The Energon Pub

What's his problem with them ? I think that they still count as transformers and warrant discussion. So anyone know shy he doesn't like, 3rd parties ?

There is discussion, just not front page news!

Va'al wrote:There is discussion, just not front page news!

Oh ok Thnx I didn't see the other forum part feel free to move it ovee to the appropriate forum.

i think its a combination of simply thinking that only a product that is licensed as a "transformer" can be called a transformer and to stay on Hasbro's good side for whatever reason. I know that third party news used to be on the "front page" on seibertron.com (click on my news credit for proof)which is where my staying on Hasbro's good side idea comes from. if it was just the licensing idea wouldn't seibertron have never let any third party news be posted from the get go [of third parties]?

anyway its annoying as seibertron.com used to be my favorite news site and seems to be still the best at reporting what it does, however now I prefer tfw2005 and tformers as they give all news including third parties.

mbd88prime wrote:i think its a combination of simply thinking that only a product that is licensed as a "transformer" can be called a transformer and to stay on Hasbro's good side for whatever reason. I know that third party news used to be on the "front page" on seibertron.com (click on my news credit for proof)which is where my staying on Hasbro's good side idea comes from. if it was just the licensing idea wouldn't seibertron have never let any third party news be posted from the get go [of third parties]?

anyway its annoying as seibertron.com used to be my favorite news site and seems to be still the best at reporting what it does, however now I prefer tfw2005 and tformers as they give all news including third parties.

I am truly sorry you feel that way, but I understand it. Like Va'al said, there is 3rd party discussion at least. I do miss the news on 3rd parties. They excite me most, lately.

I might be a weirdo here, but I find the bifurcation of official and unofficial product to be helpful. When Seibertron was covering the 3rd Party stuff on the home page, that scene was relatively fresh and uncluttered, and people weren't all that sure of what to make of it. These days, there are so many products from so many companies that updating the homepage with 3rd Party news would be burdensome for the news staff, as well as make it difficult to parse through all the news that comes in on a given day. Plus, having its own little compartmentalized section (some might say backwater) has allowed me to get to know the posters who frequent that section better, and has, at least for me, fostered a sense of community.

Those are the practical reasons for why I don't mind the separate section. As for the reason why that separate section exists, Ryan/Seibertron has been quite clear about his "only Transformers branded products are Transformers" stance. And there may be something behind that, be it Hasbro influence or simply personal devotion to the brand he freakin' loves and built a website for, but the fact is, he owns the site and it's something we have to respect (at least I do).

Just because somebody did it first doesnt mean they do it best. I say bring it back to the front page. If Hasbro really monitors this site, they can learn alot from 3rd parties. When highly anticipated 3rd party figurds are about to be released, Hasbro products become an afterthought.

Rated X wrote:Just because somebody did it first doesnt mean they do it best. I say bring it back to the front page. If Hasbro really monitors this site, they can learn alot from 3rd parties. When highly anticipated 3rd party figurds are about to be released, Hasbro products become an afterthought.

Hasbro doesn't care about 3rd parties. Their focus is kids and simplifying their product. 3rd Party goes in the complete opposite direction and just isn't a workable method for Hasbro.

In other parts of the world, children seem to be more apt to handle a higher level of complexity (we've dumbed out children down TOO far, I feel) and we also have ridiculously strict toy safety laws. Hasbro can take some design cues, get some ideas, but that's the long and short of it.

It is what it is, and no one can really do much about it.

Autobot032 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Just because somebody did it first doesnt mean they do it best. I say bring it back to the front page. If Hasbro really monitors this site, they can learn alot from 3rd parties. When highly anticipated 3rd party figurds are about to be released, Hasbro products become an afterthought.

Hasbro doesn't care about 3rd parties. Their focus is kids and simplifying their product. 3rd Party goes in the complete opposite direction and just isn't a workable method for Hasbro.

In other parts of the world, children seem to be more apt to handle a higher level of complexity (we've dumbed out children down TOO far, I feel) and we also have ridiculously strict toy safety laws. Hasbro can take some design cues, get some ideas, but that's the long and short of it.

It is what it is, and no one can really do much about it.

