Dear FFG: can we get a box that doesn't suck?

By Desslok, in The Force Awakens Beginner Game

It would be nice if, unlike the other three Beginner Sets, the E7 Beginner set was a nicer, more sturdy box, somewhere I can store all the material from the other games (plus this one). Or at the very least give us a box that doesn't rip when you open the top?

Normally I would agree with you. I love the quality of the 4e red box. However, I bought a few of these during a back-to-school sale. I have no regrests

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It would be nice if, unlike the other three Beginner Sets, the E7 Beginner set was a nicer, more sturdy box, somewhere I can store all the material from the other games (plus this one). Or at the very least give us a box that doesn't rip when you open the top?

Agreed.

Although I got a feeling to keep the product at the advertised $30 price point, we're going to get the same flimsy cardboard we got with the prior three Beginner Boxes sadly.

I must admit it's heartening to know the biggest complaint about the Begginer Boxes is the package it comes in!

Loved all the others, all their boxes broke, will happily get this one and put it in something stronger.

I'd rather be excited about a game whose biggest fault is a broken box rather than broken rule system (Palladium Books, anyone?).

I'd rather be excited about a game whose biggest fault is a broken box rather than broken rule system (Palladium Books, anyone?).

Ha!

Though, soon the palladium system will be fixed, via Savage Worlds a d a liscenced Rifts line.

Honestly, I just recycled the box. I have too much crap Anyways.

I'd rather be excited about a game whose biggest fault is a broken box rather than broken rule system (Palladium Books, anyone?).

Ha!

Though, soon the palladium system will be fixed, via Savage Worlds a d a liscenced Rifts line.

Honestly, I just recycled the box. I have too much crap Anyways.

If you think Savage Worlds is going to fix it, think again. Savage Worlds is just doing their own spin on it, and some of the spin doesn't feel right (looking at the Juicer). Must stop before I rant too much (dear god, I know too much).

I've been toying with the idea of doing Rifts in this Star Wars system. Wouldn't be hard, just some hiccups.

I am not alone in my loathing for the previous packaging? Even after all the complaints, so I feel FFG blew us off

I am not alone in my loathing for the previous packaging? Even after all the complaints, so I feel FFG blew us off

Other than webmasters, I'm not certain FFG even reads more than just the beta testing forums. If they do, they certainly don't comment.

I am not alone in my loathing for the previous packaging? Even after all the complaints, so I feel FFG blew us off

Other than webmasters, I'm not certain FFG even reads more than just the beta testing forums. If they do, they certainly don't comment.

I remember discussing this with a couple of FFG staff a couple of GenCons ago, and it's pretty much company policy that they were not allowed to visit the forums, much less post on them.

As for the Beta forums, what likely happened there is the design team was supplied with feedback elements courtesy of the forum moderators, with the vitrol being filtered out so that the designers could focus on the meat instead of having to wade through the garbage.

At least for the X-Wing forum, I think they read it quite closely. There is certainly a no interaction policy on the forums, but don't think no-one is paying attention.

I am not alone in my loathing for the previous packaging? Even after all the complaints, so I feel FFG blew us off

Other than webmasters, I'm not certain FFG even reads more than just the beta testing forums. If they do, they certainly don't comment.

I remember discussing this with a couple of FFG staff a couple of GenCons ago, and it's pretty much company policy that they were not allowed to visit the forums, much less post on them.

As for the Beta forums, what likely happened there is the design team was supplied with feedback elements courtesy of the forum moderators, with the vitrol being filtered out so that the designers could focus on the meat instead of having to wade through the garbage.

I suspected as much.

I know there aware of some stuff that goes on within the community. Sam seemed to be familiar with the Dev Answer sticky when I asked him about it.

Annoying, but I can sort of see why. Take for example, Babylon 5 and JMS interacting with fans on Usenet (don't worry, there's a point to this). There was a fan who sent him a script despite clear and standing instructions to the public not to do so - and it turned out that what the fan submitted was very close to something Joe had already written. Suddenly he found himself in the position that if he went ahead with the production of his episode, he'd open himself up to plagiarism, even tho his script was done well before the submission.

Eventually the matter was sorted out and that script was allowed to go ahead into production, but from that point on JMS had to bail on interacting with fans, in case something else happened like that again.

So I could see a case of someone coming up with Zeltron stats (or whatever) and a write up paralleling something that FFG had in the pipe that they would have to pull because of inadvertent plagiarism. Better to remain out of the loop all together than something like that happening.

Edited by Desslok

At the In-Flight Report at GenCon a couple of years ago the CEO of FFG explained that in order to keep the box at a certain price point they had to either take the lesser-quality cardboard or consider dropping something else, like the dice.

edit: I'm sure there is a video of it on YouTube.

Edited by RecklessFable

At the In-Flight Report at GenCon a couple of years ago the CEO of FFG explained that in order to keep the box at a certain price point they had to either take the lesser-quality cardboard or consider dropping something else, like the dice.

edit: I'm sure there is a video of it on YouTube.

