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JB0

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  1. JB0
    Trolls gonna troll. At least this is a pretty innocuous form of trolling.
  2. JB0
    In fairness, for as long and as loud as HG was shouting about how their license was for exclusive worldwide rights to the entire franchise, it isn't surprising there is still confusion. That is about the size of it, yes. HG will no longer have the content licenses needed to distribute Robotech, but they will retain copyright to their work. Robotech DVDs will almost certainly increase in value. ... Of course, I would've expected the "unremastered" version with the original sound effects to have increased in value and I don't think that happened.
  3. JB0
    Concession to jet mode, I'd wager. They look like they are colored for a lit thruster effect when closed, like the rest of the nozzles.
  4. JB0
    Honestly, I think the space chopper's biggest problem is the blades are too high. Jetfighter-wings go through the center of mass(more or less), it makes them work well as attitude thruster booms in all three axes. A helicopter's blade assembly is ABOVE the center of mass, and it makes it kind of wonky for anything other than straight up or down. It'd be better if the booms were lower, so they were aligned with the center of mass instead of above it. And if you rotate them 90 degrees after that you can stick your main engines there and... oh, hey, you have Babylon 5's Starfury. Whoops, that was (mostly) unintentional! For realistic spaceships, something like the Starfury is probably where it's at. Better yet, go for the blatantly obvious big brother and get a "real" Gunstar. It gets far enough from the concept of airfoils to stop looking like a weird airplane, and the big "wings" it does have are credible as missile or reaction mass stores. Also, monster attitude thrusters mounted directly on the main engines(and presumably tapping their large thrust-generating potential) so it can make rapid changes in orientation(See: deathblossom). But, of course, the AJAC isn't a space-helicopter. It turns into a derpy-looking fighterjet for spaceflight. But hey, in space no one cares how poor your aerodynamics or how slight your wings. And in atmosphere... helicopters don't seem to need great aerodynamics either, based on how real ones look. So all this analysis was really just a pointless exercise in establishing Gunstar supremacy. A noble cause.
  5. JB0
    Of course. How foolish of me. Gotta mount the case of Bud somewhere! Subjective is what matters most. I don't think the AJAC really crosses the "degrees of silly" threshold, it's just that for many of us it is an uninspiring machine from an uninspiring show, and that means the usual suspension of disbelief doesn't kick in because we don't really WANT to like it. And trying to justify it beyond aesthetics and lack of emotional attachment leads to arguments like "space helicopters are stupid but space fighter jets make great sense" and "That is a total partsformer because it has swingarms". I also think the REALISM of the VF series helps a lot. They look like actual friggin' planes in plane mode, whereas the AJAC looks like a collection of panels and parts stacked up to look sort of like a helicopter if you squint... though it is far from the worst offender in that regard, and actually has some charm to it outside of robot mode(which I think is the weakest of the three modes, mostly due to that large, flat, boring plate covering the entire torso). (And I still occasionally smack my hands together and pull them apart like I'm gettin' my sword ready, though it has been a long time since I shouted "form blazing sword". Voltron is still awesome, even if he IS objectively ridiculous. The Defender of the Universe still lives in my heart.)
  6. JB0
    Ripley Protocol it! Sure! "Harmony Gold is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop... ever, until you are dead. " Or it is, you all know how the movie ends.
  7. JB0
    I was going to go to the VF-1, actually. Same argument applies to flight without wings.
  8. JB0
    If you think about it the "transforming robot" is dumb. So let's not think about it. Space helicopter is an awesome idea. So is robot hovertank.
  9. JB0
    The big thing is the books insisted the neural interface was in the helmet and you couldn't operate a veritech without on. Needless to say, that "rule" collapses rapidly in the animation. Which is a shame, because it isn't a terrible idea(see Macross Plus). Certainly not as bad as all the flower of life/protoculture nonsense.
