It seems to me, now that Palladium has lost the Robotech license, that:

a) Robotech isn't really popular enough for anyone to really find it worthwhile to handle the cost (and the hassle of the notoriously difficult IP owners) of getting the license for a new Robotech RPG. There's probably other anime-mecha licenses that would be more profitable.

b) No one could actually do as great and thorough a job of handling the Robotech setting as Palladium did, over the whole course of its having the license.

Robotech should die and be left dead.

Macross however, should be separated from Robotech and made into a new game line with rules done by R.Talsorian Games since their Mekton products emulated the feel of mecha anime the best. All of the Macross series should each become its own high page count splatbook which further and further details the Macross universe.

Robotech is a great name. Macross not so much.

That said, I look forward to Macross being revived...if it can be. It's been a looooong time.  

Anyone who grabs the Robotech license has 3 years to make all their profit. Thus, its useful for a boardgame that goes for a gonzo, we're the last chance dance. However, I doubt such a project could use Kickstarter, thus their avenue to gain an audience would be limited.

BTW, there is a Robotech game coming out in July 2018...
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/235653/robotech-force-arms

However, I believe we will see a new Robotech after 2021, but it won't have any references to the original, just use the name and whatever concepts owned by Harmony Gold.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1028650Robotech is a great name. Macross not so much.

If you want to tap into the next generation of gamers and increase your marketability, you'd use the name Macross. Robotech is really only known to older gamers and Palladium fans. The current, and I would bet next, generation of gamers is pretty anime savvy.

1: Robotech was popular only for a short while and then as anime got more popular it fell massively out of favour as people realized just what a mess had been made of not one but three series. And it paved the way for more of these butcher jobs that finally culminated in Power Rangers. Now-a-days everyone with any sense is pissed off at Robotech for both mangling the series and more importantly for blockading any release of the Macross series in the US for nearly thirty years now.

2: Filling Palladiums boots would be hard. Best bet would be R.Talsorian and the Mekton system which can pretty much emulate most equipment based anime.

X: The real reason not to deal with Robotech is that Harmony Gold/Sunrise are absolutely not trustworthy. Sooner or later they will screw you over. It just happened to be much later for Palladium.

HG did with Macross what Abrams did with Micronaits. They blockaded it for decades without actually doing much with the material they were laying claim to. and what they did try to do tended to be less than optimal, even less than sub par at times.

Quote from: Omega;1028703And it paved the way for more of these butcher jobs that finally culminated in Power Rangers.

Sorry but Gatchaman has Macross beat by a full decade, and even Battle of the Planets started airing in the late 70s, predating even Macross let alone Robotech.

I agree with Omega that Harmony Gold are untrustworthy.  They have squandered the license for decades, doing the bare minimum required to keep it, emptying the wallets of the dedicated fans and the nostalgia crowd.

I love Robotech.  I saw it before the anime boom and still appreciate it after my interest in anime has vanished, entirely due to the role playing game.  But if it is even possible for Robotech to continue to exist as a viable franchise after 2021, it needs to be in the hands of someone else.

Nah, it wouldn't be worth it at this point unless the license could be had for very cheap and without the onerous restrictions that it has at present. We're talking about something about thirty years past the peak of its popularity. There will always be at least a little interest from the fanbase, but probably not enough anymore to invest a lot of money in it.

Quote from: jeff37923;1028651If you want to tap into the next generation of gamers and increase your marketability, you'd use the name Macross. Robotech is really only known to older gamers and Palladium fans. The current, and I would bet next, generation of gamers is pretty anime savvy.

Yeah, but it wouldn't be Robotech, or even Macross that we knew.

[video=youtube_share;NV9l3vBxU2Y]https://youtu.be/NV9l3vBxU2Y[/youtube]

Nothing wrong with that, but a modern Macross RPG would have to be based on the current anime to appeal to the current fans. No more original mecha or Zentraedi.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;1028718Yeah, but it wouldn't be Robotech, or even Macross that we knew.

