Battletech Fandom and "Communities"

[@ZontarDow]

People forget that Catalyst is a boutique operation with 19 employees who have to contact all their products that Topps didn't really care about when they more or less interested it and Fanatics since acquiring Topps for its baseball cards care even less. The company survives Kickstarter to Kickstarter and that's always a bad place to be.

[@agamelift]

This is a very good point. I think the activists involved from the top down were hoping this would go away, that it hasn't and won't may cause an impact. Yes, the products may be profitable but, divisive actions, that result in brand damage and a constant hostile landscape between the fans that want to be left alone and tourist activists is not sustainable.

[@ZontarDow]

@@agamelift For a comparison of scale, the major success the Mercenairies kickstarter had over its month live that more or less represents at the very least the bulk of this year's operations and likely next year's as well represents what GW and FFG do in a week and a half of regular operations. Catalyst is much closer to the likes of DP9 and Paladium then fans would like to think.

[@agamelift]

@@ZontarDow That's a really interesting perspective, I am not familiar with number crunching like that, so thank you for that info! Personally, I did go all in on the Clan Invasion. This one was meh, where I was considering cancelling until that last extra forcepack dropped. There are much fewer mechs I have an interest in in this KS. A third kickstarter wouldnt likely interest me. I already have just about everything in the Civil War/Jihad/DarkAge/ilClan I would want. I would probably just wait til fortress got their singles up and buy there.

[@ZontarDow]

@@agamelift the situation with Paladium is one I'm aware of because I followed the disaster that was the Robotech RPG Tactics Kickstarter out of morbid curiousity, that's a rabbit hole worthy of an hour long documentary video that I'd make if I was into making videos. DP9 is one I'm familiar with simply due to being local to it, been to their office/warehouse since you can pick orders up directly. Good people, they go to the local conventions to play intro matches with anyone interested and will point to the vender they're working with after. Got a free Grizzly from that.

[@malwiniuscyranoolframfromy4820]

I remember a time when it was about the game. We were just people playing a game in which we were interested - few women(if any), people from different ethnicities and probably also different sexual orientations. Nobody cared about differences as far as I remember, we were just a bunch of people interested in a game, playing a game. It was not all happy dandy, some people got along better with each other than others as it is in life. Sexuality, gender, ethnicity was never a topic in these differences.

[@agamelift]

You absolutely nailed it. A player's sexuality should never come up in conversation about Battletech. I would also say that anything regarding political/social movements in the real world shouldn't come up either. Thanks for stopping in!

[@nullbuttler5908]

Yeah the amount of toxic “fans” I’ve seen just starting shit out nowhere is what made the 40k community a hell scape to wander. We need to gate keep the fandom and make sure that people who like the game for what it is play with others of the same cloth. Im tired of seeing things I love ruined I got into this hobby through mech assault but came to love the lore surrounding it. Thank you and mage leader for speaking out against these tumors who spread like a cancer amongst our hobby groups. We need more people like you 😊

[@agamelift]

I appreciate it, thank you! A core element of these videos discussing issues plaguing the fandom is encouraging others to stand up for themselves and reject the ill willed tourists, activists, and politics. Mage Leader has made some excellent videos. Thank you for stopping in!

[@Ichaerus]

@Minis & Dumbells: Hello there. New subscriber, and new entrant to your facebook group. The gaming table, in my opinion, should be treated as hallowed ground, and not a place converted to a soapbox where a real life ideology is preached upon the players with inflammatory means. Real life baggage should be left at the door. I've noticed that many of that particular ideology say that them existing is "not political," yet fly multiple banners representing their group, talking about marches and protests. Yet those same people have multiple corporations and governments proselytizing support or backing, even going so far as to tear down a nation's flag, to replace it with another. Looking forward to your next video, as well as adding actual BattleTech content to your facebook group. Keep up the good work. I appreciate you.

[@agamelift]

Great to have you and thank you for the support! You nailed it, and it is actually going to be the topic of my next video - "people aren't politics". This is their new slogan where, in a dishonest attempt to bypass forum rules, they try to make the political/social element synonymous with the individual. Hilariously, I have seen them make the argument that any group of people from the best to the worst in human history could take advantage of. Also, I totally agree with your gaming table statement. There is absolutely no reason to have any influences of real world politics at the gaming table. Thanks for stopping in!

[@garrettmckellar]

"Being a Blakist isn't political! We just want a few planets for a protectorate..."

[@ericjohnson1289]

Very good points and excellent video. I too can remember when the hobby was about rolling dice, moving the miniatures or standees and having a good time with friends or meeting new folks and making new friends. The hobby needs to return to that.

[@agamelift]

Well said, these issues are out of control. Thanks for stopping in!

[@mattcarper9853]

It still is by and large. You just really have to police and gatekeep. Personally, I won't countenance the stuff that's going on this month in my group. I, and the rest of my group do not give a damn about people's ideologies and genders. We care about playing the damned game, rolling dice, discussing the setting, and growing the community. If I see or hear it flaring up, yeah...that shit is getting stomped out. They can take it elsewhere on their own and create their own space. They are not ruining mine and others for their agenda.

