I love how so many threads degenerate into, "Well, Disney is going to pull the license anyway."

i doubt Hasbro will jump in again. They let the license laps because they were not getting the bang for their buck they wanted and we not willing to put resources towards the product. I doubt that has changed.

Orignal trilogy source books, with all the villians, ships, and heros info.

Once AOR is out we'll probably have all of the OT ships except for the custom models like the Falcon and Slave I, which there weren't that many of, possibly Home One, Executor, and Redemption if they aren't in AOR, and maybe the Tector class Star Destroyer and .Braha'tok-class gunship.

The Force and Destiny Books will likely have Dagoba, Cuanthor(SP?) Lightsaber forms, Mirlians, Kit fistos race, etc.

i doubt Hasbro will jump in again. They let the license laps because they were not getting the bang for their buck they wanted and we not willing to put resources towards the product. I doubt that has changed.

Normally you are right, but with the inevitable hype after the new movies come out, things may change.

I'm curious as to why they won't touch the prequels in any of their products, however, as that's an obvious vein to tap. Perhaps the license is only for the original films and their spin-off video games and novels?

That's probably the case, but even if it isn't, it's probably part of Disney's marketing plan. Their first act was the cancel The Clone Wars and then start sweeping post- Jedi things out of canon, yet they left The Old Republic alone. My guess is that they want to put the prequel trilogy behind them -- all the bad blood from older fans may be a driving force, but it could just be wanting to develop the IP in their own direction. Meanwhile, The Old Republic doesn't require any more input from them; they can just leave Bioware to develop it or let it slip away, whichever they choose.

I'm hoping FFG gets its contract renewed and retains the license. I always figured Hasbro would go for it, but that was when for some reason I thought Disney owned Hasbro. They don't, so really Disney doesn't have any reason to not renew the license except for a better profit. And let's face it: we're dealing with the Big Mouse. They can afford to sacrifice a little profit in lieu of goodwill from the fans, so as long as we keep spreading the word about Edge of the Empire and singing FFG's praises, I think they'll be fine.

For that reason, I personally hope they don't go backwards into the Clone Wars or Old Republic eras. Once Force and Destiny is out, people will have all the resources they need to homebrew those settings. I'd rather see the game continue moving forward into the new ages that now await us.

And I want my **** Imperial Knights.

Odds are you are going to have to homebrew the Imp knights Captain. Its too bad because I love the Legacy comics. I don't see any reason why they couldn't do some material set in the Clone Wars and The Old Republic Eras and still do stuff set during the ST era and between the OT and ST.

i doubt Hasbro will jump in again. They let the license laps because they were not getting the bang for their buck they wanted and we not willing to put resources towards the product. I doubt that has changed.

Normally you are right, but with the inevitable hype after the new movies come out, things may change.

I still seriously doubt they will pull the license from FFG. FFG has turned the games into cash cows that they can barely keep in stock. Disney is not stupid. You don't yank a license from a company making you lots of money and give it back to people who treated it like a red headed step child and did not make much money with it. Hasbro has D&D. I doubt they are going to put effort into anything else.

No one is saying that they will pull the license. Sigh. The license does expire though, eventually. The reality is that Disney/Lucas may put the license up for bids. As good as FFG is, they do not have the resources that Hasbro/WotC has. Not to mention the fact that Hasbro usually licenses the toy license. If such a situation were to arise there would be little FFG could do. And Hasbro/WotC were trying to make money on the license when there was not much more than EU. With new movies and series on the rise, I'm sure they could make a much "better" (this is subjective) effort.

I also want an adventure called Fear and loathing in Nar Shadaa, about a salt addled arcona and his wookie companion.

I'm curious as to why they won't touch the prequels in any of their products, however, as that's an obvious vein to tap. Perhaps the license is only for the original films and their spin-off video games and novels?

I always figured Hasbro would go for it, but that was when for some reason I thought Disney owned Hasbro. They don't, so really Disney doesn't have any reason to not renew the license except for a better profit. And let's face it: we're dealing with the Big Mouse. They can afford to sacrifice a little profit in lieu of goodwill from the fans..

I want to live in whatever world you're living in, where corporate executives care about fan goodwill over profit.

I agree Disney will not "pull the license". FFG has not done anything so catastrophic as to deserve that. Quite the opposite.

