I started to comment on what Nenad had to say about things Harmony Gold should and shouldn't be doing. This was on the entry directly below this one. He mentioned about how they had to create sequels to keep Robotech alive. So, I started to rant on enough to make an entry about what I had to say about a bigger subject. The dependence on a company:
I would disagree on this thought process that we need Harmony Gold desperately. Let me explain what that means. There are so many people who live for Harmony Gold to update their web site, to produce material, to make proper sequels, and a lot more. People expect so much out of Robotech.com that it's sad. The web site is merely a corporate advertisement for their product. It doesn't have to have all this stuff people expect. That's just how Hollywood works. So, that's just the main thing. The other major thing is that people follow Harmony Gold's decisions on what's canon and what's not like a religious faith. I can understand it may be nice to know what the company is following for their background on what they create, but it has nothing to do with our own personal continuity. The fans are independent individuals who can actually decide what the canon is going to be for Robotech. There surely won't be one of them. It may not be official, but that doesn't matter. The drawback is that most products the company makes won't support your own continuity. Nothing new for Robotech.
My own continuity for Robotech is solely based on the TV series. Only the 85 eps. Everything else is alternative. I don't care what HG decides is or is not canon. If I don't believe the TV supports such, its not canon by me. However, it doesn't stop me from enjoying The Shadow Chronicles and create an alternative continuity makes it work with the show per say. Obviously, I want them to make all sequels to be solely based on the series. I hope they do. Either way, a lot of people get so hyped about official canon, but I haven't followed that since I realized the day that Robotech products typically conflicted with the 85 episodes.
You also don't need sequels to keep something alive. There are so many followers of discontinued or very inactive products out there. Robotech itself survived very well without a new animation. Yeah, it got some support through comics and minor production items, but it was alive through fans. There are many shows and other products that live on without a company backing it anymore. You may not be interested in the likes of Atari, the Commodore, and old computers, but there's a whole community that is. They completely survive through their own passion. No company supports them in any way. The most you get now is companies attempting to release retro game collections. Robotech has never had a problem of gaining brand new fans through the 85 episodes of the TV series. The novels were also a major source of new fans too. As long as people can get their hands on it, there will be a new wave. I became a Robotech fan when Cartoon Network aired the series. That's over 12 years after Robotech was fully supported by Harmony Gold. The comic series and RPG were the only things around. A lot of people in the community were passionate fans and kept Robotech going before and after that.
Robotech is owned by the fans to do what they wish with it. I understand people want new products, and that's great. You want Harmony Gold to produce high quality items. That would be great, but this is Robotech. We all like the TV series or the novels still. Don't we? We're still wasting time on this product called Robotech because of those items, huh? I guess that means Robotech survived 20 years because the fans kept it alive through those great creations. So, I tell you now. It's up to the fans to keep it going. There's nothing at all that stops you from putting effort into fan projects and community events. If you like what HG make, buy it, but take action to make your own stuff. Keep Robotech alive through your support of the fandom.
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21 comments:
There is one thing that stops you. "You are getting old" . You have less and less time to dedicate yourself to fanfiction, arts....
We are always going to have it in our hearts.. but as older we get,less power we have in our hands to keep it alive...
Any franchise( robotech in the matter) will always depend on the ones with enough time on their hands. On teenagers...
Original series can get new fans( to certian amount). But for the series to be aired... you need the consent of the creator...
For the series to be sold in your country... You need the consent of the creator....(and marketing)
10 years ago we had the time to have robotech in our hands. now we have way less. In 10 years we will have none...
A new generation of fans is needed( a strong one)... and the torch has to be handed to them...
In short. We are slaves of the creator, because we cant ammass the new generation without them...
Nenad
That's true. We do get old and don't have the time, but that doesn't stop people from being a fan. Ok, you don't have time or creativity to make something for Robotech. However, you must have 10 minutes in your day to support someone who does. Support other fans, give feedback, create a demand. You also have those 10 minutes to talk to other Robotech fans, keep the passion alive. Finally, you have the full power to get other people into Robotech of any age. Robotech is a classic. It's not a lost future.
