The recent trend of mostly hidden dials until release seems to have come after the purchase of FFG by asmodee, and i can tell you why that is.

The major corporation reeeeeelly doesn't like vassal, and doesn't like people being able to play their games for free. Prior to ffg's (and x-wing's) explosion in popularity in late 2014/2015 and the companies acquisition by asmodee, it largely wasn't an issue. Now, however, the parent company has tightened the reins and I don't see that going away.

I just hope they don't get rid of vassal.

I'd be super pissed, because it's really the only way I can play. I have two people to play with and both seem to be losing interest. Unfortunately there are no gaming stores where people play near me so that is out of the question. (I've tried numerous times get an XWing group going but it's never took off)

The nearest store is an hour and 45 min away from my house and includes a 45 dollar bridge or 65 dollar ferry if I want to leave this **** hole

If it wasn't for vassal I'd probably not be playing anymore

Since this purchase happened, I've been dreading the day where I see a post saying vassal is no more. Hope to god that doesn't happen

Bu-ut...revealing or not revealing the dial doesn't really change the number of end purchasers, does it?

I mean, it just means that the people who are playing for free get their information later than they otherwise would.

Unless they're speculating that people who aren't already burned out by a ship or disillusioned by its performance on Vassal, will go purchase real ships on release day, which they otherwise would not have purchased. That's a bit of a stretch, especially when you consider that the Vassal community is probably composed or the more serious X-Wingers who are going to buy stuff for their collection regardless.

Bu-ut...revealing or not revealing the dial doesn't really change the number of end purchasers, does it?

I mean, it just means that the people who are playing for free get their information later than they otherwise would.

Unless they're speculating that people who aren't already burned out by a ship or disillusioned by its performance on Vassal, will go purchase real ships on release day, which they otherwise would not have purchased. That's a bit of a stretch, especially when you consider that the Vassal community is probably composed or the more serious X-Wingers who are going to buy stuff for their collection regardless.

Well to be fair that can play a huge role both ways.

Because if vassal I want two arcs instead if just buying one, but had i used vassal more when wave 6 came out I wouldn't have bought 3 scyke and 2 starvipers

I just hope they don't get rid of vassal.

I'd be super pissed, because it's really the only way I can play. I have two people to play with and both seem to be losing interest. Unfortunately there are no gaming stores where people play near me so that is out of the question. (I've tried numerous times get an XWing group going but it's never took off)

The nearest store is an hour and 45 min away from my house and includes a 45 dollar bridge or 65 dollar ferry if I want to leave this **** hole

If it wasn't for vassal I'd probably not be playing anymore

Since this purchase happened, I've been dreading the day where I see a post saying vassal is no more. Hope to god that doesn't happen

They can't get rid of Vassal. Star Wars is protected, but the game mechanics are not. And the step to completely get rid of all star wars related text in vassal would be minimal anyway, they already have removed most of the text.

Though the store argument itself is silly as stores are clearly not the only place to play at. Outside of people living on a lonely island, you usually can play with others just fine without playing online. But for sure the online community is great to get together with more people, but at the same time online play might actually hinder forming stronger local communities. If everyone plays online then it naturally harder to find players for offline.

Bu-ut...revealing or not revealing the dial doesn't really change the number of end purchasers, does it?

I mean, it just means that the people who are playing for free get their information later than they otherwise would.

Unless they're speculating that people who aren't already burned out by a ship or disillusioned by its performance on Vassal, will go purchase real ships on release day, which they otherwise would not have purchased. That's a bit of a stretch, especially when you consider that the Vassal community is probably composed or the more serious X-Wingers who are going to buy stuff for their collection regardless.

Well to be fair that can play a huge role both ways.

Because if vassal I want two arcs instead if just buying one, but had i used vassal more when wave 6 came out I wouldn't have bought 3 scyke and 2 starvipers

Lets be frank. Most people knew that the starviper or the k-fighter were crap. They bought them anyway for the autothrusters and crackshot. ;-)

You're probably right. For all that I've seen, Asmodee is a pretty P.O.S. organization with hints towards becoming the next Games Workshop (not a good thing).

