On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 8:00 PM, VadersMarchKazoo said:

Part of the problem is this thread. There is NO WAY that we'd get IA stuff every Friday.

But actually, I can remember a time not so long ago, when we had an article every week.

And with 10 OP kit previews per year (4 GNK + 1 Store, 1 Regional, 1 National, 1 North American, 1 European & 1 Worlds Championships), 1 "register for North Americans now", 1 "North Americans was great", 1 "register for Europeans now", 1 "Europeans was great", 1 "register for worlds now", 1 "worlds was great", map previews (4 per year) and map in stores now (same 4 per year), 4 new Tournament Regulations (just to announce the new map rotation), 1 announcement for a new box + wave, 3 previews for the blisters, 6 previews for the box (what's in the box (tiles etc.), skirmish Rebels, skirmish Mercs, skirmish Empire, campaign heroes, campaign villains), 1 box and wave "in stores now", 2 FAQs

... that's 41 articles per year. To do customer relations right, you can either fill with another blister wave, or app preview, or some kind of Worlds reports, or tactics articles, or painting articles ... to easily get to 52 post per year ...

Or FFG just show, that they have no interest, and do nothing ...

NOT DEAD YET! FFG just released Hoth for LotA. So the "C" in Asmodee stands for "Communications", apparently.

On 1/18/2019 at 4:42 PM, angelman2 said:

Prior to HotE’s announcement: “IA is dead, FFG has stopped working on this game”
Prior to Legends of the Alliance’s release: “IA is dead, the app won’t happen”
Prior to Jabba’s Realm app campaign announcement: “IA is dead, the app was the last gasp. There won’t be another campaign.”
Prior to Tyrants of Lothal’s announcement: “IA is dead…”
Post Tyrants of Lothal’s announcement: “IA is dead…”
(And that’s just the time I’ve been with the game. It seems that in the fan’s mind, this game has always been on its last gasp. A pity, really...).

I give it four weeks before people start complaining that nothing ever happen for this game.

#ImperialAssaultIsDead



PS: And yes, I definitely quoted myself to score nerd points!

12 hours ago, angelman2 said:

I give it four weeks before people start complaining that nothing ever happen for this game.

Give it less than that if you like.

For those people with five in their gaming group (like ours), or who (shock, horror!) like playing as the Imperial player (like me), app-only content is the same as no content.

Don't get me wrong, if the app works for you then great, good luck to you. I don't begrudge app players their fun. But this is not new Imperial Assault content (are there any new figures? Any new heroes? Any new classes? Anything for skirmish? Anything for the Imperial player, or for five players? No). Imperial Assault is as dead today as it was last Friday. Chucking out a few XML files does not new content make, for large swathes of the IA playerbase.

4 hours ago, Bitterman said:

Give it less than that if you like.

For those people with five in their gaming group (like ours), or who (shock, horror!) like playing as the Imperial player (like me), app-only content is the same as no content.

Don't get me wrong, if the app works for you then great, good luck to you. I don't begrudge app players their fun. But this is not new Imperial Assault content (are there any new figures? Any new heroes? Any new classes? Anything for skirmish? Anything for the Imperial player, or for five players? No). Imperial Assault is as dead today as it was last Friday. Chucking out a few XML files does not new content make, for large swathes of the IA playerbase.

It would be very easy to turn down the sound and be the only one to see the app, then just use the maps and objectives and substitutes your Empire group activation/actions to what the app suggest and deploy your Open group choices instead of what the app says (+forget about the added bonus each group gets each round and use your usual Empire-class cards). It would require minimum book-keeping and a bit of tapping around on your tablet, but you would get brand new missions to play! You could also play the whole thing in "fast-forward" before the game to know roughly what's coming up.

Just saying.. Thinking about it, I guess it would be a bit cumbersome, but doable.

11 minutes ago, sheriffharry said:

Thinking about it, I guess it would be a bit cumbersome, but doable.

Way too cumbersome for my tastes personally.

I agree with @Bitterman‘s stance, but I actually use the app (so far, solo only). So as happy as I am about this, something physical would be great.

While I agree that we are due for something physical, I have to say the aggressive content release for IA over the years has created a huge library of existing content. Have you guys played through every mission, including Ally and Villain packs?

My group has played A LOT of campaign, but probably only touched about half.. maybe 60-65% of the total content I bet.

9 minutes ago, FrogTrigger said:

While I agree that we are due for something physical, I have to say the aggressive content release for IA over the years has created a huge library of existing content. Have you guys played through every mission, including Ally and Villain packs?

My group has played A LOT of campaign, but probably only touched about half.. maybe 60-65% of the total content I bet.

Absolutely agreed! There is so much content that I have not been able to touch with the material that I already have, just due to the arc of different choices and outcomes that occur throughout each individual campaign. I also have a ton of Skirmish missions that I have never played, but we're mostly a campaign focused group. There's a ton of stuff that has already been released which adds a tons of different variables to allow for unique campaign run-throughs. Just my two cents!

