Quick and dirty in case DarkISI can't do this round:
<Habeas2>: Welcome to second chat. I'm not logging these, so I hope someone is. Be courteous or be kicked, and the floor's open to questions
<Corrinald>: Will Alpha Strike be released by the end of this year?
<Deadborder>: First up, I want to say "thanks" for ER3145 and TRO:3145 Mercs. I have not been this excited for CBT books in forever
<Habeas2>: John_Hawk - Also, Caleb Davion was not hallucinating; he really WAS conversing with a friend only HE could see.
<Habeas2>: Corrinald - Yup!
<Deadborder>: (Doesn't hurt that you had two of the DA 'Mechs I was most hanging out for on the cover of the TRO)
<Habeas2>: Deadborder - Um, thanks. Gotta say, that....kind of worries me.
<Circinus_Enquirer>: How often do key plot points come out of careful planning and universe-building, versus how often you stumble upon a dangling thread in old products that inspire you to take things in new directions?
<John_Hawk>: Now, Herb, you're just making stuff up. We all know Caleb was conversing with a cricket in a top hat! Let's not be silly. . ..
<Deadborder>: eep
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Re: Caleb... "Dr. Samuel Beckett never returned home..."
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - The main plots ALWAYS come from careful planning.
<John_Hawk>: Herb, Will TRO 3145 contain upgraded versions of the Phoenix 'mechs?
<BigAl>: Will there be any surprise in the TRO 3145 PDF's and book? Like Industrial Mechs (MOD) and Regular Infantry.
<InigoMontoya>: Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya.
<Habeas2>: John_Hawk - Not necessarily.
<InigoMontoya>: Which products are scheduled for release in the coming months?
<Deadborder>: How about the "dumptruck" MiningMech from DA?
<Habeas2>: BigAl - Depends what one considers a surprise, really. Some of it may be featured, but we're not planning to show a lot of MOD Industrials or Conventional Infantry.
<Habeas2>: InigoMontoya - Your dad's alive and well. He just put you up for adoption. Because you're so ugly. Sorry to be the one to tell you that.
<mib_1o0wpq>: can we expect more MekTek mechs, like Deimos, to be canonized in this TRO 3145?
<Habeas2>: Deadborder - How about it?
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Lacking novels, what options are open to you to flesh out character-based stories in the 3145+ era? We
<Circinus_Enquirer>: 've seen a couple of BattleCorps stories in the Dark Age era, but they're few and far between.
<Deadborder>: Just wondering if we'd ever see stats ofr it
<Habeas2>: Mib_1o0wpq - Not really, no. Sorry.
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - Outside of sourcebooks, BattleCorps is it.
<InigoMontoya>: Was the technology behind Fortress Republic fully fleshed out, or something Wizkids did that you had to scramble to make fit?
<Habeas2>: Deadborder - That's kind of a maybe. TRO: Vehicle Annex Revised (PDF only) does have an armed WorkMech section that should fit the bill for most of the Dark Age MODs.
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Who controls the reprint rights for the MWDA stories (yours and Randall's) in Scrye way back when? Any chance of seeing them appear on BattleCorps?
<Deadborder>: Awesome, thanks
<Habeas2>: InigoMontoya - Nope.
<Youngblood>: Can you comment on this lack of character-driven stories in the 3145+ era as a shift away from such depiction of the universe?
<Trboturtle>: Circinus_Enquirer -- us BattleCorps authors are only slightly less in the dark than everyone else about the DA era....
<mib_1o0wpq>: oh, ok. It seems I have to make my own Ares...
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - Not sure who owns them, which puts them in a kind of legal limbo. Ergo, you shouldn't expect them in BattleCorps any time soon.
<Habeas2>: Youngblood - No novels, so no characters to drive the story. You get sourcebooks and you get BattleCorps, and that's all I can really offer at this stage.
<Deadborder>: With converting DA 'Mechs and the like into CBT stats, were there any units that were particularly difficult or hellish?
