CGL Speculation #9, Please review ToS before posting Options

[BlueMax]

One good thing about Battletech is that there are no rules about the miniature defining the figure it represents. I use paper/cardboard cutouts. I know others just use figures that came in the starter box. There's also an awesome Java version of Battletech that takes out a lot of the time-consuming stuff, so you can play large battles online in a reasonable amount of time.

That's always been the one knock on Battletech for me. It can be a slow game. That was part of why I liked MechWarrior, despite its 'collectable' nature. You could play out a battle in an hour what would take a number of hours in Battletech.

There are people who play the RPG version of Battletech, and it's actually pretty cool, with a bit more focus on making battles play out as stories rather than hard core simulations.

I am up now painting miniatures an applying decals for some Solaris 7 styles duels which the Characters in my A Time of War campaing will be doing tomorrow.

Paper cutouts work just fine, I just love painting.

The bad news is that it doesn't look like A Time of War will be printed this year. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

BlueMax

[Caadium]

One good thing about Battletech is that there are no rules about the miniature defining the figure it represents. I use paper/cardboard cutouts. I know others just use figures that came in the starter box.

When I used to play Battletech I used cardboard, the plastic minis in the box, and all sorts of stuff. Some of the people I played with used well painted minis. I loved that it didn't matter as long as we could figure it out for the game. I once used cardboard minis from my old Marvel Super Heroes RPG. This distinction is why to this day I will play Battletech, but won't touch Warhammer or any of its cousins.

There's also an awesome Java version of Battletech that takes out a lot of the time-consuming stuff, so you can play large battles online in a reasonable amount of time.

That's always been the one knock on Battletech for me. It can be a slow game. <edited>

For a few years, I had no gaming group. Even now that I do, most of them are not into Battletech. Mekwars, the Java app you refer to, is a great way to get a fix in. You can get involved in campaign servers that are out there, or simply set up a game between friends. The beauty is it plays just like it would on a table (with the calculations done to speed things up), but you can play with the same friends that you used to play with, even if they are 2,000 miles away.

My enjoyment of Battletech has sometimes drawn me back to Shadowrun; got me so juiced I found/made a new group just to play. Similarly, sometimes my love of Shadowrun will get me back to Battletech. This chaos here brought Mekwars back to light, so I've been playing Battletech again as well as Shadowrun now.

In all honesty, I think its good for both games that they are owned by the same company. They are both fun, enjoyable games, yet they are completely different. However, that they are both fun and different allows both games to grow as new people wander into one, they often at least see the other. I assume that this, along with printing costs and such, were part of the reason that other games had been licensed to CGL previously (some of which are teaming back up with Sandstorm). Exposure is good for the industry on the whole. Keep them with one company, no matter what happens with the license, and just accept that most people will lean more heavily on one game or the other. We don't need West Side Story because of it though.

[Aristotle]

i'm also still quite baffled as to why everyone thinks randall bills is a villain on the same level as loren l coleman.

He either condoned or turned a blind eye to Coleman's business practices (see this thread) which makes him complicit in my book. There is also the allegedly leaked statement about him being willing to drive the company into the ground rather than jeopardizing his friendship with Coleman. I'll accept that one isn't factual enough for me to stand on, but all of the little things about Bills that have come up through this mess have just made me less than wild about him. You are right though.. he isn't on the same level. I'd still buy the products of Bills remained but Coleman were somehow removed.

[General Pax]

If someone says X knows crap about rules they made this mistake. And then they say I wrote the faq as an example of your awesome rules mastery and the faq has mistakes in it well maybe your not as awesome as you think. Either accept people make mistakes and they aren't ignorant heathens or you damn well better be perfect in your examples. Guess what JH acknowledged his mistake as well, odd how that doesn't matter.

Exactly. I was trying to say the same thing but I was banned because of it.

[Cain]

Exactly. I was trying to say the same thing but I was banned because of it.

I'm no mod, but you were banned for many other reasons.

If someone says X knows crap about rules they made this mistake. And then they say I wrote the faq as an example of your awesome rules mastery and the faq has mistakes in it well maybe your not as awesome as you think. Either accept people make mistakes and they aren't ignorant heathens or you damn well better be perfect in your examples. Guess what JH acknowledged his mistake as well, odd how that doesn't matter.

I don't want to take sides here, but this is factually incorrect according to both stories.

[Shinobi Killfist]

I'm no mod, but you were banned for many other reasons.



I don't want to take sides here, but this is factually incorrect according to both stories.

Since AH said he is willing to drop it, can we just drop it please?