New content is certainly welcomed, but I would much rather them take their time and be surprised and delighted by new content rather then be on a content treadmill.

41 minutes ago, FrogTrigger said:

While I agree that we are due for something physical, I have to say the aggressive content release for IA over the years has created a huge library of existing content. Have you guys played through every mission, including Ally and Villain packs?

My group has played A LOT of campaign, but probably only touched about half.. maybe 60-65% of the total content I bet.

It's a fair point, and no, we've not played every campaign mission. About half.

But, we have played as every hero, and against every enemy type, and seen every item of equipment (and bought all the good ones). We've also played every campaign, though (again to be fair) it would be relatively straightforward to come up with a story to string together a series of missions we've not played yet. So although we could play more campaigns, with the same heroes against the same enemies, there's only so far that will take us.

...and then there's skirmish, which, if we're honest, has never been in a great state since day one for one reason or another, but divertingly fun anyway... with a meta frozen in place forever if the app is the only thing to get new content.

57 minutes ago, Bitterman said:

It's a fair point, and no, we've not played every campaign mission. About half.

But, we have played as every hero, and against every enemy type, and seen every item of equipment (and bought all the good ones). We've also played every campaign, though (again to be fair) it would be relatively straightforward to come up with a story to string together a series of missions we've not played yet. So although we could play more campaigns, with the same heroes against the same enemies, there's only so far that will take us.

...and then there's skirmish, which, if we're honest, has never been in a great state since day one for one reason or another, but divertingly fun anyway... with a meta frozen in place forever if the app is the only thing to get new content.

And those are also fair points, my group has also exhausted all of the heroes and the enemies are a revolving door. I've started bringing out the severely under powered just to try and rotate in fresh faces, but it can be hard to do that and keep it challenging.

I hear all of the concerns, I also very much enjoy playing as the Imp. I run it more like a GM than a must win scenario, but I always keep it competitive.

As for the Skirmish side of it, well like I said in another thread, or maybe it was this thread, the OP and the Campaign are two totally different beasts and while they have been inclusive up to this point, the app definitely changes that dynamic. I believe the app is a testament to how sales have been tilted as well. My LGS says the game flys off the shelf, with lots and lots of people buying it, but I've struggled to get 6 people out to play skirmish. FFG obviously has access to the sale numbers and probably sees the number of sales vs how popular their OP side is and did the math for max profits.

I love Skirmish, I only get to play really on vassal due to my isolation, but I hope it stays healthy for years to come. I can understand FFG's side of things to though where keeping up that consistent level of physical content is just not feasible. Their own business model has kind of shot them in the foot with a good portion of both the campaign and skirmish community as we have become accustomed to the fast paced release schedule. It's like damming a river a village was using to survive, even a trickle would be nice! Yes I did just compare IA to a survival necessity!

Stupid question, having never played the app: could the app campaigns actually be ported to Campaign booklets like we get with physical expansions? Seems to me that'd be an easy way for FFG to provide more value to those of us who prefer 5 player FTF Campaign play. So right off the bat, that'd be new campaigns for the contents of HotE, JR & RTH.

To be fair, the Jabba and apparently Hoth campaign are very close to their source material. Not sure if it would be worth the time for FFG as people would complain about 'how similar' they are.

The only content that really felt original was the first campaign.

The two major (later) App campaigns are basically adaptations of the existing box campaigns so I don't think there would be much value added in re-adapting them to print. The original campaign is pretty basic and simplistic and doesn't really have much structure so it's not really much worthwhile.

Creating pure booklet campaigns using exiting box content (dropping story mission cards) is viable and probably cost effective, though.

For the same reason (ref. Bitterman) there is not really a great deal of reason to use the app to run the two adapted box campaigns when you could just use the original booklet version.

Crossposted with FrogTrigger there...

18 hours ago, Zerker said:

Creating pure booklet campaigns using exiting box content (dropping story mission cards) is viable and probably cost effective, though.

Descent did this, I believe, though I never got round to picking up the book in question. FFG never repeated the concept AFAIK; not enough sales, presumably? One would imagine the development/production cost would be comparatively low (just play-testing and printing a booklet, which could even be a PDF) so perhaps sales were even lower.

It would be easy for IA to do this, though I imagine vanishingly few people have played all the campaign missions (as recently discussed) so I'm not sure that's really what the problem is. But sure, if they're thinking of it, bring it on. If they put a few Skirmish missions in (more 3/4 player maps would be nice - though the lack of cards might be problematic for this), maybe even "challenge missions" featuring scenes from the movies as a fourth game type, it could be a decent enough product with something for everyone. I'd welcome that.

More figures, heroes, etc. would still be the main desire, though. That's what really keeps people interested, especially if new figures mix up the Skirmish meta. I won't hold my breath.

18 hours ago, FrogTrigger said:

To be fair, the Jabba and apparently Hoth campaign are very close to their source material. Not sure if it would be worth the time for FFG as people would complain about 'how similar' they are.

The only content that really felt original was the first campaign.

