Asmodee acquired ****'s sporting goods and pottery barn. Stock split plus free bi coins. I got the official report that the actual Death Star will be sold in 4 quadrants apparently capitalizing on the collect all four mentality. Being rather large, each quadrant is a blow up and have buttons attaching them together it the middle of all these quadrans. The hole for the fully operational battle station laser will shoot from will be located where the four quadrants intersect. Having never done blow up latex models before it has been slowness things down and the factory. Being leap year also cased two Chinese New Years....Argh.

The SSD destroyer is being outsources to pottery barn because they are making a table out of it that comes with shipcards cards etc The table is a plexiglas top with the model underneath with just the edge of the super structure visible. $3796 MSRP. But wait for the clay workers association day sale. I addition, Dicks sporting goods is doing the star killer base in the form of a giant exercise ball that is placed at. Friends house. You call for it and the ***** travel from house to house to represent the travel from system to system. Just remember, to fly causally around these blown up models and you should be alright. Being an official play tester, I can say the star killer bass is a bit OP costing an extra 2 points I think and needs to be nerfed a bit or have its points adjusted. However, some people say the X-wing can slip in, but what I see in testing is that the Imperials can take max squadrons to prevent the attack. As long as the rebels take only X-wings due to lack of vision/creativity, then the imperials get free howlrunner stats. Oh the tie/fo, you didn't think it was going to be easy did you.

There is also one user who is a doctor and will help with both withdrawal, anxiety, and SSD sydrome. I think his rates are over priced, a little steep, so I recommend just plain old acupuncture for lack of wave 3 news beyond this cache I was able to officially offer at personal risk of the NDA.

They're having to build a whole new factory large enough for the SSD

For all the people taking the Michael out of posts like this, there is a point to be made that X-Wing and IA get far more upcoming news than Armada.

For all the people taking the Michael out of posts like this, there is a point to be made that X-Wing and IA get far more upcoming news than Armada.

And What, for lack of a better term, is the point of that point?

We Do Not Know.

People are very quick to jump to the conclusion that we, as Armada players, are Oppressed, Downtrodden and Ignored, because it gives them a vocal platform...

But the truth is - We Do Not Know what it means, and it may mean nothing.

And giving people a negativity platform is never a positive thing - especially when it is stated by FFG that they don't take advice, and don't respond unless its in their best interest, as judged by them and no-one else, to do so.

People are very quick to jump to the conclusion that we, as Armada players, are Oppressed, Downtrodden and Ignored, because it gives them a vocal platform...

But the truth is - We Do Not Know what it means, and it may mean nothing.

basically,people are doing a Donald Trump.

I'm not American, so I honestly havn't been paying a great deal of attention to that situation, which has absolutely no place or bearing on a Game Forum such as this

I had said earlier that as long as they are reordering expansions I think we're fine. Just checked and there are four expansions listed as out of stock and none have been reordered. Ummmmmmm....

And if they are not reodered after April 1st, then I may worry. The new distribution model takes effect then, I believe, so reordering now will just allow the online discount retailers to stock up even more.

@Vogons

I wouldn't worry. They can only produce so many at a time, and if they're cranking out new ships for Wave 3 to ship any time soon, they're likely giving a couple of older designs a break while they do. They've cycled their production since the beginning, so don't sweat it.

There is news coming. You don't pull the plug on the third best selling miniatures game in retail for one of the most profitable and ubiquitous intellectual properties in existence (Star Wars). It would be the definition of insanity.

Do I think that customer engagement from FFG could be like a million times better? Yes, yes I do. And before anyone starts up with "oh other game companies are worse/the same" I don't give a crap, they could do way better and what purpose exactly does it serve us as consumers to expect any less?? I simply do not understand the apologists on here, I spend a sheet-ton of money on this product and third rate communication from the primary benefactor of these purchases is somehow acceptable? Why, exactly? Because complaining and demanding standards be raised is "negative"?? Give me a break. I don't lie down for anyone, especially not someone I give my money to. I don't let my cable company, my phone company or anyone else that makes money off me get away with BS and it's the people that do that let BS keep happening.

