[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Conservative author Cancelled, employer sided with troll who threatened his life (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 8/2/2022 1:48:39 PM EDT
https://twitter.com/BattletechCom/status/1553771282600165378 Battletech Community @BattletechCom Confirmed with CGL folks that you can email Ray or Loren directly too; Ray Arrastia: [email protected] Loren Coleman: [email protected] 3:55 PM · Jul 31, 2022·TweetDeck We'll use this to let them know to stop trying to shove us into the closet by being bigots and cowards. Oh yeah, here's an archive of the tweet for if/when the account tries to delete it: https://archive.ph/udXSL ETA: It's not like I have to say it, but don't be pricks like they were to BLP, it won't help, and it won't even make you feel better. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, the people at catalyst game labs fired blaine pardoe - who was being harrassed and threatened by a disgusting troll (a 39 year old dude living with his parents who got fired and banned from his job for making terroristic threats), apparently because the new Battletech IP owners (fanatics) told them to "make it (this situation with the troll) go away," and because Blaine is a (gasp) conservative, he was fair game to be trashed. The cowards at CGL that are responsible for this are extremely pathetic and they needed to let fanatics (the new IP owners) that they wouldn't put up with that crap. When you get into the details, some of the people at CGL were really back-stabby in this drama towards blaine. https://amgreatness.com/2022/07/29/my-publisher-canceled-me-in-favor-of-an-activist-who-threatened-my-life/ My Publisher Canceled Me in Favor of an Activist Who Threatened My Life When corporate cowardice in the face of a minority of left-wing woke whiners alienates conservative fans, the fans need to speak with their money and remind publishers who they really answer to. By Blaine Pardoe July 29, 2022 For those that don’t know me, I am an award-winning, bestselling author in numerous genres. I have been a speaker at the U.S. Naval Academy, the National Archives, and the Smithsonian on the subjects I write about. I started my writing career in science fiction for a series called BattleTech. BattleTech has been made into a cartoon series, video games, board games, and novels about giant robotic war machines called BattleMechs. Catalyst Game Labs is the current license holder for BattleTech, which is licensed by Topps and Fanatics. After 37 years of writing for the series, I found myself canceled for voicing my conservative beliefs. In January 2021, two people complained to my publisher, asking that books I wrote be pulled from publication because they allegedly contained “hidden Confederate messages.” Catalyst Game Labs responded that my political beliefs didn’t matter as long as they were not in their novels. After a lengthy review of the books and my social media accounts, the company found no political messages, hidden or otherwise. They offered one of the protesters an opportunity to publish a short story in hopes of appeasing him. I warned the company that the man was an online stalker who had been harassing me for nearly two years. Later, law enforcement would discover that this man was using a false online persona; that of a self-proclaimed lesbian nurse who was adopting two children. Catalyst Game Labs ignored my warnings. In March 2021, my first conservative political thriller Blue Dawn was announced with a different publisher, Defiance Press. Outraged, my stalker contacted a fellow writer with the following directed at me: “I want to fucking shoot him in the fucking crotch for this shit.” And: “I want him to die in a fire.” The police got involved and, after an investigation, a judge put a protective order in place because of multiple threats. In reality, my harasser was a 39-year-old man living with his parents. He had been fired by his previous employer for issuing terroristic threats. He was charged and pleaded guilty. The man was a convicted criminal. I moved on. To coincide with the release of Blue Dawn, I wrote articles for conservative websites such as American Thinker, PJ Media, Townhall, American Greatness, and others. I made it clear to Catalyst executives that I would mention my stalker in some of these articles as an example of woke extremism. Catalyst’s president replied, “I would do the same thing if I were you.” When my last BattleTech novel, No Substitute for Victory, was released by Catalyst in February, my stalker and a small handful of people once again complained to Catalyst, Topps, and Fanatics. They took numerous statements from my social media out of context to paint me as an “insurrectionist, a seditionist,” and other outright lies. The smear campaign was led by the man who had threatened my life. I was told that Fanatics asked my publisher to “make this go away.” My publisher’s solution was to inform me he would no longer publish my work. I asked if he had verified that the protest was not a handful of people using sock accounts to make their cause appear larger. He told me he had not checked and that it didn’t matter anyway. It also didn’t matter that the quotes in question had been taken out of context or fabricated. I noted how other Catalyst contract authors and artists voiced radical progressive opinions far more offensive than anything I had ever posted. My publisher indicated he would talk to some of them. Conservatives tend not to complain, while the Left sees offenses everywhere. He informed me that my beliefs were alienating half of his customers. I pointed out that sales and ratings for my latest novel were on par with previous works. He then told me that sales didn’t matter. I offered to write under a pseudonym like several of his other authors. He refused. Then I pointed out the most egregious aspect: “You are literally siding with a person that threatened the life of one of your most productive and popular authors.” Ignoring that, he had assured me that he would communicate his decision to release me to the fans. He never did. To be clear, my views are not especially radical. They are the same opinions held by tens of millions of other Americans. While I was getting the Gina Carano treatment from Catalyst, I was proud that I didn’t cave to these woke warriors. Such corporate knee-jerking to a minority of leftwing woke whiners does alienate fans—conservative fans. This is simply censorship. It can happen to any conservative who dares voice his opinions. As a result, my many fans will no longer see my work in BattleTech, simply because the publisher feared online backlash. Meanwhile, his extreme left-wing authors can spew their venom without fear of retribution because conservatives don’t whine or threaten or complain on Twitter. Conservatives need to speak with their money by supporting conservative publishers or those companies that opt to ignore the politics of their creative staff altogether. Publishers that throw conservatives under the bus out of fear seem to have forgotten their core business. They should focus on producing good content and not let the woke mob decide who works for them. Caving puts the mob in charge of what content you produce. It’s a lesson that both Disney and Fanatics/Catalyst would do well to learn. For those who don't know. BLP is one of the pillars over the last 40 years as a battletech author, and has recently authored blue dawn: ![]() https://defiancepress.com/product/blue-dawn/ Publisher's blurb: about Blue Dawn Almost five years ago America as everyone knew it, came to an abrupt end in a spectacular coup d’etat. It was called the Liberation by those progressives and radicals that screamed for its outcome; the Fall, by its victims whose freedoms were trampled. The White House and the Capitol were overrun by anarchists and the leaders of the once proud nation were either imprisoned or sent to Social Quarantine Camps. The President was arrested and eventually died in prison, or so everyone was led to believe. America was rebooted in a new progressive/socialist image, Newmerica. The United States of old was gone, its history erased and rewritten, its icons destroyed. By the time people tried to organize resistance it was too late. The citizens lost their history, their flag, their traditions, their freedoms, and their leaders. Newmerica is a state of reparations, citizens turning on citizens, where even the churches are targets of social justice. Five years later, an unlikely group of patriots emerges from the shadows seeking a restoration of their nation. Two Secret Service agents struggle with their secrets from the night of the Fall. One son of a patriotic college professor struggles with his father’s legacy and the important artifacts that his father managed to preserve. A young man finds himself face-to-face with the lies the Newmerica government has told him and forced to become a fugitive. A covert operative of the new government seeks out the truth about the ‘traitor-President’s’ fate while coming to terms with her own dark past. Twists of fate or destiny bring these people together with the mission of trying to save what is left of the once-United States. Time is running out as the forces of the government hunt down this group of renegades – hoping to smother, once and for all, any trace of what was America. Ripped from today’s headlines, bestselling and award-winning author Blaine Pardoe presents