http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=5298

And yes, that IS sarcasm. Why do you ask?

So if history serves us as a guide, the core rule book will be released ~2 months after?

Does anyone know WHY FFG does a staggered release? From a non-beginner stand point, it's just annoying. Release both the beginner and the core at the same time would allow users a choice as to which one is for them.

It sort of feels like they hope some non-beginners won't be able to wait and therefor they'll make a little extra cash -- which is annoying.

Eh, I'll probably pick it up anyway, non-beginner that I am. You can always use more dice, the maps are pretty good and the adventure has been pretty good (if railroady). It's worth the 20-ish bucks I'll lay out for the fool thing.

So if history serves us as a guide, the core rule book will be released ~2 months after?

Does anyone know WHY FFG does a staggered release? From a non-beginner stand point, it's just annoying. Release both the beginner and the core at the same time would allow users a choice as to which one is for them.

It sort of feels like they hope some non-beginners won't be able to wait and therefor they'll make a little extra cash -- which is annoying.

Because this way new players can buy it try it out then get the core book when it arrives. It is a teaser to draw people in. I buy the beginner box because it is a good deal for getting the dice as you get the dice and all of the maps and tokens and adventure.

I began with the EotE beginner box. They are great products.

I just wish the boxes were worth a ****. That's the only complaint I have against the range.

Still loving the art.

I wonder if these characters are going to be advanced compared to other beginner characters. From the description they sound pretty capable and honestly they would probably need to be better than starting characters to ensure that people can really experience playing a Force user.

I wonder if these characters are going to be advanced compared to other beginner characters. From the description they sound pretty capable and honestly they would probably need to be better than starting characters to ensure that people can really experience playing a Force user.

They're not too advanced. It takes some squinting, but in the open character folio, the characters has 7 ranks (2 more than he gets free), a pretty standard characteristic layout (3 3's), 1 Force Rating (it's to the left in-between the red bar on and the inventory on the right side), and what looks like 2 force powers with maybe a couple upgrades each at most on them (bottom right under the red bar). So he probably has like 10 or so extra experience; which could possibly come from the whole "Morality at 50" thing.

I wonder if these characters are going to be advanced compared to other beginner characters. From the description they sound pretty capable and honestly they would probably need to be better than starting characters to ensure that people can really experience playing a Force user.

Doubtful.

Both the EotE and AoR Beginner Boxes has the pre-gens at roughly the same level of ability as a PC made using the character generation rules in those product lines' respective core rulebook.

At most, they might have some extra XP as Lathrop observed for one of the portfolios and then extra money for starting gear. So could be that most of them would have the +5 XP/+1000 credits option, with one or two using +10 XP and maybe one of them going for +2500 credits.

Nevermind...

So if history serves us as a guide, the core rule book will be released ~2 months after?

Does anyone know WHY FFG does a staggered release? From a non-beginner stand point, it's just annoying. Release both the beginner and the core at the same time would allow users a choice as to which one is for them.

It sort of feels like they hope some non-beginners won't be able to wait and therefor they'll make a little extra cash -- which is annoying.

They can release the Beginner game sooner than the much larger core rule book. This is beneficial for those who would like to try out the system. Many folk like to take easy (and less costly) steps when trying out a new RPG. It is relatively expensive to buy the core book; there will be less resistance to buying a less expensive starter set. If folk enjoy the starter set then they can buy the full rulebook when it becomes available. Will FFG make more $$ doing things this way? Well, they will likely have increased sales of the core rulebook from those who were pleased with the beginner set and they will make money from those of us who have to have everything. They aren't doing anything dishonest or misleading so I don't have any problem with it.

Does anyone know WHY FFG does a staggered release? From a non-beginner stand point, it's just annoying. Release both the beginner and the core at the same time would allow users a choice as to which one is for them.

Speculating here, but I would guess the same people are working on the beginner box as the book. (I'm talking in-house resources here, like editors, layout folks and so on.) Ergo the releases would have to be staggered, unless you wanted both to get released later!

