by the fans for the fans

Not to bash too much on Harmony Gold or Steve, but I honestly think they have completely massacred the Robotech/Macross-franchise beyond repair, also known as "FUBAR".

I completely agree with Alpha1's statements. RT.com had a lot of potential that was squandered away for absolutely nothing. Robotech in itself is a marketing-brand with a huge potential provided its handled right and tactically. I signed up for the site early 00's I think and loved it. But as Alpha1 explains, I too experienced a downfall in both the site and Robotech-brand in overall just a few years later. They were/are stagnated. Instead of focusing on new material and an adult audience, they keep releasing the same old material over and over. The "toys" they release looks bizarre and something a 3-year old would enjoy - for a week or two at most.

They should have taken a step back after releasing the first DVD-series way back in 00's and say "ok, so now the whole series is available on DVD from start to finish - how do we keep up and evolve this momentum successfully?".
Most of the people signing up for the community was those from around the whole world, literally, who grew up with Robotech and wanted to see their childhood heroes evolve, not do the same thing all over again- and again- and again...aaand aagain - in different colors, resolution, soundeffects, etc.

And the fact HG completely kidnapped and holds the Robotech/Macross-brand hostage and hunts down anyone as much as mentioning the word Robotech online and wants to sue them (See the Argentinian Valkyrie-project or what it was called), just gets to show what kind of a company HG are. And what kind of a complete misfit gives the job to direct a live action movie to the director of childrens movies like G.I. Joe and what-not? Again - it just get to prove how HG-management has absolutely NO idea what the Robotech brand actually is.

Shutting down the community of Robotech.com was a real middle-finger-in-the-face to all the long-time fans, agree completely.
Can't say I know much what was caused by Steve and what was not, but he seemed like someone owned his soul or something when replying on the forum threads. Don't think I ever saw a "genuine" reply from Steve. It was all just "political correctness", and he always replied the same way. It doesn't exactly signals trust to the fans in my opinion.

Cheers

All my Lisa Hayes conspiracy theories, gone. The Wayback Machine cannot even find them.

This was truly a tragic turn of events. Now no one will ever know how evil she was

Agreed.

HG has definitely mismanaged Robotech and the fan site. However, i have many great memories and no amount of corporate missteps can dampen my love of the SDF-1 and its crew.

I am not sure if the Robotech LAM will ever really happen,or if does, how true to the original series it will be. I hope that somehow it all comes together and my faith and patience are rewarded with an awesome cinematic epic.

At any rate, I believe that Robotech has some untapped potential and it could become a viable franchise if the right studio and producers take a gamble and invest the time and money to make it work. I will admit its a long shot, but then again, the die-hard protoculture addicts on this site are a stubborn lot.

Ahh... Robotech.com... How much I miss thee... original promise that came with the site back in 01. I was there when it first opened and I was super-excited to finally see my favorite TV series getting it's own official website. I thought Harmony Gold was going to use the site to keep in touch with the fans, and let us know when new Robotech projects were coming, and maybe grow the franchise. I knew about the difficulties with the original series, and I had hoped that HG would manage to overcome the problems that plagued the Sentinels and move forward. I liked the masterpiece toys and I was excited when Robotech Battlecry not only was announced, but actually launched. The website was never state-of-the-art, but it connected each of us as fans with the creators in a way that wasn't happening before.

2015, a dozen or so remasters later, no masterpiece Southern Cross mecha, a promising, but ultimately fulfilling pilot, only 1 truly great Robotech game, and 3-4 Live Action projects later and Robotech.com is no more, the community is burned out and there's still no SDF-3 saga nor toys. I love Robotech, and I always will, anyone who knows my history knows this, but Harmony Gold has no concept about how to build on what they have, and a change is badly needed. It's clear that the powers-that-be need to make a choice, and if there's no movement on the LAM front, I feel that the choice is to either replace those in control or sell the franchise to new owners who love the series. Many people felt that there were no more stories to tell in Star Trek, well, Star Trek Continues has proven that wrong. I think the same can happen for Robotech, but not until those in control actually embrace the fans and give them a sequel to respect.

WAS THERE TOO. ACUALLY WAS THERE WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN THE OLD RDFHQ. WENT BY DIFFERENT HANDLE THERE TILL WE MOVED TO THE OFFICIAL SITE. I THINK IT WAS STEVE THAT CAME IN AND STARTED TALKING ABOUT GOING IN EARLY FOR TEST. I THING I HAND A FEW HANDLES READY BUT LOST MOST OF THE INFO BEFORE SETTLING ON MEMO1DOMINION. AND IT WAS INTERNET CHANGES BACK THEN WITH ALL DIFFERENT EMAILS.

ON THE LAM THERE IS ALREADY FAR MORE MOVEMENET THAN WHAT WB HAD. SONY JUST PICKED UP THE RIGHTS THIS YEAR AND EVERYTHING IS STARTING FROM SCRATCH. IT WONT TAKE THAT MANY YEARS LIKE WB. WILL SE EMORE NEXT YEAR. MY ONY PROBLEM WOULD BE AND MAYBE POSSIBLE, IS THAT SONY WILL BE RUNNING WITH THE LIVE ACTION AND ANYTHING THAT COMES AFTER THAT.

I HOPE HG PROJECTS DONT STALL LIKE SHADOW RISING OR ROBOTECH ACADEMY. WILL SEE BY NEXT YEAR SUMMER.WHAT OFFICIAL STUFF THEY ANOUNCE. BUT WE WILL PROBABLY HEAR MORE IN THE PIPELINE SONNER THAN THAT.