[lehesu]

Since AH said he is willing to drop it, can we just drop it please?

QFT

[Furluge]

Nah, I get that. But the store stocks a few of those too, and I don't see them get any play either. I know everyone's experience is going to be different, but I was reporting that in my area there isn't really a demand for Battletech. And to be honest I haven't seen it played in years.

Maybe I could have been nicer about saying it. I had some friends in highschool that played Battletech, so I got to see it and I had a little taste of it. I can see why it appeals to some people. I generally went in for something with more story, leaving the pure simulation stuff to videogames. That, and the collectible nature of the 40k/Warmachine grind is what kept me out of minis in general.

Maybe it's not my game, maybe I'm bitter and resentful because of recent events. Wait, I know that last one is true.

Nothing about the way you put it was mean-spirited in my book. On the outset both those games do look very similar. You know, just like all hobby games ever look identical to anyone outside the hobby. (Ask them, it's true (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) 9/10 times they'll think it's all D&D)

One good thing about Battletech is that there are no rules about the miniature defining the figure it represents. I use paper/cardboard cutouts. I know others just use figures that came in the starter box. There's also an awesome Java version of Battletech that takes out a lot of the time-consuming stuff, so you can play large battles online in a reasonable amount of time.

I've done up some very nice looking cube-counters that can be folded into cubes for play and unfolded flat again for storage. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Taharqa]

Mekwars, the Java app you refer to, is a great way to get a fix in. You can get involved in campaign servers that are out there, or simply set up a game between friends. The beauty is it plays just like it would on a table (with the calculations done to speed things up), but you can play with the same friends that you used to play with, even if they are 2,000 miles away.

Just a point of information here. MegaMek is the java program that allows you to play Battletech on the computer. MekWars is a campaign "wrapper" around the MegaMek app.

[Congzilla]

Just a point of information here. MegaMek is the java program that allows you to play Battletech on the computer. MekWars is a campaign "wrapper" around the MegaMek app.

This is what gets me threw work everyday.

[Shinobi Killfist]

I will just say megamek is flat out awesome. In the time of war game we are playing when it comes time for a mech fight we use megamek. The GM set up an old computer as a permanent megamek server so we could play anytime and for the ToW campaign all easily hook up for massive fights. It saves a ridiculous amount of time especially in the firing phase since all of that is done and calculated simultaneously. Though it seems to be crit happy whenever I am the target. If my Gyro's get crited again I'm just giving up on bipedal mechs. (I've lost my gyro in the first or second shot in the last 4 fights I was shot at)

[Kid Chameleon]

Get a Xanthos and you won't worry about that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Cthulhudreams]

IIRC, the accounting manager at WorldCom got four years just for making an entry in the books at the direction of the masterminds of the whole WorldCom scandal.

There's no hard and fast ethics requirement for an accounting degree, but the upper-tier teachers definitely include it in all of their courses.

Man, I have no idea why you'd quite a job rather than risk going to jail for four years. Surely feeding your kiddies should win out...

/sarcasm.

To me, that Tiger Eyes was asked to defraud Topps is the single most damning piece of evidence in this entire thread. It has never been addressed by Coleman and Company. It is the statement I'd most appreciate clarification on!

Was the income ever properly reported? What about to the IRS?

[Cheops]

Topps is conducting an audit of CGL right now to determine wtf is going on. Speculation on this thread is that the contract was extended so that Topps can get their pound of flesh from IMR.

[LurkerOutThere]

Topps is conducting an audit of CGL right now to determine wtf is going on. Speculation on this thread is that the contract was extended so that Topps can get their pound of flesh from IMR.

I would presume that the audit is completed by now. Also there's a release stating that an extension within the terms of the contract is coming down the pipe. No matter what people want to believe about pound of flesh and other nonsense that all but guarantees CGL will continue to run shadowrun at least another year, likely another 3.

[otakusensei]

I would presume that the audit is completed by now. Also there's a release stating that an extension within the terms of the contract is coming down the pipe. No matter what people want to believe about pound of flesh and other nonsense that all but guarantees CGL will continue to run shadowrun at least another year, likely another 3.

I would agree with you, if there weren't rumors that the audit itself was a problem. I understand there were two audits, one by Topps and the other internal at IMR. On the internal one it has been reported that freelancers were only being asked to confirm that checks were sent to them. Speculation on that being that missing documents had reduced their ability to track checks to what the bank had on file. In my experience audits are a pain in the ass with solid record keeping, I can't imagine what it must be like at IMR right now. Though it has been a few months, and you may be right about it being over, I just don't know if you could call it complete.

