I see this posted a lot: that the ships we see now are aggressively dictated to FFG by Disney via LFL Licensing. I'm no longer sure if it's part of this forum's tendency to present wild speculation as confirmed fact or if people actually believe it.

We know a bit from designer interviews: LFL does have a veto power which they do use from time to time: they can and do say no to FFG at least with regards to characters. They've done this since at least Wave 4 and they've let some pretty obscure stuff go through so we don't know what their criteria for saying no are.

As for influencing ship choice, we also know from designer interviews that the CEO of FFG has a lot of influence and that may be why some lesser known ships have been made. But there's nothing to suggest that Disney itself is dictating to FFG which ships to make in some nefarious plot to erase the Legends canon.

The "proof" is supposedly a lack of Legends content but that's simply false. E-wings and TIE phantoms in the most recent Armada expansion, . If Disney are dictating to FFG what to make then explain this: how is the M3-A Scyk, a ship of TIE punisher levels of obscurity, getting a second release in the Scum Epic?

FFG likely makes the newer more publicised ships because they sell better: they've got the numbers on how obscure ship waves sell relative to better known ones. Their best selling ship to date is still the Wave 2 Millenium Falcon because it's so recognisable.

LFL does have final say over just about anything FFG produces for a Star Wars game. They no doubt also have some control over what ships come out and when. I don't think it's a shock to anyone that the T-70 and Tie SF, or U-Wing and Tie Striker were pushed out due to the movies, and not on FFG's schedule.

But I don't believe they dictate what ships FFG makes.

LFL seems to take a fairly hands off approach and let FFG make what they want because it's been proven successful.

As for a lack of Legends stuff... It makes no sense on the part of either FFG or LFL to produce Legends stuff if there's canon stuff they can use instead. Why in the world wouldn't you capitalize on current movies or TV shows? LFL isn't telling FFG that they have to make Rebels based stuff... FFG wants to make it because they know it will sell well, because Rebels is a popular show, and things from it can bring fans of the show into the game.

But there's been plenty of cases where FFG uses Legends stuff when needed, like the Scyk or really almost everything in the S&V faction, or the Raider which is a 100% FFG original.

I think you are treading across two issues with this post.

I will try to address them both with what can be considered my, potentially informed opinion.

The first would be the direct question, does Disney dictate what FFG makes?

The answer is obviously no.

On the most basic level FFG has an idea for a ship and then goes to Disney with the concepts and gets approval and brings them in to the design process for potential pilots and stuff like that.

As an example, it was LFL who suggested Ventress as a Shadow Caster pilot.

A better question may have been, does the mere presence of Disney impact FFGs design process?

I think there is much less chance of any "new" legends content in any of their games, there is so much Canon stuff being thrust at a hungry audience that I don't think FFG needs or wants to revisit Legends anymore, what would be the point. Let Disney filter through it and pick what they want to transfer to Canon then you design process is a lot smoother as there is a lot less chance of a flat out No form LFL.

As a second point, Disney and FFG are not idiots.

The Scyk is already a ship, it getting a fix in a Scum epic is hardly surprising, nor should it be considered confirmation of anything other than it needing a Fix and FFG following their usual marketing model for X-Wing of packaging major fixes in Epic sized ships.

If we imagine a world where the Syck didn't exist then I would say that it is fairly unlikely that we would see one, but they already had it out so they are not going to take them off the shelves.

I also feel that sales of ships depend on a lot more factors than just how recognizable a ship is. Whilst obviously the Falcon will sell regardless of other factors, I have sold them to people who have 0 interest in X-Wing purely as a display piece, you only have to look at K-Wings after Aaron Boner ran "Danger Zone" at worlds 2015. The game impact of a ship, regardless of how well known it is has a huge impact on sales.

Kris

On one hand you have people who will take the intelligent approach of "LFL has some influence over FFG's decisions, but the final decisions are still FFG's".

On the other you have the frothing at the mouth "Disney ruined Star Wars! Bring back the old EU! Nu-Canon is nothing but crap! Disney ruined it all!" who are the ones generally saying that Disney/LFL are dictating terms to FFG that FFG has to follow.

The latter generally show little intelligence and should be ignored.