This company sells a tremendous amount of prack and they make plenty of money, enough that they could hire a couple of dedicated comms/community people who's full time job would be to be experts on these games and in charge of community outreach and building. If you know anything about ANYTHING about marketing and community building you would know that if these couple of people are competent and well supported they will pay their own salaries 2x over in increased sales and market share growth.

I have been a part of MANY communities around different games (mainly online games, but games is games) and I can easily say this one is probably one of the best in terms of the quality of the members and the absolute unmatched worst for involvement and support from the very people that profit from same members. In fact, i can comfortably say that many community members on here and in related Facebook groups do a lot of the work that should be done by the company and they do it unthanked and unrecognized and while that is great of them it is shameful to the extreme from FFG.

Ok rant over. Sorry.

I agree that they could certainly be more forthcoming about where the game is going, but it's obvious to me that it's going go get expansions.

I imagine that with the merger the two organizations have a number of wheels to reinvent, and that's maybe why Armada may be going a little slower than we'd like. The puzzle is: why not the same for Imperial Assault?

As to their communication strategy, I imagine that it would be a mess of they had staffers wading into the forums.

Oh, and they're the 'beneficiaries' of the "sheet-ton of money" that we, the benefactors, spend. Of course, I'm not sure which drug dealers think of their junkies as "benefactors".

The puzzle is: why not the same for Imperial Assault?

Because Armada, rules wise, is a very unique game system that requires its own internal testing.

Imperial Assault is mainly, rules wise, a Reskin of Descent and thus, interactions and rules bits are easier to define - in fact, a spreadsheet on how things are to be made would be much quicker to make up, and production just goes down the list - no further testing involved...

(Which would also explain why they've also had to do FAQ revisions of points costs, as somethign slipped though)...

But I'm old and bitter and Jaded on these forums, anyway...

The puzzle is: why not the same for Imperial Assault?

Because Armada, rules wise, is a very unique game system that requires its own internal testing.

Agreed. While I have no doubt there is play-testing for IA, I suspect it's a lot easier to create. Heck, all you're really doing (warning: major simplification ahead) is making miniatures of characters, and then making cards of the abilities they'd gain with levels or skill points if they were an rpg. In some senses, a lot of the play-testing for IA was already done in other games.

Now granted, Armada is far from the first ship to ship miniatures game in history, but as Drasnighta points out, it's easily "broken" if every aspect of the ships or cards aren't carefully considered and play-tested. And that's before you take into consideration the hope that they are striving to keep every ship in the mix as a desirable and effective choice instead of just having each wave become the new ships everyone uses as the rest collect dust on shelves.

That having been said, I personally hope this long wait (and silence) is directly attributable to the next wave having either a large number of ships or a new play mechanic of some kind (or both).

The puzzle is: why not the same for Imperial Assault?

Because Armada, rules wise, is a very unique game system that requires its own internal testing.

Agreed. While I have no doubt there is play-testing for IA, I suspect it's a lot easier to create. Heck, all you're really doing (warning: major simplification ahead) is making miniatures of characters, and then making cards of the abilities they'd gain with levels or skill points if they were an rpg. In some senses, a lot of the play-testing for IA was already done in other games.

Now granted, Armada is far from the first ship to ship miniatures game in history, but as Drasnighta points out, it's easily "broken" if every aspect of the ships or cards aren't carefully considered and play-tested. And that's before you take into consideration the hope that they are striving to keep every ship in the mix as a desirable and effective choice instead of just having each wave become the new ships everyone uses as the rest collect dust on shelves.

That having been said, I personally hope this long wait (and silence) is directly attributable to the next wave having either a large number of ships or a new play mechanic of some kind (or both).

I think there is a wide, yawning gulf between announcing the specifics and particulars of upcoming content and what I would call "community engagement". Content absolutely needs to be tested ad nauseum not only for how it synergizes with existing mechanics but also how it will click in with the next wave.

