I play pretty much exclusively on VASSAL due to living in the middle of nowhere, so as far as I'm concerned spoilers /are/ wave releases.

Do you run into many people that don't want to play against unreleased cards? I haven't played on it yet but see big value in practicing for tournaments and I wouldn't want to face something that couldn't possibly be at one. Just curious.

I play pretty much exclusively on VASSAL due to living in the middle of nowhere, so as far as I'm concerned spoilers /are/ wave releases.

Do you run into many people that don't want to play against unreleased cards? I haven't played on it yet but see big value in practicing for tournaments and I wouldn't want to face something that couldn't possibly be at one. Just curious.

Generally no. It's more common to see people who just haven't updated the module.

For those who like to have the info 6 months in advance, why? some say they want to know what they are buying, yet surely 1 months notice would be sufficient for you to know if your going to buy the ships or not?

This touches on a phenomenon I have been noticing in gaming for a while now. For the past several years, at least, there has been a steady movement to pre-order stuff more and more in advance. I'm not sure what exactly caused it, but I first noticed it in relation to GW stuff (surprisingly). Online retailers started making new GW stuff available for pre-order based only on rumors that that a new product was going to be out... sometime. I heard of several instances of retailers getting burned because they put a product up at a certain price, and then when the product was actually announced the retail price was higher than it had been rumored and they were stuck honoring their pre-orders at a much lower price than they wanted.

I'd like to blame the retailers for this trend because they are the ones who put products up for pre-order months before a release date is even known, much less arrives but, if people are going to commit to buying something almost a year in advance I can't blame the retailers for wanting them to commit to buy from THEM. So, as long as people keep feeling like they ABSOLUTELY HAVE to promise to buy something months before it comes out the stores will keep making that an option, and keep pushing the limits to make THEIR store the one that makes stuff available the earliest.

Myself, I don't get it. I will buy 1 of each of wave 7 as soon as it comes out. When my LGS owner has the option of ordering them from the distributor, he will say "Hey Troy, do you want some of the new X-Wing stuff?" and I will say "Yeah" and then I will have them within a day or two of release. If I didn't have a FLGS that would hold new stuff for customers I could still go online and pre-order stuff a week before release. then I will at least know whether or not there is money in the bank account to cover the purchase. If I had pre-ordered a Raider as soon as it was available, who knows what my finances would be like when the card is finally charged.

I think most of the retailers of FFG games wait to put pre-orders up until they get the information from FFG.

For those who like to have the info 6 months in advance, why? some say they want to know what they are buying, yet surely 1 months notice would be sufficient for you to know if your going to buy the ships or not?

For me an X-Wing expansion pack isn't a movie plot with an unexpected twist, or the funny ending of a long joke. Neither it is a christmas present from someone special with special meaning. It's just a box of extra pieces for my miniature game. I don't feel the need for it to be a surprise or to have funny secret tricks in its sleeve.

In my current situation, living on an island where nobody is interested on playing X-Wing but only Warhammer games, most of the enjoyment I get from this game is reading what the knowledgeable people have to say about this new ship or this new card. I really enjoy seeing the videos about matches, the "flight courses", reading the different card discussions and synergies. So the earlier the expansions are "spoiled" the earlier these contents start appearing, and the better for me.

For me an X-Wing expansion pack isn't a movie plot with an unexpected twist, or the funny ending of a long joke. Neither it is a christmas present from someone special with special meaning. It's just a box of extra pieces for my miniature game. I don't feel the need for it to be a surprise or to have funny secret tricks in its sleeve.

In my current situation, living on an island where nobody is interested on playing X-Wing but only Warhammer games, most of the enjoyment I get from this game is reading what the knowledgeable people have to say about this new ship or this new card. I really enjoy seeing the videos about matches, the "flight courses", reading the different card discussions and synergies. So the earlier the expansions are "spoiled" the earlier these contents start appearing, and the better for me.

And why can you not do that if the product actually hits shelves a month after those articles instead of 6 months? It would be the same release schedule, after a 1 time adjustment the pace of articles would be basically the same, just that the dry spell when we don't have news to talk about would be after the wave is released instead of after we have hashed out all the spoilers and are just waiting for the release date. In fact, there would probably be less of a dry spell because then the period of time when we are talking about the just released stuff won't overlap the period of time when we are talking about the spoiled upcoming stuff.

