Robotech RPG Tactics #5

Palladium are the used-car salesmen of the hobby gaming industry. They are barely one step above Defiance Games and really should not be trusted in any way with your money in advance. They are not above lying to get what they want during the Kickstarter and then purposely screwing over backers once they have received the money. Honestly, this will probably be the last I write about this game because frankly, unless the minis are goddamn amazing; and I'm talking Kingdom Death or Malifaux amazing, it's not worth this shit to put up with some two-bit GamesWorkshop thug wannabe. Also spoiler, the minis are nowhere near that amazing. 



So what has Palladium done now? Let's take a look at their recent update, which they posted to their page (link) but DIDN'T have the balls to go post onto Kickstarter. Mostly because they knew most people would tear them a new one. Also archive link just because I don't trust Palladium not to edit the shit out of their own update. 

Overseas Kickstarter Backers: Only those of you overseas and outside the US and Canada remain. We will start packing up and prepping your rewards next week and for the next few weeks. You are important to us and we will keep you updated on our progress. Please Note: Overseas distributors and retailers have NOT been shipped product. So our Kickstarter backers in other countries should still get their rewards (and pre-orders) BEFORE they appear in stores outside North America. See a more complete explanation in the Robotech® RPG Tactics™ Update elsewhere.

Good News Part Five: Robotech® RPG Tactics™ – in stores throughout the United States in time for BLACK FRIDAY Sales. Since ALL of the rewards have shipped to our backers in the USA and Canada (the last two dozen Canadian orders shipping on Monday), we were able to ship Robotech® RPG Tactics™ to our North American distributors. That means most of them should be able to get RRT product into their retail accounts in time for the Black Friday sales next weekend. USA Note: The “in store” release date is Wednesday, November 26, 2014 in the USA, but some stores may wait till Black Friday. Canada Note: The “in store” release date in Canada is also Wednesday, November 26, 2014. However, we suspect that most Canadian retailers are not likely to have Robotech® RPG Tactics™ in stores until the week after the November 26 (early December). But we don’t know that; they may be in stores by the November 26 street date or that weekend. Watch for it.

Yes. Words fail me. I mean, I have a lot of words I'm thinking in my head right now but I do want my blog to try and retain some class so I'm not going to say them. However, this is BULLSHIT. 

Let's look at this link again shall we?

In the end, you, our Kickstarter supporters, will be the first to receive a wonderful product that we hope will make you grin and provide endless hours of enjoyment. Thank you for sharing our dream. You, your pledges of support and unbridled enthusiasm are very much appreciated.

Notice how it makes no mention of the fact that Rest of World Kickstarter backers will be screwed? Notice how it just says KS backers will be the first to RECEIVE their product? Yeah. I mean, if they have the fucking stock to send to retailers, they can send the stock to ROW KS backers, especially since right now, they're only sending out WAVE ONE of the Kickstarter, which means everyone is just getting the starter box mostly. And yet SOMEHOW they can't send this to backers but they want to send to stores first. And supposedly they've been shipping for TWO months already and they STILL HAVEN'T started shipping to ROW backers yet. Why? MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE USING VOLUNTEERS TO SHIP THE DAMN CONTAINER INSTEAD OF HIRING PEOPLE. 

Let's go through the number of problems I've had with this particular KS and the company. 

1. Multiple delays. They never ever seem to be able to meet any deadline that they themselves set. In fact, they deny and deny that there'll be delay until the delay actually occurs
2. The lying through their teeth. Ranging from "guys, you'll totally get yours first" to "hahaha, you got screwed"
3. The dependence on volunteers. Dude, you got 1.4 MILLION from the damn kickstarter and that's not including whatever people added on during the pledge manager. USE THAT MONEY TO GO HIRE PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE TO PACK AND SHIP. 
4. Kevin Simbieda and his fanfriends. Truly, a more delusional bunch I have never met. I'm not saying anything but when some guy starts gushing about how the robotech miniatures look so much better than GW miniatures, there's something wrong with that guy. 
5. Saying people in the EU and UK will not have to pay VAT and then trying to weasel-word out of it. I'm not from the EU and UK but I'm pretty sure this isn't cool with them either. 

I think in the end, what actually pisses me off the most about this whole situation is the way Palladium; or rather Kevin lies. I'm in sales myself and honestly, if I acted the way Kevin did, I would be ASHAMED of myself. I would literally hide myself in one corner and not come out and talk to the world. Yet, Kevin lies and lies on top of his lies and somehow, he acts like he's doing us a favor. He lies like a used car salesman and constantly tries to justify his lies instead of just straight out saying "Sorry, I'm going to have to break my promise to you guys". Instead he goes "No no, you guys will still receive it before retailers...................in your country" I mean, what kind of shameless fucker does that? Kevin Simbieda apparently. 

And that's not EVEN considering the fact that there's supposed to be a second wave of this shit coming out. One that backers aren't even sure has commenced production or even prototyping or even DESIGN yet. Palladium has said that they've already started on wave 2 but being the shameless liars that they are, you can't really trust them. As it is, it'll be a COLD DAY IN HELL before I back another of their KS. They can literally just disappear off the face of the earth and I would just say 'good riddance'.