I was thinking it would be nice to have more pilots and other cards to use with the ships I already own and love.

Who would buy an expansion that did not include a ship?

Its not about the money I would just like to buy more but I have so many ships now I kinda want to keep the number of ships more manageable

(Card games make big money)

Lots of people would, including me. The question is whether or not it would be profitable or otherwise advisable for them to do so, and the fact that by Wave 6.5 they haven't done so indicates that someone important at FFG thinks it isn't.

Depends entirely on the cards included.

No. Half the reason I buy so much more than I should is because I get a cool little ship to place on my desk.

Yes, but it's not going to happen without a HUGE design and philosophy change at FFG. They make plenty of money off of selling ships just for the upgrades, that it makes little sense to change. And they can make more money by putting together a box with new upgrades and a repainted ship or two.

What we might see at some point in the future is a second edition core set with upgrades to pilots and damage decks if something fundamental needs to change.

In short, they make far more money by packaging the upgrades with a ship than selling cards alone. It is a miniatures game after all, so the minis should be the focal point

I know I'd like to be able to purchase replacement dials and ship tile. I boneheadedly opened my first expansion (a Y-Wing) by cutting too low on the pack. It neatly snipped the bottom part of the maneuver dial as well as the Gold Squadron/Dutch Vander ship tile. Some tape fixes it for casual games (though a canny opponent will be able to figure out my maneuvers) but there's no way I could ever bring it to a competitive environment. I'd happily drop 5 bucks for a new maneuver dial and set of ship tiles.

But just pilot cards and upgrade cards? Not really. Seems like a good excuse to produce an alternate color scheme for an existing model (Aces, the Transport X-wing).

Not for the same price... and honestly the out of pocket cost for this game in comparison to 40k, etc... is nothing really so for $15 I get a ship and cards. Good price for the prodcut IMO.

I know I'd like to be able to purchase replacement dials and ship tile. I boneheadedly opened my first expansion (a Y-Wing) by cutting too low on the pack. It neatly snipped the bottom part of the maneuver dial as well as the Gold Squadron/Dutch Vander ship tile. Some tape fixes it for casual games (though a canny opponent will be able to figure out my maneuvers) but there's no way I could ever bring it to a competitive environment. I'd happily drop 5 bucks for a new maneuver dial and set of ship tiles.

But just pilot cards and upgrade cards? Not really. Seems like a good excuse to produce an alternate color scheme for an existing model (Aces, the Transport X-wing).

Still got the proof of purchase? I'd snap a picture and send it to FFG along with your tale of woe. They have awesome customer service, maybe you'll be able to get a replacement.

Seems like a good excuse to produce an alternate color scheme for an existing model (Aces, the Transport X-wing).

The problem is for some of us anyway... Is at some point more ships is not something we want.

I have 6 X-Wings, B-Wings, A-Wings and Z-95's now, most of them I've repainted to one degree or another. Another alt-paint X-Wing just isn't something I put a lot of value in.

1 or 2 more perhaps. But when I'm looking at adding a 10th X-Wing to my collection just for the sake of the cars, I'm going to have to seriously consider how badly I want those cards.

We'd buy it but they wouldn't make it.

I'd buy, slightly depending on price and content. It would have to be pretty bad one way or the other for me not to buy it.

I'd flip that question around: how many cards need to be in a box for you to be willing to spend $15 on it?

I think $15 is at (maybe below) the market clearing price for a set of cards we want- but the toy that comes with the cards is a sort of nice bonus. I'll be buying another Defender _mostly_ for the predator card, but I'm not sure I'd spend $5 for that same set of cards without the Defender.

Let me be clear that I have too many Defenders already.

So: would I spend $15 on a cardpack that had, say Predator x5, PTL x5, outmaneuver x5, and EU x5? Maybe. The cards would have to be of that caliber to get me to consider it. And I'd really only buy it once- instead of buying a few packs several times the way I currently do.

It's not that it's a bad idea, I'm just not sure how FF could do it in a way that feels fair, and that doesn't undermine their business model.

