As many of you know, I used to work for GW. When i worked in marketing in UK studio we'd keep stuff under wraps til about a month before it was due out then make a big deal about 'new releases'.

TBH, i don't think this was the best way of doing stuff because you'd have to have stupidly tight security and people were always finding a blurry naff pic of new stuff to put on the net to have 'i saw it first' bragging rights and any info on the net about a new army was usually hopelessly inaccurate.

But... i think FFG have gone to the other extreme. As most of a wave or releases info is in the public domain around six months before we see it I find that a lot of the mystery and exitement has totally dissapated by the timethe product actually arrives.

S&V was bad enough, but the raider.. well i was excited about it when i first saw it in what 'march?', by now i know pretty much every card in it and i've been able to fully proxy better tie advanced. Its just a little bit too much information too soon. Given we're not actually going to see the Raider in the uk til probably mid september!

So i think what i['m saying is i'd personally like to see things 'revealed' a bit closer to release, perhaps three months in advance, half the spoliers a month in and the rest on release month to keep it exciting.

I mean consider the K wing wave is current speculation and we're unlikely to see that til Christmas.

Views?

All I see is "GW" and flags turn red Sorry, but the lawyers of that company broke many, many ties with formerly good customers.

More on topic, I don't mind the early spoilers. They're not just for X-Wing, but for all of FFG's games, and I follow quite a few of them. I guess whether you like it or not depends mostly on what you're used to.

Look. They don't need to reveal as early, IF THEY WOULD GET THEIR RELEASES ON TIME AND TO A NORMAL BUSINESS SCHEDULE.

Sorry caps.

Its been about what 9 months since Raider was announced? And if they do the whole Gencon only until December thing again, I will flip a piece of dog poo.

Mostly I agree. There should definitely be some stuff left unspoiled until a product is actually released so that there are some surprises. We have been told repeatedly, however, that the timing of the initial announcement of a product is determined by when the distributors are going to see it on their order sheets, so they apparently can't wait any longer than they do to announce...something.

I think my preferred approach would be to have a few articles initially that are just teasers and don't spoil any (or hardly any) actual mechanics. An announcement article that identifies the ships that will be in a wave, and has pictures of the minis. Then follow that up with articles for each ship that barely reveal anything, like maybe just one of the generics, so that we get the raw stats and a guesstimate on how it will be costed. Then, if appropriate, another article that talks about the whole wave in some fashion and reveals a handful of upgrade cards, but nothing more about the ships. Then another article on each ship that does a more complete reveal, like the ones we get already, but still leave a few things unknown, either a named pilot or the dial.

That would be 10 articles for a full wave and they should be able to spread those out enough to provide us with a steady trickle of information from announcement till release. Then, when the wave is released, give or take a week or two, do one last article that fully reveals everything, for the benefit of those who may not be able to buy stuff right at release.

And then do not, absolutely do NOT announce the next wave for at least a month after a wave is released. Having newly spoiled wave x+1 stuff revealed the same time the long spoiled wave x actually hits stores is monumentally annoying.

All that said, I would rather the way it currently is than the way GW do things.

Totally agree Forgotten Lore.

I personally think GW were too close to their chest with their cards but by the same account FFG show their hand far too early.

I understand its about production timing but if you 'spoiled' later you've have a better idea of your ACTUAL distribution timings.

Given that I've been into this game since the B wing wave, i dont think i've ever see anything come out on time, usually six months late.

Again its not a big issue but like you say, we're currently being spoilered the punisher/kwing etc and no one has the raider yet.

Its just sort of like , i've got a pre order, i've had it for half a bloody year and you're trying to sell me something i wont see til next summer?

Just the other end of the spectrum to GW

All I see is "GW" and flags turn red Sorry, but the lawyers of that company broke many, many ties with formerly good customers.

More on topic, I don't mind the early spoilers. They're not just for X-Wing, but for all of FFG's games, and I follow quite a few of them. I guess whether you like it or not depends mostly on what you're used to.

trust me, some of us fought those moves but at the end of the day... shareheld company, they make more of whatever sells most... got something cool that really adds to the flavour but doesnt sell much? Well just get rid of it and replace it with more space marines!

But lets not make this a GW bash, it was more about the fact their marketting approach is the polar opposite in regards to 'secrecy' that FFGS is.

The sooner they reveal everything, the sooner we can start giving the much needed feedback in regards of rules fixing, confusing wording, mistakes and misunderstandings. Just imagine that they release the K-Wing as a focused bomber only to realize after release that the current rules doesn't allow it to actually drop bombs before a SLAM. Or people cannot agree on if R3-A2 can trigger 3 times with a Twin Laser Turret BTL-A4 Y-Wing or only 2.

I prefer that FFG gets all this feedback now and prepare an updated FAQ by the time of release, than having to wait for months for fixes to broken or confusing new cards and ships.

Also, people can start proxying and testing the new announced items way before release, and FFG can check if the item is welcomed with popular acclaim, or it is directly dismissed as worthless. If they are clever, that is free beta-testing and market prospecting.

Well considering the highly competitive nature of tourney play in x wing, spoiling new cards and ships a few months out so all odd points of play can be addressed by the time they hit tournaments seems like a good thing to me. For example: The issue of how the injured pilot critical card and ig2k title card interact wasn't answered until about a week after they became tourney legal. I know first hand that at least one TO called it wrong and screwed a player. So the way I see it, spoiling the cards is simply a public beta test prior to release, which is a good way to work out a bunch of bugs in a hurry.

