The License is for a miniatures game. They are not really able to print cards as a standalone product.

Considering that the dice app applies to all their Star Wars games, I think they have some room to mix their licenses up a bit. This is pretty much a business decision.

If they wanted to print more money for the house of mouse, they would do it... they don't seem interested in making money this way for whatever reason. I really doubt licensing is the issue.

They make more money from selling the model than they would a card pack. This assumption that a card pack would make them more money is silly.

They make more money from selling the model than they would a card pack. This assumption that a card pack would make them more money is silly.

For a few years now, my guess has been that development accounts for almost all of FFG's cost to produce new content for X-wing--but for a much smaller proportion of players' perceived value. That is, the model itself is a small contribution to the marginal cost of producing a pack, but it's what a lot of people value.

Accordingly, I think you'd see something like full small-ship expansions for $15 or card-only expansions for $13.50. And in addition to the "bad Christmas present" problem mentioned upthread, that's enough to make FFG simply shrug when it comes to the idea of making card-only packs.

The License is for a miniatures game. They are not really able to print cards as a standalone product.

Considering that the dice app applies to all their Star Wars games, I think they have some room to mix their licenses up a bit. This is pretty much a business decision.

If they wanted to print more money for the house of mouse, they would do it... they don't seem interested in making money this way for whatever reason. I really doubt licensing is the issue.

They make more money from selling the model than they would a card pack. This assumption that a card pack would make them more money is silly.

I still question this. Cards are cheap ink a paper, can be mass produced completely in-house without the need for contracting manufacturers or managing foreign logistics, and require much less retail space per SKU than a plastic ship. Plastic ships are manufactured over seas, require building costs, painting overhead, lengthy creation and distribution times, take up much more volume during transport, and require more expensive packaging to protect the items in transit.

The amount of net profit from premium cards is assuredly higher than the plastic model they're using now. The only negative would be the fear of cannibalising their sales due to people no longer buying further ships if all their desired upgrades are more easily accessible.

If they said they won't do it, then I believe them, but I think it would funnel more money into their pockets.

Because it is a miniatures game... Maybe Magic should start selling miniatures with their cards

I don't know the non-Empire equivalent card, but if your game doesn't allow proxies and you wanted to ever use those TIE Advanceds that you bought, you had to buy a $100 set for the cards.

Exaggeration. Vader is quite playable without the title. Top tier, no. But still playable.

Exaggeration. Vader is quite playable without the title. Top tier, no. But still playable.

Without TIE/x1, even Vader isn't work the points in my opinion.

I don't know the non-Empire equivalent card, but if your game doesn't allow proxies and you wanted to ever use those TIE Advanceds that you bought, you had to buy a $100 set for the cards.

You can't use the TIE advanced if you don't own the $100 epic ship?

That's news to me since I used a TIE advanced SUN and I don't own the epic ship. And news flash, the ship zoomed around shooting doing well and I didn't use a single upgrade of any type at all!

You're confusing your wants with actual need big time. That's referred to being an entitled brat!

If they did card only packs, what would they do with all the leftover Khiraxz and Starvipers?

LOL. Don't forget K-Wings and Punishers. The ships you see auctions for on EBay titled "Two! No Upgrade Cards"

Heck, you might even throw in the Imperial Raider on that list, considering how many of those I see listed cheap without the TIE Advanced cards/ships.

Most hobbies, aside from meditation, cost money. I enjoy collecting this game. I wish I had more time to play, but, I'm working on that this year.

I figure, these are cool pieces of plastic, they incidentally make up a game, and I can spend my fun money on them.

As for getting the cards, maybe it's different where you are, but, I just bought a blister that came with TWO autothrusters, calculation, and it had a free Starviper mini. Something for everyone!

FFG can sell:

1. expansion only with new cards.

2. expansion with above cards, plus 1-2 ships that cost cents to make, and charge the expansion a few $ more.

Q: what do you think FFG will do?

It would be less of an issue if they included titles and pilots for ships that weren't in the expansion they came with. People seem to have an issue with this though as they can't use the cards if they don't have the ships.

It's a question of consumer perception of value.

The consumers do not understand that the ruleset of the game and the development of them is a large cost as far as production goes. Consumers however place an inordinate amount of value on the "stuff" that comes in the package and don't consider the development costs.