Well I do believe in some cases 3rd party stuff should be front paged for the simple fact that we all know Hasbro wont make certain characters happen. The perfect example is a cartoon accurate classics megatron. We all know Hasbro wont give us a gun be it a P-38 or a more modern glock. Were lucky we got a nerf gun back in 2006. And in 2014, I believe even a nerf gun is considered "violent" because of stupid parents who watch too much news and raise their kids as sissies. Hegemon is more of a transformer than any megatron Hasbro has released in the last 30 years. It deserves to be glorified 100 times more than any stupid kreon or rescue bots crap on the front page. Im tired of reading about every time Michael Bay Has a diva moment or stan bush takes a dump. And some days the front page is litterly covered with IDW previews. Are comic book previews really necessary ? If youre not gonna show us every page, why bother ? The people who really want to read the comic are going to skip the preview teaser and buy the book. Maybe I'm not looking at this website as a business like the owner is. But eventually fan sites will become a thing of the past because facebook gets the news first. All the news crew does is repost it. The only thing fan sites have going for them is interaction between the fans themselves. And I can honestly say this site has been alot more fun since most of the mods resigned. If their job was really that important, maybe they should have been paid. Same thing goes for the news crew. As nice a guy as Ryan is, I wouldn't be working for free. If Im helping the site that Is making someone else money, they better be giving me a cut. But thats just my personal opinion. I do appreciate how much you guys put into this ship to keep it afloat. Whats on the front page is purely cosmetic. The real hull of the ship is right here in these backpages.

3rd party stuff are NOT Transformers. If you were to front page 3rd party stuff then you may as well front page Robotech, Gundam, and any news relating to franchises that have transforming robots/mecha in them.

It's that simple.

Burn wrote:3rd party stuff are NOT Transformers. If you were to front page 3rd party stuff then you may as well front page Robotech, Gundam, and any news relating to franchises that have transforming robots/mecha in them.

It's that simple.

Without getting into the politics, I would like to point out that fan websites with sponsers are 3rd parties. If Money is being made from Hasbro IP without an official Hasbro license, then you are a 3rd party company. Only difference is you're selling advertising space instead of toys. Youre selling the advertising space to sponsers who want transformer fans to see their ads. A profit is being made and none of it goes to Hasbro. If this website was official, it Wouldn't be spelled "Seibertron". It would be spelled Cybertron. I laugh every time someone on the podcast pronounces it as "Sabertron". They are really taking legalities to the extreme. I dont want to offend anyone because I love this site. But its kind of crazy how one unofficial entity can denounce another for using Hasbro IP to make a profit.

Burn wrote:3rd party stuff are NOT Transformers. If you were to front page 3rd party stuff then you may as well front page Robotech, Gundam, and any news relating to franchises that have transforming robots/mecha in them.

It's that simple.

Without getting into the politics, I would like to point out that fan websites with sponsers are 3rd parties. If Money is being made from Hasbro IP without an official Hasbro license, then you are a 3rd party company. Only difference is you're selling advertising space instead of toys. Youre selling the advertising space to sponsers who want transformer fans to see their ads. A profit is being made and none of it goes to Hasbro. If this website was official, it Wouldn't be spelled "Seibertron". It would be spelled Cybertron. I laugh every time someone on the podcast pronounces it as "Sabertron". They are really taking legalities to the extreme. I dont want to offend anyone because I love this site. But its kind of crazy how one unofficial entity can denounce another for using Hasbro IP to make a profit.

Rated X wrote:

Burn wrote:3rd party stuff are NOT Transformers. If you were to front page 3rd party stuff then you may as well front page Robotech, Gundam, and any news relating to franchises that have transforming robots/mecha in them.

It's that simple.

Without getting into the politics, I would like to point out that fan websites with sponsers are 3rd parties. If Money is being made from Hasbro IP without an official Hasbro license, then you are a 3rd party company. Only difference is you're selling advertising space instead of toys. Youre selling the advertising space to sponsers who want transformer fans to see their ads. A profit is being made and none of it goes to Hasbro. If this website was official, it Wouldn't be spelled "Seibertron". It would be spelled Cybertron. I laugh every time someone on the podcast pronounces it as "Sabertron". They are really taking legalities to the extreme. I dont want to offend anyone because I love this site. But its kind of crazy how one unofficial entity can denounce another for using Hasbro IP to make a profit.

So a business selling advertising space makes it a 3rd party?



Keep stretching ...

And the debate goes on and on........

