Yeah I'm not worried about the playmat issue. It likely won't be enforced, as many TOs have all the mats they'll ever need from before FFG even offered a mat for sale. If anyone raises a stink at regionals, I will smile and wave as they are shown the nearest airlock 
Almost All Playmats Just Got Nerfed
Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space!
Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space!
Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space!
Hi I'm Veldrin president and ceo of Veldrin's Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space emporium and warehouse. Due to a shipping error I'm currently overstocked with Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space and I'm passing on the savings to you!!
Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space!
Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space!
Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space!
Hi I'm Veldrin president and ceo of Veldrin's Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space emporium and warehouse. Due to a shipping error I'm currently overstocked with Mood enhancing tabletop images that makes it easier to visualize the game taking place in space and I'm passing on the savings to you!!
Good job he didn't order any starfield playmats - he wouldn't be able to give those things away!
My FLGS had a bunch of leftover 1' x 1' black floor tiles. They just glued nine of them to a piece of pegboard and bam, instant playing surface. Had enough to do three or four of them.
Using a playmat is optional. TOs just need to get some 4x8 hardboard, have it cut down to 3'x3', roll some black paint on it, and flick some white paint over that. now you have 2 3'x3' play areas for around $10-15 and a couple hours work.
So how is taping off a 3 x 3 area better then using a 3 x 3 printed space image? I have learned that taping an area off means that all the areas are going to be different by a small margin.
Meh,
Welcome to the commercial reality that is a game which is a lot more popular than its designers ever imagined it would be. Those of us who have played any GW games and went to a GW store to do it, are very familiar with the no third party products rule.
Once X-Wing took off the way it has, It was only a matter of time before FFG followed suit and tried to go the full official product only hog.
Won't matter one tiny little bit outside of the worlds though.
Cheers
Baaa
Meh,
Welcome to the commercial reality that is a game which is a lot more popular than its designers ever imagined it would be. Those of us who have played any GW games and went to a GW store to do it, are very familiar with the no third party products rule.
Once X-Wing took off the way it has, It was only a matter of time before FFG followed suit and tried to go the full official product only hog.
Won't matter one tiny little bit outside of the worlds though.
Cheers
Baaa
How does it effect worlds? Last year they provided all the mats and they were the mouse pad Starfield one's.
Because outside of the Worlds, how exactly are FFG going to enforce the policy? Unlike GW they don't own/lease/rent the stores a lot of their (certainly UK 40k/WHFB) customers play in.
They do, however, have a presence at the worlds so only their mats will be on show.
Cheers
Baaa
World's is at there headquarters game store, so of course only there mats are going to be used, like last time since they are the TO. This ruling has literally 0 effect.
World's is at there headquarters game store, so of course only there mats are going to be used, like last time since they are the TO. This ruling has literally 0 effect.
Then we're saying the same thing, are we not?
That's why it's meh.
Cheers
Baaa
I think it is telling they did not put this change in red as they have in the past and as they should have per the comment at the top of the tournament rules.
I hope folks will complain to FFG about this very stupid rule. You can do so here: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/contact/support/
The real problem is that playmats are now optional. The rules reads, "IF PLAYMATS ARE USED, only official FFG X-Wing™ Playmats are allowed." So, if you don't have a FFG mat, then you cannot play with any mat and have to play on a table. There's no way playing on just a table without a mat is better than most third party mats.
This is a stupid ruling.
This is a stupid ruling.
As was the only using GW paints, paint brushes and glue rules that were brought in.
But, they make the toys that you buy. And if you want to play in their garden you have to play by their rules. Or else they'll take their ball and go home.
Simple answer?
Don't play in their garden.
Cheers
Baaa
So this is potentially a bigger change, with more impact, to most of us and our FLGS than the Cloak rule change:
Page 1. Under Component Modifications, last paragraph.
If playmats are used, only official FFG X-Wing™ Playmats are allowed. Thisis to guarantee a consistent experience for players and prevent any advantage
players may gain from familiarity with a particular map.
a solution looking for a problem. I wish FFG would be a bit more liberal in using "It's fine as long as both players agree to it's use" in their treatment of 3rd party products. What's happening to "Fly casual" FFG?
Edited by Koing907
a solution looking for a problem. I wish FFG would be a bit more liberal in using "It's fine as long as both players agree to it's use" in their treatment of 3rd party products. What's happening to "Fly casual" FFG?
A geeky game is only a geeky game until the geeks who designed it start making lots of money.
Then it becomes product.
And product needs to sell to keep said geeks richer than a rich thing on a rich day.
Cheers
Baaa
This is a stupid ruling.
As was the only using GW paints, paint brushes and glue rules that were brought in.
But, they make the toys that you buy. And if you want to play in their garden you have to play by their rules. Or else they'll take their ball and go home.
Simple answer?
Don't play in their garden.
