Can Someone at Catalyst please talk to Adam at Tabletop Minions

[Known Glitch]

It's like having two friends that can't stand each other but you like them both.  Video he posted today he gripes that Classic is too complicated, totally overlooking AS and Destiny.  Even though he's acknowledged AS's existence before.  I commented on his video that it's getting old and he should really give the game a fair go. 

I really like his hobby motivation-related content but whenever BattleTech comes up he starts griping.  Apparently he wanted to buy AS books or a box set at GenCon a few years ago and you guys were sold out?

Wondering if Ray or Blaine have tried reaching out to him - or would be willing to now - maybe send him a AGOAC and Clan Invasion box and say let's have a Zoom chat?

[bobthecoward]

It isn't griping. It is a reasonable opinion. He should not have a company contacting him simply because he expresses an opinion.

I don't want Hasbro reaching out to me because I dislike Candyland for being too simple....asking me to try some their Candyland variants....I don't care if they think Unicorn Edition really slaps.

[JadeHellbringer]

It isn't griping. It is a reasonable opinion. He should not have a company contacting him simply because he expresses an opinion.

I don't want Hasbro reaching out to me because I dislike Candyland for being too simple....asking me to try some their Candyland variants....I don't care if they think Unicorn Edition really slaps.

I'm imagining classic games like Candyland getting treated the way D&D editions are by fans, and I'm laughing hard enough to worry about my coffee being spilled. "Chutes and Ladders was fine before Milton Bradley RUINED IT with the recent editions..."

Anyway, as for the OP... yeah, not likely to happen, at least not formally. Everyone is entitled to their opinion- we may not agree with it, but that's OUR opinion. I, personally, didn't get into Alpha Strike- I like the idea to it, being able to run large-scale battles with ease in a way that Classic never allowed, but the detail to things like critical hits or figuring out weapon choices is lost to an extent that I don't really enjoy. I'll play it if that's what the plan is for that weekend, but it's not my cup of tea.

So, having said that, I don't expect Cubby to kick in my door tonight and tell me off for having that opinion. (since he's local,I've carefully made sure he doesn't have my current address, just in case!).

To each, their own. If he doesn't like Battletech, cool- may he enjoy the games he DOES like, and life will move on. Catalyst's people have far, far too much on their plates to spend time reaching out to every naysayer on the internet- better to keep fans happy and sated with products than worry about people who aren't likely to be swayed anyway.

[Rougarou Rhapsody]

In all fairness Adam has been increasingly more and more about mini agnostic games and rules lite games as time has gone on.  He isn't overly secretive about it either.  He has mentioned alpha strike before but he wasn't talking about alpha strike in his latest video. He was talking about how a game like BT is rules heavy and that doesn't necessarily make it a "better game".  Alpha strike while rules lite compared to CBT is pretty middle ground as far as amount of rules go. It didn't really fit to bring it up for what he was trying to talk about.

[JadeHellbringer]

...in which case, honestly, he isn't WRONG. Again, a matter of opinion on his end, but Battletech IS a very rules-heavy game. When my now-wife first came over to my house, she saw the shelves full of books and was baffled that they all were for the same game. I pulled Total Warfare off the shelf and explained this was the main rulebook, the rest were add-ons, and she still couldn't believe that a giant hardbound book was the rules to play the game! She's been very tolerant and supportive of my hobby, but after seeing that book she's never had any interest in learning it, at all. And I don't blame her- it's a very scary-looking task, learning this game from the ground up, because it DOES have so much history and rules-bloat to have to absorb. (Which isn't meant as a dig at it, simply that we have thousands of units, dozens of types of unit, rules to cover all of it...)

So yeah, if you're a gamer looking to learn something new and jump into it in an afternoon, this is probably not your game. If you're looking for a detailed and strategy-minded game that takes its sweet time but pays off in the end, you'll be happy. He doesn't fit that latter category (or at least not as far as THIS game goes), and that's cool by me.

[Cubby]

So, having said that, I don't expect Cubby to kick in my door tonight and tell me off for having that opinion. (since he's local, I've carefully made sure he doesn't have my current address, just in case!).

Too late, I'm already in. The forum posts are coming from inside the house.

I understand the frustration in seeing a game you enjoy not being appreciated. But we're not going to go around re-enacting the last scene of "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." We'll continue working hard to make even better products, getting them into the hands of players who do enjoy them, and keeping the game growing as has been over the last few years.

[MarauderD]

Having listened to it, it really wasn't that bad.  He is right--BattleTech IS crunchy. 

I agree with you that AlphaStrike might be the game for him.  Someone here should invite him to play a 250 Pt Alpha Strike match and see if he enjoys it?

What city/town does this fella live in so someone can invite him to a match?

[SteelRaven]

Battletech isn't for everybody.

There are a bunch of games I don't like, I just don't make YouTube videos about why I don't like.

I get it, being a angry nerd seems to be a popular trend on YouTube. I'm tired of it myself there are much worse personalities that have been suggested in my feed that I can't seem to block fast enough.

[Paul]

But we're not going to go around re-enacting the last scene of "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."

Dude, I already bought the tickets! Lame.