an eerily realistic view of an alternate history political thriller where conservatism is a crime and patriotism is treason. Also this: A satire - ![]() https://www.amazon.com/Democratic-Party-Playbook-Election-2022/dp/B09YPJQ8QC Razorfist Interviews BLP: ![]() BLAINE L. PARDOE Discusses Battletech Firing - RazörForce Offensive The cancel trolls went digging to try and find the worst they could: Eyebleach warning on a couple of pictures of grotesquely out of shape people Click To View Spoiler Here's some of his strictly political content: https://www.americanthinker.com/author/blainelpardoe/ https://townhall.com/columnists/blainepardoe/ I have read virtually all of his books in the battletech fiction and they are not trolling, not even conservative; they're well written and not preachy. It's just good mid-brow sci fi fiction. |
For BT fans:![]() ![]() Enjoying Battletech Without Catalyst: Easier than you Think! How to do BT without CGL, if you're considering your options. ETA: drop them or not, your choice. Offered to give options. --------------- https://twitter.com/Fanatics https://twitter.com/FanaticsSupport New recent owners, probably part of the reason he got fired, in any world, owners who need to know to not be pricks (these dumb dicks seem to be starting to head towards being like the soulless nintendo lawyer scum, they buy the IP and "magically" fansites get attacked: https://bg.battletech.com/news/statement-regarding-online-battletech-communities/ Fanatics, doing this means I will not buy from you. I know you don't care, and that's the point. Topps, the squashed in the middle man long time owner of the IP who got bought by fanatics: https://twitter.com/Topps https://twitter.com/catalystgamelab |
|
Quoted: it, just bought his Blue Dawn book to support him. ![]() If you wanna give some support: https://twitter.com/bpardoe870 His blog: https://blainepardoe.wordpress.com/2022/07/31/moving-forward/ @Rikwriter You might find this thread of some interest. |
|
It will be interesting to see what happens with Catalyst's Kickstarter for Leviathons and later for the BT Mercenaries. I know several of the players in my area are going to go exclusively to 3d printed miniatures. When the lockdowns hit I pulled my old miniatures out to paint, as to have something to do. I got a couple of friends into it, and we've been playing consistently since then. I've also bought every new book and sourcebook since 2020. I'm going to keep playing, but I won't be purchasing new materials as a result of this. I think many people will do the same, hopefully it can show Catalyst the error of their ways. |
|
Quoted: If you wanna give some support: https://twitter.com/bpardoe870 His blog: https://blainepardoe.wordpress.com/2022/07/31/moving-forward/ @Rikwriter You might find this thread of some interest. I'm friends with Blaine on Facebook. If you watch the Razorfist interview, Blaine actually mentions my Drop Trooper (he says Drop Zone by mistake but he says my name) as a universe he'd like to write in. |
|
Quoted: It will be interesting to see what happens with Catalyst's Kickstarter for Leviathons and later for the BT Mercenaries. I know several of the players in my area are going to go exclusively to 3d printed miniatures. When the lockdowns hit I pulled my old miniatures out to paint, as to have something to do. I got a couple of friends into it, and we've been playing consistently since then. I've also bought every new book and sourcebook since 2020. I'm going to keep playing, but I won't be purchasing new materials as a result of this. I think many people will do the same, hopefully it can show Catalyst the error of their ways. I haven't bought from him, but these look legit: https://www.myminifactory.com/users/Syllogy?show=objects ![]() ![]()
|
|
Quoted: I'm friends with Blaine on Facebook. If you watch the Razorfist interview, Blaine actually mentions my Drop Trooper (he says Drop Zone by mistake but he says my name) as a universe he'd like to write in. Quoted: Quoted: If you wanna give some support: https://twitter.com/bpardoe870 His blog: https://blainepardoe.wordpress.com/2022/07/31/moving-forward/ @Rikwriter You might find this thread of some interest. I'm friends with Blaine on Facebook. If you watch the Razorfist interview, Blaine actually mentions my Drop Trooper (he says Drop Zone by mistake but he says my name) as a universe he'd like to write in. Well it looks like he has some more free time on his hands. We should get correia to do security for him
|
|