I don't so much mind the really long lag on the huge ships, they are much larger products and require more logistical coordination, so a longer development and manufacturing delay I can understand, though there are a lot more cards in those expansions, so they should be able to draw out the reveal articles longer.

I've just been SOOO annoyed, on multiple occasions, to finally get some new ships, the week they are released, and all anyone wants to talk about is the next wave that was just announced.

Haven't we done this thread a few times already?

If we had i didnt see em

Sorry.

Probably got pushed down tons of pages by the removal of painting forum...

Look. They don't need to reveal as early, IF THEY WOULD GET THEIR RELEASES ON TIME AND TO A NORMAL BUSINESS SCHEDULE.

Sorry caps.

Blurt Blerg?

As owner of High Elves army (aver 5000pts), Black Templars army (around 1400pts) and some LoTR miniatures. I will say that GW policy to not disclosure anything and pull the crap like End Times is what makes people turn away from them and embrace companies like FFG.

Personally I am royaly pissed with GW anddo not intend to buy anything directly from the store. Any buys (for High Elves) will be second hand, used stuff. Do not intend to expand 40k, more likely to sell it as soon as I find buyer.

To sum up , FFG preview policy is very good from my PoV

If we had i didnt see em

Sorry.

Probably got pushed down tons of pages by the removal of painting forum...

Not in the immediate recency, but often enough. Sorry, I thought you one of those re-posters. No worries, carry on.

Gencon is not that far away and by that time they will more than likely have prerelease sales. The Imperial Raider will be there, Wave 7 is still in question. But one thing once it is sold to the public even at a prerelase event everything would end up being spoiled anyways. I think the pace is about fine but yeah the most annoying time for X-wing products is the time after the expansion packs contents are spoiled but before you can purchase them. When that time becomes too drawn I often skip league nights.

The Imperial Raider will be there, Wave 7 is still in question.

What makes you think that? From where I'm sitting it looks like wave 7 will almost certainly be there for a prerelease, but the raider is less certain. (Although both is still highly likely)

I like the advanced spoilers. As mentioned above it can help get any wording clarified ahead of time, it gives you an idea of what fixes and rebalances are upcoming to deal with current issues, and it defiantly helps getting the vassal together gradually rather than doing it all at once. But previews 9+ months in advance are a bit too much, especially considering how the releases are often behind schedule.

The Imperial Raider will be there, Wave 7 is still in question.

What makes you think that? From where I'm sitting it looks like wave 7 will almost certainly be there for a prerelease, but the raider is less certain. (Although both is still highly likely)

I didn't say it won't, given the history yes it is likely that Gencon will follow the same pattern but all of Wave 7 says still at the printer, while the Raider says on the boat. Now I know that the Raider has been on the boat for several months as the usual pattern tends to be that way as for Wave 7 it could be expressed in limited quantities to Gen Con much like Wave 5 was.

Still I don't like making assertions unless I know that they are solid. Right now I cant say that Wave 7 will 100% assured be there so still in question is the best answer. Wave 7 may or may not be at Gencon. Imperial Raider is more of sure it will be at Gencon however even that may be wrong, unlikely but still possible.

I am to the point where I just enjoy the chat and previews and wait until the goodies come out. i do not get upset much at all. But last year when we had no Falcons or Firesprays for a long while... dat got me agitated.

I have so many toy space ships and crazy project to make alternate toy space ships for EPIC and all of ARMADA to mess with that I have become very content to wait.

I'll get it all when it comes out and have as much fun. The fact that I know what they can do six months prior to holding them in my hands and telling them how much I love 'em is always going to be great regardless.

Well if we look at AoS and the apoplectic fits that caused people because GW utterly failed to keep players informed I think ffg has the right idea.

Of course they should save spoilers until a couple of months before release instead of six.

There's no build up of excitement with GW anymore just dread that the next thing will be overpowered and overpriced, fears well justified most of the time.

£25 for a cup that holds 8 dice...

Of course they should save spoilers until a couple of months before release instead of six.

They do, unless their shipping screws up.

The announcements (the initial articles) are announcements rather than spoiler articles and go out when they tell the retailers what's upcoming. They tell us on the site because otherwise we'd get it anyway from the retailer magazines.

Nope! I want to know it all. Almost all other items I buy I knew exactly what I'm paying for. It only makes sense.

I still want the K-wing dial and the rest of the card not spoiled. Can you believe we pay 20 dollars without knowing what exactly we are buying.

eagletsi

Consider that the stores get early information about refuses about stuff months out. Generally, coinciding with that first article. So your store would have pre-order and product information months before you did so they can order stock and FFG can try to avoid the shortages that have plagued them in the past. Then, it would spoil anyway.

Keep the cards reveals coming, FFG.

I think FFG announces things way too early. My fleet only ever feels complete for a month before they announce a new wave that is coming 6 months down the line. I understand anticipation, but maybe just a few reveals to let us know the game is going to continue to be supported, like "Next up, get ready to slam, punish, and take a bite out of your enemies!"

I think announcing the first half when they go on the boat seems sufficient.

But... i think FFG have gone to the other extreme. As most of a wave or releases info is in the public domain around six months before we see it I find that a lot of the mystery and exitement has totally dissapated by the timethe product actually arrives.

What is the benefit of maintaining mystery around the capabilities of announced ships?