If anyone's going to stop Vassal, it's Disney. Vassal has survived GW for years, so I don't think Asmodee could do more than inconvenience them.

Regarding Asmodee as GW 2.0... I'm not saying it's not a concern, but the brick and mortar favoritism isn't really evidence of such. It might be a mistake, certainly, but taking Asmodee at their word seems the most logical conclusion because the reduced number of online sales almost certainly outweighed any extra profit per online sale. And unlike GW, Asmodee doesn't have their own chain of stores that directly profits from increased traffic.

I'm relatively sure FFG isn't worried about a computer program that a very small fraction of their customer base uses.

The recent trend of mostly hidden dials until release seems to have come after the purchase of FFG by asmodee, and i can tell you why that is.

The major corporation reeeeeelly doesn't like vassal, and doesn't like people being able to play their games for free. Prior to ffg's (and x-wing's) explosion in popularity in late 2014/2015 and the companies acquisition by asmodee, it largely wasn't an issue. Now, however, the parent company has tightened the reins and I don't see that going away.

I'm gonna have to ask you for a source, for this.

I just don't see how not revealing all of the dials ties back to Vassal in any REAL way...

I just hope they don't get rid of vassal.I'd be super pissed, because it's really the only way I can play. I have two people to play with and both seem to be losing interest. Unfortunately there are no gaming stores where people play near me so that is out of the question. (I've tried numerous times get an XWing group going but it's never took off)The nearest store is an hour and 45 min away from my house and includes a 45 dollar bridge or 65 dollar ferry if I want to leave this **** holeIf it wasn't for vassal I'd probably not be playing anymoreSince this purchase happened, I've been dreading the day where I see a post saying vassal is no more. Hope to god that doesn't happen

They can't get rid of Vassal. Star Wars is protected, but the game mechanics are not. And the step to completely get rid of all star wars related text in vassal would be minimal anyway, they already have removed most of the text. Though the store argument itself is silly as stores are clearly not the only place to play at. Outside of people living on a lonely island, you usually can play with others just fine without playing online. But for sure the online community is great to get together with more people, but at the same time online play might actually hinder forming stronger local communities. If everyone plays online then it naturally harder to find players for offline.

Bu-ut...revealing or not revealing the dial doesn't really change the number of end purchasers, does it? I mean, it just means that the people who are playing for free get their information later than they otherwise would. Unless they're speculating that people who aren't already burned out by a ship or disillusioned by its performance on Vassal, will go purchase real ships on release day, which they otherwise would not have purchased. That's a bit of a stretch, especially when you consider that the Vassal community is probably composed or the more serious X-Wingers who are going to buy stuff for their collection regardless.

Well to be fair that can play a huge role both ways.Because if vassal I want two arcs instead if just buying one, but had i used vassal more when wave 6 came out I wouldn't have bought 3 scyke and 2 starvipers

Lets be frank. Most people knew that the starviper or the k-fighter were crap. They bought them anyway for the autothrusters and crackshot. ;-)

You know, I think that waiting until the release day to see the dials is a great idea.

It keeps a little bit of the mystery of the new ships alive and while they may drop hints it should also mean that everyone is on even footing when the ships actually hit the stores. Playing on Vassal will just mean playing like everyone else except you're still going to play with the new upgrades before everyone else.

I can't take back their state in the past. But with VTs, Manaroo and Rau, I totally intent to fly Talon Bane now myself. Times change. °_^

The recent trend of mostly hidden dials until release seems to have come after the purchase of FFG by asmodee, and i can tell you why that is.

The major corporation reeeeeelly doesn't like vassal, and doesn't like people being able to play their games for free. Prior to ffg's (and x-wing's) explosion in popularity in late 2014/2015 and the companies acquisition by asmodee, it largely wasn't an issue. Now, however, the parent company has tightened the reins and I don't see that going away.