Quoted: It will be interesting to see what happens with Catalyst's Kickstarter for Leviathons and later for the BT Mercenaries. I know several of the players in my area are going to go exclusively to 3d printed miniatures. When the lockdowns hit I pulled my old miniatures out to paint, as to have something to do. I got a couple of friends into it, and we've been playing consistently since then. I've also bought every new book and sourcebook since 2020. I'm going to keep playing, but I won't be purchasing new materials as a result of this. I think many people will do the same, hopefully it can show Catalyst the error of their ways. Make sure you tell them this through social media, posts and emails to all the companies involved. Otherwise they will blame the lower sales on something irrelevant. |
|
Quoted: Well thats a disappointment. Wtf Yep. Ignorant or sleazy new owners (we don't know which yet) and backstabby karens at CGL acting exactly like they wanted an excuse to do what they did. The worst part of this is that CGL ... and the ignorant yutzes at fanatics ... just hired new editors, with no vetting. Everything written by all the BT authors or put out by CGL is now under the shadow and influence of the twitter and social media screaming mob. How stupid do people have to be to not realize how the scam works, and that the only way to make them go away is to tell them once or a few times: no, you're wrong, here's why, we won't listen to you. And than IGNORE THEM. Unless they do something extreme, at which point you punish them for what they've done. Than resume ignoring them. They're nothing more than weaponized trolls. |
|
Quoted: Yep. Ignorant or sleazy new owners (we don't know which yet) and backstabby karens at CGL acting exactly like they wanted an excuse to do what they did. The worst part of this is that CGL ... and the ignorant yutzes at fanatics ... just hired new editors, with no vetting. Everything written by all the BT authors or put out by CGL is now under the shadow and influence of the twitter and social media screaming mob. How stupid do people have to be to not realize how the scam works, and that the only way to make them go away is to tell them once or a few times: no, you're wrong, here's why, we won't listen to you. And than IGNORE THEM. Unless they do something extreme, at which point you punish them for what they've done. Than resume ignoring them. They're nothing more than weaponized trolls. Just disappointed its infected battletech now. I was just telling my wife if Heinlein were alive today, he'd be cancelled and his books banned. And they still might be next wek or year, no telling at this point what the facists will manage to get pulled from shelves for encouraging wrong think. |
|
Protest by shipping product back to them. They can't just delete it like an email or easily throw it in the trash. They have to physically interact with discontent. Example: ![]() Failed To Load Title |
|
Quoted: I was just telling my wife if Heinlein were alive today, he'd be cancelled and his books banned. And they still might be next wek or year, no telling at this point what the facists will manage to get pulled from shelves for encouraging wrong think. Considering what happened with some Dr Seuss books... |
|
Quoted: Fuck it, just bought his Blue Dawn book to support him. ![]() What a fucked up dystopian society we are living in? Where a loser mental case (self-proclaimed trans) can get a writer fired for no apparent reason. |
|
Quoted: Cant say i am surprised at this point. Just disappointed its infected battletech now. I was just telling my wife if Heinlein were alive today, he'd be cancelled and his books banned. And they still might be next wek or year, no telling at this point what the facists will manage to get pulled from shelves for encouraging wrong think. Quoted: Quoted: Yep. Ignorant or sleazy new owners (we don't know which yet) and backstabby karens at CGL acting exactly like they wanted an excuse to do what they did. The worst part of this is that CGL ... and the ignorant yutzes at fanatics ... just hired new editors, with no vetting. Everything written by all the BT authors or put out by CGL is now under the shadow and influence of the twitter and social media screaming mob. How stupid do people have to be to not realize how the scam works, and that the only way to make them go away is to tell them once or a few times: no, you're wrong, here's why, we won't listen to you. And than IGNORE THEM. Unless they do something extreme, at which point you punish them for what they've done. Than resume ignoring them. They're nothing more than weaponized trolls. Just disappointed its infected battletech now. I was just telling my wife if Heinlein were alive today, he'd be cancelled and his books banned. And they still might be next wek or year, no telling at this point what the facists will manage to get pulled from shelves for encouraging wrong think. Well, they're based in, IIRC, seattle. No surprise that CGL turns out to be willing to act like a pack of wolves. |