Note : I myself(and the rest of the U.E.G) give 15 hours a day to robotech. In order to complete Genesis..... (and in the matter know the most how does it feel not even to get a comment(good or bad)
The question for analysis is... How decayed the Robotech fanbase indeed is... And is there any way at all for people to decide to take Controll over it.
No comment is exactly what I mean. It's exactly what MMG tries to get across himself. The community is so inactive and unresponsive. It's been my thing too. No one really e-mailed me on my main web site over the years. I got a few. Rarely do people submit Robotech questions, even that I have it on my page.
We all feel your pain and thats exactly why I want to see it change. I created this blog in that fan projects could be focused into one area, so all could see. However, rarely do people comment on my own blog until recently. So, we all must work together to change things.
In order to make it work.... you must think as a reporter. Look for news. Do not wait for people to submit it in front of you. Hell no
Internet and availability of information is your best friend pall....
Also do not retell what other blogs say. Race them for info. They are your competition....
And if people see their work is noticed... more motivated they get to work. Agree???
Nenad
the masters, if this blog is going to degenerate into commentary about Robotech fans and fandom, then I'm unsubscribing. That stuff is incredibly boring to me, and I'm sure the majority of your readership would agree (provided they haven't tuned out already).
If you want to make this a good Robotech site, stick to the news and the facts and skip the drama. If you're annoyed by the comments, then turn them off. The whiners have a dozen other places on the internet to be a big noise in a small room.
As a wise man once said, "There's nothing uglier than geeks arguing about geek stuff."
Sorry to disappoint you with this entry, Roger. The news will continue, don't worry.
Remember, the vast majority of Robotech's audience are not the hard-core fans who congregate here or on robotech.com.
Most of them are people who kinda liked the show when it was on the air, and who buy the DVDs when they're out but aren't moved to seek out forums about it. They have lives.
So any furor that erupts on this site, or robotech.com, or any other fandom site is a tempest in a teacup. Most of the people "keeping Robotech alive" right now don't even know about the furor, and wouldn't care much if they did know. I know I don't.
Robotech does not "belong to the fans" in any sense apart from strictly metaphorical. It legally belongs to Harmony Gold, and they're within their rights to do whatever they want with it—and fans are not. Even the fanfic we write exists at the sufferance of Harmony Gold; if anything we should be thankful that they allow it at all; many media-franchise owners wouldn't.
There's a tendency on the part of hard-core fans to get so wrapped up in the fandom that they think they're more important than they are. They get this big sense of entitlement and think they should be able to dictate terms to the producer of something they enjoy, just because they enjoy it. They claim the thing no longer belongs only to its creator, but also to them as well, because they deigned to enjoy it.
This may be good for the ego, but things don't actually work that way in the real world. Rant and rave about it all you like, but at the end of the day, if you want to play in Harmony Gold's sandbox, you have to abide by their rules.
I'd suggest people read this column. It's mostly about webcomic fandoms, but some things are universal.
In the end, I have to agree with Roger: I read this blog for news about the Robotech franchise, not to find out what the latest fan-entitlement tantrum is. Stuff like that makes me frankly embarrassed about my main net handle.
No need to apologize, and no need to change what you're doing unless you want to. Don't make decisions based on others' opinions, live up to your own standards.
^ that was for the masters, not Chris.
The Robotech fandom is in itself the most interesting aspect that Robotech as nowadays. Without new stories, comic books, novels, RPGs, et al., all that Robotech has is the fans and what they do. People who aren't interested in what fans do are better-off sticking to a franchise where stuff actually gets rated as 'officially supported' once in a while; the only other option is to visit multiple websites and unnecessary online radio shows which do nothing but tell the same little tidbit of "news" one has heard several times already.
"News and facts" are subjective things. To some people, only what a copyright holder does matters; to other people, EVERYTHING matters, and in such an inactive universe as Robotech, picking and choosing what "doesn't matter" is a recipe for disaster or, alternatively, a hotline to becoming one of the same regurgitators of old news that I mentioned before. Someone who comes-up with an alternative form of the AJACS, for instance, offers the intellectual a whole lot more to think about than someone who simply talks about the same data or drawings which have been around for years, for not only does he introduce visual art to critique, but also performance ratings and other mechanical information over which the readers may ponder.
