Since Destiny’s release and my subsequent addiction to Destiny, I have spent innumerable amounts of time spreading the game as best I can – participating in weekly locals, running weekly locals, hosting a swanky regional, and also organizing events on Tabletop Simulator. Despite my best efforts I have seen attendance in the game decline, as people leave the game and too few people step in to take their places. Local metas have dried up in many places, forcing players to seek out other means to play the game including participating in our online events.

As many of you are aware, we have had to suspend organizing events on Tabletop Simulator. I have received an outpouring of support from the community which I truly appreciate. There are also many angry voices in the crowd, upset to see their meta shrink even further. I implore both groups to redirect their support and their anger and instead help drive forward a social media campaign aimed at three things that I think will help kick start the growth of Destiny (and hopefully your local meta).

Today I launch my very first Twitter hashtag, thus completing my training. #RallyAid @ AsmodeeNA @FFGames @FFGOP.

If you agree with the points below, send your own Tweet with the hashtag to Asmodee and FFG!

#1 A Real Release & Play Calendar

Destiny has the vaguest release schedule of any CCG, a base set and two expansions per year. Beyond that, product issues have plagued the game from the onset causing many players to leave the game. CCGs are expensive and continuous investments. For many players to continue that investment they need to know the release schedule of the game beyond “on the boat”. On top of this, we are four months into 2018 with no news on the dates for Store Championships out of Organized Play. Firm release dates for the next 3 sets and their accompanying Organized Play events should be provided by Asmodee/FFG, giving us the dates for the release of the next two expansions and base set.

#2 Better Prize Support

Destiny’s $15 quarterly prize kits worked at the start of the game when the hype was real and third parties hadn’t printed dozens of different varieties of tokens. Those days are long past us, and that $15 kit isn’t cutting it anymore for bringing out players. Asmodee/FFG Organized Play must have realized this when they launched L5R – that game is supported with $12 kits and $100 kits. Destiny needs that $100 kit, or its equivalent, to help game stores get people in the door for game nights.

#3 A Complete Starter Product

Hosting locals I get constantly asked by customers how they can get into the game. The answer isn’t easy – there is no one product I can point to and say “buy that, crack it open, and sit down and play with us”. You just can’t take an existing starter and play against any constructed deck, even a jank one, and expect a new player to have a good time getting thrashed, or even worse, decking themselves by round 3. Other companies figured this out a while back – you just can’t offer starter product that is, in all actuality, half a deck. Destiny needs a real starter product, a 30 card deck with a 30 point character list . It doesn’t have to be competitively viable, it just needs to put up a halfway decent fight so that new players can buy it, crack it open, and sit down and play with us!

I definitely understand where you are coming from and appreciate all the time, effort, and hard work you put into this game. Without people like you, this game would not have made it through the 'drought' of SWD early in its inception and I'm hoping we are not facing another wave of hard times ahead. I think you have some excellent ideas listed above, just throwing my two cents on each to see where the community discussion goes. Here we go:

1. Release and Play Calendar - Very much in agreement here. I've said for ages that one of FFG's biggest issues has been communication. When the community had to learn about their production woes in Jan/Feb, it was from cell phone video footage uploaded by one of the retailers at the meeting. That was unacceptable then and the complete lack of communication now is also unacceptable. I don't expect them to tell me everything...but I really do think a release calendar that they follow through on is important to building any kind of legitimate/consistent/long-term CCG community. Following through on these plans is an essential part as well.

2. Better Prize Support - I think they HAVE the better prize support right now, they just aren't implementing it in a way that is accessible to the masses. The Galactic Qualifier idea is awesome. The prizes they displayed made the active player base salivate in the hopes of getting some truly sweet prize support. Then...no real access to the majority of the United States...and that assumes the U.S. and not going over what is happening (or not happening) across the globe. This comes down to communicating when things will arrive and follow through again. I think the higher dollar prize kit is great, but might just be what they count toward the Store Championship / Regional Championship / National / World pipeline. I think we need more there too, but time will tell what their May announcement day brings. I think more prizes is always better though, so behind you on this one as well.

3. Starter product - I fear 'one more thing' kind of products, unless you mean this as a replacement for how they are currently doing starter decks...which is what I assume you mean. I agree - they should be full decks that are at least semi-viable. Maybe follow the MTG model of a 60-card preconstructed deck with 1-2 booster packs built in for customizing? That seems like a decent fit. I'm not sure how you package it (maybe with a deckbox like the Store Championship boxes), but that seems like a decent idea. It would increase the cost a little, but would add quite a bit of 'bang for your buck.' I'd also say this product line needs to get in the big box retailer stores. You can keep the booster boxes and such at the LGS level, but the intro product line needs to get more places to gain some traction. Target/Gamestop for the 2PG was a good start. Now just to continue.

