Because you have an entire innersphere to pay for the combat. You forget they can "pay per view" it to pesant farmers on the edge of the Davion space not just to the locals. If anything the Lore underestimates the money involved with Solaris VII. One would assume the money involved (and espionage) would result in a very high level of technical expertise, resulting in less loss from battle damage than if you were having the same fights in a muddy field on the front lines of a contested planet.
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Because you have an entire innersphere to pay for the combat. You forget they can "pay per view" it to pesant farmers on the edge of the Davion space not just to the locals. If anything the Lore underestimates the money involved with Solaris VII. One would assume the money involved (and espionage) would result in a very high level of technical expertise, resulting in less loss from battle damage than if you were having the same fights in a muddy field on the front lines of a contested planet.
I didn't forget that bit at all, it is included in the "why don't mech-strapped armies just take these things?" portion. The lore is agnostic with regards to how much Solaris VII combat generates in revenue, as far as I know. It gets about a line of mention that the Lyrans get some tax money from hosting Solaris VII gladiatorial combat and then no one ever talks about it again. Certainly in the lore, the stables are rarely successful enough to allow the the majority of the gladiators a reasonable fighting career followed by retirement. Depending on your source, most of them are supported as mere vanity projects or propaganda sources rather than making any sort of money on their own (see: Main Event). Alternatively, it is a dumping ground for mechs and mechwarriors past their prime or otherwise disgraced (see: Warrior: En Garde). Or perhaps there is money to be made but mostly for the top stable's high-tier gladiators (see: Assumption of Risk).
Going by lore, Solaris events total more mechs (hundreds per season, spread across the various classes) than most planets see in a full-out assault (a regiment, ~120 mechs or so). Remember, this is the same setting where a minor border world might be guarded by a single lance of mercenary mechs plus attachments like infantry, combat vehicles, etc. Solaris VII exists because it is cool, not because (to use a modern equivalent) a nation that was running out of literally irreplaceable tanks would find it reasonable to host tank demolition derbies for a bit of tax revenue.
The suggestion I quoted is also, as I said before, the exact same plot as Robot Jox. Ultimately, that's my big thing.
Last edited:
There is more here to consider than just a Balance Sheet of Mech Assets.
The Inner Sphere Masses... just like the Roman Mob before them, love their Gladiatorial Games. And as the Inner Sphere is vastly larger, so are their BattleMech Gladiators.
No State, be it House Steiner or the Roman Senate would be Quick to dismantle the Entertainment of the Mob... or bear the consequences.
Tax revenue is but a pittance next to the Sociological Imperatives of facilitating Entertainment (READ: distraction) among one’s constituents.
Man for Man, established Gladiators were superior fighters... did Rome make a habit of conscripting all their best Gladiators into the Legions? No.
Neither would Star League Era House Steiner stoop to conscripting Solaris Mech Gladiators into its ranks.
And then once the Succession Wars began. In the wake of the First Succession War,
“Until 2800 the world had recovered from the stagnation again, mainly because the concept to build five BattleMech arenas in Solaris City, each of them representing one of the Great Houses, in which the Warriors of the Successor States should fight for the honor of their nation. Leading to the first real Solaris Championship in 2812. Since then, the championship is held every year.”
Thus Solaris gained legitimacy, recognition and sanction.
Of all the various time periods, I think it is this one, the post-First Succession War era as MechWarriors and Mechs flooded the “marketplace” as the War wound down and left a Wartime generation without a War, that would make for an excellent Series or Movie. The intrigue of having the Five Great Houses each with their newly completed Arenas, all vying for position and rank, Champions (true Rockstars of the BattleTech Universe) Rising and Falling almost as quickly...
...yes, there would be a lot of grist for all manner of plot intrigue and story arc. : )
The Inner Sphere Masses... just like the Roman Mob before them, love their Gladiatorial Games. And as the Inner Sphere is vastly larger, so are their BattleMech Gladiators.
No State, be it House Steiner or the Roman Senate would be Quick to dismantle the Entertainment of the Mob... or bear the consequences.
Tax revenue is but a pittance next to the Sociological Imperatives of facilitating Entertainment (READ: distraction) among one’s constituents.
Man for Man, established Gladiators were superior fighters... did Rome make a habit of conscripting all their best Gladiators into the Legions? No.
Neither would Star League Era House Steiner stoop to conscripting Solaris Mech Gladiators into its ranks.
And then once the Succession Wars began. In the wake of the First Succession War,
“Until 2800 the world had recovered from the stagnation again, mainly because the concept to build five BattleMech arenas in Solaris City, each of them representing one of the Great Houses, in which the Warriors of the Successor States should fight for the honor of their nation. Leading to the first real Solaris Championship in 2812. Since then, the championship is held every year.”
Thus Solaris gained legitimacy, recognition and sanction.
Of all the various time periods, I think it is this one, the post-First Succession War era as MechWarriors and Mechs flooded the “marketplace” as the War wound down and left a Wartime generation without a War, that would make for an excellent Series or Movie. The intrigue of having the Five Great Houses each with their newly completed Arenas, all vying for position and rank, Champions (true Rockstars of the BattleTech Universe) Rising and Falling almost as quickly...
