Well, it is a good, nonchalant way to acknowledge a shift in the design team. I imagine Frank is full with Armada.

My understanding is that he also got roped into RuneWars, but I may have misunderstood that.

Didn't realize he was doing Rune Wars. Makes sense. It is difficult to keep track of the musical chairs of design at FFG.

lol this article makes me giggle a bit.

"The A-wing does not have access to barrel roll, and therefore doesn’t have quite the same incredible repositional power as the TIE interceptor. Also, with its low attack value, it doesn’t hit nearly as hard. However, it’s cheaper and more durable, and the low pilot skill A-wings have therefore proven much stronger than the low pilot skill interceptors."

translation: "A-wings are great. Interceptors are great. Except that some of them aren't. But we didn't incorrectly price those ones that aren't great! They just naturally are different ships and that's why some are bad and some are good!"

______________

"On the JumpMaster 5000, for example, we knew we couldn’t make the Segnor's Loops speed "3" maneuvers because that would be too powerful in tandem with Unhinged Astromech."

translation: "We didn't want to make it too broken, just... broken. So we gave it an extra PS over most generics, an Elite, green turns, kept one of the Sloops white, gave it barrel roll, 9 health behind 2 agility, a turret primary... Oh, did we mention the torps and Salvaged Astromech combo yet?"

______________

"When we designed the Protectorate Starfighter, we wanted to supply a third interceptor-type ship that had its own identity and feeling."

translation: "So we wanted the Fang fighter to fly different. But let's be real- all we are going to see is Fenn Rau with PTL flying as much like Soontir as possible."

______________

"There’s no magic formula for pricing an X-Wing ship."

translation: "We are not willing to pay someone who could use proper math to create a pricing formula for X-wing which would assure ships are not over or under priced, because it is a great way to allow us to revisit ships and make players purchase more X-wing ships."

______________

"So the dial definitely factors into things. The Protectorate Starfighter’s Zealous Recruit has one less shield and pilot skill than the Cartel Marauder Kihraxz, but a better dial and more actions, so they wound up costing the same."

translation: "So the dial definitely factors into things. The Protectorate Starfighter’s Zealous Recruit has one less shield and pilot skill than the Cartel Marauder Kihraxz, but a better dial and more actions, so they wound up both being overpriced. Also, don't mind that we didn't even mention that the Zealous Recruit has one more agility as well. Because that obviously isn't worth noting."

______________

"The Protectorate Starfighter’s dial was also a lot of fun to develop."

translation: "The Tie/FO dial with Tallon rolls instead of Sloops was also a lot of fun to develop."

Love these guys, but oy... I wish this was a little more real. Like, why make the comparison of the Fang and the K fighter? Why not say, "The K fighter is overcosted, so it's a good example of us failing to properly cost the ships dial." Instead of comparing it to a new release it really doesn't compare to at all?

This is the problem with translations. Something always gets lost.

Not every aircraft in WWII was "good" and even the good ones had weaknesses. If every class of ship in the game shared the same dial it would be a very boring game. Think a one on one with Fel vs Fel. Passing the initiative back and forth. Unless one pilot screwed the pooch it would go to time and a draw. Oh yeah, no draws. Hmmm...

I'm not saying I agree with the stats and dials as the developers have them on some ships, what I'm trying to get at is this: to keep the game interesting and playable, especially interesting, some compromises were made. Not every ship can be top tier, not every pilot can be an ace like Fell, not every pilot deserves an EPT slot.

If everything was considered "top tier" then nothing would be special and the only difference in a list would be the model. Definitely a NPE, at least for me.

I'm not good enough to play this game competitively at regionals but I play my best. Or try to. I fly what I want. My opponent may win the game but I try to make sure he earns the win regardless of how "good" my build is.

Not every article has to be a preview or breakdown of upcoming stuff.

We dont want everything to be the same. Ships dont need to be balanced 1v1, thats what the point cost is supposed to reflect. What we want is for our generics to not be so overpriced as to be unusable.

You can have a bunch od things be top tier and not have the "only difference be the model". Dengaroo and palp aces are both top tier right now and arent in any way similar to each other. Similarly a crack swarm flies nothing like uboats. Or palp aces. Ir dengaroo. Theres plenty of ways to differentiate without simply making (or leaving) something as completely unplayable.

Not every article has to be a preview or breakdown of upcoming stuff.

Agreed. Dont read tis as a "dial info" artivle. Read it as the wave 9 release article. We get a release artivle every wave, so we were die one this week to precede fhe release on the 22nd. Iirc a lot of the release articles havent had anything worth reading outside of the release announcement. This one actually gave us something to go with it

i was kinda expecting them to explain why the hell large ships have such insane dials.

All i saw was "we noticed the unhinged astromech and 3sloops on jm5ks so we made it a 2sloop to dodge that" - i'll admit, THANK YOU FOR NOTICING THAT but still wtf is with the dial as it is...so insane... a large ship should not be out maneuvering an xwing

a large ship should not be out maneuvering an xwing

Have you SEEN star wars? The falcon is crazy maneuverable. If you dont like it, blame the fluff, not the designeds

As has already been stated, not every article can be an earth-shattering revelation about a new release and I (for one) am always pleased to get an insight into the thinking or rationale of the developers.

"Damned if they do, damned if they don't."