I simply meant that when the license expires - which it will, and probably in the next few years - what will happen then? Either FFG will renew it, or they won't. I was exploring both scenarios, because I care what happens in both cases. I love Edge of the Empire, it's one of the best role-playing games I've ever played. I'll be sad if ongoing support is cut off by the license moving. However I own every edition of Star Wars RPGs that's been published. I imagine I'd be up for whatever is next.

Here's another thought about future FFG Star Wars RPG products... how about a line of character miniatures? I believe FFG holds the license for Star Wars miniatures games, and so far they have only done spaceships. If they were to create a character miniatures game of some kind, the playing pieces might be useful in the RPG as well. I'm currently using the WotC Star Wars miniatures, and they're not bad at all, but I'm willing to bet that Fantasy Flight could improve upon those.

No one is saying that they will pull the license. Sigh. The license does expire though, eventually. The reality is that Disney/Lucas may put the license up for bids. As good as FFG is, they do not have the resources that Hasbro/WotC has. Not to mention the fact that Hasbro usually licenses the toy license. If such a situation were to arise there would be little FFG could do. And Hasbro/WotC were trying to make money on the license when there was not much more than EU. With new movies and series on the rise, I'm sure they could make a much "better" (this is subjective) effort.

I don't look at it as an either or scenario. It's all money to Disney, so if they want to license out gaming rights to more than one company it's win win for them. It's cutthroat for the companies competing with one another but that means zilch to Disney.

I'm curious as to why they won't touch the prequels in any of their products, however, as that's an obvious vein to tap. Perhaps the license is only for the original films and their spin-off video games and novels?

I always figured Hasbro would go for it, but that was when for some reason I thought Disney owned Hasbro. They don't, so really Disney doesn't have any reason to not renew the license except for a better profit. And let's face it: we're dealing with the Big Mouse. They can afford to sacrifice a little profit in lieu of goodwill from the fans..

I want to live in whatever world you're living in, where corporate executives care about fan goodwill over profit.

Actually CEOs and business folks in general do care about good will.

They are even required to account for it in filings with the SEC and investors. Coca-Cola has one of the highest brand recognitions in existence and is required to account for it as an asset on its books.

The reason is that good will has financial value. Angry people don't spend money on your stuff. If FFG is worth good will to Disney then they will try to account for it. Odds are pretty good that some low level executive in training is trying to place a dollar figure value on how much we love our game.

Now they don't care about good will over profit. That'd be plain stupid. If you will make more money making a few geeks go into nerd rage apoplexy, then so be it. Good will is just one aspect of profit after all.

My guess is that as long as FFG is making Disney money Disney won't rock the boat. FFG is more likely to conclude they aren't making enough money then Disney is. Disney will probably ask FFG to pay more for the license when it's time to renew as Disney has spent a lot of dough making that license even more valuable. FFG may conclude that it can't pay the new fee and then would lose it.

I think FFG is positioning themselves well to hang onto the license. We all love the RPG but they have now the RPG, cards, minis, and a board game. They are coming at tabletop gaming from lots of directions and I would expect more still. I bet they could launch a ground combat mini game at some point. Create another card game or two based on the gambling in the universe and make it a plug and play addition to the RPG or not as people could choose. Regardless I expect they will continue to diversify their product offerings in anticipation of the new movies coming out and the increased interest in Star Wars products that will invariably create.

I think that's an eminently reasonable line of thinking, Aservan.

It is a very reasonable line of thinking but also FFG has done something similar by adding more value to the license by presenting such quality products that make money. Hopefully Disney will factor that into the equation as well.

Also, judging by the designers talks on the podcasts, the contact between FFG and LF is very good.

Assuming they retain the license, the worst thing FFG could do is put out a second edition once all three CRBs are out. Wizards of the Coast is a great example of what happens when you try to shove a new edition that no one wants on your fanbase (their loss is Pathfinder's gain).

At best, I'd hope to see all the various specializations get their own books with 1-2 sourcebooks per year (similar to "Suns of Fortune") and another 2-3 adventure books per year (like "Jewel of Yavin") published. Optimally those sourcebook and adventure book projections would be per individual CRB (EotE, AoR, F&D); I know that may be aiming high but it never hurts to hope!

I know that I could keep playing EotE/AoR/F&D until my core books were tattered messes, though I would still like to see FFG continue with such great skill at recreating the vast tapestry that Star Wars has become and take it to even further detail. Is there a possibility that they could consider a Clone Wars Core system? A Dark Times? The Old Republic?