  10. JB0
    Well, she DID stab Q with a fork that one time... I've seen it before too, though I couldn't peg where it originated. It'd definitely be a traditional retcon, though. Guinan's character was created YEARS before anyone thought of the nexus. Guinan is a time lord? That is as good an answer as any, and there's probably two dozen fanfics over the years exploring the possibility. I think the original intent was mostly just supposed to be that her species had a "sixth sense" for transdimensional nonsense.
  11. JB0
    With swingbars! I mean, if that is partsforming, than the old 1/55 Valkyrie is a partsformer. Honestly, it looks like a design that was INTENDED to become a toy. There's actual concern for real-world engineering present in the design, and animation of features that make sense for a toy but not an anime robot. I mean, the thing is ugly, but let's be fair here. Also, YouTube has an updated version of that 3D-modelled transformation. Says WIP03 instead of WIP01. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkRgXjyt3-Q
  12. JB0
    Revered? Surely they meant reviled there.
  13. JB0
    I don't disagree, but... it is kind of like the Aliens to the previous games' Alien, the Terminator 2 to their Terminator. Or, arguably more topically, the Resident Evil 4 of the series. They took a horror story and turned it into a guns-blazing action spectacular. It has a very different core essence to it. And so many of Samus' new abilities are there simple because "wouldn't it be cool if... ", it makes for a game that is somewhat cluttered. Heck, one of her now-iconic abilities is basically there because "Dudes, what if she could fly through enemies and ram stuff like Getter Robo G? C'mon, I already have the ASM for a shine spark attack coded, just try it out it is SO COOL!" Most importantly, it changed "space pirate" from a career to a species. And that bugs me.... but it doesn't bug me as much as the subsequent "chozo did everything ever" rampage the Prime games and Zero went on after Super Metroid's US manual created the name in a translation error(and the Nintendo Power comic then ran with it and made them Samus's foster parents and creators of her power suit... seriously, that lore originates in a US-authored tie-in comic). I can almost guarantee that Samus Returns changes SR-388 into a chozo colony world. I love Prime, but would be just as happy to see most of the chozo lore erased.
  14. JB0
    I honestly don't remember. I read so many of them, and for the most part I just have isolated scenes bouncing around in my head now. The traditional outlook from the crew's perspective was always some flavor of "she is NOT Yar's daughter, her story is ridiculous whether she believes it or not... but she sure does LOOK like Yar..." The tale she spun them was obviously crazy, but... there was always this nagging doubt floating around. Surely if she were going to lie it would be a better one, right? From the reader's perspective, as from Sela's perspective, her story was an obvious factual truth. But the crew of the Enterprise-D was completely ignorant of the time-travelling parallel-universe version of Tasha Yar that DIDN'T die a senseless death in a puddle of black ink(except Guinan, of course, because she has space magic). ... Come to think of it, Sela was probably ignorant of the primary timeline's own Tasha Yar, so I guess that knife cuts both ways. . The episodic nature of the books back in the day obviously prevented anyone from upsetting the status quo, no matter how much they may have wanted to.
  15. JB0
    Same. I have zero faith in Nintendo turning out a remake that is... appreciative... of Metroid 2's atmosphere and general goals. It is not a guns-blazing power fantasy. It is a creepy, unsettling, occasionally nerve-wracking experience, and really the only Metroid game to deliver on the horror-movie premise(though the NES game tried). Also, you know, the moral questions of our hero character being someone who will literally commit genocide for money(you KNOW Nintendo is gonna downplay the hell out of that). ... I preordered it anyways. Expect me to be cussing up a storm once I get it. Why do I do this to myself? And before someone chimes in to help... no, Another Metroid 2 Remake is not the answer. Right now, Samus Returns has a very slim chance of being a decent remake, whereas AM2R has already been confirmed to completely miss almost every possible point. I respect DoctorM64's work on a technical level, moreso since he had zero programming experience when he started it all those years ago, but artistically his work was an unmitigated disaster. *sigh* Oh well, we'll always have 8-bit. I'm actually about halfway through a replay of the original right now, and it is really amazing how much richness Yokoi and his crew managed to tuck into the world of an early GameBoy game.