I also feel that sales of ships depend on a lot more factors than just how recognizable a ship is. Whilst obviously the Falcon will sell regardless of other factors, I have sold them to people who have 0 interest in X-Wing purely as a display piece, you only have to look at K-Wings after Aaron Boner ran "Danger Zone" at worlds 2015. The game impact of a ship, regardless of how well known it is has a huge impact on sales.

True at the top end of the competitive scene, but (I can't remember the source) isn't that a fairly small chunk of FFG's sales? It'd definitely be interesting to get a chart of sales.

Maybe that's why we got the Punisher? It's recognisably a TIE and possibly that means it sells better.

Top end of the competitive scene or not, you still could not get a K-Wing for months afterwards.

Selling out a product is selling out

Kris

By that same token, I've heard we nearly got a 3 red YT-2400 because of the mouse.

I think it would be silly for Disney to not include some kind of lever in their licensing to at least encourage their partners to produce content in sync with their current IP release (when you are launching Rogue One, you want store shelves full of Jyn Erso and K2S0, rather than Master Yoda and Chewbacca).

That being said I doubt it's any forme of absolute control,but more like a nudge in certain directions.

They will obviously favour ships which are currently appearing on screen over old video game or comic book ships.

I will respectfully disagree slightly but purely from an economics perspective. My personal opinion is that with Disney and Asmodee both being successful multinationals they are just going to move along prevailing economic lines that benefit them the most.

While I agree that the folks at FFG are doing a great job, I think that their releases are going to be greatly influenced by the tack of Disney/LFL and the IP's differing canon sources now. It's just how a company with a popular line is going to run. I'm sure LFL (and Disney as the controller/overseer) has plans on how to take the franchise into the future and this is an excellent vehicle to move that narrative forward. They get to merge two popular communities, the gamer and fan-base, into revenue streams that profit the company exponentially.

I don't deny that FFG has a great deal of input, but at this point I believe that creative control is going to model after the other Disney take-overs (i.e Marvel and such).

This is all imho too. I am not a great business guy but I think it might be best to assume Disney isn't going to change their model much when it is working so well for them (and us too).

Disney does how some say over what is made to an extent but you would probably be right to assume that they are more hands off. After all they are a major corporate conglomerate and have much better things to worry about than the point cost of the TIE Stirker or the jousting value of the next ship.

However Disney does have a vested interest in X-wing for its merchandising and advertisement capabilities. The movies bring out new models for FFG to make and the new models bring advertisement for Disney's new movie. On top of all that FFG gets exclusive rights and access to some of the new source material and Disney get's their share of the profits through royalties. It is a mutual agreement through and through.

But yeah Disney has more lucrative business to conduct. So if X-wing remains successful for a few decades or flops and crashes next year it is hardly likely that Disney would even notice.

On one hand you have people who will take the intelligent approach of "LFL has some influence over FFG's decisions, but the final decisions are still FFG's".

On the other you have the frothing at the mouth "Disney ruined Star Wars! Bring back the old EU! Nu-Canon is nothing but crap! Disney ruined it all!" who are the ones generally saying that Disney/LFL are dictating terms to FFG that FFG has to follow.

The latter generally show little intelligence and should be ignored.

I think you are over-generalizing people who disagree with the direction Star Wars has taken since the buyout. Not everyone with an opposing view-point to you is an idiot.

As Vanor said, FFG probably makes the content themselves, but still has to get final approval from LFL. remember in a lot of articles, we've seen pictures saying something to the effect of "Final License Pending". LFL doesn't 'dictate' terms to FFG, but I'm sure they have to approve anything FFG chooses to publish.

Considering the differences of how other media potray certain craft and pilots and how FFG release the same craft and pilots, the hands disney/lucasfilm are putting on, I suspect it is minimal, other than: "Here is the next big movie ships, make them - with no info to avoid spoilers - for the release of the film.

LFL has some input and definitely gets to make final approval of things. They certainly brief FFG of what ships they are creating such that they can create them. I highly doubt they would have taken no for an answer when it came to say the T70 and U-wing, but that isn't to say they put everything as a hardline like that.

I think they are mostly hands off, aside from an override priority for making things that sync with the movies they will be releasing. And when they are cranking out new content at a rapid pace, that keeps FFG busy from getting into old stuff.