[@DarkKnightCuron]

Thank you for this wonderful video!

[@agamelift]

Thank you for stopping in!

[@JCDadalus]

Thank you for this video. ❤

[@agamelift]

Of course! Thanks for stopping in!

[@BigBatts]

It started when catalyst started highlighting what the mech warriors did in the bedroom instead of the battlefield and at court.

[@agamelift]

Exactly. They had their solution. The book front and center, Dominions Divided (while an excellent parallel to the modern fandom landscape) even begins with a story highlighting homosexual mech pilots. This is as far as it should have been taken, just like every straight couple in the fiction. By allowing activists in their employ and emboldening ill willed community members to strong arm the Battletech fandom to force in politics, it was too far. Thanks for stopping in!

[@nathanmanning5219]

My dude, tell me you have never read the old Classic novels without telling me. We got to know all about what mechwarriors were doing in the bedroom. Victor, Kai, Aiden, etc., etc., etc. You're just upset that they suggested that a guy might like a guy or a girl might like a girl.

[@agamelift]

@@nathanmanning5219 This is not a discussion of old novels and such, especially when the activist stackpole makes the baseless claim that Battletech was always "woke". So, those original novels are all acceptable in nature from your side of the discussion, to whatever extent the sexuality was involved. However, my point stands, the story at the beginning of Dominions Divided was the furthest into sexuality CGL should ever have gone for any couple. Having begun backing politically charged pride content now opens the floodgates for the sex pests, like those that spread that stupid mech girl trash, to move into full on transhuman-animal borderline hentai fetish fan content justifying a mech in the background as Battlgbtech "fan art" with a magistracy emblem.

[@Unicorn_Company]

So, you are just disregarding all of the "in the bedroom" stuff that occurred under FASA?

[@agamelift]

@@Unicorn_Company If it was always "woke" your side approved of it regardless of what it was. The current conversation is how much of it is being injected now. Because for accurate representation, less than 5% of characters would be living that way.

[@donavanmarsh972]

pardoe fan here.

[@agamelift]

Likewise, good to have you! Thanks for stopping in!

[@InfernalGoose]

*Wants no RL politics in Battletech* *Posts link to Boomertech* You do realize Boomer only posts political takes, right?

[@agamelift]

Did you miss the entire point of the video? That because of the activists forcing their views on the fans, pages like that came to be? This video is clearly not the place I was referencing to be void of politics.

[@thomascraiker6449]

TLDR: “Damn it boys they’re gettin’ away!” Do not turn victory into defeat. I hate making these arguments in the comments section. I find it hard to lay things out. The reality of the situation is this, your the one killing the fandom. That is the hard truth. Not because of what you believe, I think you are right. But because you are running away. We are on the the cusp of victory and you want to throw it away. This gift, and it is a gift has been laid out before us. We now know, but their own admission, who does not belong. The culture is already turning in our favor. They brought in the politics, knowing it was political, we need to make them choke on it. Now we know who to ignore or show the door. You are burning a bridge when you should be marching across it to kick these bastards in the nuts. I’ll still check out your page though. We need to counter attack on this.

[@agamelift]

You have a very interesting comment here... They control all the major social media "communities" already, there's no showing them the door with the way these "communities" and their fake version of "leadership" have tried to dictate what is acceptable. People need a place to rally, where they can find hope, and that is my goal. Otherwise it will just be quiet bodies among the herd, not wrongthinking too loudly before being banned and cut off from "communities". In reality, I am working to build and restore the fandom. The problem in the hellscape it became is that those that abuse their power have forced their will on the fans. By creating a place for the fans of Battletech, Battletech into the future is that place to restore the fandom. My three videos addressing these toxic players show a clear majority are opposed to the injection of real world politics, that is a huge message that is being sent. I have tagged CGL directly when discussing it. Your comment seems to show we are aligned in our views but, differing methods/thoughts on it. Keep in mind, where I go and those like me go, the tourists and activists will follow, like hyenas trying to kill a straggling member of our herd. But, we are there to fight off the wretched hyenas at every turn. They are livid because they cannot control us as we take control of Battletech.

[@Northernspy596]

disappointed that BattleTech has content creators that feel under attack by the "scary Gay Agenda" the BattleTech Pride Anthology content was being deleted by moderators in the BattleTech subreddit. its not like "wrong thinkers" don't try to exert control over fans.

[@agamelift]

Did you even watch the video? I'm actually addressing the false narrative of "people aren't politics" in my next one which I will record by the end of the week, worked on the script for it last night. In short, the pride anthology was a direct violation of the no politics rule of that subreddit. Has nothing to do with control, just appropriate moderator action. That those posting it believe themselves exempt from the rules they agreed to is the problem.

[@RiftShredemption]

We aren't scared. We're just tired of being told that we don't belong, and being called -ists and -phobes for not desiring RL politics and modern ideologies in our entertainment space.