Beyond that, I think you are on the right path and hope it leads to some exciting increases in the SWD community...but, in particular, for the local gaming community. Right now, we are in a 'hard sell' moment for local gaming. We have a long dry spell for new product, little/limited prize support, and not many folks excited about drafting a set that they already have a 2x set for since they were rushing to buy in hopes of doing well at Regionals. And that's for those folks who could even try! I'd like to see some 'proof of life' from FFG on SWD...and I'd like to see it before Worlds. Maybe that's just me being greedy/needy, but I think the community needs it.

I'd love to see some of the 'magic' pre-built decks. It would bring the cost down on some power cards at the same time. Release some tournament winning decks.

I think pre built championship decks would be great

I think announcing that the first set would be rotating out of some formats during the first year that first set was available was a mistake. It's killed the enthusiasm of collecting the game.

Yes, I understand that competitive CCGs need to invoke this at some point. But built in to the launch? MtG didn't start rotating out cards until 2 years after launch....when the set started to get bloated to the point that it needed it.

On 4/20/2018 at 10:22 AM, kingbobb said:

I think announcing that the first set would be rotating out of some formats during the first year that first set was available was a mistake. It's killed the enthusiasm of collecting the game.

Yes, I understand that competitive CCGs need to invoke this at some point. But built in to the launch? MtG didn't start rotating out cards until 2 years after launch....when the set started to get bloated to the point that it needed it.

This. A million times this. There was no reason other than to bottom out the prices of the majority of legendaries in the first three sets. Whoever decided on the Trilogies format was not thinking straight in my mind. Essentially telling people that the brand new set they were purchasing would be invalid in one of the major formats (there have been very large Trilogies tournaments) did not understand how to sell product.

The Rallyaid ideas are a good start and thoughtful, but focus too much on the die hard tournament players and fail to understand how to get more tournament players in the first place. Destiny needs to get the casual but competitive players to start wanting to turn out to FLGS instead of just playing at home with their friends. 80-90% of the players are people playing at home so FF doesn’t focus overly on the tournament and FLGS scene. Their internal numbers reveal the ability to be indifferent. They also lack the imagination it appears to create a diverse meta through simple, but obvious changes.

Why would people like me want to drive and play with a bunch of strangers when I can open a bottle of wine and play with the wife with any one of the 24-28 decks we have. I ad hoc point adjustments, but not being an expert this can be a time consuming process until I create a balanced deck, find I went too far, or realize the points is not the issue but lack of access to a certain pair of die or a couple pairs of dice.

Again while helpful and stimulating, many have written, posted videos and podcasts as to how these small changes proposed in Rallyaid are not enough. The issue starts with making current characters more viable through support in upcoming releases. Since FF over produced the heck out of the first three sets, while only make a few character good, prices have plummeted and too many people are put off be seeing their $1.2-2k+ collections turn to dust. The demoralizing effect of loosing so much cash on junk is the single biggest factor driving people out of the game which is reflective of a stagnant meta. I stare at many 8 Stanley cases and look at an “island of lost dice.” They were dice that with small tweaks for specific characters could have made the at least local metas more diverse. Just by making peoples’ collections more viable will fix this game. I wrote before how the economics cost of buying and selling singles is also an issue to the need of padded envelopes and their increase postage cost naturally holds this game back. So FF needs to get the economics of CCG straightened out quick. The best way is through new content for old characters of negative point adjustments.

They can’t fix all the upgrades they made weak. Go through you collection and look at the dice and think how easy it would have been for a die to have one different side or a certain keyword to make it viable for a certain unused character. How many times did you stare at certain characters during awakening and then SOTR and think if only I had a character at this point cost etc. or more importantly a die tailor specifically for a certain character. They got the idea, but failed to implement it widescale. Look how Rey’s LS is better on Rey but still used on a few other characters. That is the direction they need to take to salvage the economics and thus the stagnant local meta. Look, die hard players will play with an6 meta, but you aren’t getting people like me to the stores until it is blown open and I want to bring something new.