<Youngblood>: Addendum to my question -- What solutions do you perhaps have in mind for fans who would like to jump into the universe through such media, aside from spending the effort into playing A Time of War?
<Habeas2>: Mib_1o0wpq - Huh? Ares (the Colossal) is planned for TRO 3145
<Habeas2>: Deadborder - Yes. All of them. So we decided to wing it.
<Deadborder>: Fair
<mib_1o0wpq>: I was talking about the MekTek Ares, the 70 ton one
<Circinus_Enquirer>: When WizKids launched MWDA with the INN site, news articles were a key part of fleshing out the developing storyline in the universe. Is there any chance of seeing Dark Age-era news articles on BattleCorps' news section?
<Youngblood>: mib_1o0wpq -- There is a 'Mech called the Ares in the BattleTech universe. It is not the MekTek Ares.
<Youngblood>: It is 135 tons, if I recall correctly.
<Trboturtle>: Youngblood -- there are planty of character-driven stories on BattleCorps. The problem is there is only a limited number of words we can use....
<Youngblood>: 125-135
<Habeas2>: Youngblood - There's no way to "passively" enter the BattleTech universe. There's no pure sourcebook out there that isn't part of the game in some mechanical fashion. Aside from reading BattleCorps fiction, or scournging the old novels in bargain bins, your best option is to grab an Intro Box Set or start gathering core rulebooks.
<Deadborder>: Which reminds me that I should get off my bum and get back to work on that BC concept I've been prodding
<Kamose>: What current or upcoming product are you personally proud of?
<Trboturtle>: Deadborder -- so get writing!
<Habeas2>: Youngblood - Actually, that's not true. There's some free-to-download source material available via the site here:
http://bg.battletech.com/ (Look for the New to BattleTech, Universe, and Downloads tabs.)
<Youngblood>: Habeas2 -- Understood. Any ideas on how to keep older fans of the BT who grew up on novels interested without resorting to the magical tangle of tubes of the Internet? Some of them are dinosaurs, and I feel bad for them.
<Kamose>: I mean, MOST proud of.
<Habeas2>: Mib_1o0wpq - Oh, that. Yup. On your own thre.
<Deadborder>: I hit a roadblock. Something very close to what I'd come up with actually happened in a novel
<Deadborder>: er, DA Novel
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - Why? Look here on our BattleTech website:
http://bg.battletech.com/?page_id=27 <Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - Bottom of page is the links to stored versions of all the old WizKids material.
<Terminax>: Can we get more pirates plz?
<Kamas>: Herb: Your thoughts on catgirls?
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Sorry, I wasn't clear - Any chance of getting new news articles set in 3145+ on BattleCorps?
<Deadborder>: Herb, are we ever going to find out what happened to Bannson's Raiders? The end of the 'Loyalty' short kind of left them hanging
<Trboturtle>: Deadborder -- plenty of places, people and battles to chronicle....
<Habeas2>: Kamose - Not to sound pedantic, but I'm personally proud of ALL of them. I see BattleTech products as children, and it's kind of unfair to pick and choose when each is basically a labor of love.
<Trboturtle>: But that HBHK keep people up most nights.....
<Habeas2>: Youngblood - Not to put too fine a point on it, but if the older fans of the BT setting who grew up on novelsaren't going to deal with the "magical tangle of tubes of the Internet", they're going to find themselves increasingly left behind. The entire industry is changing, and not being net-savvy means you lose a lot of material. We can no longer promise that everything printed electronically will ever be put into a print book.
<Kamas>: Well, with the XTROs, that's already the case.
<Habeas2>: Terminax - I'm sorry. Your request infringes on future material beyond the presently announced story line, and I cannot discuss that item further.
<Habeas2>: Kamas - Depends on the catgirl.
<Terminax>: Okay.
<Kamas>: Okay, followup. Any catgirls you like?
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - New news articles? There's ALWAYS a CHANCE. Just not a likely one in this case.
<Habeas2>: Deadborder - That's a maybe.
<Habeas2>: Kamas - Yup.