|
Quoted: We really need a Clan invasion. Only CGB. They're all a bunch of scummy socialists (officially), but at least the CGB has the beginnings of an idea of what family means. Otherwise, they only exist as makers of nice toys to steal. #Clan Wolverine was right. Nick kerensky was the spawn of a surat. |
|
Quoted: Hopefully he own the company when he's done. Break it off. I doubt it. CGL (and I suspect wizkid and fasa before them) don't hire the writers in-house or anything like that, they seem to treat them as independent contractors. I have read rumors of and seen accusations from authors for the setting about how badly all three of the controllers of the old fasa portfolio treat their authors. IIRC stackpole at one time said even he wasn't paid what he was owed. |
|
How ludicrously backwards things are now: https://wargameexplorer.com/post/we-need-to-talk-about-battletech/ Editorial We Need to Talk About Battletech ByRobison Wells 1 day ago Share This Article We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. So recently, Catalyst Games, which makes the wargame Battletech, cut ties with longtime content creator Blaine Pardoe. This blog is meant in no way to argue the details of Blaine Pardoe’s alleged activities (I say “alleged” but his activities continue perhaps even louder than they did before Catalyst Games decided to stop publishing him.) What this blog IS intended to do is to explain something about publishing. While I have not been a staple of a wargaming community for 30-odd years as Pardoe has, I am–like him—a New York Times bestselling author, and I have written tie-in fiction for wargaming communities (Privateer Press). I have written many of my own novels, with six-figure deals with HarperCollins, and I have ghostwritten novels for other peoples’ IPs, and I have co-written books with some of the bestselling authors in the world. So I know something of which I speak. The Nature of Contracts Contracts are, essentially, written documents which describe what will happen should one person choose to not follow the terms of the contract. Contracts do not give you rights to publish. Contracts merely say “if we both follow these terms, then we’ll publish you, and you’ll get paid.” You don’t follow the terms? They don’t publish you. If they don’t follow the terms, then you’re not obligated to publish with them. Of course there will be a lot of legal language about who gets money when and in what circumstances, but contracts are basically agreements for how things will happen if things go well, and if things don’t go well. Publishers are very concerned about protecting the brand of the publisher. And for good reason. A person may publish fifteen books with a publisher, but if they try to publish something out of line with the publisher’s brand, that book will either go to required revisions or be rejected. That’s just how it goes. But the bigger thing is that publishers protect their brand from even the appearance of trouble. When I signed my first big deal with HarperCollins I was surprised to find a clause which is nicknamed the “Morality Clause”. This clause basically says that if you do anything that will embarrass the publisher, the publisher has the right to end the deal right there, full stop. Sever ties. This is not an abnormal clause in a contract and though some people hate it (including many author organizations) it has come to be used in several major matters such as when the #MeToo movement hit and authors like Sherman Alexie and James Dashner lost both their publishing contracts and their agents within days of the allegations of misconduct coming to light. Publishers don’t like to mess around. The Nature of Working with Someone Else’s IP Now imagine that you’re not writing about your own made up world with your own made up characters, but you’re writing in someone else’s sandbox, with their world and their characters. They’re going to be significantly more protective of their IP. And, while you may think “Well this protectiveness should only extend to the words on the page of the books they write” the truth is that when authors have large social media presences, that author is a representative of the company. My bestselling book, by far, was co-written with James Patterson. And can you just imagine the kind of fallout I would get from the publisher and my agent and my royalties if I got online and started bad-mouthing James Patterson? I’m not going to. I’m smarter than that. You don’t last long in the publishing industry when you bite the hand that feeds you. Authors Thinking They Are The Brand Now, no offense to Blaine Pardoe here, but I’d be willing to bet that