Cheers
Baaa
The thing is, as is, I do not need to buy a map to play. And, neither does the store. All they have to do is stick us on two tables with wide crack in between and tape marking the edges and they are going by the letter of the law. Heck, all of the tables could even be very different from one another (some with cracks, some without; some level, some not; some two tables put together, some one large table). All the rule says is that IF you use a map, it has to be one of these maps.
The original rule was fine... TO approved maps that are randomly assigned.
The thing is, as is, I do not need to buy a map to play. And, neither does the store. All they have to do is stick us on two tables with wide crack in between and tape marking the edges and they are going by the letter of the law. Heck, all of the tables could even be very different from one another (some with cracks, some without; some level, some not; some two tables put together, some one large table). All the rule says is that IF you use a map, it has to be one of these maps.
The original rule was fine... TO approved maps that are randomly assigned.
I'm not disputing what you're saying in any way, shape or form, and I agree with you that the reality is outside of FFG tournaments, it's unenforceable.
What is amusingly depressing about the full thing though, is that FFG are starting to act like that big bad wolf of the tabletop world, GW.
Why amusing? Because there are so many people who have held up smaller companies as to how a games company should be run; have ranted about it on the interwebs for years and because something irks them, they are starting to see, that at the end of the day, it's all about money.
And depressing? Because it's happening.
It's a non-starter. Why?
My local store has a great selection of gaming tables, for everything you can imagine and more. If, for some reason, the owner isn't allowed to use his current set-up for store or regional championships because he won't purchase 20 FFG mats then he won't host them.
People lose interest in playing X-Wing in his store and he stops buying and selling X-Wing.
Cheers
Baaa
If no one at a tournament owns an FFG mat then how can anyone be required to use it? This is a non issue for me.
Back when I first started playing the game and before we had mats to play on, we would just push two white gaming tables together and mark off the edges.
It's a really horrible experience that completely takes you out of the feeling of playing a space combat game, instead you're just moving plastic ships around on a plastic/wood table(s). Forcing players to play tournaments on a table marked off with tape is going to create really bad experiences for people and make them not want to come back to the game.
FFG overstepped here, this move is burning a lot of bridges with the TOs and risking a lot of money if they don't pull this one back quickly and quietly.
If no one at a tournament owns an FFG mat then how can anyone be required to use it? This is a non issue for me.
Because there's no exemption from the rule for people that don't own the playmat. Either you have to buy their playmats or you can't use a playmat at all. If you are playing in a tournament and you use a playmat that is not an official FFG playmat, you have violated this rule, whether you own one or not.
I expect that players attending events hosted by FFG will be required to bring their own official mats, rather than being provided with them. Everyone else can safely ignore the rule.
Edit: Hosts of Regionals and possibly Store Championships might not be granted the privilege of hosting those events unless they comply. But I doubt FFG has the ability and will to enforce that.
Edited by DagobahDaveSo when you go to FFG's headquarters for whatever tournament they run you play on their provided mats. I fail to see how anything not included in the core set that someone doesn't buy can actually be required in practice.
That said if they release a mat featuring the second Death Star I'll buy that in a heartbeat.
Y'all are getting upset over what will the be the most ignored rule in the history of minature wargaming.
The thing is, as is, I do not need to buy a map to play. And, neither does the store. All they have to do is stick us on two tables with wide crack in between and tape marking the edges and they are going by the letter of the law. Heck, all of the tables could even be very different from one another (some with cracks, some without; some level, some not; some two tables put together, some one large table). All the rule says is that IF you use a map, it has to be one of these maps.
The original rule was fine... TO approved maps that are randomly assigned.
I'm not disputing what you're saying in any way, shape or form, and I agree with you that the reality is outside of FFG tournaments, it's unenforceable.
What is amusingly depressing about the full thing though, is that FFG are starting to act like that big bad wolf of the tabletop world, GW.
Why amusing? Because there are so many people who have held up smaller companies as to how a games company should be run; have ranted about it on the interwebs for years and because something irks them, they are starting to see, that at the end of the day, it's all about money.
And depressing? Because it's happening.
It's a non-starter. Why?
My local store has a great selection of gaming tables, for everything you can imagine and more. If, for some reason, the owner isn't allowed to use his current set-up for store or regional championships because he won't purchase 20 FFG mats then he won't host them.
People lose interest in playing X-Wing in his store and he stops buying and selling X-Wing.
Cheers
Baaa
One thing missing in your comment is that FFG the small game company was bought out by a very large European gaming company Asmodee. But, I think it unlikely that this decision came from the corporate overlords
If no one at a tournament owns an FFG mat then how can anyone be required to use it? This is a non issue for me.
No one is required to use any mat now. Now it's just that if you don't have the FFG mats you can't use any mats. Stupid for many reasons, including that it is unenforceable at LGSs
One thing missing in your comment is that FFG the small game company was bought out by a very large European gaming company Asmodee. But, I think it unlikely that this decision came from the corporate overlords
And another thing is that FFG rely entirely on the IP of other companies to make their money.
Cheers
Baaa