Not sure anyone at Fantasy Flight is listening, but I have an idea that wouldn’t cost them money, but would no doubt help advance X-Wing.
X-Wing has been around for many years now and with each upgrade it becomes more and more complex. The amount of variations are so great now that the development team has no possible way to test things fully before they have no choice but to release the product to the public. This causes problems like the JumpMasters which were just recently reduced in power via a rules update, and there have been others which are usually handled via faq. Though most of Fantasy Flight’s patrons understand why such changes are made, few enjoy the idea of having cards that are now outdated by such errata.
What if there were a way for the ideas being dreamed up by the development team to get a thorough testing? This is why I would propose a group of volunteers (or groups), under an NDA, who could play test different possibilities and provide feedback to the development team before rollout of a new product. They could see how the new ships and upgrades would affect the existing ships in various squads. The only things the test group would need, would be PDFs containing a written version of the upgrades and pilot cards (rough and pre-artwork) and a printable PDF of the pilot tokens and dials as well as having good number of the older ships (already in their collection). The test group (possibly named “the Experimental Fleet”) could comprise of ten small groups of five each from different cities around the world. Each group would print out the new pilots, upgrades, pilot tokens and dials and create squads with said new material, then play one game after another testing other possible squad combination and seeing how the new material interacts with the older ships and upgrades. Then each player within the group could submit there experience via e-mail to the development team highlighting any problems. Or if the development team required testing of something specific, that too could be tested and feedback returned. Just having twenty to fifty such volunteers has the potential to easily uncover future errors and help produce a more solid product. .
Thanks for listening.