...

In a poor economy they are trying to put to few eggs in to many baskets.

...

While reference points may differ, it's debatable if we are in a 'poor economy'.

Most of FFG's market will be in the United States, and while public perceptions of the economy might underrate what the economy is really like (not that bad in the United States) consumer confidence is better than average. FFG is clearly a growing company, and it appears to be eating GW's lunch in the process.

I think your assessment of FFG trying to do too much in a shrinking consumer market is in error. They're a growing company in a growing market.

I live in Las Vegas, we have high employment few jobs and rising cost.

The casinos have dropped most of their employees to part-time or on call.

my roommate lost his job of 14 years because of lack of work.

Nevada has gotten rid of unemployment renewal because of the high volume.

and I have heard the same things from my friends in Texas, New York, and California

so I don't seen this good economy you speak of.

as for consumer confidence in the latest poll "Oct 7" when asked "Do you think the nation's economy is getting better or getting worse"

totals were worst 52%, better 37%

I don't doubt the validity of your particular anecdotes, or what you are seeing locally in Las Vegas. Nevada is also tied at 48th with Louisiana in terms of low unemployment. Texas, New York, and California are also at the bottom half of the list (though, they do account for large populations, as compared to, say, North Dakota). I am also underemployed, so - for me - my personal economy is not all that great. But even those

Regarding your poll, I don't doubt that either. But there's a disconnect between how people feel they feel, and how they actually perform as consumers. I'd also say that there's a pessimistic bias in this regard - people's perceptions are indeed negative. If they were actually familiar with the trendlines, they might be a bit more positive. There's also long term vs. short term. Yes, this last year consumer confidence has been a bit down as compared to a year ago, but if you look at it since the recession, or even in a 60-year span, we're doing better than average.

But, even within that macro-view, from FFG's perspective it's about market share. On the whole, tabletop gaming seems to be a growing industry, and FFG's market share within that industry seems to be growing.

(By the way, a friend of mine and I are playing around with the idea of going to the Regionals in Las Vegas. If so, I hope to see you there.)

Imperial Assault is selling really well and was at its release, supposedly, the best selling release FFG had had to date.

That is true - it doesn't lend itself as well to tournaments (skirmish) as Armada and X-Wing do.

Why not? The skirmish game is amazing and the meta is broader and more alive than ever.

Sure, it doesn't have the number of tournament players that X-Wing does (but how many games can boast of that?) and that makes it a bit tough for the stores to afford the more expensive tournament kits such as Regionals and Nationals, but it still has as decent a scene as Armada around here (The Netherlands, and to my knowledge, several other countries in Northern Europe).

I hope that what I'm seeing is just a local phenomenon.

We had two IA tournaments fail due to too few (<4) people showing up. I went to the last one (though I don't consider myself an IA player) just to help the TO get the numbers. Only he and I showed up. We're trying again tomorrow. Currently, there are 4 people (including myself and the same TO) saying that they're going to be there. We'll see. I've got my fingers crossed.

Fair enough - I read you previous post as if the gameplay itself was what didn't lend itself well to tournaments (which I don't think is the case). It is hard to get enough people, though I've found it to be more or less at the same difficulty as with Armada (in my vicinity, the Netherlands, which otherwise has a incredibly vibrant X-Wing scene).

It's not made easier by the fact that the tournament kits are not scaleable - and that goes for both games - forcing a store to buy a kit with prizes for 64+ particpants with costs geared for the same number of paying players. Basically, local stores cannot run Armada and Imperial Assault tournaments without taking a loss; particularly with the Regionals and Nationals kits. This is worsened by the fact that there is usually a lack of seasonal kits during the Regional/Nationals season, making for a longer stretch without any sort of tournament.

We did get an Armada Nationals in the Netherlands (which I appreciated, as I had the luck to claim the title), but we didn't get an Imperial Assault Nationals, which I would have preferred. The only reason we got the Armada one, was because the same store was hosting the X-Wing Nationals and used the income from the X-Wing to make up for the loss of also hosting the Armada - and it was only Armada by happenstance as their X-Wing TO was also familiar with Armada and could thus run them alongside each other in one event (which looked spectacular, btw, with the admirals fighting in the middle of the hall, at one long continuous table, with the x-wing players engaged in smaller encounters all around us).