It may be too late for this batch of players getting out, but since people are buying those $2k collections for 500-600, FF has the opportunity to grab them. But you can’t grab them until you make more of the character better. Balance the force with negative points costsjjst on 10 characters and/or release new content meant to cater to these inefficient characters with ultra efficient cards when used specifically by them or at the very least tailored to them.

Release cards that have power actions if the character has Operative in the name. Make it a solid card otherwise, but the bees knees with Jyn. Or have it cost one res or even less when played by an “Operative” etc.

Another Example. Palpatine 2 either needs a yellow 2 cost weapon with 1X, 1R, +2 indirect, ?, ? - or a force power similar. Palp/Kylo was so close to being cool.

Devote half a one set to fixing all the crap out there will bring player back, keep players, and get those players out of their homes wanting to play something someone hasn’t seen before. I would like an off release of a small set for $60 that x dice and x cards just geared toward the previous mistakes. It should be a product big enough that FF breaks even only. FF has never understood the power on losing money on one item to make it up on several overs many times over. Gas stations do make money on the gas, but the inflated “conventient” products inside. Walmart might put out and item at cost with advertising knowing that you’ll likely get food or something else while there. You got to get people into the doors first to make money.

When you have more viable characters it make people like me who self regulate decks to make them equal because we like diversity go out and test the diversity. No diversity, no urge. Then it just boils down to pure knowledge of the meta decks and the number of times you played those meta decks to know the angles. You can not get the fringe competitor to buy into going to get crushed and the guy with 21playmats getting the spotglass card.

Tournaments are about winning, not prize support. However, they are also about coming to them with a two trick pony they aren’t use to, or at the very least haven’t played enough against to become Uber familiar.

All these other fixes similar to Rallyaid calling for better prize support are well and good for the top tournament players, but they would mostly fail (yes, knowing when something will release and when the balance to the forces will be released is big and a great proposed idea) to address getting, initiating new competition into the fold. These masters focus too much on what the pros want to see and not enough on what the people waiting and watching in the wings might want to see. We don’t need more Uber Master content, we new blood. The question you guys and gals need to focus on is how do you get new blood into the fold, to come out. Don’t get me wrong, without Rallyaid making some sort of call for change other ideas would not be discussed at length. So identifying the right fixes wasn’t the necessary the point, but the start of a discussion was.

I believe it starts with the fundamental economics of the game and growing the meta fast. The value of legendaries must hold their value better meaning the design team needs to do a better job on the front end with initial design and on the back end by supporting fridge character that could be good with 4-6 new cards in the 30 card deck gear toward them or through negative points costs.

Unfortunately, FF is a greedy, narrow minded company who does’t seem to have a marketing team with anyone one on it with an MBA or EMBA from a top 10 school who is out there listening to players and looking at some of the micro economics of the game. They believe that just selling new product will do the trick until...we’ll Destiny 2.0. They don’t want to make older character viable but sell you new viable characters. This works to a limited extent and will keep the game alive, but never thriving. As I have said before, FF MAYBE, maybe doesn’t want this game to be too successful because they narrowmindingly think that it being soooo expensive it could cannibalize their other lines. However, when you provide stellar products gamers find the money. In my case, I sell other games to feed the habits of the best games...not just the shinny new games. Their will always be people who chase shinny new game, but most of use know gamers who maybe still play games decades old: miniature or otherwise. As Tiny Grimes pointed out in his video, Destiny’s trajectory is following the natural trajectory of all of FF games. They want to sell you theor next game...and they will.

Look at x-wing, 90% of the long, long overdue fixes they attempted after year of gripping failed miserably. The ace packs only helped the newer ships etc. Now admittedly there is a big difference better x-wing and Destiny and that is the design space. But the dice face and the dials of character are similar. But they should take what they learned about pulling off the points costs from that game and apply it to this game. My gosh everyone can down load a points reference sheet three times a year and work off of that...provided we know when it is coming ;-).

I love the game, but the CCG model sucks. FFG needs to convert it to an LCG if they really want to save it. I have at least 5 friends that dipped there toes in and said no thanks this costs too much for what you get. A better calendar/set schedule won't get them to play they don't give a crap about it. Better Prize support, once again this only helps those at the top and won't get new players in. The game is tiny compared to magic so it can't have pro players or huge cash prizes. Why would better prizes bring new players in? A complete starter product we have one it's called buy two copies of the Two player set, guess what my friends still don't care cause they need to many 50$ cards to make a tier one deck. Destiny will slowly die off like all FFG's games. There will be peaks and some growth at time, but after that first hill all FFG game are roller coasters population wise.