And articles are like waves - nothing of interest? Just move along, others will probably dig this one and there WILL be something of interest to you on the near horizon.

that's it. I am buying a bottle of Glenfiddich. Done with today.

that's it. I am buying a bottle of Glenfiddich. Done with today.

Just come back to the Armada forum where we discuss the article we got today...I mean last week...I mean...

X-wing is a wonderful game. The various designers have obviously done many things right that make it wonderful.

But man, this article does not raise my respect for the current state of X-wing design in waves 9 & 10.

"So the dial definitely factors into things. The Protectorate Starfighter’s Zealous Recruit has one less shield and pilot skill than the Cartel Marauder Kihraxz, but a better dial and more actions, so they wound up costing the same."

"We’ve definitely learned a lot since the earlier waves."

I respectfully disagree, I don't see improved design progress from earlier waves. Pilots and upgrades are still extremely inconsistent. The Zealous Recruit is clearly priced incorrectly. At 18 points instead of 20 it would still be a tier 2 ship. At 19 points you could just say they were being conservative. Pricing it at 20, they are flat out intentionally making it unplayable. If they compared the Protectorate to the Tie Interceptor, now that would sound intelligent.

People are saying, not all the ships have to be tier 1 amazing. Sure, I agree. Having all the pilots in X-wing be on a spectrum between tier 1 and tier 2 is realistic. Realistically, there will always be some tier 3 duds, but hopefully not too many.

The thing is, there are huge numbers of tier 3 & tier 4 pilots, some of them were just released in wave 9 & I bet there will be tier 4 pilots in wave 10! this makes me feel disappointed

At least Fenn Rau is alright because all they did was release a slightly tweaked Soontir Fel that can't be supported by Palpatine.

that's it. I am buying a bottle of Glenfiddich. Done with today.

Get some Ardberg 10 year old instead. It's a much better dram

that's it. I am buying a bottle of Glenfiddich. Done with today.

Just come back to the Armada forum where we discuss the article we got today...I mean last week...I mean...

yeppers!

a large ship should not be out maneuvering an xwing

Have you SEEN star wars? The falcon is crazy maneuverable. If you dont like it, blame the fluff, not the designeds

Heck, forget X-wings. That thing outmaneuvered TIE fighters!

There's a world of difference between "unplayable" and "not competitive in a tournament environment".

I have fun playing with all my ships as they are all "playable".

that dial for the shadowcaster tho....

There's a world of difference between "unplayable" and "not competitive in a tournament environment".

I have fun playing with all my ships as they are all "playable".

Agreed, but the designers should never look at the game this way. A well balanced game where many options are competitive in a tournament environment is good for the game. Now if that isn't the case, sure, it doesn't bother casual play too much, but it also doesn't bother casual play if they do everything in their power to make the game as balanced as possible. Better to feed two mouths than one.

They didn't say anything that's not common sense. I would have liked them to explain why the "lumbering" ARC-170 has six green moves, while the T-65 X-wing only has four. It also would have been funny if they'd mentioned that the YT-2400 and T-65 have exactly the same dial ... well, except the YT-1400 has a 1-turn, of course.

They didn't say anything that's not common sense. I would have liked them to explain why the "lumbering" ARC-170 has six green moves, while the T-65 X-wing only has four.

To make ptl r2d2 norra playable, ofc

They didn't say anything that's not common sense. I would have liked them to explain why the "lumbering" ARC-170 has six green moves, while the T-65 X-wing only has four.

To make ptl r2d2 norra playable, ofc

We have different definitions of "playable"

They didn't say anything that's not common sense. I would have liked them to explain why the "lumbering" ARC-170 has six green moves, while the T-65 X-wing only has four.

To make ptl r2d2 norra playable, ofc

We have different definitions of "playable"

sure, but mine's more practical

that's it. I am buying a bottle of Glenfiddich. Done with today.

Get some Ardberg 10 year old instead. It's a much better dram

If it's younger than 15 years, you're robbing the barrel. Glenfarclas 21 year or bust.

On the vein of X-Wing, the most important part of this article is that MATH WING DOES NOT EXIST. EVEN THE DESIGNERS ADMIT THAT THE POINT STRUCTURE OF THIS GAME IS TOUCHY-FEELY. So, the next time anyone complains that a ship is miss-costed, IT IS IN YOUR OPINION ONLY BECUASE THERE IS NO FORMULA. Full stop, over and out.

that's it. I am buying a bottle of Glenfiddich. Done with today.

Get some Ardberg 10 year old instead. It's a much better dram

If it's younger than 15 years, you're robbing the barrel. Glenfarclas 21 year or bust.

On the vein of X-Wing, the most important part of this article is that MATH WING DOES NOT EXIST. EVEN THE DESIGNERS ADMIT THAT THE POINT STRUCTURE OF THIS GAME IS TOUCHY-FEELY. So, the next time anyone complains that a ship is miss-costed, IT IS IN YOUR OPINION ONLY BECUASE THERE IS NO FORMULA. Full stop, over and out.

"Ponits are assigned at random so ships can't be overpriced!"

ORS is perfectly well balanced because there is no formula.

Good to hear a little bit from the design team.

So Thematic is suppose to be important. Really? So....Large ships fly faster than small fighter ships? Really. They turn better too? I get the Falcon but as for speed....in Hyperspace. Otherwise those TIEs were strafing the hell out it.

Best dials for large ships...wow.

Yes...I love this game but really having a huge problem with the dials of large ships.