It's currently popular to criticise the mouse for all the ills one finds in Star Wars, so naturally it follows to blur the lines between Disney and LFL as separate entities and grant the former all this power over creative decisions as well as the 'purse strings'. Disney isn't running the Star Wars brand, LFL is.

The latter generally show little intelligence and should be ignored.

And then there is everyone else in this forum acting, speaking, and pontificating as if they have even the least bit of clue what happens with Disney or FFG for that matter when it comes to the business decisions they make.

There is no a single person on this forum, including myself, that can speak with any certainty on this subject.

Therefore, why even bother. It seems a futile exercise at best ...

Remember that article about the "making" of the Raider? About how this ship did not even exist prior to FFG needing a ship roughly the same size as the corvette?

While I'm pretty sure that Disney must approve anything done with its license, the fact that they let FFG create an entirely new ship (the Raider) tells me that the two have a pretty solid relationship at this point.

They dropped the ball not suggesting K2SO as a U-Wing pilot then

Remember that article about the "making" of the Raider? About how this ship did not even exist prior to FFG needing a ship roughly the same size as the corvette?

While I'm pretty sure that Disney must approve anything done with its license, the fact that they let FFG create an entirely new ship (the Raider) tells me that the two have a pretty solid relationship at this point.

I'm pretty sure the relationship is very two-way. FFG know their game, and know what they want. They can talk to Disney and say 'hey, we need a ship that fits XYZ, got anything?', and Disney will say 'Yes, this flurb-fighter does that, here's some info. It's in the next movie, so you can't release it until whenever, and we need to approve everything you say about it'.

I know some people who have done vaguely similar work (IP holder-game design), and it was very 2-way. Both companies talked about what they wanted, and worked cool stuff out.

Remember that article about the "making" of the Raider? About how this ship did not even exist prior to FFG needing a ship roughly the same size as the corvette?

While I'm pretty sure that Disney must approve anything done with its license, the fact that they let FFG create an entirely new ship (the Raider) tells me that the two have a pretty solid relationship at this point.

Pretty sure that was only because Disney/LFL didn't already have something that would fit the bill. Then again, if they had something, FFG probably wouldn't have tried to invent the raider.

Why is there so much hate for Disney in this community? I know it's a bit off topic but I just don't understand. Do people not recognize that without Disney buying LFL we would not be getting new movies? Ol' Georgie boy was tired of making Star Wars stuff and the last 3 he made were subpar to put it nicely. Maybe you didn't like TFA(I did) or R1(loved it) but at least they are new stories about the universe we all love. Without the Mouse we would have nothing so I a happy they purchased LFL. I remember the vacuum of new stories in the 80's and 90's and don't want to go back to that. The new movies may not live up to your childhood memories of the OT but maybe that's because you are not a child anymore and won't even give it a chance.

Why is there so much hate for Disney in this community? I know it's a bit off topic but I just don't understand.

Simply because everyone wants to complain about something, and the Mouse is the latest scape-goat for it. Even Lucas himself got a lot of (arguably well deserved) criticism for the prequels.

There's a lot of good nostalgia still left out in the Legends EU, which won't come to fruition simply because FFG will be kept busy with what Disney is putting out. Instead of enjoying what Disney is doing, folks want to cry because they don't have their nostalgic ships, even the ones that look like awful 80s-early 90s boxy graphics.

I am glad to have the new movies, and I think they're even really well done (especially R1).

It just kind of bugs me that people mistake Disney with LFL. If anything, precedent shows that things haven't really changed with LFL. They control just as much as they did before the buyout.

They dropped the ball not suggesting K2SO as a U-Wing pilot then

I'm not sure how much lead time FFG had for the U-Wing, but know that with the T-70's they had to go with generic pilots because they either didn't know or couldn't say what the pilot names were in time for them to print everything. So it could be the same here, they may not of known enough about K2SO for it to make sense to include when they were printing everything up.

Then again, if they had something, FFG probably wouldn't have tried to invent the raider.

I'm fairly sure that's why it took long for them to come out with it. Because there was nothing that worked quite right, and I'm sure it would've taken some time to design a new ship and get it approved by LFL.

The only reason why FFG used Legends stuff, and when much of it came out it was EU stuff... Was because they didn't have any other ships to use. If X-Wing was just getting released now, the ships we'd have in the first few waves would've been much different.