The more money they make the more likely they keep putting out products. I'm game.

The more money they make the more likely they keep putting out products. I'm game.

Pretty much this, when WotC pulled out for whatever cost reasons...

Aesthetically, I do appreciate the " Force push... but with a blaster in the other hand " as a counterpart to the iconic-to-the-point-of-cliche lightsaber, if only to remind us that FFG's SWRPGs are by default in a post-Order 66 setting.

The more money they make the more likely they keep putting out products. I'm game.

Pretty much this, when WotC pulled out for whatever cost reasons...

You gotta remember WotC's structure and situation.

WotC is owned by Hasbro. When you've got a parent company that big, they are always expecting profits and cost reductions. RPGs and the like are profitable, but not hugely so. So WotC was under a lot of pressure.

WotC didn't own Star Wars. They bought the rights in a rather hurried fashion when WEG imploded (right about the same time the Pahntom Menace came out), and quickly made D&D with lightsabers to get it rolling. Later editions got better, and Saga edition even became a kind of alpha test for D&D 4e. But they still suffered from lack of ownership. Everything produced had to have tribute paid to Pappa George, be approved by George, and suffer the constraints placed upon it by the Flanneled lord on high. So WotC had to develop a product, send it to LFL, wait for a response, adjust to meet their requirements, confirm they were made, and then release. If the Force Unleashed video game got held up because they were having trouble porting it to the PS3, the attached sourcebook had to be warehoused (read: paid to be kept in a warehouse) until some other company got it's poop together.

Also, at the time WotC got out of the Star Wars game, the only foreseeable product on the Star Wars front was more novels and episode of Clone Wars. Nice, but not really enough to make RPG supplements for at a regularly enough clip to keep the license payments up.

When you think about it like that it's really no surprise that WotC decided to pass on it. They had a product line that was expensive, restrictive, unpredictable, a little played out, and diverting talent from other, better (in the business sense) product lines.

It's rather ironic that after giving Star Wars the chop, D&D 4e flopped, LFL was sold to the mouse, and new movies for as long as people are willing to pay was announced...

Though personally I felt that D20 wasn't a very good fit to the Star Wars setting, so I'm rather happy with how things have gone. Here's hoping FFG will be able to maintain profitability for some time...

3 Boxes means that a person in a store (virtual or real) now has three chances of spotting one that he likes.

Ghostofman,

I wouldn't go so far as to say that D&D 4e "flopped" per se. It certainly made WotC plenty of money, particularly the D&D Insider subscription, so in that regard it was quite the success. Yes, they lost customers due to Paizo sticking with the 3.5 system after a few coats of paint and a name change, but 4e was never a failure in terms of it being a commercial product, and in fact had a longer shelf life than either version D&D 3rd edition (3.0 or 3.5) did.

But yeah, they weren't making nearly as much on the Star Wars RPG as they were with an IP that they owned lock, stock, and barrel. Rumors were that the only reason that WotC even hung onto the license as long as they did was that the SW minis line was quite profitable for them and thus to some extent justified the cost. And even though WotC had a pretty good relationship with Lucasfilm in terms of the approvals process, I think the fiasco with Force Unleashed was probably an indication that maybe it was time to let go of that particular attachment. Though about Force Unleashed, as I understand it WotC wasn't hit too badly fiscally as the RPG sourcebook hadn't been sent to the printers yet, and Rodney even mentioned that he took advantage of the delay to do some further playtesting on the material and revise some of it; the minis were released on the original schedule, so no extra storage costs for WotC there.

Personally, I liked (and still do like) Saga Edition, and thought that it did a pretty solid job of allowing folks to play in the Star Wars setting. It wasn't perfect, but then no RPG on the market is, as any GM will wind up tinkering with the rules of their favorite RPG systems to better tailor the game to their personal tastes.