Plus, as I and a couple others have mentioned, by spoiling a little less per article they could publish more articles so that instead of a huge spate of talking about a dozen cards all at once, it can be a steady stream of conversation..."what new card are we going to see this week!?"

Plus, as I and a couple others have mentioned, by spoiling a little less per article they could publish more articles so that instead of a huge spate of talking about a dozen cards all at once, it can be a steady stream of conversation..."what new card are we going to see this week!?"

I'd actually be okay with this, but FFG's news-page setup doesn't really lend itself well. Maybe if they had a devblog-type setup.

I like the way FFG is doing things with the spoilers for 2 reasons:

- I feel it helps the game, especially the competitive side by pointing out issues with the cards long before they are released. It would be pretty sucky if for example one needed to have the 'does Bossk work when stressed' talk with every TO for months until FFG FAQed it.

- It helps me as a buyer plan my purchases better. As a Scum player, had I not known the contents of Wave 7, I'd end up with a Falcon and a Defender I'd never play just because I wanted Engine Upgrades and Predator.

Some of you would not be able to handle an LCG.

mini-factions lol!

I am fine with the spoilers. I like them.

What I am not fine with are the wildly inaccurate release dates. When a Wave is first announced there is a release date. The actual release date is always at least one quarter after this. It's frustrating. If they know they are always going to be behind, just set a later release date on the first announcement!

Totally fine with the spoilers. The more X-Wing articles and the more information we get on the releases, the better imho.

Compare and contrast with the GW approach - pain-of-death-secrecy-until-week-of-release - which I used to found incredibly annoying, back when I used to give a **** about GW.

FFG's approach is a breath of fresh air by comparison, and gives me something to look forward to.

- I feel it helps the game, especially the competitive side by pointing out issues with the cards long before they are released. It would be pretty sucky if for example one needed to have the 'does Bossk work when stressed' talk with every TO for months until FFG FAQed it.

This is just a case of poor rules text templating and shouldn’t actually be the player bases responsibility to Beta test the cards, Seriously many of the cards that people get confused by or try and “loophole” to do what they want could be remedied in 5 minutes worth of text retemplating. this many waves in they should not be making the same mistakes over and over again.

Additionally FFG issue card specific FAQ answers rather than game wide fundamental base rules rulings, which leads to the same problem on a virtually identically worded card being debated ad nauseum (E.G. Boosk and R7-T1). I asked the very same question about whether a ship is friendly with itself (prior to the ruling) 3 times and they kept asking for a specific card interaction rather than making a blanket ruling that covers all future issues.

- It helps me as a buyer plan my purchases better. As a Scum player, had I not known the contents of Wave 7, I'd end up with a Falcon and a Defender I'd never play just because I wanted Engine Upgrades and Predator.

Ironically, this probably goes against FFG’s business model as they would have wanted you to buy the falcon and defender for those cards, and you would have had they not revealed the info so far in advance.

Some of you would not be able to handle an LCG.

mini-factions lol!

I was thinking more along the lines of knowing information about stuff from the next 4-5 releases. The monthly release schedule can help with that, but it lines up with what people have been talking about. In one game, I have 2 more packs in the current cycle, the big box, and the first pack of the next cycle, with the second one likely being announced soon. And god help you if they do previews in a draft pack. Complaining about shifting focus to the upcoming newness after the current release just seems odd to me, since I'm used to it.

- I feel it helps the game, especially the competitive side by pointing out issues with the cards long before they are released. It would be pretty sucky if for example one needed to have the 'does Bossk work when stressed' talk with every TO for months until FFG FAQed it.

This is just a case of poor rules text templating and shouldn’t actually be the player bases responsibility to Beta test the cards, Seriously many of the cards that people get confused by or try and “loophole” to do what they want could be remedied in 5 minutes worth of text retemplating. this many waves in they should not be making the same mistakes over and over again.