Don't mistake me here, I would MUCH prefer they take their sweet time figuring these things out and testing them to death, what I think is insane is the complete lack of community involvement from FFG. Complete. Lack.

There might be a backwards mindset there that no-one but game designers can answer rules questions (absurd) and that no one but core staff can say anything to anyone (also absurd). What I'm talking about is interaction on a minimum level like running polls, closed Q&A scheduled on a regular tick (community submits questions, Community Outreach person gathers responses over a months time and posts questions and their answers in a closed thread) and these are just 2 basic examples of dozens of simple things that can be done. If done correctly it will actually SAVE time of key people. How many rules clarification questions that are exactly the same do you think they get? Imagine if the common ones were answered on a monthly basis in this forum, with the understanding that any ruling is trumped by the FAQ.

It just seems like a no-brainer to me. The only reasons I can think of that they don't do all this stuff is either "small company mentality" which is tough to shed even if you grow, and especially if you grow quickly or they don't actually make very much money on what they sell (but I doubt that)

Look game store owner was saying there is a store owner meeting in vegas, and FFG should be there with announcement

Yeah well...what happens in Vegas...

Well considering Rebellion is being released end of March i wouldn't be surprised if they use Armada to support it somehow. Maybe some cross over news hehe

Outside of organized play announcements and release announcement of wave 2, we haven't had any content previews/teasers/etc since September 30th. Come on, nothing for nearly half a year...that's a bit much.

I still think that a release schedule more like a LCG would be a better thing here. Smaller releases less often would make a big improvement to so many aspects of this game. The big trouble would be play testing lots of smaller releases and ensuring things remain balanced.

Ok, this is going to be long and mostly just a list. Bear with me or scroll to the TL;DR

EDIT: apologies, the formatting got wonky since I posted this on my phone. Hopefully my chart is readable.

X-Wing Announcement vs. Release:

Wave Announce Release Difference (in months)

0 (core) 8/11 9/12 13

1 4/12 9/12 5

2 9/12 2/13 5

3 5/13 9/13 4

4 2/14 6/14 4

5 6/14 11/14 5

6 8/14 2/15 6

7 4/15 8/15 4

8 7/15 3/16 8

Armada Announcement vs. Release:

Wave Announce Release Difference (in months)

0 (core) 8/14 3/15 7

1 11/14 5/15 6

2 4/15 11/15 7

Ok. So here we see that, not counting the core and wave 1 simulataneous release (for X-wing), wave 2 was announced when the core was released. Wave 3 was announced 3 months after 2 was released, wave 4 was announced 5 months after 3 was released, wave 7 was announced 2 months after wave 6 released. Waves 5, 6, and 8 were all announced at or before the release of the prior wave. They also had the longest times between announce and release (core set notwithstanding).

Moving to armada, there have tended to be longer times between announcement and release, but don't disregard the fact that we got the core and two waves all in one calendar year. This only happened in X-Wing with the TFA core set last year.

My thoughts (and here's the TL;DR) are that FFG realized that the insane waits from announce to release were driving players bonkers, and it results in the excitement building and then fading before the release. The longest wait between a launch and an announcement in X-Wing was 5 months (between 3 and 4). It's only been 3-4 months since the official release of wave 2 for armada. I think it is a bit premature to go all doom and gloom already. Would you rather have an announcement and then another 7-8 month wait, or a bit of a wait for an announcement followed by a release 4 months later?

Also, as others have said, there is adepticon coming up, and a certain movie is releasing on Blu-ray on April 5. Timing an announcement for then, with the added bonus of a shorter lead time, will build excitement and put FFG in a much better place.

And if my TL;DR was TL, how's this:

Patience, you must have.

Ok, this is going to be long and mostly just a list. Bear with me or scroll to the TL;DR

EDIT: apologies, the formatting got wonky since I posted this on my phone. Hopefully my chart is readable.