I'm not sure how much they'd make out of new cards that came in a card only pack (and I'm not sure how interested I'd personally be).

However I think there's a lot of mileage in a "top up" pack of key cards, especially the ones that come with Epic ships.

It does grate on me a bit that the Advanced/Vader fix is included in the Raider pack, and that the crew C3PO and R2D2 were also with an epic ship.

They are

a) Iconic characters

b) Necessary for certain competitive builds (sure you don't have to include C3PO on a Falcon, but if you're aiming for a defensive falcon it's silly not to, likewise running an Advanced w/o the X1 title makes little sense). I know you don't *need* to run those ships to be competitive but it seems harsh to not have the option without the Epic purchase.

Whilst it's true you can proxy for casual, there are plenty of casual players who having invested a chunk of money already would prefer to have the actual cards - likewise a player who is interested in tournaments but still on a budget/with no interest in epic, shouldn't really be denied those cards imho.

I'm pretty sure a lot of players would happily purchase a pack that just included all the non-Epic Epic cards (I know most folk around here would). Whilst they might see a tiny tiny dip in sales of Epic ships, I really doubt there are more than a handful of players who buy the Epic ship for the non-Epic cards, most are likely buying the ship either way.

(You'd also get more people buy something like the Tie Advanced if they could also purchase the new upgrades as part of a top-up pack - as it stands with no way to get the X1 I also have no intention of ever buying a Tie Advanced, so that's another economic benefit of making a pack like that)

Yes, I'd buy it. I'd also buy a box with only mission objectives in it, as in models for the senators shuttle! convoy ships, escape capsule, asteroids, container, the works.

Yes. I will buy EVERY.THING.THEY.EVER.RELEASE.FOR.THIS.GAME.

It does grate on me a bit that the Advanced/Vader fix is included in the Raider pack, and that the crew C3PO and R2D2 were also with an epic ship.

Agreed, I'd love to get the Tie Advanced pilots and upgrades, but have very little interest in the Raider or any of the Epic ships for that matter. A cards only expansion would address that and I'd snap it up.

Most Wanted is another example. Got two Firesprays you want to field as Scum or three rebel Y-wings? Currently you'll need more than one of the Most Wanted expansions, at least for tournaments, again a card pack for that would be sweet.

Overall it would depend on what the card packs contained or the price point. If they were cheaper than buying a ship or they carried a lot more in the way of pilots and cards (plus replacement dials) I'd buy those happily.

It would depend on price content and are these packs randomized or are they known

I'd wager that nearly all of the people who would purchase a card pack would also purchase the exact same pack, but with a ship also. It seems like like FFG makes more money off ship packs, so as long as all card pack purchases will also translate directly into ship pack purchases, it makes little sense for them to produce them.

Basic economics would dictate that the best way to tell FFG that you want card packs instead of ship packs is to make ship packs less profitable for them - i.e., don't purchase ship packs to get duplicate upgrades, only buy as many ship packs as you actually intend to fly, etc.

Look at how much building people do in magic, the cards would add depth to the game and the ccg games prove there is always room for growth.

I mean, people buy expansions with ships they'll never use, so this is certainly an option!

I'd wager that nearly all of the people who would purchase a card pack would also purchase the exact same pack, but with a ship also. It seems like like FFG makes more money off ship packs, so as long as all card pack purchases will also translate directly into ship pack purchases, it makes little sense for them to produce them.

Basic economics would dictate that the best way to tell FFG that you want card packs instead of ship packs is to make ship packs less profitable for them - i.e., don't purchase ship packs to get duplicate upgrades, only buy as many ship packs as you actually intend to fly, etc.

I have not purchased one ship for the cards.

Many people have, and i would as well for some cards.

No. No shippie no buyyie.

I'm in

Disclaimer: I really don't play physical games any more, local community is non-existent.

At this point I'd actually prefer ship-less packs for ANYTHING that didn't involve an entirely new ship. It's far easier to fit more cards into my storage solution than it is to fit ships (depth issues).