33:00

The biggest mistake of the game was the first published version of the TIE Phantom. And they had already been through about 9 iterations of its ability.

This is where he says the playtesting window is "only 3 or 4 months... sometimes less".

I smell a TLT nerf in the air.

Didn't come from the audio.

He did comment that they were surprised at the size of its impact, but TLT is NOT like VI Whisper.

Yeah, Whisper couldn't win worlds at its peak on the power curve.

It made it to the Finals, and only lost because it was unlucky enough to be facing Paul Heaver.

I mean, did you see that 4 forward and boost he did?

Yeah, Fat Han was worse for the game then the poorly playtested decloaking.

I smell a TLT nerf in the air.

Didn't come from the audio.

He did comment that they were surprised at the size of its impact, but TLT is NOT like VI Whisper.

Yeah, Whisper couldn't win worlds at its peak on the power curve.

It made it to the Finals, and only lost because it was unlucky enough to be facing Paul Heaver.

I mean, did you see that 4 forward and boost he did?

Yeah, Fat Han was worse for the game then the poorly playtested decloaking.

35:00

Discussing "fixes", using the examples of A-Wing Chardaan Refit, and the TIE Advanced (which was a much bigger problem).

The task with the TIE Advanced was to "get its offense high enough to compensate for its lack of affordability".

He refers to TIE Defender and Bomber as "update", but doesn't assign the word "fix" to it.

No mention of other ships.

39:00

"We do like doing fixes. ... But you don't want to do it so much that people have to have a million upgrade cards on their ship just to make it competitive."

He comments in a way that says he's clearly sensitive to the idea that people have to buy additional products to make their old products worth it.

wave 9 is done, wave 10 is under way, and no gun boats even through their wave 11 projections.

...wait, what?!

He specifically commented on the assault gunboat, and that it isn't showing up through even wave 11?

When/where?

Fat Han was worse for the game then the poorly playtested decloaking.

Yeah, Whisper couldn't win worlds at its peak on the power curve.

"Prequel stuff a possibility but way down the road. Years he said."

When that happens it means it's time to leave the game.

Extremely disappointed then that prequels ships are not only years away but also just a possibility, no guaruntee.

I doubt they have THAT many tfa or rogue one ships planned.

More ugly and obscure EU ships on the way?

wave 9 is done, wave 10 is under way, and no gun boats even through their wave 11 projections.

...wait, what?!

He specifically commented on the assault gunboat, and that it isn't showing up through even wave 11?

When/where?

I'm about 5 minutes from the end and I didn't catch any reference to gunboats at all.

wave 9 is done, wave 10 is under way, and no gun boats even through their wave 11 projections.

...wait, what?!

He specifically commented on the assault gunboat, and that it isn't showing up through even wave 11?

When/where?

I didn't hear him mention the phrase "gunboat" at all. Some of you have really selective hearing.

as opposed to the ugly prequel ships? With 5 seconds of screen time each?

Yea there was no mention of a gunboat or a lack of gunboats.

But he did specifically say in reference to prequel ships that they had enough new ships between Rebels and Rogue One to not have to worry about prequel for awhile at least.

Yea there was no mention of a gunboat or a lack of gunboats.

But he did specifically say in reference to prequel ships that they had enough new ships between Rebels and Rogue One to not have to worry about prequel for awhile at least.

I wouldn't take that to mean "no gunboats" at all, then. Unless he expanded that to include 'no more dipping in to the EU' - although I'm not sure even something THAT specific would exclude them...given how often 'Rebels' itself borrows from the EU.

They didn't test 4 tlt lists.

* They didn't test 4 tlt lists.

That makes me wonder what other "didn't test [number] [type] lists" situations they had. Could explain why the community finds certain ships overpriced. Because the developers never thought anyone would try to run 5 naked generic T-65s? Or six cannon-carrying Scyks? Hence they never realized they were overcosting certain things to protect against a spam squad that truly wouldn't have been viable in the first place? I would think "SPAM THIS BUILD" is one of the top things on the list of playtester priorities.

Given previous hints about lead times, it might be worth observing that asking Alex if 4 TLT was tested is asking him to recall details from dozens of games conducted in 2014.

I know Frank has said he has to be extra careful during interviews, because it can be difficult to keep track of what info has been released, what hasn't, also that he knows about a lot more stuff.

They didn't test 4 tlt lists.

* They didn't test 4 tlt lists.