Btw loyal to the end.......if seibertron (I also miss the 3rd party front page headlines too) really hates 3rd party products, then they wold not have allocated a 3rd party section.

Burn wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Burn wrote:3rd party stuff are NOT Transformers. If you were to front page 3rd party stuff then you may as well front page Robotech, Gundam, and any news relating to franchises that have transforming robots/mecha in them.

It's that simple.

Without getting into the politics, I would like to point out that fan websites with sponsers are 3rd parties. If Money is being made from Hasbro IP without an official Hasbro license, then you are a 3rd party company. Only difference is you're selling advertising space instead of toys. Youre selling the advertising space to sponsers who want transformer fans to see their ads. A profit is being made and none of it goes to Hasbro. If this website was official, it Wouldn't be spelled "Seibertron". It would be spelled Cybertron. I laugh every time someone on the podcast pronounces it as "Sabertron". They are really taking legalities to the extreme. I dont want to offend anyone because I love this site. But its kind of crazy how one unofficial entity can denounce another for using Hasbro IP to make a profit.

So a business selling advertising space makes it a 3rd party?



Keep stretching ...

Using Hasbro IP without a license to sell your advertising space makes you just as unofficial as the 3rd party companies you denounce. Stop trying to sugarcoat it. Youre profiting off of Hasbro IP without the use of plastic. No wonder this site made such a big deal about the SOPA. Heaven forbid Hasbro sue those who profit on their non tangible IP ? Its not rocket science. Youre stealing from Hasbro just like a third party company. Hasbro sells licenses to use their IP for profit. Do you have one ? I dobut it. Hasbro chooses to let you exist without suing. I know you dont like how I put it, but the truth is the truth.

You don't read the disclaimer down the bottom do you?

Seibertron.com is an unofficial Transformers fansite. It is not associated with nor endorsed by Hasbro or Takara Tomy. Transformers® is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. Visit Transformers.com to view Hasbro's official Transformers website or visit Takara Tomy's official Transformers website. In order to comply with the FTC's endorsement guidelines, we hereby inform this site's viewers that we occassionally receive products, content, or other forms of media from various companies in order for us to provide content of interest.

See, at no point has Ryan or any of the staff claimed this is an "official" website. It's a FAN website. A website for fans of TRANSFORMERS. You know, those things that are created by Hasbro/Tomy-Takara or companies licensed by either of those.

By your reasoning, TV networks are 3rd party companies if they run a Target or Wal-Mart ad featuring Transformers on sale. And that's all Ryan's doing, selling advertising space for sellers of licensed Transformer material.

You're stretching, but hey, keep going. I'm sure you're amusing more than just myself like you do every time you try to argue for the inclusion of 3rd party products in the news feed.
(And yes, every time this discussion pops up, you're right there with the same thin arguments, you're dedicated, I'll give you that)

He doesn't hate third-parties at all, in fact he rather enjoys observing them, he just prefers not to own or directly promote them anymore. I know Seibertron personally, we've traveled across the country to various events together and discussed and looked at third-party figures together. He appreciates the engineering and homages, but ultimately they are just transforming toys to him, and not "Transformers".

In the beginning there were just a handful of third-party companies and they mainly produced kits to upgrade existing Has/Tak figures, and we frontpaged them. Little did we know how the third-party market would explode, and things quickly snowballed. If you to BBTS and check out their full listing of third-party manufacturers there are over 50! It got to be overwhelming both figuratively and literally. Official news would get lost in a sea of third-party updates. After many staff discussions we finally decided enough was enough, and pulled the plug on third-party news. Frankly I was disappointed with the decision, as I really enjoy third-party figures, and own a ton of them! However, I did understand why the decision was being made, accepted it, and moved on.

I can also assure you that the decision was not based on any communication from Has/Tak. There was absolutely no pressure or even a friendly request from them to drop third-party. We get no product directly from Hasbro, Seibertron has to go out and hustle for figures and pay for them just like everyone else.

Rated X wrote:If this website was official, it Wouldn't be spelled "Seibertron". It would be spelled Cybertron. I laugh every time someone on the podcast pronounces it as "Sabertron".

"Seibertron" = "セイバートロン" = "Say-ber-tron"

"Cybertron" = "サイバトロン" = "Sigh-ber-tron"

The name of this website is the 1984-2007 Japanese name of Planet Cybertron. It is supposed to be spoken as "Say-ber-tron", so the podcast guys have been saying correctly all along.

