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Hi Folks!

According to the latest Weekly Update, Palladium has got the okay to begin releasing the 1st edition Robotech RPG books on DriveThruRPG.

So I think this is great news for new fans to the series who never had a chance to play the 1st system, or for those that have lost books through the years.

tobefrnk wrote:Hi Folks!

According to the latest Weekly Update, Palladium has got the okay to begin releasing the 1st edition Robotech RPG books on DriveThruRPG.

So I think this is great news for new fans to the series who never had a chance to play the 1st system, or for those that have lost books through the years.

... this is supposed to be good news?

You'd think they'd have something better to do... like developing new content for the current edition of the RPG or sorting out that tabletop game Kickstarter that's gone unfinished for something like five years now, the unfinished state of which is generating significant amounts of bad press for the RPG, for Palladium Books, and for the Robotech brand as a whole, as well as having a significant negative impact on other projects developed by Palladium licensees like the Rifts board game and possibly having contributed to the failure of the last attempt to produce a sequel to the Robotech animated series.

It's not my intention to advocate piracy, but aren't they about seventeen years late to the party on PDF editions of the 1st Edition RPG? That cat's been out of the bag so long it's almost old enough to buy its own liquor and smokes. (Not to mention the 1st Edition books can be had via eBay easily enough, usually for less than they cost new.)

I honestly think this is fantastic. It's a great way to get a lot of "game starter source material" out for those playing the 2nd Edition game, but don't have these books while we politely wait for Ghost Fleet Saga.

Sure, they didn't have to do this. Sure, working on new material is ideal. Sure, people who wanted the older books could source them through eBay and used channels, but I believe this is still a good move. It may not be of immediate benefit to you, but there is an audience out there that makes this a positive development.

1) It's another point of exposure for the game and for Palladium as a whole. The titles potentially popping up in folk's DriveThru feeds could spark interest in the game, making the title more popular, justifying more resources to producing new material.

2) Yes, new material is great, but I can't imagine the time spent on making scans of the 1st edition books for distribution taking away significant resources from producing Ghost Fleet Saga, or any of the other Palladium titles.

3) This is "NEW MATERIAL" for those that have never seen or procured these books. There are players out there that only know the 2nd Edition as THE Robotech game, with little or no knowledge of the 1st edition that was before.

4) Folks have asked for adventure books and the like for Robotech. Now a whole back catalog of those will be available again for those that need them.

5) Making them available in a digital format that you can download immediately removes another potential barrier to entry.

This is why I see this as a great thing, but I'm just one guy. So, to close, good job!

Does this include the revised books, like Return of the Masters?

Hope it does since I lost my copy of return revised.

tobefrnk wrote:I honestly think this is fantastic. It's a great way to get a lot of "game starter source material" out for those playing the 2nd Edition game, but don't have these books while we politely wait for Ghost Fleet Saga.

Sure, they didn't have to do this. Sure, working on new material is ideal. Sure, people who wanted the older books could source them through eBay and used channels, but I believe this is still a good move. It may not be of immediate benefit to you, but there is an audience out there that makes this a positive development.

1) It's another point of exposure for the game and for Palladium as a whole. The titles potentially popping up in folk's DriveThru feeds could spark interest in the game, making the title more popular, justifying more resources to producing new material.

2) Yes, new material is great, but I can't imagine the time spent on making scans of the 1st edition books for distribution taking away significant resources from producing Ghost Fleet Saga, or any of the other Palladium titles.

3) This is "NEW MATERIAL" for those that have never seen or procured these books. There are players out there that only know the 2nd Edition as THE Robotech game, with little or no knowledge of the 1st edition that was before.

4) Folks have asked for adventure books and the like for Robotech. Now a whole back catalog of those will be available again for those that need them.

5) Making them available in a digital format that you can download immediately removes another potential barrier to entry.

This is why I see this as a great thing, but I'm just one guy. So, to close, good job!

I would make a couple other points on why this is good in my opinion.
The 1st edition books have stuff that is not available in the current books, so yay, more material
Anything I can get on PDF is one less book I need to constantly use the hard copy of...
And of course, the more books available for use, the more cross pollination for gamers. That is a good thing all around as the more sales the more new stuff. And while a RT purist may not be wildly excited by the 1st ed books, someone playing a game of, for example, Rifts or Phase World, or Heroes Unlimited might be quite interested in grabbing a book or two for their game...
... a process that is much easier if the book is:
1) available in PDF format
2) more importantly exists to buy outside of collectables auctions (often with rather high prices).

I think that's good news. In addition to all the pluses already mentioned I'm hoping it means HG will allow Palladium more leeway in publishing newer Robotech books.

I have to agree with Seto, I'm not sure that this is good news.

I think it's a good idea, but I do think the prices are a bit high. I will likely buy a couple of the adventure books I never bought, but I am on the fence about the ones I already have.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that DriveThru did the scanning. If so they aren't really taking resources away from anything.

I love that the books are available to another generation. I've used a lot out of 1st Ed books mixed in with the 2nd Ed since fairly soon after they came out with minor stats adjustments. Sometimes with the 1st Ed being prototypes of units seen in 2nd Ed.

This is great news! I love the 1st edition, it's what got me into gaming in the first place. I also share Sambot's hopes that Harmony Gold will open up on letting Palladium publish a greater range of material.

I may need to work on second edition versions of the Super Alpha, Super Logan, and Zen Strike Battloid. Maybe not the REF Vericar thing.

As long as 2nd Edition/Revised Return of the Masters is made available, I'll consider this a good move. Everything else I already have...

Return of the Masters is Return of the Masters, Revised Edition, 1998.

All 12 books of the original Robotech RPG are now available. Will The Sentinels and The REF Field Guide make it up? For that matter, will the Rifters with Robotech content?