his Battletech books did not move as many units as Games Workshop writers like Dan Abnett and Guy Haley and Aaron Dembski-Bowden. I’ve never read Pardoe so I can’t confirm or deny if he’s as good of a writer as any of them, but it is obvious from every interview that these guys give that they are deeply invested in the success of Warhammer franchise. And, more importantly, they don’t do anything in their online personas that would damage the Warhammer brand. They may banter back and forth on social media, but never in arguments, and they (generally) keep their politics to themselves. Am I being a hypocrite? I post political stuff on my Twitter account all the time, and I’m an author. The thing is, my last published book was in 2019 and since that time I 1) took a break, and 2) have been devoted to this website. The Ultimate Point I do not have any idea all of the things that Blaine Pardoe has said. I read his blog in which he claims that he has been cancelled. I saw that he was interviewed on Razorforce yesterday. And I’ve read some screenshots of his tweets. I have to say that I have met people like him before–authors even–and they have been cut off by their publishers for less. My point is simply this: if you are going to be the face of a company, which Blaine Pardoe was, then just as a matter of everyday, run-of-the-mill publishing practice, you need to keep your nose pretty clean. Are there publishers that will embrace the alt-right? Yes, there are. I know several alt-right authors who have very successful publishing careers, still continue to win awards, and are not “cancelled” because they’ve found a publisher who has the same political positions. So, that’s an avenue for Pardoe to consider. But I have a REAL hard time looking at anything that has been said in this debacle that leads me to think that Pardoe has been treated unfairly by his publisher or the public. And that’s simply a matter of black-and-white contract norms. Admits he hasn't read blaine's books. Makes the mistake of saying blaine is the face of battletech (he's not, he's one of a handful, if anyone is the face of bt, in my mind, it's probably stackpole and weisman). Comments that contracts can have morality clauses (normalspeak translation: don't cause us trouble). Says that blaine's online actions are damaging cgl's brand. I went and looked, and "blaine's online actions" are ... being a conservative ... AND ... after being attacked by a sleazy and (imo) lying troll ("faith mcclosky/mccaron") for being a conservative ... he eventually had the audacity to (gasp) tell people he had been attacked. The author of this editorial must think people are really stupid to not understand the difference between someone being attacked repeatedly for no good reason by trolls on social media, and someone making trouble for their employer by their mere actions and nothing else. A problem arises because someone attacks you for no good reason =/= a problem arises because YOU cause it. Yet another puppet of marcuse's repressive tolerance. ETA: calls blaine/his views alt right. The only people I know of that use that as a catch all for "not leftist/liberal/progressive" are ignorant people left of center. |
|
This isn't shocking. The writing was on the wall when they first bought out wizkids. Shadowrun ip has always been semi-woke which made sense in the world it created "Who gives a shit about color or sexuality when that troll over there can rip your head off" is a direct quote in a FASA book, but when Catalyst scooped up the IP tou could see right away they went full woke in just the first few novels. |
|
Quoted: This isn't shocking. The writing was on the wall when they first bought out wizkids. Shadowrun ip has always been semi-woke which made sense in the world it created "Who gives a about color or sexuality when that troll over there can rip your head off" is a direct quote in a FASA book, but when Catalyst scooped up the IP tou could see right away they went full woke in just the first few novels. ... You have to be talking about SR, not bt. I have all but the very latest of the novels and have a decent chunk of the source books and have seen probably 80-95% of the books and what you're saying reminds me of virtually nothing in them. I mean, illsa bick (who said she hated writing combat ... ?!?!?!) put some really disgusting perverse stuff in the few books she did, but that was just straight up sickness. Catalyst didn't get the rights to maintain the setting from fasa... Click To View Spoiler Yeah, that's about as clear as mud; but what's obvious is that fasa didn't sell to CGL. CGL wasn't even around when fasa closed shop. If they went stupid leftist preachy in the SR side, I haven't heard about it and the few times I skimmed some of the sourcebooks on store shelves, I didn't see that. *shrug* Maybe this will explain a bit of it: https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/pages/contact Mailing Address (letters and USPS packages only) Catalyst Game Labs .. Spokane, WA. ETA: Also if you hit that link they have an online form that allows you to contact them about this current mess. |
