through their estimated sales.

That is, basically, my primary concern.

Like everyone else, I'd love to see a whole line of Palladium products including movies, an anime series, board games (think 'Monopoly'), card games, video games, toys, manga, and the like. Yes, I'd love to see all of that, but it seems to me that Palladium has had perpetual bad luck in its previous ventures, all of which have been a finacial loss. I don't know how many more big hits Palladium can take.

Let's all hope that when RRT is finished and readily available commercially that it will be a huge success. If it is, then I think that cautiously entertaining new markets is a good idea. But if it flops, then I think Palladium should cut it losses and return to focusing exclusively on RPGs - at least for several years or until it has sufficient resources to tackle another project of this magnitude.

Honestly I would rather see this instead of a live action movie. I know that movies have come a long in terms of special effects, just look at movies like Pacific Rim, The Avengers (and all their individual franchises: Ironman, Thor, etc.) but I think an anime would be able to showcase Rifts more easily.
I know not everyone is a fan of anime but I think that mages and juicers mixing it up with dead boys and P.A. would look amazing as an anime and a lot harder to pull off in a live action. Not saying it isn't doable but harder. I mean let's face it with anime real world physics no longer apply. You have some cool anime like Attack on Titan where they do some pretty awesome stuff that would be harder to duplicate in live action without a lot of CGI and wires

Also with a long running series the story/plot of Rifts would have more time to be fleshed out as opposed to trying to cram it all into a 2 hour movie.

Maybe make a movie to appeal to the general public and an anime series for the more dedicated/involved fans?

[Forar]

Or a CGI based film. The technology for them has come a long way in the last decade, and you remove the issues of needing to properly/convincingly composite 'real' things and people with CGI, which is where a lot of projects run into trouble.

Then again, looking at what District 9 did on a (comparatively) shoe-string budget, it's entirely possible to pull something awesome off. It'd depend a lot on whether they wanted it to be a massive world building exercise (showing off Chi-town, dragons and power armour and dbees on every street corner, giant "cantina-scene" style moments that showcase the breadth of the property, or were willing to work smaller scale, more wilderness/character and team moments. There's potential there for a big Band of Brothers style epic, following a tightly knit cluster of CS soldiers, or a 'standard adventuring party', dealing with a war, or small scale intrigue, defending a town, or hog wild dimension hopping and world defending.

Much like the game, a movie could be almost anything.

[Razzinold]

Or a CGI based film. The technology for them has come a long way in the last decade, and you remove the issues of needing to properly/convincingly composite 'real' things and people with CGI, which is where a lot of projects run into trouble.

Then again, looking at what District 9 did on a (comparatively) shoe-string budget, it's entirely possible to pull something awesome off. It'd depend a lot on whether they wanted it to be a massive world building exercise (showing off Chi-town, dragons and power armour and dbees on every street corner, giant "cantina-scene" style moments that showcase the breadth of the property, or were willing to work smaller scale, more wilderness/character and team moments. There's potential there for a big Band of Brothers style epic, following a tightly knit cluster of CS soldiers, or a 'standard adventuring party', dealing with a war, or small scale intrigue, defending a town, or hog wild dimension hopping and world defending.

Much like the game, a movie could be almost anything.

True a movie could be anything, and I did mention the advancements in special effects, but IMO 1 2 hour movie cannot capture the entire scope of Rifts. I couldn't see them focusing on a CS squad unless the movie portrayed every DBee as a truly evil creature, kind of like Starship Troopers the whole man against alien thing (or like Aliens for that matter lol). I can't see most people rooting for the CS if they show DBees to be a mix of hostile and gentle beings (like the books do), generally people only support wholesale slaughter if they are viewed as 100% evil. I know it's all a matter of "point of view" but the books pretty much make the CS the hate filled villains, unless you did a nice big war between CS and Tolkien because then you would see that both sides have "good" and "bad" people.

[Jorel]

A trilogy. 1st from the side of the CS, second the D_Bee and mages, third could be independent or the resolution of the 1st 2.

[Razzinold]

A trilogy. 1st from the side of the CS, second the D_Bee and mages, third could be independent or the resolution of the 1st 2.

That might work, especially if they were long movies like The Lord of The Rings Extended Edition, lol

[Jorel]

pretty much how I envision it. Really they could do 3 trilogies for each type of story. CS, Magic/D-Bee, Phase World, Chaos Earth...and so on.

[Jorel]

I would start with Chaos Earth, move ahead into Rifts more current timeline and do CS, then Magic, then move out to Phase World...

[Jefffar]

No because Palladium has never exclusively produced RPGs. There have been things like distributing Robotech Videos in the 80s, Rifts Miniatures in the 90s, a CCG, a video game, art books, a graphic novel, a quarterly magazine, a short story collection, various merchandise and collectibles plus attempts to liscence their IPs for other media.

So while the RPGs are the primary business, its never been exclusively that.

[Kryptt]

It would be great if Kevin hired some kid who can program apps for the iPad.

[calto40k]

It would be great if Kevin hired some kid who can program apps for the iPad.

and maybe a telecommuting editor to help Wayne find the little errors that people gripe about... ~Looks around hoping someone notices this~

[Jefffar]

No because Palladium has never exclusively produced RPGs. There have been things like distributing Robotech Videos in the 80s, Rifts Miniatures in the 90s, a CCG, a video game, art books, a graphic novel, a quarterly magazine, a short story collection, various merchandise and collectibles plus attempts to license their IPs for other media.

So while the RPGs are the primary business, its never been exclusively that.

Maybe not, but maybe it should be for business reasons.

Seeing as some of those products I mentioned have formed a sizable portion of the company's income the past few years, I think that getting rid of them might be contrary to the company's best interests.

The trick is making sure that any product (RPG or not RPG) is not only successful, but doesn't actually detract from efforts spent on other profitable products. Palladium has had both hits and misses in its RPG line and in its other products.

[zyanitevp]

No because Palladium has never exclusively produced RPGs. There have been things like distributing Robotech Videos in the 80s, Rifts Miniatures in the 90s, a CCG, a video game, art books, a graphic novel, a quarterly magazine, a short story collection, various merchandise and collectibles plus attempts to liscence their IPs for other media.

So while the RPGs are the primary business, its never been exclusively that.

Though not why I voted no-this is a valid point.

I just feel they need to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself, even if risk is involved. 30+ years in business, I'd like to see it go another 30 and other ways might get them there.

Here here!

[Jerell]

Whatever keeps the company going, works for me.