X-Wing Announcement vs. Release:

Wave Announce Release Difference (in months)

0 (core) 8/11 9/12 13

1 4/12 9/12 5

2 9/12 2/13 5

3 5/13 9/13 4

4 2/14 6/14 4

5 6/14 11/14 5

6 8/14 2/15 6

7 4/15 8/15 4

8 7/15 3/16 8

Armada Announcement vs. Release:

Wave Announce Release Difference (in months)

0 (core) 8/14 3/15 7

1 11/14 5/15 6

2 4/15 11/15 7

Ok. So here we see that, not counting the core and wave 1 simulataneous release (for X-wing), wave 2 was announced when the core was released. Wave 3 was announced 3 months after 2 was released, wave 4 was announced 5 months after 3 was released, wave 7 was announced 2 months after wave 6 released. Waves 5, 6, and 8 were all announced at or before the release of the prior wave. They also had the longest times between announce and release (core set notwithstanding).

Moving to armada, there have tended to be longer times between announcement and release, but don't disregard the fact that we got the core and two waves all in one calendar year. This only happened in X-Wing with the TFA core set last year.

My thoughts (and here's the TL;DR) are that FFG realized that the insane waits from announce to release were driving players bonkers, and it results in the excitement building and then fading before the release. The longest wait between a launch and an announcement in X-Wing was 5 months (between 3 and 4). It's only been 3-4 months since the official release of wave 2 for armada. I think it is a bit premature to go all doom and gloom already. Would you rather have an announcement and then another 7-8 month wait, or a bit of a wait for an announcement followed by a release 4 months later?

Also, as others have said, there is adepticon coming up, and a certain movie is releasing on Blu-ray on April 5. Timing an announcement for then, with the added bonus of a shorter lead time, will build excitement and put FFG in a much better place.

And if my TL;DR was TL, how's this:

Patience, you must have.

Yeah, again, there is a big difference between announcing waves and communicating about the health of the game or communicating AT ALL with the community via its various channels.

I think the main issue people have (if they really think about it) isn't that FFG isn't telling us exactly what ships are coming out, it's that they are no communicating AT ALL.

Again, I think it's a symptom of an outdated operating model. FFG want to be the people that design and make these items and basically draw a line under that and then expect the stuff to sell itself and the community to build up by itself and maintain itself and they can go to a couple of events and call it a day.

Everything they do is traceable back to this model, from the hands-off way they do organized play to the way they effectively ignore the community on their VERY OWN FORUMS.

Sure, this model has worked for them in the past, and maybe it will continue working for them, but I think that if they really want to go next-level they really need to step up their game. I think they know that on some level too, the fact that they put a call out for people to register as ambassadors (or whatever the F that was called its been so long) shows they realize they need to take a more active hand in community building, but the fact that they subsequently have done basically nothing since shows there is a lack of leadership or will.

I'm not "angry" or "negative" or have a sense of "doom" about the game, I'm just disappointed.

Ok, this is going to be long and mostly just a list. Bear with me or scroll to the TL;DR

EDIT: apologies, the formatting got wonky since I posted this on my phone. Hopefully my chart is readable.

X-Wing Announcement vs. Release:

Wave Announce Release Difference (in months)

0 (core) 8/11 9/12 13

1 4/12 9/12 5

2 9/12 2/13 5

3 5/13 9/13 4

4 2/14 6/14 4

5 6/14 11/14 5

6 8/14 2/15 6

7 4/15 8/15 4

8 7/15 3/16 8

Armada Announcement vs. Release:

Wave Announce Release Difference (in months)

0 (core) 8/14 3/15 7

1 11/14 5/15 6

2 4/15 11/15 7

Ok. So here we see that, not counting the core and wave 1 simulataneous release (for X-wing), wave 2 was announced when the core was released. Wave 3 was announced 3 months after 2 was released, wave 4 was announced 5 months after 3 was released, wave 7 was announced 2 months after wave 6 released. Waves 5, 6, and 8 were all announced at or before the release of the prior wave. They also had the longest times between announce and release (core set notwithstanding).