Thus FFG couldn't sell card only expansions at a price point they'd be comfortable with because consumers value the "stuff" and don't consider costs of development.

Essentially you'd see alot of this "WTG FFG, $12 for 10 cards, they are just cards, what a rip off!!!".

The License is for a miniatures game. They are not really able to print cards as a standalone product.

Considering that the dice app applies to all their Star Wars games, I think they have some room to mix their licenses up a bit. This is pretty much a business decision.

The [star Wars] license has changed hands since the turn of the century, but stretching the boundaries of the license is what cost Decipher the license for the Star Wars CCG. Given that the card game and miniature game licenses have been in the hands of seperate companies before, I think FFG is right to keep the line clear.

Also, I'm pretty sure RPGs and the Miniatures are covered by the same license, so the app isn't a problem there.

I know there's a sales impetus behind it, but, that's what it is in this game. In my case, I would appreciate more distribution of cards across the factions though. After a core set purchase, I though Galactic Empire was for me. I got a decimator, but liked the Falcon too (and it had engine upgrade). OK, I thought, Rebel and Imperial are good and I might play rebel one day. Not only was I buying Imperial ships, I got the Rebel Aces, and a few B wings. I can't remember why I got E-wings. The K-wing had a lot of ordinance. Dash seems cool too. Then of course a (three) Y-wing because they are in the movies. Eventually, I figured that I needed a Star Viper for autothrusters, something else for Veteran Instincts, "had" to have a few other things too, might as well upgrade my Y-wings with the titles, and before I know it, Bossk looks cool too, and why not get a mangler cannon and see what the hype is. I now have more than enough Scum ships in the package still.

So, I can play a new list a day, for a long time to come!

I will still assert though, that a player does not need all, or any, of a certain card, or faction for that matter. Once it's time to play a championship, you have the money invested. Until then, just buy and play what you want, and play among good friends. You don't "need" anything more. That's what the game is for.

It's a question of consumer perception of value.

The consumers do not understand that the ruleset of the game and the development of them is a large cost as far as production goes. Consumers however place an inordinate amount of value on the "stuff" that comes in the package and don't consider the development costs.

Thus FFG couldn't sell card only expansions at a price point they'd be comfortable with because consumers value the "stuff" and don't consider costs of development.

Essentially you'd see alot of this "WTG FFG, $12 for 10 cards, they are just cards, what a rip off!!!".

I think that's a very false assumption on your part. FFG sell plenty of card only games/expansions and the gaming community is quite used to paying for cards for games. People pay lots of money for MTG and that's just cards.

To the OP:

Because you'd certainly feel cheated if you could get all your relevant upgrades without the Epic ships noone gives a snot about, right? RIIIGHT?!

I quite like the new Millennium Falcon.

Cheers

Baaa

The best we are going to get from FFG will be the tons of cards that come in box sets. You know, Large and HUGE base ships and Ace/Veterans sets. Sometimes the 'medium' expansions have a good amount of extra cards in em, but I wouldn't want a repainted Grey Squadron Y-wing in a 20 dollar blister just to get 4-6 more named pilots and such. Maybe a Rebel Veterans with Y-wing and E-wing (the equivelents of the Bomber and Defender) could have that Horton with EPT card.

I dunno, I don't think it's gonna change any time soon. And I swear I've read this topic before...

by mingling the cards into ship packs they guarantee their ships sell, both because people want the ship and because people want the cards.

This has come up before and i will make the same analogy: Magic. Magic makes money by blindly selling you cards, you have no idea whats in the boosters or even CAPABLE of being in there without buying it first and in droves. We know exactly what were getting, so paying a bit extra for the cards and a ship we probably dont want anymore for more cards we know are in there is very well worth it.

i know some magic people that dump 90% of their spending money into boosters and they rarely get cards they like. I spend 15-30 bucks on an expansion and always go "ooo more of these..."

That's crazy! I've been investigating Magic: The Gathering this year and the advice I hear most often is, "Unless you are playing in a sealed format, do NOT purchase blind boosters. Go online and buy the singles you need for the deck you want to play." In that sort of environment, the cost of decks don't differ too much from some LCG and X-Wing tournament lists. I'm surprised people still buy boosters as a primary method of obtaining cards.

by mingling the cards into ship packs they guarantee their ships sell, both because people want the ship and because people want the cards.