We've seen an announcement that Topps is willing to sign a contract to IMR for an unspecified term. They are currently working outside of the original contract terms, so an interim contract may just be a formality. So I doubt this thread and the situation at CGL are going away anytime soon.

[kzt]

I would presume that the audit is completed by now. Also there's a release stating that an extension within the terms of the contract is coming down the pipe. No matter what people want to believe about pound of flesh and other nonsense that all but guarantees CGL will continue to run shadowrun at least another year, likely another 3.

It's extremely hard to complete an audit when the total business records consist of the bank records of withdrawals and deposits, which is apparently the case at CGL. Apparently "someone" threw out contracts, NDAs, business correspondence, 1099s and all the usual stuff that an auditor expects to see. Hence they are mailing letters to every freelancer asking what they actually did for the money, because they don't have any records.

What is extra odd about this is that people who worked there only a few months ago said that at least some of this data was in the company files. Hmm.....

[Cheops]

Compounded in all this is the fact of the "unreported convention sales." That means it isn't just a matter of looking at two columns of numbers and seeing if they add up. It means that a physical inventory has to be done so that they can try and arrive at a number of units "sold" but never reported by LLC. IMR owes Topps royalties on all of those products too and it takes time to chase all that down when records are as shoddy as IMR has demonstrated (and as Topps I wouldn't trust their records as far as I could kick LLC).

[Saint Sithney]

It's extremely hard to complete an audit when the total business records consist of the bank records of withdrawals and deposits, which is apparently the case at CGL. Apparently "someone" threw out contracts, NDAs, business correspondence, 1099s and all the usual stuff that an auditor expects to see. Hence they are mailing letters to every freelancer asking what they actually did for the money, because they don't have any records.

What is extra odd about this is that people who worked there only a few months ago said that at least some of this data was in the company files. Hmm.....

I wonder if that has anything to do with the claim that L was paying building contractors and reporting it as freelance writing during the whole "co-mingling" affair.

What, by the way, would really be the benefit of such a move besides defrauding the other owners? Are there any tax-related reasons to claim home improvement expenses as business expenses?

[Congzilla]

I wonder if that has anything to do with the claim that L was paying building contractors and reporting it as freelance writing during the whole "co-mingling" affair.

What, by the way, would really be the benefit of such a move besides defrauding the other owners? Are there any tax-related reasons to claim home improvement expenses as business expenses?

He wouldn't have to pay himself the money first and thereby avoided owing income tax on it.

[MindandPen]

He wouldn't have to pay himself the money first and thereby avoided owing income tax on it.

Which is text book tax evasion.

-M&P

[Mesh]

Which is text book tax evasion.

-M&P

Actually, it isn't tax evasion even though you're avoiding paying income taxes. That is one of the advantages of an LLC as well as other business types. The advantage to having your company buy you a BMW 7-series is you avoid the income tax of receiving the money and buying the car yourself. The disadvantage is that if your company fails, the bmer is a company asset, and you lose it.

Mesh

[Cthulhudreams]

Actually, it isn't tax evasion even though you're avoiding paying income taxes. That is one of the advantages of an LLC as well as other business types. The advantage to having your company buy you a BMW 7-series is you avoid the income tax of receiving the money and buying the car yourself. The disadvantage is that if your company fails, the bmer is a company asset, and you lose it.

Mesh

No, it's just a different sort of tax evasion. As Coleman's personal house is his house, and not the companys house, and it's not an excluded good, someone is liable for taxation - now as it's almost certainly a taxable benefit, it IS income tax evasion as he should have reported it

[Mesh]

No, it's just a different sort of tax evasion. As Coleman's personal house is his house, and not the companys house, and it's not an excluded good, someone is liable for taxation - now as it's almost certainly a taxable benefit, it IS income tax evasion as he should have reported it

Not necessarily:

If certain conditions are met, employer provided meals and lodging may be excluded from an employee's gross income. If meals are furnished (1) by the employer; (2) for the employer's convenience; and (3) provided on the business premises of the employer they may be excluded from the employee's gross income per Section 119(a). In addition, lodging furnished by the employer for its convenience on the business premise of the employer (which the employee is required to accept as a condition of employment) is also excluded from gross income.

There are ways to do it without paying taxes. I don't know the details of IMR/CGL's arrangements. I'm just saying it's not necessarily tax evasion.

Mesh

[Mesh]

Wow, double post and I didn't click twice, back, refresh or anything. Odd.