[video=youtube_share;NV9l3vBxU2Y]https://youtu.be/NV9l3vBxU2Y[/youtube]

Nothing wrong with that, but a modern Macross RPG would have to be based on the current anime to appeal to the current fans. No more original mecha or Zentraedi.

I wouldn't mind that it won't be the Macross that we knew. I think that playing in the Macross setting as it has currently evolved into would be very cool. It is like why I enjoy playing in the Star Wars setting, it is a huge sandbox with just enough structure to keep players from flailing about.

Probably a moot point with the underlying media with all of the nostalgia impact going away in 2021.  That said, there is a lot of anime that could be the basis of interesting games.  I like Space Battleship Yamato and Harlock, myself.  Savage Worlds was able to adapt RIFTS, which is a good sign for being able to handle anime well, given that they would need to solve many of the same problems in adaption.

It's been dead for decades, let it stay that way.

A Voltron license would make more sense.

Or going for nostalgia, Battle of the Planets.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;1028718Nothing wrong with that, but a modern Macross RPG would have to be based on the current anime to appeal to the current fans. No more original mecha or Zentraedi.

There is also Macross: Frontier.  You don't have to stay trapped with Macross Delta of all things for anything new to come out.  Macross Delta would have to have a heavy focus on idols, but there should be a fresh series coming out this year or early next for the 35th anniversary.  Hopefully that one will have more to do with the classic mecha, some zentradi, and maybe a new threat.  The Vajra were a good set of antagonists, but going back to Zentradi wouldn't be amiss either.

Quote from: Omega;10287031: Robotech was popular only for a short while and then as anime got more popular it fell massively out of favour as people realized just what a mess had been made of not one but three series. And it paved the way for more of these butcher jobs that finally culminated in Power Rangers. Now-a-days everyone with any sense is pissed off at Robotech for both mangling the series and more importantly for blockading any release of the Macross series in the US for nearly thirty years now.

2: Filling Palladiums boots would be hard. Best bet would be R.Talsorian and the Mekton system which can pretty much emulate most equipment based anime.

X: The real reason not to deal with Robotech is that Harmony Gold/Sunrise are absolutely not trustworthy. Sooner or later they will screw you over. It just happened to be much later for Palladium.

HG did with Macross what Abrams did with Micronaits. They blockaded it for decades without actually doing much with the material they were laying claim to. and what they did try to do tended to be less than optimal, even less than sub par at times.

Quote from: Krimson;1028710Sorry but Gatchaman has Macross beat by a full decade, and even Battle of the Planets started airing in the late 70s, predating even Macross let alone Robotech.

While it wasn't the 1st I would agree that it defiantly is the show that paved the way for the idea that continued and culminated in the 4kids fiasco.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;1028718Yeah, but it wouldn't be Robotech, or even Macross that we knew.

[video=youtube_share;NV9l3vBxU2Y]https://youtu.be/NV9l3vBxU2Y[/youtube]

Nothing wrong with that, but a modern Macross RPG would have to be based on the current anime to appeal to the current fans. No more original mecha or Zentraedi.

Quote from: Manic Modron;1028754There is also Macross: Frontier.  You don't have to stay trapped with Macross Delta of all things for anything new to come out.  Macross Delta would have to have a heavy focus on idols, but there should be a fresh series coming out this year or early next for the 35th anniversary.  Hopefully that one will have more to do with the classic mecha, some zentradi, and maybe a new threat.  The Vajra were a good set of antagonists, but going back to Zentradi wouldn't be amiss either.

While I agree that it would defiantly focus on the newer series I bet it would have splats made to cover the other series if for no other reason then the fact there has never been A proper Macross rpg.
[video=youtube;3x-ZClLqSKY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x-ZClLqSKY[/youtube]
I say this because I have read enough of the Robotech rpg to know that Robotech IS NOT Macross.