It is the same as last year, every Star Wars product gets news, except the RPG. I did try to warn everyone it would happen this way.

You did, and I apologize for dismissing your warning out of hand. I figured three years of Beta book announcements in a row, they could afford to take a year off (last year) and then they'd be right back in it.

Darn darn darn darny darn...

If not even House of Mouse will help FFG advertise and publish, how can FFG bemoan lower RPG sales when they strike out at GenCon?

Okay...alright...Let's see...

With no announcement at GenCon, I have two potential predictions going forward:

First, I notice that every other Edge announcement going back to Suns of Fortune in 2013 was on a Monday. In fact, it's alternated between Monday and Thursday since then, with one Tuesday / Wednesday in the middle. So...maybe we get our Region book this Monday? It would fit the pattern, at least...

However, the higher probability scenario is that we don't get a new announcement this month. The only August announcement so far was Stay on Target, two years ago. So they may be waiting until September for the next book. Which would...suck. A lot.

And Stay on Target may have been a mistaken announcement. Wasn't that the book that someone got a picture of at the GenCon booth, but wasn't on the release schedule?

It looks like FFG is learning Wizard of the Coast's lesson that the Star Wars RPG license takes too much effort for too little profit.

Looking on the bright side, our Pirate friend upthread did confirm that there are more books in the pipeline so at the very least we should get the remaining career books and maybe the third regional book for Edge of the Empire during the next couple of years.

So, absol you might get the Mystic book for Christmas next year.

Yes, yes it was. So that's another thing. And since Stay on Target is also one of the two books that was not announced in the first half of the month, it's entirely possible it was supposed to be announced early September and the gaffe at the both forced their hand early.

So, yeah. Hopefully we can all wait patiently for another month before the next announcement. If it seems like it's been a while since Edge had anything new, you're absolutely right. Every way you slice it, this is the longest Edge, or any single line, for that matter, has gone without an announcement.

But I don't want to wait for Christmas two years from now . That's so far away...*sniff*

It would be just my luck of they get all the other career books out, and then just before the Mystic book they announce that they're discontinuing the RPG. Don't worry, statistically, only 5.56% of fans had their favorite career snuffed! And probably even less than that!

Last year they said nothing, and we had that long dry spell due to the dock strikes. It was all doom and gloom then. Just be patient, people.

The thing is, we've been patient. I can prove that we've waited longer than we did last year, and there doesn't appear to be a dock strike or anything going on. I'm well aware that things are coming and it's not The End, but Edge going 39.70% of a year without an upcoming product, and 70.36% of a year without any new news? At minimum? That doesn't seem extreme to you with no obvious external issues?

At least with the strike, they could legitimately say their production schedule was disrupted because books that should have hit the shelves already were still not released. In those circumstances, wanting to wait a bit to get back on schedule makes sense, even if it sucks for us. But we're closing in on a year with no Edge announcements, with no obvious reason why.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just a bit frustrated. Lack of sleep, being sick, memorial planning, and no new books can do that too a person. I'm also antsy because a friend of mine seems to have disappeared, and I'm worried about her...

Eh, not really worrying. Statistics are nice and all, but humans can turn anything into a crapshoot.

I don't think we would sweat as much if the production details (such as delays, among others) weren't operated like a black ops.

You're probably right. I just wish we could get a general estimate.

Even something like, "We're shooting for September 5, but that may be subject to change." That would be nice.

Using the "In Production" status would be great too, but RPG's don't do that as a policy it seems

It looks like FFG is learning Wizard of the Coast's lesson that the Star Wars RPG license takes too much effort for too little profit.

I think if you do not advertise a product at events designed to promote those products/properties, then it is really hard to get people to buy it.

It is not "learning from anyone" really it is failing advertising 101. Tell people it exists, shout it from the mountain-tops and people will buy it, even if it sucks (see Microsoft Bob). If that product is good, people will talk about it and even more folks will buy it.

If you sell pumpkin flavored sodas, you sell them at autumn or Halloween style situations... If you sell a RPG, go to an RPG convention and say "we have a Star Wars RPG!" don't say "We have all these things that aren't the Star Wars RPG" and expect to sell more of the Star Wars RPG.

It seems the new Force Awakens Begginer Box is what they consider the crown jewel for the RPG this year. If you look at it from the perspective of someone who isn't bought into this system then making big announcements about supplements could give the feeling of "oh I'm too late to jump on that bandwagon, they have finished the career books for an entire line" (assuming BH is what's next for EotE).

But for people new to the system to see a beginner box of the new movies front and centre tells an entirely different story.

I'm suggesting that FFG can relax with the EotE line now as we all eagerly devour the books from the other 2 lines, the rate that SM was sold out was quite something a Tatooine book, Mandalor or something with Bounty Hunters will go even faster. While at the same time FFG are focusing on gaining new players through TFABB, I'm actually more surprised now that we have not yet seen the follow up adventure and last 2 characters on their website, perhaps they will wait until it's available to the general public for that.

The Beginner Game is available to the general public. I was at my FLGS last night and they had five copies on the floor, and more in the back.

However, waiting a week or two before putting out new material for it is probably a good idea: let people start running it before giving them more stuff that goes with it!

But having those extra characters would help a lot in stores. My prediction is they will both be force users to give us 2 EotE, 2 AoR and 2 FaD characters. Having a spread across all 3 lines fits the marketing lingo they have been using to describe this system.

