5 hours ago, Supertoe said:

I agree that there are casual players. But how many of those same casuals will not own a core?

I suspect many of the casuals will not own the core unless they must have one of the heroes from it. Casuals tend to let a friend spend the big money while they invest as little as possible.

31 minutes ago, TechnoGolem said:

I suspect many of the casuals will not own the core unless they must have one of the heroes from it. Casuals tend to let a friend spend the big money while they invest as little as possible.

Like, say, a pre-built hero deck?

23 minutes ago, Turtlefan2082 said:

Like, say, a pre-built hero deck?

Really? Casuals won’t buy anything. They’ll use the prebuilt hero deck and other cards that the main driver of the game in their group bought. We’ve got that in LotR and AH. One player in the group will get all the cards, the rest will play from it. That’s the history of the co-op LCG.

Until now, break the mould!

15 hours ago, TechnoGolem said:

I suspect many of the casuals will not own the core unless they must have one of the heroes from it. Casuals tend to let a friend spend the big money while they invest as little as possible.

So you're saying that FFG doesn't make money off these people?
Hmm....

Almost like trying to make it easier for people to not give them money isn't a good business strategy or something.

But again, Myth of the Casual.

3 hours ago, Supertoe said:

So you're saying that FFG doesn't make money off these people?
Hmm....

Almost like trying to make it easier for people to not give them money isn't a good business strategy or something.

Free to Play models have pretty much proven this false. Especially for cooperative games, there are plenty of people who wouldn't want to play solo, but will with a friend. I'm one of those who supports a large play group with my collection. Would I buy the game if my only option were solo play? Almost certainly not.

So whether or not the money is coming directly from the pockets of those filthy casuals, they most certainly do make money from them.

5 hours ago, Supertoe said:

So you're saying that FFG doesn't make money off these people?
Hmm....

Almost like trying to make it easier for people to not give them money isn't a good business strategy or something.

But again, Myth of the Casual.

Nope. I'm saying the average casual player won't want to buy the core unless they are massive fans of some of the characters.

I see most casual fans picking up a character pack here and there but leaving a friend to buy the majority of it. I've seen this happen in several games.

It looks like the design of the character packs could get more casual gamers to spend money on them. Doubt any of them would be willing to buy the Miss Marvel pack but I could see them doing it for Venom.

11 hours ago, TechnoGolem said:

Doubt any of them would be willing to buy the Miss Marvel pack but I could see them doing it for Venom.

I shan't be buying the Miss Marvel pack - not a character that interests me. But this is a positive thing - it's not necessary to buy everything. Beyond the core set I can pick and choose when I want to buy packs. I can spend on just the packs that appeal to me and I won't feel like I'm missing something by skipping a few packs here and there.

Not sure I'd purchase a Venom pack either - not unless mechanically it looks like a really interesting villain scenario. Definitely wouldn't buy a Venom hero pack - Venom is 100% villain in my comic-reading past.

4 hours ago, Janaka said:

I shan't be buying the Miss Marvel pack - not a character that interests me. But this is a positive thing - it's not necessary to buy everything. Beyond the core set I can pick and choose when I want to buy packs. I can spend on just the packs that appeal to me and I won't feel like I'm missing something by skipping a few packs here and there.

Not sure I'd purchase a Venom pack either - not unless mechanically it looks like a really interesting villain scenario. Definitely wouldn't buy a Venom hero pack - Venom is 100% villain in my comic-reading past.

To be fair, that's the beauty of the Living Card Game/Customized Card Game format. You don't have to be a completionist to enjoy these games. The format allows you to be selective without sacrificing any satisfaction.

I am heavily invested in AH. I have investigators that I haven't even tried before, yet when I see the question "Do need to get everything?" I usually respond with "the only thing you would be missing out on is the player cards, but if you want to skip X campaign for Y campaign, go ahead and do that."

I think the beauty of the hero packs are that these packs seem to be designed for new players. The packs come with a deck list and allows for new players to jump straight into the game. When I introduced my friends to AH, I built everyone of their decks. When they expressed willingness to play, I told them that they should try to build their own decks, and provided my collection so they could do so. One of them requested that I build Minh for him, and I built him a modified starter deck. Imagine how much simpler if the starter decks were prebuilt.

I want to say that FFG knows what they're doing, but that would be a lie. Navarro, in his AMA video, admitted that they are always experimenting. Sometimes it works, sometimes, it doesn't. When FFG first mass released the first L5R cycle (6 packs in 6 weeks) fans were really excited. When FFG released the second cycle in the same style, the community in one voice replied "Why?" ****, the single core experience for Marvel Champions seem to be a response to the limited value of the single core set in other LCGs. Releasing GoT beginner decks seem to be okay, and gamers are going nuts over Keyforge decks, let's see how Marvel characters would sell.

The point I am trying make is this: FFG is trying to make games that will appeal to as many people as possible. From the hardcore completionist who will deconstruct every hero pack to create the most powerful superhero in the world, to the most casual of gamers who is willing to venture further from Monopoly and Clue for the first time. Will we see duplicates? Yeah, and while that sucks, it's okay. Who knows, we might get alternative art from these duplicates. Let's just focus on the positives of this game: it's a customizable, cooperative card game exclusively featuring Marvel Superheroes. How awesome is that?

6 hours ago, Turtlefan2082 said:

I think the beauty of the hero packs are that these packs seem to be designed for new players. The packs come with a deck list and allows for new players to jump straight into the game. When I introduced my friends to AH, I built everyone of their decks. When they expressed willingness to play, I told them that they should try to build their own decks, and provided my collection so they could do so. One of them requested that I build Minh for him, and I built him a modified starter deck. Imagine how much simpler if the starter decks were prebuilt.

Have to admit this is a huge selling point. I used to love going over cards and trying to come up with interesting decks. Now I just want to sit down and play the game.

Gets old going through large piles of cards, even if they're organized, trying to find what you are looking for.