Oh - I solo'd the first couple of missions in the first campaign, to see if it was worthwhile (I found solo play vastly inferior to the "proper" five-player experience; YMMV, to each their own, I know a lot of people like the app and more power to them) so I assumed the later campaigns followed a similar pattern. Is that really not the case? It wasn't really for me, but I could see how the crazy app-specific stuff the first campaign did would be fun for many. Seems like a missed opportunity to make the later campaigns just computerized versions of what's already in the physical box. But I suppose it's not for me either way, so, if people are happy with it, then whatever...

5 hours ago, Bitterman said:

Oh - I solo'd the first couple of missions in the first campaign, to see if it was worthwhile (I found solo play vastly inferior to the "proper" five-player experience; YMMV, to each their own, I know a lot of people like the app and more power to them) so I assumed the later campaigns followed a similar pattern. Is that really not the case? It wasn't really for me, but I could see how the crazy app-specific stuff the first campaign did would be fun for many. Seems like a missed opportunity to make the later campaigns just computerized versions of what's already in the physical box. But I suppose it's not for me either way, so, if people are happy with it, then whatever...

The Jabba campaign (can't speak to Hoth) is kind of a mix of both, in a good way. The overarching story was essentially the same as the proper campaign, but they expanded it out with a lot more interactive pieces and "choose your own adventure" moments. It also fleshed out some of the characters a bit more; Terro in the regular campaign was basically just a generic imperial leader, while Terro in the app got a bit of a backstory and some cool moments. They did a good job with it IMO, and it's a lot more fun than the first app campaign. It might still be worth it to you to try it out if you're feeling bored some day (although I agree with you that a standard campaign with evenly matched opponents is more fun)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but (taken from memory alone) I believe the physical & app versions of Jabba's Realm tell parallel stories?

Did I dream this? If I'm right, the two versions of the campaign could be seen as happening parallel to one another, weaving in and out of one another's path, which is a cool way of reusing the story, IMHO.

4 hours ago, angelman2 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but (taken from memory alone) I believe the physical & app versions of Jabba's Realm tell parallel stories?

IIRC, in the box version the story starts with the crashed heroes assaulting Terro's compound to buy time for the refugees to escape, while in the app the heroes are leading the escaping refugees away to (hopefully) safety?[/spoiler]

Did I dream this? If I'm right, the two versions of the campaign could be seen as happening parallel to one another, weaving in and out of one another's path, which is a cool way of reusing the story, IMHO.

Spoilers for all app campaigns, be warned.

9 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

Spoilers for all app campaigns, be warned.

The existing apps just kind of take what we've already seen and (even if they improve on it) rephrase it. For example, the Jabba's Realm rancor compound mission is a lot better than the booklet campaign, and feels really thematic to play. It's even different enough that it almost feels original on its own. I just wish that the idea of a sort of arena battle had different context, so it wouldn't be so intertwined with what we may have already played.

Heck, I'd even be down for something like the app campaigns showcasing a second group of heroes that work parallel to the ones in the boxed campaigns. Maybe four other heroes trying to free the Rebel refugees on Tatooine, or working to help colonists in the Ison system. That would grant the game a lot more synergy, to me.

I think the biggest surprise about this app update was how quickly it came. I wasn't expecting an announcement until March or even May.

I think FFG felt like they had a choice. They could have original content. They could have quality content. They could have quick content. But they could only pick two.

9 hours ago, Pollux85 said:

I think the biggest surprise about this app update was how quickly it came.

"Quickly"?



(I kid, i kid! )

The biggest surprise is the total lack of communication or announcement about the release.

(I kid, I kid)

2 hours ago, Majushi said:

The biggest surprise is the total lack of communication or announcement about the release.

(I kid, I kid)

It's mad though, that facebook post (for the app update) has almost 4/5 times the response that their other social stuff has (including "big guns" like x-wing), but no homepage announcement support. The fans and demand are clearly there for IA, FFG marketing need to pull their fingers out.

Not to say I'm not glad for the table scraps they flicked us though

3 hours ago, Majushi said:

The biggest surprise is the total lack of communication or announcement about the release.

(I kid, I kid)

I mean, we're all happy for new stuff, but you're not really wrong.

As @54NCH32 points out, they kinda flubbed the communications even with this.

And where are the game's ambassadors?

I've experienced many an inept marketing department before (I working in design/advertising, many "Marketing Managers" seem to fall into the role with little or no experience), but FFG's handling of PR (or lack thereof) for IA this past year has been hideous.

The periods of absolute silence or "mayyyybe *shrug*" like responses is bewildering in this day and age. If they want to kill the game off (which I sincerely hope they do not), fine, but they could at least try to show some effort in improving communications.

Or sod it, just get the intern to do a facebook post. Job done I guess!

Edit: God bless the devs and playtesters who made this update happen though. I can't wait to do Hoth and Jabba with the app, but we're currently in the middle of Jabba campaign that I'm DMing. Just played some descent recently with the group and it's nice to be the hero for change 😂

Cool to see that Fenn Rau art for Destiny.

And Twi'lek resistance.

A Ryloth coup is a big box I could potentially get behind.