There are only 2 things that could cause me to stop playing:

1 - No players to play against

2 - Something that would kill variety altogether (making so that only 1 or 2 builds are viable)

So far, I'm very happy that FFG is pushing #2 very far away. I see a vast array of builds in my area from people who like synergy, swarms, falcons or HLC wrapped ship. I like the feeling of not knowing what to expect from an opponent and I can spend hours in my head building or combining squads, which makes my days entertaining, even when not playing (I admit, that sounds a bit crazy )

NO I would not stop - Love this game and I would continue to play as is!

Of course I would be happy if they came out with an Imperial Huge (need at least one) and stopped there. I love the game and would continue to play and would continue to recommend it. As it is, since I play casually, it already takes a fair amount of time setting up; though all the cards to build a good squad. A lot of combinations, a lot of builds. I think I need a book to keep track of good combinations. So many options get complex.

No, I would keep playing if the releases dried up. In fact I wouldn't complain at all if they slowed down for a while especially with the release of Armada and Imperial Assault next year!

The only ships I really want to see now are some sort of Epic scale ships for the Empire everything else that is released is just icing on the cake.

Hmmmm Icing

I think I wouldn't stop playing casually, for fun, but I think the competitive scene would die out. Sooner or later the market becomes saturated, and after a few tourneys, a solid 'this is the best list' comes to pass, and then the competitive scene gets boring.

New releases adds to the excitement by creating new possibilities. I think I'd be happier if the releases slowed rather than stopped. It would produce occasional excitement, whereas the current schedule is quite fast. I don't think the current meta is solid, and as Aces/Wave 5 gets released int he next couple months, and perhaps Wave 6 by Christmas, the meta is very volatile. I'd rather see things come at a reasonable pace, not so much because I think the meta needs to be stabilized, but because I want the releases to come out for a long time. If there's 5+ years left, I'd be happy.

Jacob

This is interesting. When I last asked this question, before Wave IV, many players said, "Yes." What has changed?

I'll try to dig up the old post when I'm off my phone later.

For me, the a seer is still no. In fact, I think I'm just about done buying product. I have enough to play almost any squad I want and to provide my friends with squads as well. I have huge amounts of variety, all my favorite ships, and all of my favorite pilots. They'll have to work hard to interest me in more and S&V isn't cutting it.

If the game ends, which nothing lasts forever, yeah I think there would be die hards, but by and large it would fade away. Once the tournaments dried up, and new players could no longer buy in, you'd lose fresh faces, growth would stymie, store support would fade as it would have eventually no product to sell. That is just speaking of that, however..

There is also the fact that as we are ( people ) we are a fairly fickle bunch, quick to jump to the new shiney once something grows old and dull, which to some, doesn't take too long. So while it is a fantastic game, within months of it going out of print, I'd say the player base would drop to about 25 percent, then slowly dwindle from there. ( However that number might be overly optimistic )

I doubt you'll see a proper player sampling here however for view points, as I'd think most of us here love the game enough, if not to be die hards, at least savor it enough to spend free time rambling about it, so more then likely most of us would be the 25 percent remainder at the end, at least for awhile.

I think the tournament scene would die out quickly but casual play would probably continue for years.

Personally, I have so many ships that allow for so many different combinations, I could literally play a new build every day for the rest of my life with the content created right now.

That's good enough for me.

Well I would keep on playing.

Are you saying that they would keep making the game, just no new ships? In that case, absolutely keep playing. I loved star wars minis, and have 2000+ of them, but the game is no longer being made, so new players cannot get into it, and that results in game death. I rarely play it now, though I enjoy it when I do. I dont think a continual stream of new stuff is nessecary to make a game great. (monopoly, clue, many other classics. Chess) But if new players cannot go but the stuff to play, then the game is dead. I'd be ok with an imperial huge or two then slowing the releases way down, as long as they keep making reprints of everything they have done so far. the possible combinations is becoming overwhelming. more is not always better, and I think this was true in star wars miniatures. there were at least 8 different han solos, power creep became a huge problem, and on another note, the quality of the minis themselves took a nosedive. If new product results in power creep, unbalances or breaks the game, etc, then it's not good for the game as a whole. Long live xwing.