Additionally FFG issue card specific FAQ answers rather than game wide fundamental base rules rulings, which leads to the same problem on a virtually identically worded card being debated ad nauseum (E.G. Boosk and R7-T1). I asked the very same question about whether a ship is friendly with itself (prior to the ruling) 3 times and they kept asking for a specific card interaction rather than making a blanket ruling that covers all future issues.

- It helps me as a buyer plan my purchases better. As a Scum player, had I not known the contents of Wave 7, I'd end up with a Falcon and a Defender I'd never play just because I wanted Engine Upgrades and Predator.

Ironically, this probably goes against FFG’s business model as they would have wanted you to buy the falcon and defender for those cards, and you would have had they not revealed the info so far in advance.

I agree 100% that FFG could write better (as in clearer and more consistent) rules, but fact is that they don't. And in this context, I feel it's more productive to have all the rules talk before they are tournament legal, as opposed to after.

Regarding the other point, had I bought the Falcon and Defender there is no guarantee I would consider buying the Hound's Tooth and the K-fighter. Hound's Tooth maybe, but K-fighter 100% not (I see no use for the ship in my lists beyond obtaining Predator). My goal was getting EU and Predator cards. By knowing I will be able to get them off Scum ships in Wave 7 I feel I'm getting more value for my money, which makes me happier, and happy customers stick around longer and spend more.

The speculation and discussion of stuff not likely to reach my table for many months to come has led me to only sporadically check here, and I've hardly touched the new spoiler articles.

I want my Raider, then we'll talk. .

Same goes for Imperial Assault really. Hype something when it is about to be released, not ages before.

There, there, lads and lasses. Allow me to be patronizing:

****Patronizing begins****

Don´t we all suffer a bit from being a member of a generation which is used to seeing something, wanting it, and getting it in a split second?

Should we really be annoyed by not being able to buy a toy the moment it is presented to us?

Don´t get me wrong, I am as excited as the next guy/gall when I receive an expansion for my collection (which is already bigger than I planned for, but I digress..).

But by now, after 6 waves, we know the goods won´t arrive by Concorde the day after the spoilers are placed in the news-section.

Patience Padawan, patience is a virtue.....

****Patronizing ends****

It's not so much as having a problem with delayed gratification as much as it starts to seem like FFG is hyping it more and more without actually being able to deliver.

If they start talking about upcoming stuff and then still not have it available almost a year later, you are going to lose interest and the articles seem more like a placeholder to keep us warm.

Right now it's as if they HAVE loaded all the Raiders aboard a Concorde without them realizing the Concorde has been taken out of service.

If there's too much news, we complain that everything is being spoiled.

If there's no news for a long period of time, we start worrying about there being no news.

Poor FFG, they can't win!

There, there, lads and lasses. Allow me to be patronizing:

No, allow me to be patronizing. Please - I insist.

Your post is pretty much illegible, I'm afraid. Be a good chap and change the font colour to white, would you kindly? Then I promise I'll be perfectly happy to ignore everything you've typed.

Toodles!

I'm not sure how seeing spoiler makes one any less excited about Wave 7

seeing the cards and actually being able to play with these completely new ships and completely new bombs are going to be two wholly different things

about the only real way to spoil one's fun is to hop on over to vassal and play the ships in the months before they're released

All these spoilers about Pluto and its mountains and valleys are killing the thrill of actually going there in a couple of centuries. Won't we leave any surprise for the astronauts?

Personally, I think the products are announced too soon, and spoiled too thoroughly, yeah. But, you know, that raises the question: "Too thoroughly for whom?" It's tough to second-guess FFG's marketing when it's helped them produce and sustain such a monstrous hit game.

But, if it were up to me?

Six weeks from release: Names and pictures of the ships.

Four weeks out through two weeks out: One generic pilot from each ship, and discussion of the ship's stat-line. (Including new capabilities, e.g., SLAM.)

Two weeks out to one week out: One unique pilot and two of the cooler upgrades from each ship. Show some squadron possibilities.

One day to release: Full spoilers.

The problem, of course, is that "release date" seems to be a very elusive target for FFG, sometimes through no fault of their own. So it's rough to be so precise with timing.

