War of the Ring got a collector's edition. When will TI get the same tender love and care? Wasn't TI the first game FFG produced? I'd pay $400 for a collector's edition of TI!

Do you think a TI Collector's Edition would have mass appeal and sell as well as the War of the Ring collector's edition?

FiendishDevil said:

I sure as hell wouldn't. Then again, I'm not about to buy the War of the Ring Collector's Edition either, so maybe I'm not part of the target audience. TI was their first game and TI3 is a cherished part of my collection, but $400 for any single board game? I don't think so, Tim.

I think the difference is that War of the Ring has a double-pronged fanbase - people who like Tolkein, even if they aren't big gamers. Collectors may be more interested in such a thing. With TI3, it's more of a niche market, and so I really don't see it being as feasible, as while there are some diehards out there, many of the players (myself included) would probably not pay $300 more just for a "nifty" look, much as I don't really have much interest in the WotR collector's edition.

I'd just like to see a TI3 revised edition with a new rule book.

The action card priority system and precombat abilty system in particular need overhauled.

There will be a TI3 Collector's Edition simply because the War of the Ring one sold way way faster/better than could be expected AND because feedback on the component, box, card, and paintjob quality has all been stellar. It was not necessary to get non-gamer LOTR fans to buy up a portion of the games. Amongst almost any gamers I know TI3 gets played more often on average. Even Boardgamegeek.com stats support this with about as many plays for TI3 as WOTR but with 25% or so less users owning one.

I bought the WOTR Collector's Edition and would buy a TI3 Collector's Edition as well.

Here's a question for you: What would they even put in a TI Collector's Edition to make it worth $400? (I'm assuming that's the price of WotR CE, otherwise I have no idea where that price point came from.)

Seriously. They can't just put the base game and expansion together and ask for 4 times the price. So what would they add? A couple new races, maybe some new system tiles. Gold plated minis (maybe silver plated and tinted colours to keep 8 separate sets)? Shiney foil Mecatol Rex? Glow in the dark dice with a little starfield pattern on them? Revised and updated rulebook seems like a must, revised cards for clarity and errata.

Let's brainstorm some stuff and see if we can even imagine a set worth $400. Let's see Twilight Imperium, Colbert Platinum style. All those things I mentioned would be cool, but even put together it's not enough for me to shell out that kind of cash.

Edit: I know text-based media can sometimes make things sound harsher than they were intended, so I want to make clear that this is not intended as a challenge or a spiteful post. It's an honest to goodness thought experiment and I'm genuinely looking forward to what people come up with, whetehr it's realistic or not. Let's let our above-average imaginations run wild for a bit! =)

I don't think it would have to be $400 necessarily, just a Collector's Edition. Painted Minis would be a nice start. 3D Planets, wormholes and such on stands would be killer as well. Larger/Higher Quality cards perhaps with custom cardstands/holders. A Metalworked box instead of the handcarved wood one for WOTRCE. Metelworking on the bound rulebook as well. Lots of ideas creative people can come up with.

I don't think TI3 needs a collectors edition. I wouldn't buy it, I'm happy with what I have. Personally, I don't think there would be enough willing to shell out that much for TI3. Even if most of those who bought the WotR CE were actual gamers, there were gamers with a strong interest in Tolkein in most cases, I would think; IE, the CE is appealing to BOTH sides of their interest. Sci-fi fan or not, TI3's universe is too niche to appeal to the same number of gamers. Maybe it would sell, but my guess is it wouldn't do as well as the WotR CE, and if they are going to be working on TI3, I'd rather them be spending their time with a new expansion than just a re-release of the game we already have. And if they released a CE that included a few minor "extras", it would actually make me a bit upset that I'd have to shell out whatever exorbitant amount the CE would demand just for a few bits.

HauRuck said:

Yum.

Wouldn't have to be $400. And $400 was the price of WotR CE, not an arbitrary number.

HauRuck said:

Nice! I like the 3D planets idea, although it might make actually playing an... interesting.... experience. Here's a couple more idea to throw on the plate: custom ship designs for each of the 8 colours (with matching reference cards to help people keep them straight.) Maybe even custom ships for each race (bringing us up to a thoroughly unreasonable 14 sets of units!) A PC version of the game so we can all play against each other via the interwebs. Minis for the leaders (I shudder to think about the level of detail required to make them all distinguishable.) Maybe a soundtrack of spacey music to keep our ears in the game while we play? I wouldn't mind hearing a theme song for each race. Instrumentals only, of course. Singing could be.. weird.

OK, throw in a bunch of stuff like that and I *MIGHT* get something like it - make it worth getting a whole new game and bits, instead of just "painted versions of the current game" and it might pique my interest.

sigmazero13 said:

For the record I do agree with your general point. I highly doubt there's anything (within reason) they could add that would make me willing to shell out this kind of money for a single game. I'm just cutting loose with fantasies about the kinds of crazy things a $400 board game might include, really.

I have had so much fun customizing my own TI3 set I'm not sure I want somebody else doing it for me.