I would like to see a some more huge ships for epic on both sides of the table, rather than increasingly obscure ships. I think that is a way FFG can keep us coming back with less risk of messing up the core game.

I think I wouldn't stop playing casually, for fun, but I think the competitive scene would die out. Sooner or later the market becomes saturated, and after a few tourneys, a solid 'this is the best list' comes to pass, and then the competitive scene gets boring.

New releases adds to the excitement by creating new possibilities. I think I'd be happier if the releases slowed rather than stopped. It would produce occasional excitement, whereas the current schedule is quite fast. I don't think the current meta is solid, and as Aces/Wave 5 gets released int he next couple months, and perhaps Wave 6 by Christmas, the meta is very volatile. I'd rather see things come at a reasonable pace, not so much because I think the meta needs to be stabilized, but because I want the releases to come out for a long time. If there's 5+ years left, I'd be happy.

Jacob

I don't understand why the tournament scene would necessarily die out.

Question: Are you saying there is one build that 99%+ will beat them all and the game isn't currently well balanced?

I've thought of the opposite side of the coin. The game get so many expansions only the die-hards are left because casual player are over whelmed at the number of ships, upgrades, pages in the FAQ and cost.

I will agree that people get very bored quickly and many need want something new. But I agree, many will play this game for years (if it doesn't get too complicated).

Just a thought - no flaming necessary

I think he's saying, and I agree with him, that lack of newness will lead to a stale competitive scene. So its balanced but, but when all you see would be the same lists over and over with no change ever to really come, it would die out. As well if FFG stop producing new ships, I doubt they'd keep up existing ships for long and once FFG fully throw in the towel, many of the large tournaments would die out, aside from perhaps the few competitive hold outs running tournaments here or there.

I think I wouldn't stop playing casually, for fun, but I think the competitive scene would die out. Sooner or later the market becomes saturated, and after a few tourneys, a solid 'this is the best list' comes to pass, and then the competitive scene gets boring.

New releases adds to the excitement by creating new possibilities. I think I'd be happier if the releases slowed rather than stopped. It would produce occasional excitement, whereas the current schedule is quite fast. I don't think the current meta is solid, and as Aces/Wave 5 gets released int he next couple months, and perhaps Wave 6 by Christmas, the meta is very volatile. I'd rather see things come at a reasonable pace, not so much because I think the meta needs to be stabilized, but because I want the releases to come out for a long time. If there's 5+ years left, I'd be happy.

Jacob

I don't understand why the tournament scene would necessarily die out.

Question: Are you saying there is one build that 99%+ will beat them all and the game isn't currently well balanced?

I've thought of the opposite side of the coin. The game get so many expansions only the die-hards are left because casual player are over whelmed at the number of ships, upgrades, pages in the FAQ and cost.

I will agree that people get very bored quickly and many need want something new. But I agree, many will play this game for years (if it doesn't get too complicated).

Just a thought - no flaming necessary

Fair Questions.

Perhaps to clarify, I think what I meant to suggest is that without new ships on a fairly regular basis, or at least new upgrades/pilots of the ships that exist, sooner or later the meta for an area or an individual settles into a personal choice. Experimentation exists because new items become available. This produces a variety and excitement to the game. Without new items (ships, pilots, upgrades) experimentation slows down and eventually stops.

In our society of fast and continuous stimulation, I think the competitive scene would dry up for a number of reasons, including the one I suggest above.

Quite frankly, I've been watching for almost 20 years, and there's always a new/better Star Wars game every few years. Since the launch of the original CCG, there have been several major games that the tabletop gaming community has bought hard into. Lucas, and now Disney make money hand over foot from these, and there will be more moving forward.

When X-Wing eventually has no more new production, it will likely because the community is moving on to the next thing. Don't get me wrong, I love the current FFG LCG and X-wing games - they're by far the best I've experienced in 20 years, but at the same time, I'm not so sure that it's got infinite life.

Jacob

Thank you,

Good points.

Here's my earlier thread:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/110621-state-of-the-game/

The two key distinctions that we established in that thread seem to be between a.) store players and home players and b.) wargamers and boardgamers.

