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HG and Robotech Debates


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Robotech.com is a corporately owned website, which is why they don't like people criticizing their own corporate products. It's no mystery to me.

I agree, as a corporate site people should know better how they're going to be treated in one. You're not going to find that fair and balance atmosphere that should be there as the headquarters of the Robotech universe. That welcoming, community feel fans think exists there? As a corporate site, it's really an illusion created by HG to get your attention and, eventually, your money. So you get censored, scolded or even banned from their site for whatever you do there; you play by their rules every time you log in, as well as some unspecified rules they never tell you.

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I agree, as a corporate site people should know better how they're going to be treated in one. You're not going to find that fair and balance atmosphere that should be there as the headquarters of the Robotech universe. That welcoming, community feel fans think exists there? As a corporate site, it's really an illusion created by HG to get your attention and, eventually, your money. So you get censored, scolded or even banned from their site for whatever you do there; you play by their rules every time you log in, as well as some unspecified rules they never tell you.

Like, for example, the unspecified rule about being just as chipper and upbeat and positive about official Harmony Gold Robotechâ„¢ merchandise and films on other websites as you are on RT.com.

Again, I think it's a sucky way to run a site, but it's their site to do with as they wish...

Personally, I think they need to add the question, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of Macross World?" to the sign-up process there.

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Like, for example, the unspecified rule about being just as chipper and upbeat and positive about official Harmony Gold Robotechâ„¢ merchandise and films on other websites as you are on RT.com.

Again, I think it's a sucky way to run a site, but it's their site to do with as they wish...

Personally, I think they need to add the question, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of Macross World?" to the sign-up process there.

:lol:

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Personally, I think they need to add the question, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of Macross World?" to the sign-up process there.

But what would be the ideal fate for a person who who dared to click "YES"?

Taksraven

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But what would be the ideal fate for a person who who dared to click "YES"?

Taksraven

Well...they would have to name names of other covert Macross World members, obviously. If they didn't do that, they wouldn't be allowed to write fanfics, make fanart, or make AMVs unless they did it in secret, with a respected RT.com member being a "front" for them.

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Well...they would have to name names of other covert Macross World members, obviously. If they didn't do that, they wouldn't be allowed to write fanfics, make fanart, or make AMVs unless they did it in secret, with a respected RT.com member being a "front" for them.

Joseph McCarthy would be proud of that. ^_^

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Well...they would have to name names of other covert Macross World members, obviously. If they didn't do that, they wouldn't be allowed to write fanfics, make fanart, or make AMVs unless they did it in secret, with a respected RT.com member being a "front" for them.

Good, but it sounds relatively mild. I imagined more of a potentially dangerous or painful experience if you clicked "YES" :lol: :lol:

Taksraven

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its really wierd its 150x113 and 64k it should be working. When I bring up my member info I see, but not on the posts.

This thread is not for testing your potential avatars. If you are having problems uploading pictures, there is a "Member Feedback" section on the main page. If you need to test uploading capabilities, there is "Test forum" located at the bottom of the main page. I suggest you use those resources.

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Well they douches. Which reminds me of the original Jetfire toy fiasco. Anybody here who knows the details of the MechWarrior franchise?

I haven't been paying attention but I have feeling HG is just trying to get a cut of the profits. If this game is pretty far in production it will cost them too much to go back and edit everything HG is bitching about. I bet HG waited to do this later on purpose. Challenging HG in court would cost more money because of the delay it would cause. Only solution that doesn't greatly increase cost or delay the product would to give HG a share.

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Challenging HG in court would cost more money because of the delay it would cause. Only solution that doesn't greatly increase cost or delay the product would to give HG a share.

Thats the thing I would be wondering about as I don't know how the legal process would work in this case. If the gamemakers said "screw you" to HG, would it be up to them or up to HG to take this up in court. I really doubt that HG would be game enough to pursue this in court as a ruling against them could be really damaging.

Lets all dream of a scenario where HG pursues this into court and through their own stupidity loses all rights to Macross, etc. Unlikely but it would be verrrry nice.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't HG gotten used to getting its own way by generally threatening to pursue legal action but not actually taking many things to court?