  16. JB0
    Seto: I'm taking Star Trek Online for Sela canon. She was out of the system when the romulan sun blew up(#thanksspock), most everyone that opposed her was on Romulus and is now so much space dust, a power vacuum existed to exploit, the new empress of the Romulan Star Empire is a halfbreed with parents in two timelines. It is still fanfiction glorification of a minor character, but it portrays her in a positive light as someone who Gets Things Done and can seize opportunity when it arises instead of making her the galactic whipping girl. ALL HAIL EMPRESS SELA. In seriousness, I liked her occasional appearance as "the romulan officer we already know". Anyone could be there, but she managed to insert a minor additional wrinkle due to that unusual familiarity. Just warped in from time to time to annoy the Enterprise-D on the odd otherwise-minor operation, and stir up that ambiguous-to-the-crew question of "Is she REALLY the child of a parallel-universe time-travelling dimension-hopping Tasha Yar?" once more. One of the older books Data admitted to maintaining a database of all their encounters and accumulated knowledge about her in an attempt to eventually prove or disprove her claims(I believe his emotionless butt said it was due to the effect she had on the rest of the crew), and it was a minor detail I enjoyed. Just the idea that this suspiciously-familiar romulan with a crazy story could dredge up all this baggage just by wandering through from time to time.
  17. JB0
    I see it now. What I thought was just a reskinned upvote button(hearts instead of up-arrows) is now a flyout menu. That's... not very good interface design, really. Not that anyone in charge here made that decision.
  18. JB0
    Hooray!
  19. JB0
    Bahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! A Trek V sequel... a TRILOGY!?!? Yeah, Trek books these days are a lot diffrent than when I was reading. More like Star Wars books. Seriously, guys. Leave the endless cavalcade of galaxy-spanning crises and heroic lineages to the other franchise. Get back to what makes Trek work. ... And more Sela cameos, plzkthx. Oh. Never mind, the books did that too. And screwed it up.
  20. JB0
    I didn't know we HAD a downvote button.
  21. JB0
    Yeah, I think Shatner's novel is the most prominent actual USE of the Borg/V'ger connection. And, well, it is pretty bad. All Shatner's Trek novels read like bad self-insert fanfics with Kirk as some overpowered author wish-fulfillment avatar... which I guess they are. Really, I've long felt that the secret to a good Trek novel is to try NOT to make it a big deal. Don't write some galaxy-changing event, a multi-book saga, a universe-spanning epic, or a shocking revelation that will change the way you view X forever. Just pretend you're doing a TV episode with no budget restrictions or union contracts or star egos to assuage. All the best Trek books I ever read felt like they were "just another episode". Not every story needs to be Best of Both Worlds or Wrath of Khan. Also, thank goodness no one is willing to tie into Star Trek V. Imagine if someone decided to write a book about the god trapped in the center of the galaxy.
  22. JB0
    I think the worst part of Hun-Grrr is his legs/necks. The necks look ridiculous because they are flared to bulk out his legs, but they look ridiculous as legs too. It is like someone accidentally drew his legs upside-down, and no one caught the error until the molds were created.
  23. JB0
    I never said it was a GOOD idea. Though it apparently originated with Roddenberry himself before getting passed around to virtually everybody.
  24. JB0
    I thought it was the other way around, the Borg were the origin of V'Ger.
  25. JB0
    I love that book. True story: I think it is the only Trek book I actually OWN as opposed to having just borrowed from the library. The other one that sticks out in my mind, and honestly skews more towards the bad fanfic side of the equation, was The Kobayash Maru. The main plot thread is Kirk, Sulu, Chekov, McCoy, and Scotty everyone but Spock and Uhura are stranded in a damaged shuttle and killing time before Spock rescues them by swapping stories. The topic of the no-win scenario crops up, and next thing you know the three are telling each other how they handled the most famous test in Starfleet Academy.
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