<Deadborder>: Thanks!
<John_Hawk>: Herb, is there any word on planned exclusives for the Cons this year?
<Habeas2>: John_Hawk - We're still discussing that.
<BigAl>: Any new XTROs that will be coming out soon?
<Circinus_Enquirer>: At the Masters and Minions game, do you plan on once more running an unkillable zombie 'Mech that keeps you in the game until 3 AM?
<Corrinald>: How is the new BV system coming along? Are you still planning to replace the current BV system with it?
<Youngblood>: (feel free to ignore if this has been answered already) Herb, how many "volumes" of TRO 3145 can we expect for release this year? In any form, digitally or otherwise.
<Habeas2>: BigAl - "Soon" is hard to say. We have 2 more Primitives, 1 Star League, and 2 Jihad/Dark Age era XTRs in the hopper, plus about 3 Succession Wars XTRs in progress.
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - I didn't even run one of those before. This year, I'm honestly thinking of fielding two COM-2D Commandos.
<Kamas>: How many Turning Points are planned for the 3145 era?
<Circinus_Enquirer>: If Daoshen Liao conquers both Park Place and Boardwalk, does he get to build hotels?
<Habeas2>: Corrinald - We put the brakes on the new BV system to see how well received the latest errata holds. If we redo BV, after all, we'll even need to rework Alpha Strike.
<Habeas2>: Youngblood - Roughly 8, in all.
<Youngblood>: Impressive!
<Habeas2>: Kamas - At this time, there are no Turning Points planned for the 3145 era.
<John_Hawk>: Will we see anything of 3250 this year, or will that wait until 2014?
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - Cat knows he'll TRY, but the ethnically-Davion contractors there will give it their usual shitty craftsmanship....
<Corrinald>: Oh, okay, I didn't realize there was new BV errata.
<Habeas2>: John_Hawk - I'm afraid your request infringes on material I am presently not at liberty to discuss and so I cannot respond to that item.
<John_Hawk>: Well, they might not, if he'd actually share the plans with them, rather than asking them to take it on blind faith. ...
<OrinThomas>: Are there any plans to do an Interstellar Players type book for the 3145 era? I always really enjoy reading these conspiracy theory type books
<John_Hawk>: Daoshen Liao, that is.
<John_Hawk>: And, I understand about the new products.
<Habeas2>: Corrinald - Yes, there was a very extensive TechManual errata released. Plans are to issue a revised TM in PDF-only format later this year.
<Habeas2>: OrinThomas - There are no current plans for an Interstellar Players type book for he 3145 era. Sorry.
<Corrinald>: Thank you. I will have to look into it.
<OrinThomas>: cool - thanks Herb
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Is the maptile product series planned to continue?
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - Yup.
<John_Hawk>: Oh, that's a good question. Are there any chances of new maps in the future, rather than reprints, even in map pack form, of the old ones?
<Trboturtle>: are the PDF mapsheets going to continue?
<Circinus_Enquirer>: What developments in the gaming industry over the last 20 years have surprised you the most?
<Habeas2>: John_Hawk - That is unknown at this time. The existing maps, after all, are legion, and we're not pumping that many out at a time here.
<Habeas2>: Trboturtle - Yes.
<Habeas2>: 25 minutes
<Kamas>: Are the Federated Suns going to have much of a comeback before we get to the timeskip, or will the 3145 borders be the new 'status quo'
<Kamas>: (this is only a question pertaining to the immediate future of the DA era)
<Terminax>: New Avalon or BUST!!!
<Deadborder>: Was there any manical laughter when drawing up the 3145 FedSuns borders?
<Habeas2>: Kamas - I'm afraid your request infringes on material I am presently not at liberty to discuss and so I cannot respond to that item.
<Youngblood>: Herb, would you say my April Fool's thread brought all the fanboys to the yard, and was generally better than yours--ahem, I mean, better than the TRO: 1945 thread?
<Habeas2>: Deadborder - Ohyeah.
