Dear Fantasy Flight,

I know that you have said over and over that you are not going to issue packs of pilot or upgrade cards as a stand alone product. I really need you to reconsider. As a small game store owner, trying to get people into x wing is exhausting. They love playing the game, and ask me to set it up every time they are in, they even pick up a Falcon, hold it longingly in their hands... sigh... then put it back on the shelf. All of them marvel at my collection and long for the same thing but the buy in is much much to large. I tell them I was fortunate to get in when the game started. Now you would have to drop upwards of $500-$800 to even get close to what I have. It turns a lot of potential customers away. Let me give you an example. One guy really loves playing my interceptors, and he flies them really well. But he is using my interceptors with my auto thrusters. He wants to buy into the game but every time shakes his head wondering why he has to buy a scum ship when all he wants to do is play empire. I will have to say the third faction has helped with sales because they believe they are getting in at the start of the scum faction, which is true but they are slowly realizing that the upgrade cards they want are spread out over 2,3 or even 4 other ship expansions that they don't want to buy or don't have enough money to buy. Plus I would like to be able to give out something in the form of prize packs for tournaments and league nights. Something mildly inexpensive yet rewarding to the player.

Also I believe this would be a selling point of FFG, to be able to put out new card art, or upgrade cards that fix old ships without having to force a player to buy a ship they don't want to get the upgrade card they need. All I am saying is from my perspective to grow x wing even bigger you need to eliminate the high cost of making the squad you want. Please consider this option... we could all benefit from it.

Now you would have to drop upwards of $500-$800 to even get close to what I have. It turns a lot of potential customers away.

Why in the world would you drop that kind of sticker shock on someone? Yes it would cost that much to get everything from 6 waves. But no one needs to do that.

They should start like everyone else did, get a core set and then buy stuff they want.

You're trying to tell them they need to eat an elephant whole, rather than one bite at a time like you and I did.

If you want to get people into the game, then run a OT only league or escalation league. A OT only league only uses ships and upgrades from the first 3 waves. Let them get started with that and then worry about buying stuff from 4 and beyond.

Also FFG already offers prize support in the form of tournament packs and league packs, stuff that comes with a number of alt art cards, acrylic tokens, dice bags, card boxes, ect...

FFG is not going to sell something at a loss, so just give that up right now. It will not happen, based on everything FFG has said on this subject.

A number of alt cards, like exactly one alt push the limit?

A number of alt cards, like exactly one alt push the limit?

A number of them like 16 push the limits.

Why in the world would you drop that kind of sticker shock on someone? Yes it would cost that much to get everything from 6 waves. But no one needs to do that.

I know, right? If I recall correctly, the retail price of the core set is $40 - and that's everything you need to start playing the game.

No one needs to buy every expansion at once. In fact, I doubt anyone on this forum has done that, including the OP with his/her $500-$800+ collection. Let people get themselves started, and they'll buy what they like the look of when they can afford it. The entire opening post smacks of bad salesmanship and/or greed to me.

When a player asks me how much my collection costs what am I supposed to do, lie to them?

Dear Fantasy Flight,

I know that you have said over and over that you are not going to issue packs of pilot or upgrade cards as a stand alone product.

So why keep asking?

And, seeing as how you are a store owner, why not feel out how your other store owners feel about this, contact your distributor and let them talk to FFG? Sounds like that would be the way to do it to me.

When a guy who just bought his first falcon... goes home and watches the FFG worlds finals and say "oh man I need to get a C-3PO for my Fat Han build... then finds out he has to buy an $80 corvette for one upgrade card? Then comes and complains to me about it. What should I tell him?

This thread comes up at least every other month. Never going to happen. They are selling quite well with the product model they have.

When a player asks me how much my collection costs what am I supposed to do, lie to them?

No, but you can tell them that for about 100 bucks you can field quite a few lists. You aren't going to be able to run everything your heart desires, but you can put together a competitive list.

When a guy who just bought his first falcon... goes home and watches the FFG worlds finals and say "oh man I need to get a C-3PO for my Fat Han build... then finds out he has to buy an $80 corvette for one upgrade card? Then comes and complains to me about it. What should I tell him?

tell him he's more than welcome to bring a printed squad list or printed proxy card to club and game evenings

He'll only need the actual card if he decides he wants to be one of the small percentage of players who play at premier events

The buy-in isn't really the issue for me. I would just like a huge injection of new pilots for my existing ships without having to buy more models of these ships. It could also be a way of fixing lacklustre pilots/ships if it came with new bases too.

Is that player that just picked up the falcon really planning on going to FFG Worlds?

Instead of just dropping worst case scenarios, how about you tell them about all the other combos they can build. The game is a ton of fun without the perfect lists. In fact, I'd say it's better. Those min/max lists are great for tournaments, but really boring for casual fun play.

