Well, for the record? This is what I see when I look at my Flea minis.
I actually think it looks more solid and robust than a lot of other light mechs; which I like. While at the same time, it doesn't have as many shot-traps as it could have. It looks over-gunned and simplistic. And like doing more than about 90kph is asking too much of it.
And we own the Flea, so why not?
I get that there is a lot invested in the current art flux and frankly; so far I'm about as happy as I realistically could be with the nuseen stuff. There are a few I haven't seen yet that I remain emotionally invested in (Goliath, for instance) but I was never going to like all of them unless each mech went though the kind of open-forum art critique we see in the fan funding threads for the projects we put through there. How hard is that without base art to work from? No clue; not an artistic bone in my body.
There's a lot of good points here, but I have few of my own as well.
1. Don't chase realism too far. At the end of that path lies ground pressure and the sure and certain knowledge that "Realistic" Mechs wouldn't look remotely like any of ours do. Frankly; I think the 3085 Scorpion---which I like---is possibly the most realistic mech I've ever seen in BT.
2. We shouldn't chase fads. Fads change and we cannot afford, nor should we seek to change the art style of the line with Hollywood fashions. Be a Star Wars; not a Star Trek. IMO; we're better off with a distinct art style we can plant the flag of the franchise on. Should we make that our hill to die on? No. That would be the customization and building rules, because while every single IP has their own art style, changing or not; none have the level of personalization that the BTU does.
3. It frankly doesn't matter what the mechs look like. What matters is the story. That is what needs to evolve and grow if the franchise is to survive.
I know a lot of people are excited for new art; I am too, to a point and yes; I have a price: give me a Centurion that doesn't look like it escaped from the EXTREME 90s or Garbage Pail Kids and I'll come around considerably (and I *think* that's coming). But the idea that we are one Technical Readout from paradise is madness and I say that as a guy who really wants to see Golden Century and some more Succession Wars XTROs. The look of any one given mech or even those of a given era is not driving new players away; that's silly. I've brought four people into this game based on the old art alone and they all left for the same reason; can't find the stuff in stores and can't find people to play. New art won't change that.
Be excited for that, by all means. But the war is getting the stuff in production, getting the stores to carry it and getting enough of it made and on an ongoing basis that the new bloods can get their hands on it, after the pre-orders and quick grabs from us old guys buy up the initial stock.
Shim has done some great work here; objectively it is awesome art. However I feel about one or two or more models doesn't matter much; I'll never have to guess which side of the head is the face like I did with 3025, so it is objectively better art. And I'm not going to not buy a boxed set because it has a locust or an Ostscout in it. That Flea? We can agree to disagree.
I'm not real swayed by the realism arguments anyways. These mechs; the unseen and getting them back in a current form we can be proud of is more about *beating* HG than anything else for me. Realism arguments in BT begin and end for me with things like the suspension of the Bulwark and the proliferation of huge, exposed 90s Gatling guns, Little-David-Calibre guns and ammo feeds that we see in much of the Dark Age stuff. Once that's a feature in the universe...the form and substance of realism is dead to me; we already know what we are once we bring that into the main canon, now we're negotiating so far as I'm concerned and the price is very low indeed.
So, like the hip joints on a Ostscout or Scorpion being too spindly? Meh, okay; you are right, but now what? So what? The next time a new, forward of 3150 TRO comes out, there will be a whole lot more dark age stuff in it; will I be hearing the same arguments then? Maybe I will. But likely not, because many players either got into the game through MWDA or just liked it and those models hold an emotional resonance for them that I will never feel. Ditto the new MWO/MW5/BTPC crowd, will feel the same way. Just like I feel about the mechs I got to know first through the Crescent Hawk's Revenge manual. However; give me a Dark Age art retcon and then I'd be willing to sit down and have some real talk about realism in BT art going forward. Absent that; it's whatever milks your Guernsey.
What I'm getting at is that for all it's logical weight, and while I tend to enjoy it as well in my own way; arguing from realism doesn't hit home for me in BT as it should, when it comes to art. The points are valid, but equally so my criticism, because it comes down to matters of taste. Making me happy with new art is going to mean having something new that looks like a better version of the older art. Not all-new art. Sorry. But again; I've done well here by Shim's art. Couple I love, couple I hate, one that just bugs me and the rest I'm happy with. And all of it within the broad boarders of BT art and none of it source-suspect in any way. It's ours and it's obviously ours.