I know we might want Regionals and Nationals to have a certain degree of 'status' or scale, but for now the 64+ participant prize/cost ratio is putting a serious limitation on growing the tournament scene for both games. I have, in an interview with the developers (of IA), suggested a scaleable model, making it possible to buy Regionals or Nationals kits for smaller player bases at a reduced cost (made up for by fewer rewards that the stores get stuck with anyway), but their reponse was that, rightly so, that this is not a process the developers are involved in and that it's the call of Offical Play.

...

In a poor economy they are trying to put to few eggs in to many baskets.

...

While reference points may differ, it's debatable if we are in a 'poor economy'.

Most of FFG's market will be in the United States, and while public perceptions of the economy might underrate what the economy is really like (not that bad in the United States) consumer confidence is better than average. FFG is clearly a growing company, and it appears to be eating GW's lunch in the process.

I think your assessment of FFG trying to do too much in a shrinking consumer market is in error. They're a growing company in a growing market.

I live in Las Vegas, we have high employment few jobs and rising cost.

The casinos have dropped most of their employees to part-time or on call.

my roommate lost his job of 14 years because of lack of work.

Nevada has gotten rid of unemployment renewal because of the high volume.

and I have heard the same things from my friends in Texas, New York, and California

so I don't seen this good economy you speak of.

as for consumer confidence in the latest poll "Oct 7" when asked "Do you think the nation's economy is getting better or getting worse"

totals were worst 52%, better 37%

I don't doubt the validity of your particular anecdotes, or what you are seeing locally in Las Vegas. Nevada is also tied at 48th with Louisiana in terms of low unemployment. Texas, New York, and California are also at the bottom half of the list (though, they do account for large populations, as compared to, say, North Dakota). I am also underemployed, so - for me - my personal economy is not all that great. But even those

Regarding your poll, I don't doubt that either. But there's a disconnect between how people feel they feel, and how they actually perform as consumers. I'd also say that there's a pessimistic bias in this regard - people's perceptions are indeed negative. If they were actually familiar with the trendlines, they might be a bit more positive. There's also long term vs. short term. Yes, this last year consumer confidence has been a bit down as compared to a year ago, but if you look at it since the recession, or even in a 60-year span, we're doing better than average.

But, even within that macro-view, from FFG's perspective it's about market share. On the whole, tabletop gaming seems to be a growing industry, and FFG's market share within that industry seems to be growing.

(By the way, a friend of mine and I are playing around with the idea of going to the Regionals in Las Vegas. If so, I hope to see you there.)

If I don't have school work to deal with I will try to attend

that will be the last semester of my sophomore year and I have a lot to do before I start my junior year so we will see.

Its also at Little shop of magic which is across town so that could be an issue.

I, for one, want a faq.

The raised prices are going to expedite this.

Clearly... thats why only one guy is working on the faq all alone....

It's so they can pay overtime for his long nights toiling on a piece of paper that will allow our plastic spaceships to utilize their fullest "pew pew" potential.

Must have missed something , what raised prices?

All the prices here and at my LGS are the same as they have ever been.

As for Amazon, there prices are effected by the demand and their current stock.

So if they have a lot you get a discount if they don't you pay more nuff said.

Now on to FFG, I feel that they are making a mistake diversifying as much as they are.

In a poor economy they are trying to put to few eggs in to many baskets.

This to me is why they only have one Person working on the FAQ.

If you read the entire post, someone said FFG raised prices for online stores to make your local store more competative when they sell FFG products. I am of the impression there is no change in the prices when I buy online. Plus, we don't really know if there is 1 person working on the FAQ. I was merely being sarcastic.

Regardless, the FAQ is long overdue.

In regards to the FAQ being late.

I can understand the time it is taking them and, see the 30 day turnaround as a bit optimistic.

from working as a tournament judge/organizer for Wizards/Five Rings Publishing-AEG/etc.