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:If this website was official, it Wouldn't be spelled "Seibertron". It would be spelled Cybertron. I laugh every time someone on the podcast pronounces it as "Sabertron".

"Seibertron" = "セイバートロン" = "Say-ber-tron"

"Cybertron" = "サイバトロン" = "Sigh-ber-tron"

The name of this website is the 1984-2007 Japanese name of Planet Cybertron. It is supposed to be spoken as "Say-ber-tron", so the podcast guys have been saying correctly all along.

And just FYI Hasbro nor Takara own www.cybertron.com. I know who does and it's actually for sale, he just wants way too much.

Most of the mods resigned? Am I missing something?

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:If this website was official, it Wouldn't be spelled "Seibertron". It would be spelled Cybertron. I laugh every time someone on the podcast pronounces it as "Sabertron".

"Seibertron" = "セイバートロン" = "Say-ber-tron"

"Cybertron" = "サイバトロン" = "Sigh-ber-tron"

The name of this website is the 1984-2007 Japanese name of Planet Cybertron. It is supposed to be spoken as "Say-ber-tron", so the podcast guys have been saying correctly all along.

Im not doubting you. But I think Ill stick with the pronunciation from the American cartoon. I say tomato, you say tamato, I say potato, you say patato, etc. But this is an English website based out of America. I'm not sure where the podcast guy is from, but Ryan pronounced it "Cybertron" when he introduced himself to me at Botcon. I would think it's his call how the website's name is officially pronounced. Am I wrong ?

El Duque wrote:He doesn't hate third-parties at all, in fact he rather enjoys observing them, he just prefers not to own or directly promote them anymore. I know Seibertron personally, we've traveled across the country to various events together and discussed and looked at third-party figures together. He appreciates the engineering and homages, but ultimately they are just transforming toys to him, and not "Transformers".

In the beginning there were just a handful of third-party companies and they mainly produced kits to upgrade existing Has/Tak figures, and we frontpaged them. Little did we know how the third-party market would explode, and things quickly snowballed. If you to BBTS and check out their full listing of third-party manufacturers there are over 50! It got to be overwhelming both figuratively and literally. Official news would get lost in a sea of third-party updates. After many staff discussions we finally decided enough was enough, and pulled the plug on third-party news. Frankly I was disappointed with the decision, as I really enjoy third-party figures, and own a ton of them! However, I did understand why the decision was being made, accepted it, and moved on.

I can also assure you that the decision was not based on any communication from Has/Tak. There was absolutely no pressure or even a friendly request from them to drop third-party. We get no product directly from Hasbro, Seibertron has to go out and hustle for figures and pay for them just like everyone else.

Im not disputing that. I was just making a point to Burn. He didn't take too kindly to me calling fan sites a type of third party company. Whether it's by the means of selling plastic toys or selling virtual real estate, it's still unlicensed use of Hasbro for profit. I'm totally down with you guys getting a piece of the Hasbro pie (cash wise) But at the same time I feel this site casts 3rd parties as villains for getting their piece of the Hasbro pie. I know Hasbro isn't paying you guys, but the sponsers are. So profit is being made off Hasbro IP. No shame in that brother. I just hate when certain news crew/mods on here start bashing third parties for stealing Hasbro's IP.

njb902 wrote:Most of the mods resigned? Am I missing something?

If the screen name isn't green they are not a mod anymore. I don't want to call out names, but I know of at least 3 people that all stopped modding around the same time. I don't know what their reasons are. That's their personal business. But I have openly stated before that I wouldn't mod for free. It's a stressful job I bet, they would have to pay me at least a little something for my efforts. Lately the 3rd party section has been a war zone. And honestly, that's what makes it fun.

Oh I see you just don't understand what the word most means.

Btw you keeping ranting about kids becoming sissies. Not only does it disparage our female friends here by insinuating that only boys/men play with TOY robots, but I'd like to know what makes you such a man to judge others?

njb902 wrote:Most of the mods resigned? Am I missing something?

If you're referring to the change in colours then no, Mods/Admins are green, news crew are blue, and those rarely sighted RPG folks are a different shade of green.

That being said, ALL staff are technically Moderators and can act accordingly. For some reason I keep getting messages from certain news crew members saying "You can deal with it".