<Kamas>: Okay, side question on the Kuritas - is their current leadership, namely the Coordinator-Kanrei-ISF in good agreement with each other or is there animosity and clashes between them?
<BigAl>: Will we see anything new in PDF form coming out soon?
<Habeas2>: Cricinus_Enquirer - Hmmm. I don't know that any of it really surprised me. I suppose the fact that BT found it possible to outlast Dark Age with 30-year old game mechanics could be a surprise, but even then it clearly needs an upgrade to stay competitive.
<Deadborder>: Can you say which TRO we'll see the Raider ICE BattleMech in?
<Circinus_Enquirer>: I've got to say, I really enjoyed the twist on the foreshadowed "Caleb vs. Julian" conflict that was foreshadowed in the WizKids novels - sidestepped in order to showcase the legendary political treachery of the Ravens. It made a much better addition to the storyline than ye olde civil war.
<Habeas2>: Youngblood - What thread?
<Youngblood>: Exactly!
<Habeas2>: Kamas - The Dracs have a way of hiding their civil wars from the universe at large. The current leadership is no different.
<Habeas2>: Deadborder - Probably an XTR.
<Deadborder>: Cool beans. I love that thing
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - Thanks.
<OrinThomas>: the 30 year old mechanics are a blessing and a curse. Great because you don't have to keep learning new rules every couple of years though
<OrinThomas>: I guess a drawback is that it takes a while to play the game - it's not fast
<Habeas2>: OrinThomas - Exactly, and that makes for a roadblock to new players. I've met many that wished they had time to learn, but hours for a single lance-on-lance fight is too much investment for people who want to play other games as well.
<OrinThomas>: yeah - been trying to get to a point where I can intro it to my 10 year old
<Habeas2>: OrinThomas - Save it for Alpha Strike?
<Deadborder>: I've been teaching a couple of my friends BT. It's been... amusing
<OrinThomas>: maybe - though BattleTech also has the advantage of being great at learning probability
<Corrinald>: This is why I'm excited for Alpha Strike. I want to introduce Quick Strike to my gaming group. We've been playing Battletech for 15+ years, but it's very hard to find time to all get together.
<Deadborder>: One of them had his Enforcer fall over and TAC its AC ammo early in the game. I patted him on the back and said "That's the Battletech Experience". He laughed
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Building on an earlier question - what's been the most distressing development in the gaming industry you've seen in the last 20 years, and what's been the most positive?
<Terminax>: I run a new player table every month at our LGS and we clock it in under two hours for six players.
<mib_1o0wpq>: last question: is CGL doing something about the lack of support software for units construction? even our best option, SSW, is outdated and is missing rules for other units besides mechs and vehicles
<OrinThomas>: wow - Terminax
<Youngblood>: Ew, ew, an electronic rights question.
<Circinus_Enquirer>: (One trick is to give everyone a Hollander - 15 point gun, thin armor, short game...)
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - I think anyone would by lying if they told you computer and video games didn't scare the life out of us. Even though they're different media, electronic games tend to compete for the same free hours as tabletop games. That they now reach a sophistication where you can get instant gratification even for a game as complex and deep as BT tends to make us leery of our future,
<Habeas2>: Ciricnus_Enquirer - At the same time, though, all forms of gaming have reached a point where they're considered much more socially acceptable than ever before. It's harder and harder to find someone who hasn't at least had some experience with tabeltop wargames and RPGs.
<Terminax>: It helps that we focus on just the basics, keep it between lights and mediums and I focus on team objectives rather than just the grind.
<Habeas2>: Mib_1o0wpq - We are exploring numerous options. The issues you see are identical to those we face every time we print a product, after all.
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Thanks for the insight.
<Habeas2>: At least 10 minutes.
<Terminax>: Will CGL or Demo Agents get out to any Canadian conventions this year?
<Deadborder>: Will the other 3145 PDF TROs be about the same size as Mercenaries?
<Habeas2>: Terminax - That's kind of up to them. I have a hands off policy when it comes to Demo Team activities.
