15 hours ago, Commander Kaine said:Which games are you referring to?
My first example is Wings of Glory. Many people like to compare the two as there are similarities and, of course, a shared history; of sorts. They have very different types of planes. Most with a different set of speeds, maneuvers and how much damage they can take. Their pilots can have different, or similar abilities. Their bombers actually behave like bombers (unlike X-Wing). They have targets, artillery, 3d movement, landing and takeoff, passenger gunners and are often (thematic) mission driven but can just as easily play is a death match. All this without a constant need for an updated FAQ, rewrite, call for a 2.0, cries of how over powered or broken something may be.
Actually, going a bit further, I would say that I own many war games and a several miniature games as well. Of all these X-Wing is the one that has had the most revisions, nerfs, buffs, FAQ, rewrites, erratta and an amazing amount of complication yet still has what seems to be the most broken over/under powered units. I don't know what games you own or have played, but in my experience there are hundreds of war games that aren't this complex or requires constant revisions like X-Wing. In my opinion, if it wasn't for the Star Wars branding and pretty prepainted Star Wars ships many would (and already have) drop this for something else.
I'm a very good example of this and I doubt I am unique. My first Star Wars: X-Wing purchase had nothing to do with playing the game. I wanted the Falcon; I wanted the neat Star Wars ship. Suddenly I was in and I loved Star Wars so I bought ships and loved playing. Now it is so complex with new mechanics and an ever changing FAQ that I've moved on to other easier to play strategy war simulation games. I should say that easier to play doesn't mean simplistic, simply a rule set I can count of and does keep changing, adding or removing things. A game where what is written on the unit actually stands for that units capabilities and doesn't require me to look it up in a book for the latest change. Of course I will the models because I like them, and that's what got me started. From time to time I many bring them out and ignore most of the upgrades and rules, but honestly at that point I'm not really playing X-Wing. Rather I'm playing a hacked version. But, for most of the people in my area who want a true feeling of a strategic simulation, other than the Star Wars branding, there are far better and far less complex games out there.
NOTE: While Wings of Glory and X-Wing do have similarities the feel completely different in play style. X-Wing is like a fast full throttle adventure movie with guns and explosions heavy on branding weak on plot; Wings of Glory is a strategy game deep in theme and scenarios giving you a sense of mission and accomplishment. You still get the the same screams and cries, but these are often for making a good moves rather than dice rolls. Wings of Glory is definitely is a slower paced game requiring more strategy in planning your moves. X-Wing planning begins at the squad building phase and the game can often be won or lost there since RPS is such a predominate part of X-Wing. Yet with all of it's new mechanics, changes and complication it can't seem to get beyond that.
[Edit] P.S. sorry if this came off or sounded like a rant. I was hoping to be clear. I still don't know, we'll see.
Edited by Ken at Sunrise