I assure you, FFG wasn't a fan of Vassal or the various card playing sites well before the Asmodee buy out. There was a big huff over cardgamedb.com getting rid of it's deck export function to one of the card playing sites.

The way the X-Wing plugin on Vassal works is that in order to play, you need a copy of the text for each of the cards you're playing with. Yes, it _is_ fairly easy to proxy that stuff, but ideally everyone is looking through their own collection and pulling the cards and dials themselves.

My understanding is that the card exporter you're referring to let you build decks with cards you didn't own, complete with text, and then export them into a system that let you play with those proxied cards.

Effectively, you were able to take advantage of the game FFG had spent money designing without compensating them for it. That's a huge problem, and I'm not shocked they stepped in.

I think the OP aspect is a more valid reason than lost sales.

Enabling people to practise with ships that non vassal users can not is a bit cheaty.

It's nothing major, and I enjoy watching people play on vassal, but I do think its a good reason to keep dials secret until release

I think the OP aspect is a more valid reason than lost sales.

Enabling people to practise with ships that non vassal users can not is a bit cheaty.

It's nothing major, and I enjoy watching people play on vassal, but I do think its a good reason to keep dials secret until release

Very strongly disagree.

That argument seems like it is one step away from "this finals table isn't fair because my opponent practices way more than me. I call cheats!"

What did you read recently that leads you to write "The major corporation reeeeeelly doesn't like vassal".

Some dials are revealed, some are not. That's been roughly the same trend forever. There's always at least 1-2 kept secret until the end. If your entire premise is based that being changed, then that's pretty thin.

I think the OP aspect is a more valid reason than lost sales.

Enabling people to practise with ships that non vassal users can not is a bit cheaty.

It's nothing major, and I enjoy watching people play on vassal, but I do think its a good reason to keep dials secret until release

Non vassal players can (and do) practice new stuff before its released. They just proxy

VASSAL is literally the devil and 100% responsible for every lost X-Wing sale that goes into Attack Wing to line Wizards' coffers.

Having had a conversation this summer with someone well placed at FFG (protecting them, as discussing Vassal must be done very parenthetically), they have a sense of the value that Vassal has for them- remember how hard to get a Punishing One expansion was when they first came out?

You're probably right. For all that I've seen, Asmodee is a pretty P.O.S. organization with hints towards becoming the next Games Workshop (not a good thing).

Correct

This argument doesn't make any sense.


(1) Vassal probably nets FFG more money, as was noted by the Jumpmaster pre-sale sell-outs due to all the commotion they were causing after making ripples on Vassal. The people who play Vassal are mostly competitive tournament players practicing for tbaletop tourneys who must own physical copies of everything when they go to the tournaments that "really" matter (e.g. Regionals, Nationals, Worlds)
(2) People buy this game for the sweet miniatures, including a lot of customers that skew much closer to collector than gamer. Vassal is decent practice as a substitute for the real thing, but it's a pale substitute for the real deal. Lots of people play on Vassal, but I highly doubt for most of them its caused them to purchase less or sell off their physical collections.
(3) Anyone can start practicing with the new stuff once information has been revealed, by simply proxying maneuver dials and cards. Some blank paper, a pen, and a scissors and a paperclip make this possible. Vassal doesn't allow anything special, though it may be more convenient in finding matches. But it hardly has a monopoly on the opportunity to test unreleased content. I remember back during Wave 1 cutting out and making proxy dials and cards for Interceptors, A-Wings, Falcons, and Firesprays to get ready for the new ships.
(4) Since at least Wave 3, there have always been a few dials here and there that remain unspoiled at the time of release. Whether or not a dial gets spoiled in a news preview article seems to be a function of whether or not the dial is a terribly integral aspect of that ship's identify or not


So, sorry, I can't imagine that not spoiling some dials has anything to do with an ant-Vassal platform.

You're probably right. For all that I've seen, Asmodee is a pretty P.O.S. organization with hints towards becoming the next Games Workshop (not a good thing).

Correct

Wut