I highly doubt it for a number of reasons. 1) Disney is getting pretty anal about what is cannon and what isn't. That's the biggest "issue". As outside of the clone wars, Disney would not/will not issue licenses to produce, at this time. (Given that they have like a 20 year line-up for movies, I don't see this reversing any time soon. 2) it assumes that FFG will be allowed to continue playing in this universe. It very well may, and I and I'm sure many others hope so, but... (and there is always a but), it also assumes Disney doesn't buy out their own game department and take it in house. 3) New movies is going to produce new "buzz", assuming they aren't half horrid. Can Fantasy Flight come up with the funds to compete with Hasbro (wotc), given that they will see profit in this product again? And 4) While I don't have numbers, it also assumes that this product sells enough to pay for the license. I have no clue what the license costs, but I'm sure it's more then my house, cars, and vast Star Wars collection is worth even on the best days. Are the numbers high enough to support paying that again? I have no clue.

Best case, a second edition, or products encompassing 30 years in the future, time frame of the new movies (assuming there is enough of a shift to support the need).

It's not my most optimistic post, but it's how I see it panning out.

I think FFG is positioning themselves well to hang onto the license. We all love the RPG but they have now the RPG, cards, minis, and a board game. They are coming at tabletop gaming from lots of directions and I would expect more still. I bet they could launch a ground combat mini game at some point. Create another card game or two based on the gambling in the universe and make it a plug and play addition to the RPG or not as people could choose. Regardless I expect they will continue to diversify their product offerings in anticipation of the new movies coming out and the increased interest in Star Wars products that will invariably create.

It's a technical point, but the license doesn't actually include board games. I think it was RPGs, miniatures and card games only.

From the official announcement;

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce that it has entered a comprehensive licensing partnership with Lucasfilm Ltd. for the worldwide rights to publish card, roleplaying, and miniatures games set in the popular Star Wars ™ universe!

Ticky-tack, I'll grant, but there it is.

(EDIT: Yeah, Hasbro still has the board game license, mainly so they can make Star Wars versions of mass-market winners like Monopoly)

i doubt Hasbro will jump in again. They let the license laps because they were not getting the bang for their buck they wanted and we not willing to put resources towards the product. I doubt that has changed.

That's a valid point.

WotC had three bites at the apple in terms of a Star Wars RPG, and the rumormill suggests that Saga Edition performed far less than what they were hoping for given the costs involved, with further rumors being that they only hung onto the license due to how well the minis line was selling.

Could very well be that WotC wants to focus its RPG efforts on the new Dungeons and Dragons game to reclaim their spot as "publisher of the Fantasy RPG game."

i doubt Hasbro will jump in again. They let the license laps because they were not getting the bang for their buck they wanted and we not willing to put resources towards the product. I doubt that has changed.

That's a valid point.

WotC had three bites at the apple in terms of a Star Wars RPG, and the rumormill suggests that Saga Edition performed far less than what they were hoping for given the costs involved, with further rumors being that they only hung onto the license due to how well the minis line was selling.

Could very well be that WotC wants to focus its RPG efforts on the new Dungeons and Dragons game to reclaim their spot as "publisher of the Fantasy RPG game."

and in the process cede any claim to the sci-fi RPG game to FFG. I'm good with that.

these core rules definitely make role-playing Star Wars more accessible to my friends and family members that might otherwise not want to spend the time investment required from a d20 rpg. the cinematic game play style also is far ahead of those systems for me even. I don't think I could ever go back.

i doubt Hasbro will jump in again. They let the license laps because they were not getting the bang for their buck they wanted and we not willing to put resources towards the product. I doubt that has changed.

That's a valid point.

WotC had three bites at the apple in terms of a Star Wars RPG, and the rumormill suggests that Saga Edition performed far less than what they were hoping for given the costs involved, with further rumors being that they only hung onto the license due to how well the minis line was selling.

Could very well be that WotC wants to focus its RPG efforts on the new Dungeons and Dragons game to reclaim their spot as "publisher of the Fantasy RPG game."

and in the process cede any claim to the sci-fi RPG game to FFG. I'm good with that.

these core rules definitely make role-playing Star Wars more accessible to my friends and family members that might otherwise not want to spend the time investment required from a d20 rpg. the cinematic game play style also is far ahead of those systems for me even. I don't think I could ever go back.

Star Wars is more space opera or space fantasy than sci-fi. I really can't think of it as sci-fi compared to other games that I use to cover that area (currently Traveller or Eclipse Phase).