<Habeas2>: Deadborder - Yes.
<Deadborder>: Swish
<Habeas2>: At least 8 minutes.
<Circinus_Enquirer>: I saw from the earlier chat transcript that the "Surrender Your Dreams" finale is possibly decanonized, due to its potential to limit storylines. If that's the case, can you 'splain what the deal with that fake Master's coffin was, since it was pretty well set down in JHS:Final Reckoning that he died when our beloved Circinus fell to the Regulan Rampage.
<Deadborder>: Undertakers in Hazmat Suits *nods*
<BigAl>: So there are going to be a totol of 8 3145 PDF's and a TRO book?
<Youngblood>: That would be a dictionary-sized book.
<trboturtle>: I may have missed this before...no new BT novels anytime soon, correct?
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - As was established even in the epilogue, it was NOT the Master's remains. What did you expect someone to do? Go to Cricinus, scoop up some random bit of radioactive ash, and confirm it was actually the real Thomas Marik somehow? The dude was vaporized.
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Right, but why go to the trouble of pretending?
<Habeas2>: BigAl - About right.
<Habeas2>: Trboturtle - Correct. No new BT novels any time soon.
<Deadborder>: Because people will do crazy things based on crazy beleifs
<Circinus_Enquirer>: (Hmmm... go to Circinus and investigate the death of the Master? This sounds like a job for...Circinus Enquirer!!!)
<trboturtle>:
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - You now hit on exactly WHY the Jihad-era sourcebooks worked vs. a novelization. No body in media reports = May be alive! No body in novelization = Oh, we know he's dead, so the author's yanking our chain, and we don't care that the in-universe characters don't know this yet. (Imagine our trying to explain the Jihad in a more conventional sourcebook format and said "everyone was confused". Nobody would buy it
<Habeas2>: At least 2 minutes.
<OrinThomas>: Just wanted to say again that I really enjoyed the hell out of ER 3145. Fantastic work by all involved
<Deadborder>: Agreed
<Terminax>: Thanks Herb for your time. GTG.
<Habeas2>: Thanks.
<Habeas2>: Are you guys tiring out?
<Deadborder>: Thanks Herb
<Circinus_Enquirer>: I personally really loved the media report format for both the Jihad and when BattleTechnology did it for the Clan invasion (as well as when INN did it on a more limited basis, due to lack of HPGs, for the intial Blackout). It's a mechanism well suited to the BattleTech setting. Will we see more in the future?
<Habeas2>: Cricinus_Enquirer - Not exactly in that fashion. At least not for a while.
<Pa_Weasley>: ER 3145 introduce new armor and other toys. Any word on where we'll be seeing the rules for those?
<Habeas2>: Pa_Weasley - Field Manual: 3145
<Corrinald>: I also enjoyed the media report format. I was very lost at first, but I became more riveted as I read on. I felt more "in" the universe than ever before.
<Habeas2>: Okay, I'm going to give 5 minutes for last call on questions.
<Circinus_Enquirer>: And now out of left field: There are two BattleTech-universe drugs not found on the AToW charts - MindMASC (Dragons of Despair) and Brace (Pal Sandoval stories). Any suggestions as to their general categories for AToW simulation?
<Habeas2>: Circinus_Enquirer - Not without more details on what they're supposed to do from the authors who created them.
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Fair enough. Snoooort! Hmmm. Yellow...
<Corrinald>: Is the next Hexpack coming out this year?
<Habeas2>: Corrinald - Yes,
<Habeas2>: Ok. Looks like that's it on questions?
<Habeas2>: Thank you for participating in this Catalyst Game Labs BattleTech Line Developer-aided Public Relations Activity.
<Deadborder>: Thanks Herb
<Circinus_Enquirer>: Pretty much. Thanks for a highly informative session. Much appreciated. Off to Circinus! The Master awaits!
The home for live monthly BattleChats with the BattleTech Line Developer - Next chats scheduled for Saturday (?? May 2013) at 12 PM Eastern