I wouldn't mind seeing another edition come out eventually, but I'm with blarknob, I would like to see the rules cleaned up, updated, balanced, and fixed. I don't really care about the chrome. For example, how would one balance ground forces on a spherical planet anyway?

Mike_Evans said:

Pegs, magnets, etc.

Mike_Evans said:

Actually, what they could to is plastic tiles that are half an inch tall, the planets, moons and other visual effects floating in clear plastic, so you would have a flat place to use and still get to have a pretty 3d model beneath, and since the game is more about fleets in space than ground forces, it would look right too. But honestly I don't want them to do this yet, save it for 4th edition. TI4 should come out in a year or two, they've had long enough, plus with a new edition, they wouldn't have to do a complete overhawl, they could just do a minor update like from 1st to 2nd.

Mike_Evans said:

Mike_Evans said:

Actually, what they could to is plastic tiles that are half an inch tall, the planets, moons and other visual effects floating in clear plastic, so you would have a flat place to use and still get to have a pretty 3d model beneath, and since the game is more about fleets in space than ground forces, it would look right too. But honestly I don't want them to do this yet, save it for 4th edition. TI4 should come out in a year or two, they've had long enough, plus with a new edition, they wouldn't have to do a complete overhawl, they could just do a minor update like from 1st to 2nd.

Mike_Evans said:

I have to remember this... Mike agreeing with blarknob...

Being that I am making my own sci-fi conquest board game, I have to say that I don't think we will see a collectors of 4th ed. Mr. Petersen has a huge dev diary and special thanks included in the rules which pretty much translate to "..thank you for allowing me to share my universe and I am very grateful for it being able to have a 3rd edition." He does't want to push it too far. I think he is happy with the 3rd edition and even though some may find it confusing or nitpick at its system, he believes it hits right on the mark for his vision and design.

The other night I ran a playtest of my game with serveral copies at a local con event for board games (70 people showed up....i need more copies next time =P). I was heavily inspired by Avatar to share the world and lore I had created years ago to the gaming community. Just like how Avatar is James Cameron's dream and vision, Twilight is Christian Petersen's Avatar.

For him, I am guessing, once he threw in the fictional universe and all of the races and lore into this game, it became more than just a game for him. It was like his baby. This is how I felt while making my game. First it was just a game...but then I was inspired to throw my lore and fictional world into it and suddenly it was no longer a chore that I had to make...it became much more. Honestly I probably have put more effort into it than I know I would have put into it if it was ...just a sci-fi conquest game. I take balance issues and such to heart to fix and edit with, but certain things I refuse to change. I am guessing if the art team behind Avatar told James that the aliens would look better red he would say no.

I think Mr. Petersen is very happy with the games current edition. The expansion was most likely the last product we will see for the game.

Having said this, I would love to see FFG do more to share this great universe that has pretty much got them to where they are now. Create a roleplaying game using the trademark system for Warhammer 3rd or even make a LCG that tells the story before or after the events of Twilight Imperium. Each race has a background and heroes...this tells me there is more to this universe than we can see.

Or it could all just be that a lot of thought went into it and each race was handed off to different staff to create backgrounds for. I like to think my first guess is correct.

BTW If you would like to be apart of play-testing my game, just send me a friends invite. A bunch of the setting and lore was used as inspiration for the outland in WoW especially Blade's Edge Mountains.

I think that I would totally shell out $400 if it came with 14 sets of ships stylized and painted to match each race and the were cast metal. Plus, if they added some thicker race sheets that had dials like Runewars, that would be nice. I also like the idea of having a more sturdy box with cubbies to place all the various pieces into. And if the cards came in sleeves would be nice. Lets me honest, my cards have seen better days.

I don't see it happening though. I know someone who ordered the WotRCE and the only reason he shelled out the money is because he is a huge Tolkien fan. He already owns four copies of the game. Having said that, I have heard of people owning multiple copies of TI3, so maybe there is a market out there.

jamesbean said:

In fact, I am considering buying a second copy of TI3 to get a grand total of 14 sets of units (the duplicates to be repainted in single colours to differentiate them), and the tiles to be used as backing for homebrew content that I would glue over the duplicate systems. There's a lot of homebrew stuff out there for TI that I'd really like to use in a tabletop game with my friends.

I doubt I would shell out $400 for a collector's edition, though, as I said above. It's fun to imagine all the crazy things they might put in a $400 TI box, but it's all chrome that isn't really necessary, at the end of the day. I agree that the onl reason the WotR CE worked is because there are some crazy Tolkein fans out there who would want it "just because." I know there are some big TI fans out there, but I doubt they're that fanatical.

I would love to buy a collector's pack of some kind that included 14 painted sets of plastic pieces (one for each race), re-printed race cards with the errata fixes on them (PDS build cost is 2, etc.), and re-printed rules that are much clearer to understand (less ambiguous) and containing a collection of all kinds of variant rules and a section describing how to create your own variants without ruining game balance (maybe make it a 92-page paperback book). I wouldn't really want to buy the entire boxed game again, though.