Taksraven

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I haven't been paying attention but I have feeling HG is just trying to get a cut of the profits. If this game is pretty far in production it will cost them too much to go back and edit everything HG is bitching about. I bet HG waited to do this later on purpose. Challenging HG in court would cost more money because of the delay it would cause. Only solution that doesn't greatly increase cost or delay the product would to give HG a share.

Yup. It will be interesting to see what Piranha Games does. But bear in mind that HG only sent a takedown notice to IGN, Youtube and any other site for posting the trailer. That trailer isn't in-game footage as far as I can tell. It's just a trailer. And if that's so, the law-violating-mech in question may not even be in the game. And we know how game trailers don't always reflect what you can actually do in the game.

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Does anyone have a frontal view of the mechwarrior mech in question??? from the 3/4 rear view, it looks like it has parts that function the same as a Tomahawk, but don't necessarily look like a Tomahawk. That's what HG needs to do, piss off more people over something trivial (this going off the fact I haven't seen the rest of the Mechwarrior design). If it looks too much the same, then I can't argue with that, but from what that site showed, it doesn't look like enough.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't HG gotten used to getting its own way by generally threatening to pursue legal action but not actually taking many things to court?

Yeah... lawsuits like that are complicated and time-consuming, and as such are expensive as hell. Because of that, most of the time the companies Harmony Gold threatens with litigation usually bow to the pressure unless they think they have a really good case (like FASA did). So it's pretty rare for something like that to actually end with litigation.

Yup. It will be interesting to see what Piranha Games does. But bear in mind that HG only sent a takedown notice to IGN, Youtube and any other site for posting the trailer. That trailer isn't in-game footage as far as I can tell. It's just a trailer. And if that's so, the law-violating-mech in question may not even be in the game. And we know how game trailers don't always reflect what you can actually do in the game.

I'm betting they do exactly what Catalyst Game Labs did. Issue a statement saying said designs wouldn't appear in the game because of an unforeseen legal complication, and end it there without it ever having to go to court.

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Do you think HG HAS to sue to stop this? Here's my thinking:

BW/SN own the intellectual property rights to the mech in question.

Tatsunoko/HG own the merchandising rights for the mech in question. Therefore, so long as the mech in question is being used to support ROBOTECH then HG can pimp it however it wants. However, if HG were to say, ask for a cut for this mech showing up in a game that's not directly related to merchandising for ROBOTECH, HG then would be infringing on BW/SN's rights. That said, if HG does NOT sue to stop the game makers then they are not adequately defending their merchandising rights which opens them up to a whole different legal world of hurt on the BW/SN side.

Edited by jenius
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It all goes to pot when games are considered on the merch side of the dispute, rather than the intellectual property side.

That argument is definitely true of Robotech games and comics where the mechs can appear and do whatever they want but the Battletech/Mech Warrior series have nothing to do with Robotech or Macross so I wouldn't be surprised if that creates an issue. Also, and again, due to the legally hostile environment HG must be vigilant about asserting its rights lest it open itself to more litigation.

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Classy move, HG. Well, I told you guys a lot of it is an illusion to get people's money. :lol:

That's what HG needs to do, piss off more people over something trivial (this going off the fact I haven't seen the rest of the Mechwarrior design). If it looks too much the same, then I can't argue with that, but from what that site showed, it doesn't look like enough.

That's a really crappy way to reintroduce your company, and probably Robotech, back into the mainstream; with litigation. At least people are making sure Harmony Gold gets people's attention for this mess. They've pissed off Macross and anime fans for years, now they want to piss off the modern gaming community (and Microsoft)? Whatever keeps them relevant these days.

I can see them losing a lot of opportunities just for that Tomahawk.