This has come up before and i will make the same analogy: Magic. Magic makes money by blindly selling you cards, you have no idea whats in the boosters or even CAPABLE of being in there without buying it first and in droves. We know exactly what were getting, so paying a bit extra for the cards and a ship we probably dont want anymore for more cards we know are in there is very well worth it.

i know some magic people that dump 90% of their spending money into boosters and they rarely get cards they like. I spend 15-30 bucks on an expansion and always go "ooo more of these..."

It's the experience of opening them. But at least where I used to play people bought in bulk to economize

That's crazy! I've been investigating Magic: The Gathering this year and the advice I hear most often is, "Unless you are playing in a sealed format, do NOT purchase blind boosters. Go online and buy the singles you need for the deck you want to play." In that sort of environment, the cost of decks don't differ too much from some LCG and X-Wing tournament lists. I'm surprised people still buy boosters as a primary method of obtaining cards.

It's not a bad idea, but you'd end up pricing the packs about the same anyway. But what would be in the packs? More Tie Academy pilots cards? I've got like 20 of em...

I'd love to pay Palp without getting the raider coz of the cost, but it brings up a real issue: how do you value individual cards?

As the meta is constantly changing, card values would fluctuate. Look what has happened to C3-PO. A while back you'd have to pay $30 bucks on ebay. Then he became an automatic give away at store champs. Now you can't give him away.

More than likley FFG would have to do blind packs (ala Magic and other TCGs) to make it viable to sells cards so as to manage both scarcity and pricing. You'd still be creating an after market for cards then.

For better or worse, by paying for the ship and known upgrades you can make informed purchase decisions.

You understand that FFG has completely abandoned the CCG model, right? The redid AGOT and CoC into LCGs. Any theoretical card pack would not be random.

And it is important to note, that you can not just add new pilots, because then you would have to add the necessary cardboard, which would significantly add to the cost. I am also truly curious how many would actually pay $7-8 for maybe 20 cards.

by mingling the cards into ship packs they guarantee their ships sell, both because people want the ship and because people want the cards.

This has come up before and i will make the same analogy: Magic. Magic makes money by blindly selling you cards, you have no idea whats in the boosters or even CAPABLE of being in there without buying it first and in droves. We know exactly what were getting, so paying a bit extra for the cards and a ship we probably dont want anymore for more cards we know are in there is very well worth it.

i know some magic people that dump 90% of their spending money into boosters and they rarely get cards they like. I spend 15-30 bucks on an expansion and always go "ooo more of these..."

That's crazy! I've been investigating Magic: The Gathering this year and the advice I hear most often is, "Unless you are playing in a sealed format, do NOT purchase blind boosters. Go online and buy the singles you need for the deck you want to play." In that sort of environment, the cost of decks don't differ too much from some LCG and X-Wing tournament lists. I'm surprised people still buy boosters as a primary method of obtaining cards.

I am a long time CCG player/collector and this is 100% true, buying A box might be cost effective with a bit of luck but to maximize any collecting power you are best served to buy a good handful of packs, then immediately buy the singles for as cheap as you can. There is one downfall to this that rarity artificially inflates value for certain things and price gougers are absolutely flooding ebay and similar sources. If you are any good at the game in question you get pretty good at deciding what is good to pull the trigger on and what should you "go fish" on.

Xwing is a very nice change of pace, I know what I am buying, I can buy just certain things or a hoard of things but it is always known what I am paying for. The prices also never go up, max value of any card is exactly MSRP divided by how many of the card are present. There is no back alley super nerd charging 200% value cause this card is the new hotness. Oh this card is good? What does it come in? Ok I need X dollars and get extra stuff to boot.

Card packs would also not kill my interest in the game but I truly feel it doesn't really need them, just add value to box sets and the problem is solved.

I can easily imagine how they would make more money selling card packs. Just don't give out every card in the pack (so people still have to buy ships to get EVERYTHING). Especially for 'fixes' type cards.. If a certain card combo turns out to be OP, they can fix it a lot quicker and easier. They can also easily update and reprint older cards with better wording, and all that.

I find it weird that their LCG model is so customer friendly but they still have this policy. I get it that they want to sell the ships but the whole company is basically built around selling cardboard... and with xwing they have a giant, built-in captive audience... and tons of art as crossover from their other games. But hey, if they make more money that way I get it.

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