Roboculture

I was born 1985, so I didn’t know what the hell Robotech was back then. I suppose a few others share this experience of being a ‘late-bloomer’ type of fan. We are the fans that discovered the classic series much later, like sometime during the 1990’s.

The 90’s

Those fortunate to have seen the show on its original 1985 run have already experienced the so-called “rabid fan phase” during the mid to late 1990’s. These were the days when the internet and even the fans themselves were experiencing the so-called “growing pains” (many were still students with lots of free time on their hands)



A fan “boom” took place, where sites of varying quality began popping up left and right. Robotech discussion groups opened up from all corners of the world. These places became the hubs of various heated discussion of varying degrees regarding canon and what not took place. People wrote their own Robotech fiction. People made ten page thesis on the more arbitrary elements of the series. People created their own role-playing-game stats since the official game stats were fundamentally flawed.

Second Millenium / Chance

Seeing that the Robotech license was their only moneymaker, Harmony Gold determined they could be making money off this rabble. So they decided to get their act together, and establish www.robotech.com. From then on, the impossible happened – Robotech online fan activity actually began to decline!


Fastforward It’s now 2008, nearly a decade after the so-called “Great Leap Forward”. How is the Robotech fandom faring? Many of the fans who partook in the 90’s boom have burned themselves out. Many have moved on to more worthwhile interests and hobbies. Those that remained lurk at the forums every now and then, and that’s… about it. These are actually the dangerous lot, since you never know when they will strike with an opinion or two.

Some of the 90's straggler fans, not content in staying in the sidelines, have begun utilizing the latest in internet technology to express their fanboy nostalgia.

Late bloomer fans, who are now at the “rabid fan” age, will most likely be bummed at how stagnant the online fandom has become. Despite belonging to the internet/me/entitlement/Youtube/Facebook generation, the significant drop in interest for the Robotech franchise has created a vacuum in the desire for fan content.

In any case, what creative outlets on the net have the few and proud Robotech fans utilized?

Websites

Don’t expect too much from Robotech websites. The advancements of Flash and other web applications don’t seem to have translated to Robotech very well. Many classic Robotech websites such as the Robotech Reference Guide and Robotech Research page are extremely outdated in terms of design.




Many have not been updated for years, content-wise as well. The official Robotech page’s design itself hasn’t been updated in eight years. It’s most significant advancement is when the banner changed color. A recent Robotech fansite has been established, RobotechX, but time will tell if this site will go anywhere. A sad, yet common site from most Robotech fansites.

Blogs

Nearly everyone connected to the net has some kind of web blog about the most niche of topics. Over the years, a handful of Robotech fans have used blogs in a number of interesting ways – from the informative, to the informal.


Some have used their blogs for comics, some for art, some for lampooning. Many Robotech bloggers however have opted to detail every Robotech news out there. These blogs were heavily updated sometime between ’04 and ’06 and have only recently suffered a significant decline.

Podcasts

Thanks to revolutionary stuff like Skype and Talkshoe, fans are now able talk about Robotech, to other fans around the world in little recorded shows. This is probably the most consistent Robotech-related thing on the net at the moment, delivering weekly content (of varying quality). Thanks to Skype, you can now hear raving Robotech fanboys. Isn't technology great?


Forums

If you are looking to discuss Robotech, there are only two Robotech forums on the net that fans converge to – the official Robotech forum, and the Palladium Robotech forum.





Fan forums, such as the Disciples of Zor boards, RobotechX forum, and United Earth Group boards, have floated around the net for some time now, but the activity they generate is so low they’re barely worthwhile to many casual Robotech fans. The only other fanmade forum that has a decent amount of activity is Macrossworld, but be prepared for a fight. I hear they don’t like Robotech there. It is really a shame, but those are the strokes.

Fan art/fiction Galleries

Robotech fans looking for great looking fan art or fiction are a little out of luck. Only a handful of artists exclusively draw Robotech these days.




The best place to find art is on the deviantART website, or perhaps the official Robotech website’s fan art gallery. Be prepared for some amount of disappointment here.

As for Robotech fan fiction, a lot of the good stuff is scattered all over the net. The 1990’s saw a number of fans writing their own Robotech stories, with some continuing up to this day. I shall have to write an entire feature for this!


The best place to read about fiction is either on www.Robotecha.com or the official Robotech fiction gallery. Another good un' can be found on http://happypenguins.deviantart.com/ with fiction and art. These two dedicated souls are the kind of people I was expecting to find more in the Robotech community, but have since been bummed. That’s really about it actually.

It’s sad. One would think the release of ‘Robotech; The Shadow Chronicles’ and its upcoming sequel would’ve increased internet buzz and activity amongst the casual and hardcore fans of the franchise, but no such thing has happened. Many Robotech fans can only ride the wave of nostalgia for so long before they on to better things.

Fan projects

Huh? They still make these? Well, if they do, you folks will be the first to know. Or not. We'll see.

Conclusion

So that's it. Any way you look at it, Robotech the franchise itself may be 'alive' (or in life support), but the fandom is sure as hell 'kaput'. I really would hate myself if I left it at that. 2008 feels like the beginning of something, but what that thing is has yet to be seen.

I admire the few that stand defiant against this wave of pessimism, and I say, more power to you! If this is something you enjoy, then go for it! You will find your audience if you look hard enough.