Store players seem more concerned with a potential loss of releases, because it would lead to less organized play, tournement support, and occasions for matches at their local store. Store owners, reasonably, hold these events in order to support sales for the new material. If there is no more material, that play space becomes dedicated to other popular games.

Home owners don't have these concerns.

The wargame/board game divide is a little more subtle. Broadly speaking, board gamers seem to want a "complete" game with a set number of components. They pull out X-Wing, make their squads, and then quickly play. Wargamers on the other hand expect an expanding world with new units, new upgrades, and all the combinations therein. I don't think we established it, but boardgamers may also derive the majority of their pleasure from the maneuvering and fighting, while wargamers derive pleasure more equally from both list building and dogfighting.

The wargame/board game divide is a little more subtle. Broadly speaking, board gamers seem to want a "complete" game with a set number of components. They pull out X-Wing, make their squads, and then quickly play. Wargamers on the other hand expect an expanding world with new units, new upgrades, and all the combinations therein. I don't think we established it, but boardgamers may also derive the majority of their pleasure from the maneuvering and fighting, while wargamers derive pleasure more equally from both list building and dogfighting.

There are wargamers that prefer a 'complete' game.

And maybe the other way around also.

No, but I would be sad because I never got my Clawcraft and V-wing :( :(.

I still play bloodbowl and it still has avery active community, although this is partly because of third parties making compatible miniatures for the system, something a licenced product can not do. I will keep playing my disappointment would be.if i was unable to complete my collection because the game was no longer available. The current release rate is a little fast for me as i have had to cut out unnecessary spending as we want to buy a house. I keep playong even without new things, as i cant see how much more they can do before things become a little too obscure. And i will get s&v because i.want at least one.of everything.

I think I'm pretty much already done buying X-Wing product at this point, so we'll see what happens.

I don't know how much more I'm going to buy. As I said earlier I'm not sure it is getting too complicated enough for a pickup game. That's why I was pleased with the new missions board where people can add their own. Some missions eliminate having to build a squad from scratch.

I'd likely play it more.

I have a packed schedule. Job, kids, wife, dogs, house, friends, family, other hobbies.

About the time I clear some room in my schedule to sit down with the most recent releases, they announce the next wave and its hard for me to focus on everything at once.

I need more time to absorb the material and learn it. Slowing releases would probably get me playing more.

The wargame/board game divide is a little more subtle. Broadly speaking, board gamers seem to want a "complete" game with a set number of components. They pull out X-Wing, make their squads, and then quickly play. Wargamers on the other hand expect an expanding world with new units, new upgrades, and all the combinations therein. I don't think we established it, but boardgamers may also derive the majority of their pleasure from the maneuvering and fighting, while wargamers derive pleasure more equally from both list building and dogfighting.

There are wargamers that prefer a 'complete' game.

And maybe the other way around also.

Of course. I in no way meant to imply that these were universal rules. Just that those categories seemed relevant in the last thread.

I think I'm pretty much already done buying X-Wing product at this point, so we'll see what happens.

I don't know how much more I'm going to buy. As I said earlier I'm not sure it is getting too complicated enough for a pickup game. That's why I was pleased with the new missions board where people can add their own. Some missions eliminate having to build a squad from scratch.

This is a really interesting development. I agree, obviously, but am curious to see what FFG does about it. I would guess that they would stop making new product soon and move their resources to something else, except that they obviously never did that with AGoT and other LCG's.

I hope that X-Wing doesn't turn into AGoT though. That was a great game that just became way too bloated for its own good. The artificial nature of tourney legal/not legal doesn't help things either. That would be one route for X-Wing, but a terrible one.

Just look at X-wing's sales. FFG is going to be keeping it around as long as possible. I expect a mix of new and repainted ships.

I'm suddenly reminded of the tale of the goose that laid the golden egg.

As long as there are people to play with then i would stick around. this game is one of the best I have ever played and new content Isn't entirely necessary. Some more common well known Family table top games (ex. chess, risk, monopoly, Catan, etc.) are a great example of this fact. New ships or not I love both Star Wars and this game.