...yes, there would be a lot of grist for all manner of plot intrigue and story arc. : )
Who said anything about conscripting gladiators? Take their mechs, leave them dispossessed. Solaris gladiators in lore get their heads handed to them by House and Clan veterans. See: Assumption of Risk, again, and Star Lord. They are explicitly noted as having poor fundamentals, preferring to focus on showmanship instead of actually doing things that win fights. That's why Cenotaph (Kai Allard-Liao's stable) cleaned right on up in Solaris; he only had veterans of the Clan invasion on his roster.
Last edited:
“Plot Armor sells copy.”
- Anon.
Allowing fiction to fill in the blank spaces in the BattleTech Universe is a time-honored tradition that is frankly one of my favorite FASA decisions.
Back in the beginning, BattleTechnology brought the Fourth Succession War to us, in an exquisite War Correspondent fashion with its monthly publication.
“Take their Mechs, leave them dispossessed...”
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed within Lore and House Steiner. :bow:
I think a movie about mercenaries has more potential than anything with the houses or the clans as the main focus.
Ideally a mix of all three would provide something for everyone to BOTH root for and root against. :bow:
Saban made a 13 episode animated series in 1994. It was most certainly of the quality you might expect from the people who made Power Rangers, but it was done. I remember watching it back then and enjoying it just because it was BattleTech. It has not aged well, but all of them are up on youtube.
It did its job, though, I very much doubt I'm the only person who only looked into BattleTech explictly because of the cartoon.
Yup. My first exposure to the BT franchise was also the cartoon.
I should note, though it risks derailing, Saban may have done Power Rangers 'inexpensively' but there was some care put into it to not do it 'cheaply'. A chap by the name of Lewis Lovhaug did a retrospective of the franchise as far as NA releases go, and it's quite interesting to get the take on it from someone who was a fan. (Similar to listening to Tex go on about BattleTech, but again that's another topic.)
When considering animated properties in the 90s, you had such a "mystery box" collection of whether they'd be good or not. While you could see some things which could be considered crap, there were other studios putting out consistently great stuff. (The so-called "DCAU", "Gargoyles", the one X-Men adaptation, and even Sonic had a good one and a bad one.) I get the feeling the BattleTech adaptation simply didn't get the love it should have since it wasn't a huge name and didn't have big money behind it. But it could have been far worse. (Beavis and Butthead, CatDog, and Highlander...)
As for the topic of an adaptation now... it's very simple in my mind. Throw a six-figure check at Zombie Orpheus, and another one at whomever has the license for live-action adaptation. (If anyone does.)
Alternatively, find some nerdy-butt voice actors to do for CBT what Critical Role did for D&D.
I have seen the Comic-Series on Youtube. It was nice to see, but the Storyline was to short and to much jumps from that to that. The best Sceens were the fights (esp. at the End the fight Man vs. Man between Davion and the Clantype).
But then the Comic-Series Ends where she is get start to run. Nothing came thereafter, no word about what happend to the People of the Planets and such.
If there is comming a new Series she has to be in good Graphics (like DBZ) and in many translations (German, Italian, France, Protugese, etc.), which is the Minimumstandard. Then the Storyline? From what she has to tell.
I think the new Series should tell us about the Beginning of Battletech over the Fall from Star Leage and the 4 Succession Wars. After that the Claners can come in too.
All in all it would be around the same like all DBZ-Series together incl. Mila Superstar, if it shorted.
But then the Comic-Series Ends where she is get start to run. Nothing came thereafter, no word about what happend to the People of the Planets and such.
If there is comming a new Series she has to be in good Graphics (like DBZ) and in many translations (German, Italian, France, Protugese, etc.), which is the Minimumstandard. Then the Storyline? From what she has to tell.
I think the new Series should tell us about the Beginning of Battletech over the Fall from Star Leage and the 4 Succession Wars. After that the Claners can come in too.
All in all it would be around the same like all DBZ-Series together incl. Mila Superstar, if it shorted.
By today's standards( or just because of growing older), yeah, it's awful, but for its time, it was pretty sweet.
Their will be a movie and a series some day. I can see HBO picking it up and making it game of thronish with all the drama going on in the universe to be honest.
When I watched the BT cartoon back when it was on TV, I really liked it. It may not have aged well, but it was entertaining to me as a young teenager at the time.
Make a movie out of "Decision at Thunder Rift".
Cast it decently, and pay enough to ensure the action scenes don't look cheesy.
Done.
Cast it decently, and pay enough to ensure the action scenes don't look cheesy.
Done.
I wouldn't want a movie unless Nolan directed it.
A well-done anime or high end network show ala HBO or Netflix would have a better chance of not sucking.
It all boils down to the writing quality. If that is well done it could work!
A well-done anime or high end network show ala HBO or Netflix would have a better chance of not sucking.
It all boils down to the writing quality. If that is well done it could work!