|
Quoted:
He was my second favorite author as a teenager, second to stackpole This sucks. Battletech is my favorite sci-fi universe and has been since I was 14 years old when I first found in the mid-90s. I was hoping this shit wouldn't invade it, but being where CGL is HQ-ed, I'm honestly surprised it has taken this long. |
|
Quoted: Same. I just happened to listen to RazorFist's interview today too. What a fucked up dystopian society we are living in? Where a loser mental case (self-proclaimed trans) can get a writer fired for no apparent reason. dystopian in American English (d?s'to?pi?) NOUN 1. US A society where homosexuals lecture on morals, transvestites lecture on human biology, baby killers lecture on human rights and socialists lecture on economics. |
|
Quoted: Meh, tried Battletech, but Palladium (Robotech, Rifts, etc) was much better. Oh, and Shadowrun too. If I want literature, I'll go for Black Library (Games Workshop / WH40K) or Star Wars Expanded Universe. Shadowrun is such a cool setting. I wish there were more expansions for the pc game. |
|
In reality, my harasser was a 39-year-old man living with his parents. He had been fired by his previous employer for issuing terroristic threats. He was charged and pleaded guilty. The man was a convicted criminal. Just described every woke lunatic that lives on Twitter and Reddit. This is ALL these commies do. Look for shit to be outraged about. |
|
Quoted: This. He's a good writer and one of the authors that was the backbone for the Battletech/Mechwarrior universe for decades. This is bullshit. Was going to put a ton of money into the upcoming Mercernaries kickstarter. No longer. I'll be buying his newest books to support him as well. This sucks. Battletech is my favorite sci-fi universe and has been since I was 14 years old when I first found in the mid-90s. I was hoping this shit wouldn't invade it, but being where CGL is HQ-ed, I'm honestly surprised it has taken this long. Quoted: Quoted: He was my second favorite author as a teenager, second to stackpole This. He's a good writer and one of the authors that was the backbone for the Battletech/Mechwarrior universe for decades. This is bullshit. Was going to put a ton of money into the upcoming Mercernaries kickstarter. No longer. I'll be buying his newest books to support him as well. This sucks. Battletech is my favorite sci-fi universe and has been since I was 14 years old when I first found in the mid-90s. I was hoping this shit wouldn't invade it, but being where CGL is HQ-ed, I'm honestly surprised it has taken this long. You can hit the CGL/topps/fanatics contacts in the thread and let them know. Fanatics needs to know that no, this is bull, don't do this and don't do the nintendo/warhammer 40k "destroy the community to ' |
|
Quoted: In reality, my harasser was a 39-year-old man living with his parents. He had been fired by his previous employer for issuing terroristic threats. He was charged and pleaded guilty. The man was a convicted criminal. Just described every woke lunatic that lives on Twitter and Reddit. This is ALL these commies do. Look for shit to be outraged about. They marched the institutions. Than there was a power grab in the form of a change in who the real aristocracy were because of ideas from the academy (intersectionalism, "sit down shut up and listen," etc.) that made claiming oppression and "victimhood" give you undeserved privilege. Now, to exercise power, they get a small group going in social media, find a "not leftist revolutionary enough" target, and start as loud a whining campaign as possible. Lying and distortion are not looked down on in these things, they are simply ignored, because the end justifies the means, as far as left of center is concerned. As soon as people with access to more conventional institutional power see this happening, all their reflexes that they have been trained to react to like pavlov's dogs tell them "cancel and un-human the target." If it gets really bad, the ESG investors can get involved. Along with the real functional US constitution - the morass of immoral and undecipherable "civil rights" regulations and laws, which have just enough decent things that if you oppose the majority evil of them, the liars bait and switch and say you're a racist bigot, dur-hurp. This is how these things work. |
|
Ah. THANK YOU!