Moving to armada, there have tended to be longer times between announcement and release, but don't disregard the fact that we got the core and two waves all in one calendar year. This only happened in X-Wing with the TFA core set last year.

My thoughts (and here's the TL;DR) are that FFG realized that the insane waits from announce to release were driving players bonkers, and it results in the excitement building and then fading before the release. The longest wait between a launch and an announcement in X-Wing was 5 months (between 3 and 4). It's only been 3-4 months since the official release of wave 2 for armada. I think it is a bit premature to go all doom and gloom already. Would you rather have an announcement and then another 7-8 month wait, or a bit of a wait for an announcement followed by a release 4 months later?

Also, as others have said, there is adepticon coming up, and a certain movie is releasing on Blu-ray on April 5. Timing an announcement for then, with the added bonus of a shorter lead time, will build excitement and put FFG in a much better place.

And if my TL;DR was TL, how's this:

Patience, you must have.

Yeah, again, there is a big difference between announcing waves and communicating about the health of the game or communicating AT ALL with the community via its various channels.

I think the main issue people have (if they really think about it) isn't that FFG isn't telling us exactly what ships are coming out, it's that they are no communicating AT ALL.

Again, I think it's a symptom of an outdated operating model. FFG want to be the people that design and make these items and basically draw a line under that and then expect the stuff to sell itself and the community to build up by itself and maintain itself and they can go to a couple of events and call it a day.

Everything they do is traceable back to this model, from the hands-off way they do organized play to the way they effectively ignore the community on their VERY OWN FORUMS.

Sure, this model has worked for them in the past, and maybe it will continue working for them, but I think that if they really want to go next-level they really need to step up their game. I think they know that on some level too, the fact that they put a call out for people to register as ambassadors (or whatever the F that was called its been so long) shows they realize they need to take a more active hand in community building, but the fact that they subsequently have done basically nothing since shows there is a lack of leadership or will.

I'm not "angry" or "negative" or have a sense of "doom" about the game, I'm just disappointed.

This.

I don't disagree on any fundamental level. I just think that some consideration needs to be given to the fact that FFG is still new to this kind of game. X-Wing, after all, is only 3.5 years old, Armada is coming up on its first birthday. Meanwhile, their first game came out in 1997, coming up on 20 years ago. They have been a popular but niche company for a very long time, and a lot of their current success stems from a license that they may not even have X years from now.

That being said, the board game company mentality DOES have to shift. Look at diskwars as an example. No new information at all, despite the fact that everyone knows there won't be another expansion. All silent on other fronts as well (no expansion news for Warhammer Quest, very little info on games that aren't LCGs or Star Wars).

An example of the direction to move may be what Upper Deck does. The head developer of the new vs system posts on Facebook personally about delays or issues with expansions. Another good idea could be how Blizzard handles heroes of the storm, with the head designer taking to Twitter to answer questions or comment on player concerns.

Board games may be a very analog hobby, and FFG exemplifies everything great about it as we see a bit of a board gaming Renaissance amidst all the video game options out there, but some concessions to the digital age do need to be made.

So yeah, I definitely agree in sum and substance.

Anybody raging about customer interaction...always remember that there is a tool on their homepage where you can send a message to the product designers, inventers and playtesters directly, and they WILL answer your questions about rules, even if (some times) they are written clearly in the rulebook or explained in the FAQ. Not only that, so far, even if I asked stupid questions that coul've been answered by myself if I'd have reread the corresponding parts of the rulebook carefully, the answers were very politely worded.

That is a first for me, no other company goes so far to ENCOURAGE you to contact the ACTUAL GAME DESIGNERS with rules questions.

Please, no rage and no flaming intended with this post, but people sometimes forget those things. Also, they WANT you to hunger for new products, don't forget that

It's a good point that they're a board game company and that X-Wing launched them into a new field. Also with the Asmodee (also a board game company, right?) merger, their structure will be changing.

Well, with Vegas happening this week, What are your bets?