Additionally FFG issue card specific FAQ answers rather than game wide fundamental base rules rulings, which leads to the same problem on a virtually identically worded card being debated ad nauseum (E.G. Boosk and R7-T1). I asked the very same question about whether a ship is friendly with itself (prior to the ruling) 3 times and they kept asking for a specific card interaction rather than making a blanket ruling that covers all future issues.

- It helps me as a buyer plan my purchases better. As a Scum player, had I not known the contents of Wave 7, I'd end up with a Falcon and a Defender I'd never play just because I wanted Engine Upgrades and Predator.

Ironically, this probably goes against FFG’s business model as they would have wanted you to buy the falcon and defender for those cards, and you would have had they not revealed the info so far in advance.

To the FAQ point - The specific FAQ answer per card is very helpful, it is after all Frequently Asked Questions. *Almost* everything in the FAQ could be answered by a thorough reading of the rules, but the FAQ spells it out clearly in cases that are unclear, or where they get, or anticipate getting, a lot of questions. In almost every case, 2 similar cards will have the same ruling, in fact off the top of my head I can't think of any FAQ answers that contradict each other.*

Also, the errata section is different than the FAQ, although they are packaged together they have a different purpose. The errata is there to actually change a card wording that doesn't work the way they want, THIS is where the actual errors in wording or rules is corrected, the FAQ is there to explain things that do work as intended, but are questioned frequently. The errata section is pretty short for a game this complex.

Yes, there are rules that could be better worded, and there are some unfortunately worded cards, but this is definitely one of the better games I've played in that regard (side note, nothing compares to Starcraft: The Board Game, that rule book has literally answered every question my gaming group has come up with).

To the business model point - Unless you have some insight to their business model, I think you just mean to say it's just not in their best interest? If that's the case, I'd have to disagree. Like another poster said, happy customers usually means repeat customers, so most things that are good for the customer will mean more money in the long run.

Wow, sorry if that seemed ranty, not my intention. Back on topic, I think spoilers are fine for games, but movie spoilers are the worst invention ever, I even hate trailers for movies I know I want to see anyway (like Star Wars). I'm actually kinda annoyed with how much I know about episode 7, and I haven't watched any trailers. So, while wave spoilers have been fine so far, I think in September my tune will change, since I anticipate they will announce episode 7 ships then, which will be minor movie spoilers.

*I'm not suggesting they don't exist, I just can't think of any right now.

I agree, but realize that it's more than likely that the time for production (at the printer), shipment (on the boat), and distribution (shipping now) is probably a minimum of 4 months after the products have been finalized. I would assume their philosophy is to leak early to generate Usually it helps me decide how many of a given ship to order, either based on squad points or upgrades that demand multiple copies.

Overall, it seems like this is more searching for something to complain about rather than an actual grievance. If FFG ever adopts GW's secretive/hostile stance, I'd quit this game in a heartbeat.

If you read that out of my post then you clearly misread my post.

My point is that myself, and many others it seems, feel that by the time we get a new product all the 'steam' is out of it. Its just not exciting in the way it would have been earlier.

Like i've a pre order for the raider, i still want it but i was *excited* about it three or more months ago. Now i just feel like im picking up a parcel that accidentally got delivered to a wrong address and lost in the post for a third of a year.

Like i've a pre order for the raider, i still want it but i was *excited* about it three or more months ago. Now i just feel like im picking up a parcel that accidentally got delivered to a wrong address and lost in the post for a third of a year.

Oh, come on Gadge, be serious. I'm pretty sure you're going to be tearing that box open and bouncing up and down in excitement when it arrives.

Probably not to be honest. It was always 'completionist' purchase to begin with. While i play a fair bit of epic im not desperate for it and i've honestly lost interest a bit by now.

I spent most of May going into the FLGS on a daily basis going 'any news'.. i haven't bothered to even check for over a month

It could come out this week or september now for all i care. I'll still pick one up but its not like i cant use my Tie Advanced in a decent capacity with my gaming group anyway. Its all been pre revealed and we run off print outs so i dont need the cards.

Im being dead honest there. A few months ago i would have been super excited.