FAQs take time

normal process being

1. take designers intentions

2. review tournament rulings/ judge inputs

3. play-test to confirm reports

4. revise rulings

5. play-test to test revisions

6. brainstorm FAQ wording to insure intentions are understood

7. write FAQ

8. have FAQ proofread

9. release FAQ

a long process that can take time especially if its not the highest priority at the office (Destiny/tournament pack delays)

Fair enough - I read you previous post as if the gameplay itself was what didn't lend itself well to tournaments (which I don't think is the case). It is hard to get enough people, though I've found it to be more or less at the same difficulty as with Armada (in my vicinity, the Netherlands, which otherwise has a incredibly vibrant X-Wing scene).

I think on its own, IA Skirmish is more suited for tournaments than Armada is, because games are fairly short. However, I think that the game was designed more with Campaign than Skirmish in mind. Given the errata IA has had, it sounds like they did not have a very thorough model for calculating cost-effectiveness.

Yes, X-Wing still rules here as well. A large reason for that is because X-Wing is an awesome game that arrived before the other games did.

It's not made easier by the fact that the tournament kits are not scaleable - and that goes for both games - forcing a store to buy a kit with prizes for 64+ particpants with costs geared for the same number of paying players. Basically, local stores cannot run Armada and Imperial Assault tournaments without taking a loss; particularly with the Regionals and Nationals kits. This is worsened by the fact that there is usually a lack of seasonal kits during the Regional/Nationals season, making for a longer stretch without any sort of tournament.

I don't know how hard or expensive it is to get tournament kits for stores in the Netherlands. Here in the USA, the stores for whom getting enough participants to make their money back is a function of two things, it seems. The cost set by the distributor and/or the store's policy for making a certain profit margin on each item on their shelf (including kits).

We have one store that claims to spend $40 for a tournament kit, and they need to make a certain profit on it on order to justify putting it on.

We have another couple stores that say they get them for $20, and they're happy charging $5 per person, even if it is only a 4-person tournament. Any money made over and above the cost of the kit goes back into prizes. In other words: no profit at all. Tournaments are purely a vehicle for bringing customers into the store and building a local community of people playing those games (in the store).

Being a Dutchman myself, I imagine many stores in the Netherlands are more like the first store I mentioned. Not (just) because Dutch people have an unabashed eye for profit, but also because floorspace is probably at a greater premium. Here in the States, many stores have the luxury to dedicate large sections of their space to gaming area. I'd say that the stores I frequently have more than 50% of their floor space dedicated to providing a place for people to play, with less than that left over for shelves on which to hold and display product. I just don't see that being the case in many of he hole-in-the-wall gaming stores that I remember in the Netherlands.

Now, I haven't set foot in a Dutch gaming store in >20 years, so things may have changed. You tell me.

IA is a great game. I think more people play it at home than at stores though.

My group looked at it, but as you can not play the basic game as the Empire no one has got it.

I might have misinterpreted your point but if this was about someone having to play the empire in a campaign game then the are releasing a Road to Legend style DM app for IA.

I'm not sure if that was what you are talking about though.

I think he meant that he has group members that would want to play the campaign AS the Imperial forces crushing the Rebels rather than the reverse.

...

In a poor economy they are trying to put to few eggs in to many baskets.

...

While reference points may differ, it's debatable if we are in a 'poor economy'.

Most of FFG's market will be in the United States, and while public perceptions of the economy might underrate what the economy is really like (not that bad in the United States) consumer confidence is better than average. FFG is clearly a growing company, and it appears to be eating GW's lunch in the process.

I think your assessment of FFG trying to do too much in a shrinking consumer market is in error. They're a growing company in a growing market.

I live in Las Vegas, we have high employment few jobs and rising cost.

The casinos have dropped most of their employees to part-time or on call.

my roommate lost his job of 14 years because of lack of work.