That makes me wonder what other "didn't test [number] [type] lists" situations they had. Could explain why the community finds certain ships overpriced. Because the developers never thought anyone would try to run 5 naked generic T-65s? Or six cannon-carrying Scyks? Hence they never realized they were overcosting certain things to protect against a spam squad that truly wouldn't have been viable in the first place? I would think "SPAM THIS BUILD" is one of the top things on the list of playtester priorities.

Given previous hints about lead times, it might be worth observing that asking Alex if 4 TLT was tested is asking him to recall details from dozens of games conducted in 2014.

Actually, after listening to it myself, I didn't catch him saying "we didn't PLAYTEST" 4-TLT. It seemed more like he was just saying it wasn't anticipated as becoming such a popular thing. Actually, I didn't hear a comment on 4-TLT at all.

as opposed to the ugly prequel ships? With 5 seconds of screen time each?

If you think they are ugly that's your opinion. But I don't know where you're going with the 5 second thing. Yes a couple ships were shown briefly, most notably the v-wing. But you could say the same for the tie bomber and b-wing.

Yeah, he didnt specifically say 4 tlt wasnt tested but he did say he was surprised how effective it was in the hands of a skilled player or en masse.

They didn't test 4 tlt lists.

* They didn't test 4 tlt lists.

That makes me wonder what other "didn't test [number] [type] lists" situations they had. Could explain why the community finds certain ships overpriced. Because the developers never thought anyone would try to run 5 naked generic T-65s? Or six cannon-carrying Scyks? Hence they never realized they were overcosting certain things to protect against a spam squad that truly wouldn't have been viable in the first place? I would think "SPAM THIS BUILD" is one of the top things on the list of playtester priorities.

Given previous hints about lead times, it might be worth observing that asking Alex if 4 TLT was tested is asking him to recall details from dozens of games conducted in 2014.

Actually, after listening to it myself, I didn't catch him saying "we didn't PLAYTEST" 4-TLT. It seemed more like he was just saying it wasn't anticipated as becoming such a popular thing. Actually, I didn't hear a comment on 4-TLT at all.

He slipped in "en mass" after skilled pilots meaning a whole bunch of them in a single list. Maybe he should have said "or tlt swarm"? He was surprised how effective it is - potentially meaning they didn't see it as so effective on the play testing tables. My comment was cheeky inference that they didn't test it at all - with no evidence to back that claim up. Roughly 60% my post was completely accurate to the podcast. The rest lets you use your imagination until you listen for yourself.

wave 9 is done, wave 10 is under way, and no gun boats even through their wave 11 projections.

...wait, what?!

He specifically commented on the assault gunboat, and that it isn't showing up through even wave 11?

When/where?

For those that haven't listened yet, it's at the 55:30 mark.

When he was talking about sources for ships I was really hoping he'd mention SWG. He didn't, but referenced the EU as a whole and that after the initial few waves it's really up to him and Frank as to which ships they pluck from the EU. He didn't mention either of their true opinions on the gunboat, but you could hear it in his voice.

The podcast is only 54:07

Now that we have more steady sources of new ships. Rebels, new movie every year, the new comics, I really dont expect to ever get the gunboat.

The reason I say so, is that the ship doesnt fit in with the imperial "style" as it is essentially a "rebel style" ship. From a design pov it is also incredibly boring and it is quite possible they simply dont want the imperials to have a cheap cannon platform such as that.

I hope they never officialy say "there will never be a Gunboat" because I love watching everyone get their hopes up, and then dashed every wave.

Ridiculous. If the gunboat is too Rebel, then so is the Lambda-class shuttle. That was the design inspiration. And with the TIE Advanced and Defender it's clear that there is some overlap between the factions regarding ship roles.

I guess I should take this discussion to its proper thread. Sorry to derail.

This is where he says the playtesting window is "only 3 or 4 months... sometimes less".

I know Frank has said he has to be extra careful during interviews, because it can be difficult to keep track of what info has been released, what hasn't, also that he knows about a lot more stuff.

I've heard both of these things before.

This is a great listen. But, spoiler alerts, please, I haven't finished it yet!

The podcast is only 54:07

Yes, Visceroth is pulling another one of his famous "Tallon Rolls", I'm afraid to say.

I hope they never officialy say "there will never be a Gunboat" because I love watching everyone get their hopes up, and then dashed every wave.

I want a Wave 10 ship to have an "Imperial Gunboat"- a canon ship from Rogue One that has zero resemblance to the EU ship of the same name.