On one hand, it sounds logical.

On the other hand, if you have a sturdier box, you don't need the cardboard insert that keeps it sturdy on the shelf...

Don't take the dice out of the starter box! They make the price of the starters reasonable and have been the source of over half the dice I have.

Don't take the dice out of the starter box! They make the price of the starters reasonable and have been the source of over half the dice I have.

Especially as you want them to be able to play this straight out of the box and not immediately discard it until they can pick up a set of dice or the app separately...

Don't take the dice out of the starter box! They make the price of the starters reasonable and have been the source of over half the dice I have.

Especially as you want them to be able to play this straight out of the box and not immediately discard it until they can pick up a set of dice or the app separately...

Well, given how ubiquitous smartphones are these days, they could probably provide a discount code in the box for the dice rolling app if they did take the dice out.

Granted, I'd much prefer they stick to having the dice in the box, especially for the reason you cited in that it lets a group new to the game sit down and play immediately rather than wait to buy the app or spend extra for a dice pack at the store.

At the In-Flight Report at GenCon a couple of years ago the CEO of FFG explained that in order to keep the box at a certain price point they had to either take the lesser-quality cardboard or consider dropping something else, like the dice.

edit: I'm sure there is a video of it on YouTube.

Because we all know cardboard is so expensive... it'd probably cost like 400$ more per box.

/Sarcasm.

I think it's pretty much a BS excuse to cut costs. Yes, it's more expensive to make a few hundred thousand boxes of better quality, but to the individual consumer, it might equate to 3-4 bucks more per box, and I think most would be fine with that.

It would be nice if, unlike the other three Beginner Sets, the E7 Beginner set was a nicer, more sturdy box, somewhere I can store all the material from the other games (plus this one). Or at the very least give us a box that doesn't rip when you open the top?

http://amzn.com/B01AM9TESC :)

Edit: I found the holy trinity of storage! http://amzn.com/B01A8037NS

Edited by robus

It would be nice if, unlike the other three Beginner Sets, the E7 Beginner set was a nicer, more sturdy box, somewhere I can store all the material from the other games (plus this one). Or at the very least give us a box that doesn't rip when you open the top?

Here you go: http://amzn.com/B01AM9TESC much cheaper than a starter set too :)

Edit: I found the holy trinity of storage! http://amzn.com/B01A8037NS

Picked up one of those from Michael's in the R2-D2 design to toss my Disney Infinity figures into.

It's kinda funny... I just ordered a Swedish roleplaying game the other day.

Now, this game comes in a box, it's the same size as the beginner box (only in A4 format instead of US format).
It's a thick, sturdy box, not a flimsy one like the beginner box.

It includes 2 rulebooks (combined size about the same as the EotE core rules), 108 cards (think the crit cards from FFG), 108 markers (same as the beginner box markers), 15 custom dice and 4 large colour maps (same size as the starter box's maps, each).
(The quality of the artwork and items are the same as FFG's items)

So, let's look at the price.
299 sek (swedish crowns).
For comparison, the Jewel of Yavin is 299 sek at the same store.
The beginner box is 259 sek at the same store.

So why can't we get a somewhat sturdier box for the beginner game?
It's not gonna cost a fortune more.

It's kinda funny... I just ordered a Swedish roleplaying game the other day.

. . . .

maxresdefault.jpg

(subtitle: a stunned Daffy Duck, obviously processing the numerous naughty connotations of a swedish role playing game)

It's kinda funny... I just ordered a Swedish roleplaying game the other day.

. . . .

maxresdefault.jpg

(subtitle: a stunned Daffy Duck, obviously processing the numerous naughty connotations of a swedish role playing game)

Ah, it pleases me that the 1950's/60's notion of sweden being "super sexualised" is still lingering...

It's kinda funny... I just ordered a Swedish roleplaying game the other day.

Now, this game comes in a box, it's the same size as the beginner box (only in A4 format instead of US format).

It's a thick, sturdy box, not a flimsy one like the beginner box.

It includes 2 rulebooks (combined size about the same as the EotE core rules), 108 cards (think the crit cards from FFG), 108 markers (same as the beginner box markers), 15 custom dice and 4 large colour maps (same size as the starter box's maps, each).

(The quality of the artwork and items are the same as FFG's items)

So, let's look at the price.

299 sek (swedish crowns).

For comparison, the Jewel of Yavin is 299 sek at the same store.

The beginner box is 259 sek at the same store.

So why can't we get a somewhat sturdier box for the beginner game?

It's not gonna cost a fortune more.

Well, the transport costs will have been lower, if you actually bought it in Sweden. But I agree, there is little reason to skimp on the sturdiness of the cardboard. That's not going to make the price skyrocket.

That said, Swedish roleplaying seems to be in something of a golden age these days. The number of high-quality games coming out is staggering. I am especially fond of Fria Ligan - they are doing some great things.