The sky is falling. There hasn't been any news otherwise recently, so it must be true.

First, I'm going to point out that WK's past record has shown that when they drop a line, they usually do not announce it. This summer's announcements were rather different than the norm, but I think that's partly because of the nature of everything going on at the time. The only other case of them announcing the end of a game was Mage Knight, which brings me to point 2...

I think that WK knows how ending Mage Knight hurt them. They know what kind of black eye it was, and they want to avoid making that happen again, especially with a line, like Mage Knight, which is royalty-free for WK.

Third, the 'clear out the warehouse' myth. WK cleared out the warehouse. Wolf Strike is 'sold out' to them (any remaining product is held by distributors/retailers). Sure, Outlaws was designed, but we've seen from the end of games like Shadowrun and Crimson Skies that really doesn't matter. The idea that WK is just trying to keep player strung along to clear out their warehouse is baseless. It ignores the fact that WK cleared out the warehouse, and is now taking steps to fill it back up.

Fourth, WK as a company, is still busy. There's been HeroClix news, HorrorClix news, and Pirates news recently. From observing the forums and chat, I've learned that WK personnel pull are wearing a lot more hats than they did before the layoffs. Jonas, Tony, and Kelly the core MW team do not work only on MechWarrior, they are involved in other lines and projects as well.

No news is not good news, but wrong news is worse. We know the HD Action Pack is coming. It will have 2 Atlases, 2 Templars, 2 Enforcers, and 6 pilots. Current solicitations through Diamond and Alliance put the release in April/May. Of course, there's another factor on release schedules and announcements right there. WK announced a deal with Diamond and Alliance, and while that deal was in the works, WK was probably stalling some of its release plans. If WK announces something, and then events between the announcement and release changes that, it's another black eye for WK. After the cancellation of a couple WS LEs (Deception and Vindication), WK is going to be looking to give MW players as reliable news as possible.

With regards to giving reliable news, Solaris is still under development. Jonas mentioned this week in the chat room that they just got the paint samples for the second Action Pack in. These things are still in development and have not gone into production yet. WK is going to want to avoid saying too much about these products before production plans are finalized.

And all this fits in with the way WK has announced products in the past. Set A releases, on its heels, WK announces Set B is coming out, giving little more than a name and a brief comment. Previews for Set B usually don't start until 11-12 weeks before release. We know the content of the first action pack. We know the theme of the two action packs after that one. Solaris is a summer release, aimed at GenCon! We normally wouldn't have an official announcement about such a release until the spring, probably about the time the Solaris rules are expected to be posted.

Finally, there are plenty of non-end-of-the-game reasons for someone to sell parts of or an entire collection. We've seen players come and go in the past. It's head scratching to see someone site baw's sales thread, which is two months old, as a support for the 'no news' panic when there's been new news about the future of the game since that thread started. In fact, baw still has a list of MW pieces he wants and will trade for. His 'sell off' was more akin to the sort of closet cleaning that a lot of long time players go through at some point. Heck, I've got half a case of extra Domination and Vanguard pieces that I need to sell/trade off, which some players might misconstrue as 'getting out'.

Well, I have to correct myself on this one. I was looking at someone's trade list, and now I'm not sure whose. Doing a simple search doesn't show any such evidence, so I guess it is a full sell off.

Confirmation on baw:

http://darkrepublic.proboards36.com/...ead=1163600913

Please don't bother him with questions or any more speculation. This is meant to end that.

If core players want to leave it is their choice, if anything it makes room for new Ristars to make their mark. When mechwarrior makes its return, and it will, it will be left up to us the current players of mechwarrior to find some way to fill the seats and find the next generation of mechwarriors to carry the torch.

Seyla

...well, from my end, the main reason you haven't heard anything in the past few weeks has mostly been workload. Jonas has been chugging out the web updates like a madman and I've been spending almost all my time addressing WizKids organized play issues (essentially I'm a troubleshooter). No, there's more more issues than usual; I'm a part timer with limited hours to work and some weeks, the nature of my troubleshooting takes a lot of focus.

A lot of the work we're doing on Mechwarrior is foundational and logistical right now, which means that anything we could tell you is either mind-numblingly boring or the sort of thing that's not really appropriate to share at this point. But that we're doing that work at all, I hope, can be of some assurance to you.

T-

Thanks, frankmiller. The more I thought about it, the more I remembered seeing some message from baw on the matter, but obviously I couldn't find it here or on the WK forum, so it was bugging me. Obviously I was wrong on that one point, still not sure whose trade list I was looking at.

baw's departure from MW has nothing to do with game viability and everything to do with player behavior.
End of discussion.

that, and after collectin 12,000 minis where is there to go?

So, we've got one player who is leaving the game, and this gets cited as, and I quote:
One player constitutes "a lot of the top players"?

If that isn't a textbook-definition of "hyperbole" I don't know what is...

I have been off playing Mechwarrior for over 6 months and just started back up now that I finally got a schedule change.

I am selling off lots and to tell the truth, I threw away over 60-70 mechs and infantry after an arguement with the wife.

I love this game even more now then 6 months ago. I figured I needed to thin out what I collected. I only want to collect certain factions. If they move towards action packs and some form of visible boosters I would buy more....I just don't buy much now from booster because I get so much junk I don't want.

I throw out more booster then I can count because they are factions I don't want.

This game needs streamlining for both the company and the players. I see this as an opportunity to make the game better..............if it fails and Wizkids drops Mechwarrior, so what? It's just a game that I will think of fondly forever. :D

Threw away?! Blasphemy! :eek:

lol

Yeah dude, don't throw stuff away. If you don't want it, donate it to the Realms Newbie Giveaway Program.

I think it's funny how when things slow down for a bit ,it becomes the end. I mean even if for some crazy reason they couldn't keep the game going on,there are so many things out alreasdy you can keep playing the game. I just cant believe people act like it's the end all of end alls. I mean hell did people freak when they found out there weren't any new expansions to monopoly?:laugh: (not counting reproductions).

Dropping off some of your collection inventory to eBay or the Trade forums or (for the more generous) the newbie donation program does not herald the coming of the end times.

Bloody zealots.

That being said, I think this might be a chance for some folks to try rainbow armies or completely different factions. A lot of our players are pretty cemented in their playing style and factions. If a battleforce is available for cheap, I think some of our more adventurous players would be willing to drop some coin for the chance to try another faction.

And while we are at it, why not look at this a different way. Suppose those elite players have some newbies who are just coming in, but the only release to easily purchase right now (at least at the retail level) is Wolf Strike. Instead, maybe they can sell a few battleforces to the venue, who in turn can sell them to the newbies and help to maintain interest during a stagnant period.

Now WHY in the WORLD would an elite player and avid fan of the series do something like that? :rolleyes: Oh yeah, I remember.


[/sarcasm]:cheeky:

I had boxes and boxes of Mechwarrior. I was upset and in a cleaning mood. At the time I wasn't even playing Mechwarrior. I tossed so much and a few weeks later started playing again. I regret tossing a lot of stuff.