It’s a strange thing, really. Looking back at where you were, where you’re at now and where you’re going. Sounds cliche of course (because it is), but times like these you can’t help yourself.
For those of you that attended Gen Con 2001 after FASA closed its doors (and actually managed to find our booth), you’ll remember it was 2 tables, in a single 10′ x 20′ booth space, buried deep in the hall (behind a pillar), with only Rob to keep me company. For the next several years the goal was to stabilize BattleTech and then to start to re-grow the fanbase lost when FASA closed and so many wrote off the game as dead.
I consider Origins Award wins a great little litmus test on whether a game is doing well or not. After all, it’s a popularity contest, and if you’re winning awards, that means you’ve got fans interested in your game. The last Origins Awards win by FASA for BattleTech was in 1998 for the BattleTech Master Rules. Despite winning 5 other awards previously in the 90s, BattleTech would go through a huge dry spell of a decade without winning another Origins Award. However, I’d like to think BattleTech simply was taking time to re-establish itself and give us the time to bring the vision of the new BattleTech rulebooks to fruition. Despite mis-steps along the way (and there’s been plenty), as those books started to roll out, the awards started to come once more.
A great three-peat to showcase that BattleTech is growing in popularity and strength more than it has in a long, long time. The 2010 Best Game-Related Book win for BattleTech: 25 Years of Art & Fiction was a wonderful icing on the cake.
I can’t thank enough all the authors and volunteers that have seen BattleTech through the hard times and are still here working hard to see it into a brightening future. It’s been a pleasure and honor to work with so many dozens of wonderfully creative individuals over the years.
And of course the fans are what it’s all about. As I’ve mentioned through endless blogs and chats for over a decade, it’s the fans that deserve accolades. You the community that have supported and voted and help to bring BattleTech to where it’s at today. So give yourselves a giant pat on the back and raise a PPC toast (spiked with your faction’s favorite additive) to the game we all love!
Thank you all!
Randall
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Could you publish some photos from Origins?