It seems the new Force Awakens Begginer Box is what they consider the crown jewel for the RPG this year. If you look at it from the perspective of someone who isn't bought into this system then making big announcements about supplements could give the feeling of "oh I'm too late to jump on that bandwagon, they have finished the career books for an entire line" (assuming BH is what's next for EotE).

But for people new to the system to see a beginner box of the new movies front and centre tells an entirely different story.

I'm suggesting that FFG can relax with the EotE line now as we all eagerly devour the books from the other 2 lines, the rate that SM was sold out was quite something a Tatooine book, Mandalor or something with Bounty Hunters will go even faster. While at the same time FFG are focusing on gaining new players through TFABB, I'm actually more surprised now that we have not yet seen the follow up adventure and last 2 characters on their website, perhaps they will wait until it's available to the general public for that.

I suspect this is correct. They view EoTE, AoR and FaD as a single "Star Wars RPG" line, and have slowed Edge production in order to "catch up" on AoR and FaD books. After all, they wouldn't want to complete the Edge line, and have it lay completely dormant until they catch up on the other 2.

I wonder if we need to consider variable outliers when making predictions. For example, how many writers, editors, etc. were on hand during time period X, when we got a regular stream of books? Now, how many of the same writers, editors, etc.* are on hand for books? If there is a drop in our numbers now, we have an answer to the delay questions.

If we predict that SWRPG is not a big money maker for FFG/Disney, at what point could we predict its collapse? Remember, Disney (who owns the SW licence) abruptly cut Disney Infinity video game miniatures because of sales. Uncle Mickey has never been afraid to make obvious and quick business decisions in their favor.

*- See, FFG? I can re-use career names again and again, too!

I discovered FFGSWRPG via my local comic book shop, and more via amazon.com. I've not had any problems buying books via that online store, but get Adversary decks as print-on-demand directly from FFG.

Disney likely look at the entire profit of ALL of FFG's products as a single item, rather than breaking it down into small parts and micromanaging each seperate game, that would be left up to FFG management. The other indicator that is important is the rate at which product is sold out and then reprinted. Special Modifications sold out within a very short time, from memory it was only a week or two! and immediately went into re-print. That indicates to me that FFG still underestimates the demand for a product, something that would be a good to present to management in board meetings... much better than trying to explain why that container of books is still sitting in the warehouse.

Disney likely look at the entire profit of ALL of FFG's products as a single item, rather than breaking it down into small parts and micromanaging each seperate game, that would be left up to FFG management. The other indicator that is important is the rate at which product is sold out and then reprinted. Special Modifications sold out within a very short time, from memory it was only a week or two! and immediately went into re-print. That indicates to me that FFG still underestimates the demand for a product, something that would be a good to present to management in board meetings... much better than trying to explain why that container of books is still sitting in the warehouse.

and all their SW product lines sell out often. likely because they do not put in huge orders as you have to store big orders and you want to sell out and reprint. not sit on unsold product. i suspect their print runs are bigger. but they don't increase them by much. just reprint often.

Honestly I think we should lower our expectations. Look at how much Star Wars FFG actually produces. They are putting out a butt load of Star Wars products overall. The level at which they produce product lines (and brand new ones at that with the recent announcement of Destiny) shows a commitment to Star Wars gaming in general even if that means us RPG folks aren't front and center in terms of priorities. The fact that they are always reprinting books and they are always finding new ways for us to enjoy Star Wars speaks to the health of the license under them. If that means I have to wait longer to find out what new RPG book there is then I see it as a small price to pay for a healthy Star Wars line.

New prediction: we may see Endless Vigil go on the boat sometime late this week. Usually it's three or four weeks at the printer, and we'll reach the end of week 3 this Thursday.

My current release date prediction was estimating four weeks at the printer, so if we do get it down to three we'll be able to move the estimate up.

Still wouldn't get us to a Q3 release, but we'll be very close .

EDIT: This happens to me way too often to not be creepy - I get the 197th reply in a thread a lot, and I promise I'm not planning it...

At least with the strike, they could legitimately say their production schedule was disrupted because books that should have hit the shelves already were still not released. In those circumstances, wanting to wait a bit to get back on schedule makes sense, even if it sucks for us. But we're closing in on a year with no Edge announcements, with no obvious reason why.

This could still be a long-term effect of the dock strikes. It's easy to pretend like all the different pieces of production -- concept, writing, testing, printing, and distribution -- are separate and immune from problems in each other, but they're all very connected. Think of it like traffic on a highway: stoppage at distribution leads to a slow down or stoppage at the printer, which leads to a slow down or stoppage in testing, etc., etc. You might think the game designers are still keeping up the pace with conceiving of and writing books and rules, but the strike was pretty damaging. They likely slowed down the work a bit with the full knowledge that their schedule would be FUBAR for a while yet. After all, the end of the dock strike meant a return to normal work loads, not a sudden frenzy of activity to "catch up."

That's part of what makes a strike so effective: its lasting impact.

I'm not trying to undermine your rant -- we all have to blow off steam and vent our frustrations. But I don't think we've seen the last of the strike's shadow.

Me, I'm taking the lull to try out some of FFG's other Star Wars products, like X-Wing , because I'm sure I still have a few more organs I can sell to pay for this hobby.

That's a very good point, and an angle I hadn't considered. My viewpoint was too narrow.

My rant was mostly because I was having a bad week and it was topped off by both no new book and me getting another prediction wrong, so I kind of blew up a little. But things are a bit better now, so hopefully I can cool the kriff off !