Talking about the creations of fans gives their designs some validity; ignoring them is nothing short of favouritism to the copyright holders and/or original designers. Unless one is willing to agree to the statement that the world is 100% absolutely fair and those who hold their jobs are the best people in the whole world to hold them, then there is always a chance that an unofficial design will be better-drawn, more physically plausible, or more interesting (amongst other adjectives) than the officially-supported designs. This is the reason why fan works are worthy of discussion...and why biased fanboys need to remain in their own sect while the rest of the populace maintains a willingness to work and create new things instead of stupidly waiting like trained monkeys for others to bring enjoyment to the bars of their cage for them.
Yours in the protoculture,
Khyron_Prime
Praise Haydon!
Chris, I do agree with you that the general fandom do not care about things that the hardcore community bitches about. Some people don't beleve that, but I know the casual fans aren't interested. It just scares them away.
Chris Meadows - I am ashamed to be on the same comment page as you are.
Degenerating into a tool of the copyright holder is as low as a man can get. I am astounded by how far one can go..
To bash the fandom.....>>>By telling lies.
The copyright holder.. is a seller.( with a product) If the product doesnt sell the copyright holder loses money....and is forced to stop making it...
So it is in the hand of those bying it.
Robotech is in the hand of the fans. Always will be( as any other franchise)
As simple as that.....Bad products(series)...get canceled....and NO ONE has to BUY a bad PRODUCT ( people do not)
@Masters
Alow me to quote myself.
Beware of the creators manipulation. They will do everything(send people to comment among other things...) to protect their usurpation...
Suggesting to shut down the comments?? Another mean of censorship???...is that whar you people are proud off???
I suggest for people to avoid Cris Meadows's podcast. We dont need another HG loud protector. Who talks like he is on their paylist...and keeps disrupting the fans...
A shame for ones personality( i used to respect this guy long ago). But now he doesnt deserve his name to be mentioned....
Nenad
Masters. Everything is news. And to tell someone that only retelling what the copyright holder does(means you post once a month that something happened).. is shamefull...
Cris Meadows's podcasts are news, but an opinion and fandom are not??
What is Cris Meadows.. If not a tiny part of the fandom...the tiniest it can get...
And for heaven sake.. Did retelling bring you any popularity to this blog??? NO
+ Cris Meadows Podcast has 0 comments.
That tells all aboout it........
-
Rule number one.. DO NOT INSULT PEOPLE'S INTELIGENCE...
PEOPLE CAN THINK......
Nenad
Sure, people can think. But is it too much to ask them to spell and punctuate properly? The irony of someone misspelling "intelligence" is just too much for me this early in the morning.
I strongly recommend that everyone involved here watch The King of Comedy. If you find yourself identifying with Rupert Pupkin, seek professional help.
It is not irony for people out of the english language regions to missspel anytning.
USA people are being recomended to widen their views and think of the posibility that actualy there is the world outside of USA.....
+It was 11 am in my country un the time that was written( now is 5.36pm)
+Would you Roger care to spell on Serbian??
Nenad
Also
USA people are recomended to learn geography(taught in elementary schools here)... In order to know where Serbia is....
I don't know where to start. It seems that my blog has attracted the most angry Robotech fans on the planet.
And I wasnt even posting here!
There's a major flaw in your reasoning. Shadow Chronicles fans are Shadow Chronicles fans. Robotech fans are Robotech fans. The fact that HG can legally stamp a Robotech label in any shit they want doesnt make that shit any Robotech. Robotech is what's based on Robotech. Shadow Chronicles is not. It's based on cracky Yunes, Mc Kinney and Mospeada ideas, not Robotech ideas.
"We are all Robotech fans" . Not really, here there are Robotech fans and Shadow Chronicles fans. And many of the Shadow Chronicles supporters are sucky fans who supports it because they have some connection with the creators, they receive from them support, contacts and informations to run their sites. Their opinions are based in their beneficits they receive, and they are worth nothing.
You Chris Meadows, are the best example of them. You're embarrased by Hardcore fans, but they are honest unlike you and you embarrase me as someone who calls himself Robotech fan. Keep supporting Shadow Chronicles people so they keep supporting your site, asshole.
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