https://twitter.com/BattletechCom/status/1553771282600165378 Battletech Community @BattletechCom Confirmed with CGL folks that you can email Ray or Loren directly too; Ray Arrastia: [email protected] Loren Coleman: [email protected] 3:55 PM · Jul 31, 2022·TweetDeck We'll use this to let them know to stop trying to shove us into the closet by being bigots and cowards. Oh yeah, here's an archive of the tweet for if/when the account tries to delete it: https://archive.ph/udXSL ETA: It's not like I have to say it, but don't be pricks like they were to BLP, it won't help, and it won't even make you feel better. |
|
Expected: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid025QDQ86zuWGE1c6XZpT7r9VYemvw7UxZamzP5jJBAXg8mnW6MoFPnWMZCN19KHvhVl&id=1559059112 Totally unrelated, I swear: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu6Miar57TTx_nHvSq_U2MA/community?lb=Ugkx4mHTsp5xMpCva0ZTl4yfOmG7UHbp8SKX They haven't detected bots in this poll, unlike the one tried on twitter. With ~12 thou votes, august 3rd night, it's 6% support, 6% don't care, 3% unsure, 85% don't support. Doesn't look anything like the fortified twitter polls. |
|
Quoted: You can if you're Larry Correia or Mike Williamson. |
|
Quoted: Correia and Williamson have their own "brands" and followings that intersect with their politics. It's not fair that someone working as a contract writer gets booted for personal politics unrelated to the quality of his work. Maybe he should try to spin that into appealing to an audience who will support his politics with creating independent work unrelated to a licensed universe he doesn't control. He already has. He has a series of political thrillers. https://defiancepress.com/product/blue-dawn/ |
|
Quoted: I'm friends with Blaine on Facebook. If you watch the Razorfist interview, Blaine actually mentions my Drop Trooper (he says Drop Zone by mistake but he says my name) as a universe he'd like to write in. Ever mentiom the Boog to him? Book had a reference to the Boogaloo Boys which is what made me remember to start a thread today... If I see a "Catalina Wine Mixer" reference then I will we have his ear... |
|
Quoted: Further proof that: 1. A you cannot mix personal and professional lives, that is, if you are conservative 2. Never trust a fucking Capellan. Or a virgin capellan either. They will ALWAYS stab you in the back. IF someone told me I had to choose between trusting katherine "steiner davion" ... SPIT ... and a capellan ... I think my head would spontaneously combust. |
|
That's cool. |
|
Quoted: I love the games but I have yet to try a battle tech book worth reading. A shame since it's a cool universe but are the books a slog. What, you got a copy of far country? Anything by illsa bick? The warrior trilogy is pretty darn good. https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Warrior_Trilogy Blood of kerensky is too: https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Blood_of_Kerensky_(series) TWOTC is good: https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Twilight_of_the_Clans_(series) I really like the archer christifori character too: https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Measure_of_a_Hero If you read these and you didn't like them, I really wonder why and suspect you might be looking for high-brow stuff, when that's not what they are and they were never intended to be. What books have you read that you DO like? Maybe you just *don't* like the entire genre. I can grok "I just don't like them" but "****y slog" ... no, that doesn't sound right at all. At the very least the writing is not hard and slow to get through, so it can't be a slog because of that. You have to just not want to read it. |









By inventing yet another niche, the constructible strategy game Pirates of the Spanish Main, this unit managed to reach profitability. Topps shut down Wizkids operation in November 2008 due to the economic downturn.[51] The brand was acquired by NECA in September 2009.[52]
Same here.