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Still, the view of the mech in question doesn't look enough like a tomahawk. Just cause it has big canon arms and a missile launcher ont he top doesn't make it a copywright infringement. Then again, the scare tactic may work, and if it does, that's too bad. Either way, let HG piss off more people and burn more bridges. I don't think they'll be making games for HG, and they look like they can make a great mecha game. BURN THOSE BRIDGES BABY, BURN THEM ALL, YOU MOTHER %!@#ERS!!! (done in a very crazy Quentin Tarantino Movie manner)

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i think they should take HG to court.

if it was an exact 3D rendition of a Tomahawk, then they would certainly have problems,

but the design in question isn't even a Tomahawk anymore.

it's pretty much a re-imagined design.

i don't see why they should bow down to HG's harassment.

at the very least, they have things to sort out with BW/SN. but not HG.

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Personally, I think they need to add the question, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of Macross World?" to the sign-up process there

Why not?

But what would be the ideal fate for a person who who dared to click "YES"?

Marked for future banning?

Well...they would have to name names of other covert Macross World members, obviously. If they didn't do that, they wouldn't be allowed to write fanfics, make fanart, or make AMVs unless they did it in secret, with a respected RT.com member being a "front" for them

Not that I cared anyway. By far, my RT fanfics more or less stay @ home at Palladium board. I do updated my fanfics once in a blue moon in RT.com - posted on its RT RPG subforum - rather than submitting my fanfics in their fanfic section.

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*

Personally, I think they need to add the question, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of Macross World?" to the sign-up process there.

They would never do it, because if they did, it would turn out that half the employees at Harmony Gold are members of Macross world and the company would self-implode.

As to this:http://kotaku.com/5352295/mechwarrior-5-runs-into-legal-trouble

You know what's REALLY funny in that web-article? The fact that they ILLUSTRATE the Tomahawk using...Yamato's version 2.0 1/60.

Yeah - why?

Because HG DOESN'T EVER PRODUCE ANYTHING! All they do is litigate, litigate an litigate.

When was the last time you saw Harmony Gold actually produce a Tomahawk figure?

So - to even ILLUSTRATE the freaking Tomahawk - the site needs to "break the law" by "advertising" "illegal" Yamato Macross products. HA HA.

And of course, it's really rich to read that Mechawarrior the game "STOLE" the general design of the Tomahawk... when it could be argued that Harmony Gold stole the whole stupid anime in the first place.

I mean - imagine if Big West sued HG over "Rick Hunter" in Shadow Chronicles by arguing that he looks "a little bit like" Hikaru Ichijo from DYRL?

These guys are a complete joke.

I mean - at least other companies who aggresively defend their trademarks, like Disney for instance, actually also PRODUCE THINGS like movies, dolls, merchandise...

These guys haven't made anything or done anything with their "trade mark" at all for years - beyond crappy Toynami moulds which were badly outdated when they came out and are all the more so now. Not to mention Shadow Chronicles which - arguably - is one major RIP OFF of...MOSPEDEA.

See - nobody talksabout this but... by what right can HG continue using Mospedea designs?

I think it's by the right of "default." Mospedea is not as popular, there's nothing equivalent to Macross: Frontier happening on Mospedea front - so HG is "safe" in continuing to use those.

If Mospedea were as big as Macross these days, you can be sure fans would be digging into the legaleese of the matter and it would suddenly turn out that HG doesn't really have full rights to that show either.

Pete

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See - nobody talksabout this but... by what right can HG continue using Mospedea designs?

By Tatsunko's right. All of Mospedea is owned by Tatsunko and as along you pay Tatsunko enough $$$ they will let anyone do whatever they want with their franchises, that is why I nicknamed Tatsunko the "anime studio whore house."

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Someone mentioned above that its a trailer and not in-game footage. I just want to clarify that it is in-game footage, or at least they say it is. On the bottom left of the screen it states so (at least in the cockpit view).

THat being said, all external views are probably theatrical in nature. However, it is a redesign of the Warhammer, and possibly enough so to get by.

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By Tatsunko's right. All of Mospedea is owned by Tatsunko and as along you pay Tatsunko enough $$$ they will let anyone do whatever they want with their franchises, that is why I nicknamed Tatsunko the "anime studio whore house."

So Tatsunko just licenses the Mospedea franchise?

Ergo - if I bought the license to Mospedea and made a show with Alpha and Beta fighters and Cyclones and called it Robowarriors, then it could legally run alongside Shadow Chronicles?

Or is it an exclusive license to HG?

Pete

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