When a player asks me how much my collection costs what am I supposed to do, lie to them?

No, but also don't give them the impression you paid that cost in a single purchase.

When a guy who just bought his first falcon... goes home and watches the FFG worlds finals and say "oh man I need to get a C-3PO for my Fat Han build... then finds out he has to buy an $80 corvette for one upgrade card? Then comes and complains to me about it. What should I tell him?

I know this doesn't help you but it may help your customer.

http://teamcovenant.com/store/star-wars-x-wing-2/singles/upgrade-cards-1.html

P.S. I agree that it kind of sucks that I have to buy ships I don't want for cards that I feel are so important. i.e. Auto-Thrusters for interceptors.

But that is their business model. I'll continue, as I have other games, until I feel the cost/benefit of the game just isn't worth purchasing the non-stop waves.

"As a small game store owner, trying to get people into x wing is exhausting."

uh...not it's not. why on earth would you push the hyper-competitive aspect of this game?

first...that's a VERY small part...is this player going to Regionals tomorrow?

let them get a starter and some ships from their favored faction first. They in no way need to buy everything right away.

In fact you, as a small game store owner, could start a "rookie pilot" league where people have to build highlander lists from wave one then next month include wave one and two...etc.

I don't mean to be rude but if you can't make X-wing a seller in your store then maybe you are in the wrong business.

(I actually have trouble believing that you are a game store owner...I think this is a troll post)

Also, right now, a core set and two most-wanted packs will get you a decent, playable list. Better if you grab something other than Z-95 to back up the Warthogs, but you don't have to.

When a guy who just bought his first falcon... goes home and watches the FFG worlds finals and say "oh man I need to get a C-3PO for my Fat Han build... then finds out he has to buy an $80 corvette for one upgrade card? Then comes and complains to me about it. What should I tell him?

Friends don't let friends play fat han.

A number of alt cards, like exactly one alt push the limit?

A number of them like 16 push the limits.

Entering 16 tournaments is difficult. Unless you're suggesting just buy the tournament kit which is antithetical to the OP so...

The biggest problem for new players in the past was availability not buying too much. I agree with others, this is not different that any game with expansions. You don't need to mortgage your house to get started. Let them know the Falcon is a fantastic looking ships, nearly model quality. But it isn't the most fun way to play. If they'd love to own it make sure you have it ready for them. But encourage the base game first.

Start with a Core; if they really like Star Wars and miniatures then start with 2 x Core, 1 x X-Wing and 1 x TIE-Fighter. That is a great way to start.

If they are excited then they can expand from there; Y-Wing and TIE Advanced, etc...

So by the comments posted, the x wing community wouldn't benefit from FFG coming out with a $3.75 pack of random cards that may include alternate Tie Fighter pilot art, or a new YT-1300 pilot card, maybe you pull the upgrade card you wanted for a certain list, or maybe its a new upgrade card? Wouldn't adding a smaller priced option for someone to buy continuously throughout the year be beneficial to a company to fill in the gaps between waves? Especially when the production cost is so low.

If you're trying to get people into the game, host an X-Wing night. Invite them over, making sure that someone will be able to loan them the ships they don't have for their lists (I have enough myself for a three-player, three-faction furball at 100 points each). They can then purchase at their own pace while not feeling like they're missing out if they don't drop upwards of $500 at once on their collection.

So by the comments posted, the x wing community wouldn't benefit from FFG coming out with a $3.75 pack of random cards that may include alternate Tie Fighter pilot art, or a new YT-1300 pilot card, maybe you pull the upgrade card you wanted for a certain list, or maybe its a new upgrade card? Wouldn't adding a smaller priced option for someone to buy continuously throughout the year be beneficial to a company to fill in the gaps between waves? Especially when the production cost is so low.

Random card packs? No, no a thousand times no. This is not the other guys. NO random boosters, no blind buys, no thank you!

I agree. Answering your customers' question that way is like saying you need every model of every 40k army in order to properly play 40k. I have 2,500 points of necrons, and have played many rewarding games with them. But i still don't have every Necron model; not even close to it.

Like others have said, start them off with a couple of core sets, and Imp Aces and rebel Aces set. Let them build their list as it comes, and if there are specific cards they want, let them do homebrew jobs printing them off the web. not a big deal, really.

BBBBZ is one of the most competitive squads right now.

Total MSRP, including the core set: $115. (Yeah, I know B-Wings are scarce right now. They'll be back soon.)

When a guy who just bought his first falcon... goes home and watches the FFG worlds finals and say "oh man I need to get a C-3PO for my Fat Han build... then finds out he has to buy an $80 corvette for one upgrade card? Then comes and complains to me about it. What should I tell him?

"The guys who play at our weekly game nights are usually happy to let you borrow stuff, and you can proxy anything when playing casually."

"It's a lot cheaper than golf or watercolors."