Nevada has gotten rid of unemployment renewal because of the high volume.

and I have heard the same things from my friends in Texas, New York, and California

so I don't seen this good economy you speak of.

as for consumer confidence in the latest poll "Oct 7" when asked "Do you think the nation's economy is getting better or getting worse"

totals were worst 52%, better 37%

I don't doubt the validity of your particular anecdotes, or what you are seeing locally in Las Vegas. Nevada is also tied at 48th with Louisiana in terms of low unemployment. Texas, New York, and California are also at the bottom half of the list (though, they do account for large populations, as compared to, say, North Dakota). I am also underemployed, so - for me - my personal economy is not all that great. But even those

Regarding your poll, I don't doubt that either. But there's a disconnect between how people feel they feel, and how they actually perform as consumers. I'd also say that there's a pessimistic bias in this regard - people's perceptions are indeed negative. If they were actually familiar with the trendlines, they might be a bit more positive. There's also long term vs. short term. Yes, this last year consumer confidence has been a bit down as compared to a year ago, but if you look at it since the recession, or even in a 60-year span, we're doing better than average.

But, even within that macro-view, from FFG's perspective it's about market share. On the whole, tabletop gaming seems to be a growing industry, and FFG's market share within that industry seems to be growing.

(By the way, a friend of mine and I are playing around with the idea of going to the Regionals in Las Vegas. If so, I hope to see you there.)

If I don't have school work to deal with I will try to attend

that will be the last semester of my sophomore year and I have a lot to do before I start my junior year so we will see.

Its also at Little shop of magic which is across town so that could be an issue.

Vegas economy got hit the worst in the big recession and while it's picked up from there, it's never gotten back to where it was before. We are a city whose primary industry is tourism.

I will definitely be at Vegas (another local), and debating making the drive to Phoenix.

I think he meant that he has group members that would want to play the campaign AS the Imperial forces crushing the Rebels rather than the reverse.

This is it, we have people who want to be able to play from both sides. Not at the same time, but depending on the mood.

I think he meant that he has group members that would want to play the campaign AS the Imperial forces crushing the Rebels rather than the reverse.

My 'enthusiasm' for the Empire being well known, my friend who has the game and numerous expansions, allows me to play the Empire for the campaign mode. Since the game is fairly challenging (more so when he controls the Empire), this balanced things out a bit better - since I'm not as good of a player as he is.

And it's awesome because I get to crush them with stormtroopers!

Assuming they playtest the game, they should be able to begin writing the FAQ during that process.

Allow for input later, but this delay on a workable ruleset for a game with its world championship in a few weeks is unacceptable.

HERE IT IS

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/232579-new-faq/

Theres nothing about prices in it!

****, they posted an article, and did the FAQ.

Let's start griping about that article and the FAQ now, or they'll start believing that we can be appeased.

You're late man, people have been griping about unanswerd questions all day

You're late man, people have been griping about unanswerd questions all day

Too true.

It is time to raise this thread from the dead...

because...it is time!

I have submitted a total of 27 question (I think) since the last FAQ.

I have received 0 replies.

I've asked a few as well. But I stopped because the people I play with aren't super hard core rule lawyers who throw a tizzy fit when a card doesn't work out in their favor. It's more like "Yea sure whatever that makes sense."

45 minutes ago, Green Knight said:

I have submitted a total of 27 question (I think) since the last FAQ.

I have received 0 replies.

Dang it GK! They are probably like "Well we better wait until Green Knight sends us thirty questions before we put out an FAQ."

3 minutes ago, CaribbeanNinja said:

Dang it GK! They are probably like "Well we better wait until Green Knight sends us thirty questions before we put out an FAQ."

I'm hoping I get my own, personal FAQ...

Do we have a compiled list of questions?

35 minutes ago, Blail Blerg said:

Do we have a compiled list of questions?

No, when we tried to do that, even in lieu of attempting to answer them, just collating them, we got abuse.

It's a little scary to me that GW has become the company that better communicates with the customer base lately. I have been a FFG defender/fanboy for a while now, but I must admit that the FAQs are awfully slow to come. C'mon FFG. It's OK to release the FAQ more than once per wave. Get answers up as the decisions are made.

It always just gets me that they know how these cards should work together when they design it. so why not just post a new FAQ with a wave release to explain new cards, and update later if it turns out their design idea was super flawed?