[trboturtle]

...in which case, honestly, he isn't WRONG. Again, a matter of opinion on his end, but Battletech IS a very rules-heavy game. When my now-wife first came over to my house, she saw the shelves full of books and was baffled that they all were for the same game. I pulled Total Warfare off the shelf and explained this was the main rulebook, the rest were add-ons, and she still couldn't believe that a giant hardbound book was the rules to play the game! She's been very tolerant and supportive of my hobby, but after seeing that book she's never had any interest in learning it, at all. And I don't blame her- it's a very scary-looking task, learning this game from the ground up, because it DOES have so much history and rules-bloat to have to absorb. (Which isn't meant as a dig at it, simply that we have thousands of units, dozens of types of unit, rules to cover all of it...)

So, showing her the old Star Fleet Battle rulebooks wouldn't be a good idea then? 

Craig

[BrianDavion]

If mean yeah battletech isn't exactly a simple game and some people dislike that, I mean, I've run into people who claim warhammer 40k is too complex for god's sake, and whenever I do I tend to quietly snicker.
 

Battletech is at it's eart and 80s/early 90s "crunchy" table top game. and some people love that, at the same time... yeah not for everyone. but contacting some random guy on the internet? is silly.
Frankly I think people give youtubers waaaaaay too much import,
any one can yammer at a camera on youtube, it doesn't make their opinions any more important

[Known Glitch]

Thanks all.  Apologies for the rant, just needed to vent.

He's in Oshkosh, WI by the way if someone wants to invite him to a game.

[General308]

It's like having two friends that can't stand each other but you like them both.  Video he posted today he gripes that Classic is too complicated, totally overlooking AS and Destiny.  Even though he's acknowledged AS's existence before.  I commented on his video that it's getting old and he should really give the game a fair go. 

I really like his hobby motivation-related content but whenever BattleTech comes up he starts griping.  Apparently he wanted to buy AS books or a box set at GenCon a few years ago and you guys were sold out?

Wondering if Ray or Blaine have tried reaching out to him - or would be willing to now - maybe send him a AGOAC and Clan Invasion box and say let's have a Zoom chat?

Nothing he said about BT wasn't true.  The rules did get more and more cruchy as time went on.   I mean the concept behind the current core rule line was to be able to say "we have a rule for that."   He just likes less cruchy games which is fine everyone likes different things.

I will even add this BT when it came out compared to the First mini game I played Jagpanzer was a much much much smaller rule set.

[Aotrs Commander]

Lots of wargamers (especially the historical/moderns crowd) want simple rules that they don't have to really think about, so they can basically just turn up, push some models around and roll some dice (usually in big multiplayer games, I've noticed).

BattleTech... Is not really that sort of game; never really has been. (Nor are the other games I play*, one of which I wrote myself, and and arguably even more niche than BattleTech; both are tactically demanding and the most of the pair (Maneouvre Group) is ostensibly the least crunchy of the two, but is basically a real-world tactics simulator that is, like, the equivalent of playing a Paradox Grand Strategy on ironman in hard mode.

(It is with supreme irnoy that I note this, since I prefer my COMPUTER games to be on easy mode, while my tabletop games to be challenging, which is apparently the diametic opposite of almost the entire population of the planet (which is par for the course).)

My attitude to well, anything, is that if it's not worth a huge amount of my time, it's not worth any of my time. Which is why the most "casual" of games I play - BattleTech, which I play specifically so I don't have to write scenarios and play exclusively pick-up games... Only has 310 mechs attached to it** and the house rules only runs to 21 pages. (Of which the majority is pretty much mostly a combined weapons/equipment table, since I was fed-up of looking through several different books even AFTER the BattleMech Manual.)

Not every set of rules has to or ever SHOULD try to appeal to everyone, since many people have diametrically opposite viewpoints on what they want out of a game.



*Actually, nor are my RPGs that I run; D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder weren't crunchy ENOUGH for me, so I spent 1500+ pages of houserules combining them, and my second system of choice is ROLEMASTER.

**Granted, that number was double what I started 2020 with because lockdown.

[klarg1]

So, showing her the old Star Fleet Battle rulebooks wouldn't be a good idea then? 

Craig

I know an old SFB player who refuses to play Battletech because it’s too “beer & pretzels” for him. 

[ActionButler]

Battletech is from a different era. It’s that simple. It is one of the very few games I can think of that has survived, unchanged, for decades. As a result, for better or worse, the game is very number crunchy. Some people like that, some people do not.

Me? I prefer Alpha Strike. In fact, I don’t think I’ll even go back to Classic Battletech for anything short of Solaris duels or Clan Trials. Or Megamek. I just don’t have the time to spare. Also, Alpha Strike is more in line with my imagination of what a battle between stomps robots ought to look like. Fast, violent, and immediately impactful.

Here’s the thing, though, both systems are fine. And people who like one over the other are entitled to their feels. Classic Battletech is the best game out there for people who want every part of their giant robot go have a health bar. Alpha Strike is the best game out there for people who just want to push minis around a table and make pew-pew noises.

And the fact that both games come from the same house is pretty cool.

Sometimes, though, neither system is what a gamer is looking for, and that’s fine, too.