You know what really tickles my pickle here? Because of the fan furor, instead of regular releases of products moving the timeline forward that some might not have liked, we instead got several years of very few products at all, and a good chunk of that was rehashed material. *slow claps* Good work, guys.
Looking through this forum and remembering when there was a lot more activity and discussions during the Jihad, and the lack of products, I've thought the same thing.
Then I realized they probably
are happy. Most of the old faces I recognize still posting on these boards were against advancing the story, after all.
Products they weren't going to buy in the first place not being released isn't going to bother them. Discussions on these boards that were of no interest to them won't be missed.
I first encountered Battletech through the card game back in the 90s. In the two decades I've followed the game, it's advanced a decade and a half or so- the Jihad. The Dark Ages was originally from the Wizkids game.
A five year hiatus of products is nothing new to fans that choose to ignore eras such as anything post 3067, 3050, or even 3030.
Hell, new players in HBS asking about the 'tabletop' are often warned against buying new products and instead pointed to eBay for the original FASA stuff because 3025 is the only real Battletech ::).
Sometimes I wonder if Catalyst threw in the towel on Battletech if most of the still active base would just move to a fan forum and things would continue as if nothing changed.
I'm not denying that things got hairy there for a while. I was fired for being antagonistic, after all. But my point is that normally any issues upper management had with the products and plans would've been addressed behind closed doors before the fans ever heard of them. But, because someone broke NDA, CGL/IMR's "brass" felt their hands were forced. The outcry really was vociferous, and while I think CGL made some serious errors in their handling of the situation - and believe me, I've got my bones to pick with them - at the time it looked like a total revolt of the fanbase. BattleTech needs new players, yes, but it is mostly surviving thanks to folks like you.
I apologize for making it seem like the fans were the problem. Really, they weren't. From the information they had, it did look like it was a Warhammer-style "throw out everything you own and buy all new stuff" move.
Was the NDA specific to 3250 content? I must have missed that- I remember some former TPTB saying that when 3250 was scuttled, payment for work that had been done (but not released) was put on hiatus and I thought that might have been the NDA breaking thing.
With all the attempts to provide content to all eras- Historicals for Inner Sphere and Clans, Jihad and Dark Ages books as well as Era reports for new players interested in the Clan Invasion and Civil War, my understanding when the news of 3250 broke was that it was just another era. New tech, new mechs, etc. sure but it wasn't as if I couldn't throw down a game in 3180 or whatever with 3145 'mechs taking on the new technology, or one week play a game in 3250 and the next play a 3025 game.
You know, same shit different era.
