Confirmed by Matt Holland on the FB page that the release date for The Clone Wars core set, B1 battle droids expansion and phase 1 Clone Trooper expansion. I asked specifically about the Droideka and BARC speeder expansions and Matt said he didn't have a firm date but it would be a little later. Its nice to finally know and now that the original date of Sep 27th was only missed by a week many of you can put down your pitchforks and torches and return to your homes and wait it out.
James
8 minutes ago, charlesanakin said:Confirmed by Matt Holland on the FB page that the release date for The Clone Wars core set, B1 battle droids expansion and phase 1 Clone Trooper expansion. I asked specifically about the Droideka and BARC speeder expansions and Matt said he didn't have a firm date but it would be a little later. Its nice to finally know and now that the original date of Sep 27th was only missed by a week many of you can put down your pitchforks and torches and return to your homes and wait it out.
James
Most of the complaints I've seen have more to do with FFG's continued poor communication regarding delayed product than the actual delay.
6 minutes ago, Caimheul1313 said:Most of the complaints I've seen have more to do with FFG's continued poor communication regarding delayed product than the actual delay.
Do people really believe that they've known all along and have just withheld information for whatever reason? You can't say what you don't yet know. They said late Q3 and they missed that by one week. As soon as they knew they said they were one week off. Seems reasonable to me?
2 hours ago, charlesanakin said:Do people really believe that they've known all along and have just withheld information for whatever reason? You can't say what you don't yet know. They said late Q3 and they missed that by one week. As soon as they knew they said they were one week off. Seems reasonable to me?
No they didn't make any official announcements. Where is the post here from an FFG account? Where is the post on the official FFG website about the delay? Where is the official notification about the Dewback delay? The only notifications have been after people have bugged employees/official pages on social media.
I don't belong to the Facebook or the Discord so I've only heard things second hand. And these notifications are coming from employees who do not belong to the PR or distribution departments, the kind of departments that should handle reporting on delays. Product has previously disappeared from release cycles (Star Wars legion mats which are STILL listed for preorder 10 months later), or been listed as "On the Boat" for almost a year (a Star Wars RPG book) with no word anywhere from anyone at FFG.
And what are you using to say September 27th was the expected release date? Given the RRG went into effect on September 12th, it appears the CW starter was intended for a release earlier than the end of the month. Typically I believe the new rules became official very close to the release of the product that uses those rules. September 27th is just the last release day when it wouldn't have been "late" since it would have still been Q3. There could have been multiple small delays pushing it later and later in September until finally October became the new expected date.
This is just the latest in FFG's delays that are poorly communicated. I get delays happen, but their communication needs work.
Besides, I'll believe October 4 is the release date when I have the product in my hands, there could be some other problem between now and then.
Edited by Caimheul1313He’s the community coordinator - his job is to, you know, coordinate with the community. At least he’s trying.
Edited by TalkPolite
5 hours ago, charlesanakin said:Do people really believe that they've known all along and have just withheld information for whatever reason?
Yes!
13 hours ago, MicroManager said:Apparently even as soon as july 30th, someone in Asmodee had already realised that the Clone Wars Core Set wouldn't be out in Q3... but in October Q4. The communication with the community and customer base really isn't that impressive...
YES!
FOR THE REPUBLIC AND THE GLORY OF OUR BROTHERS!!!!!!
7 hours ago, TalkPolite said:He’s the community coordinator - his job is to, you know, coordinate with the community. At least he’s trying.
I am not holding anything against him, I do appreciate that at least he has tried to communicate. But, he could/should have communicated on the official FFG forums in addition to social media if he is communicating in an official capacity. His title is Community Coordinator for ORGANIZED PLAY, not the product line or the company, so communicating delays to the public is probably outside of his responsibilities. So yes, I do appreciate him making extra effort to get some kind of information out, but it shouldn't have been "extra effort," it should have been the norm for SOMEONE to communicate to the customers.
Edited by Caimheul1313
They haven't known all along.
What happens after the boat is loaded and sent off into the waters? Nothing. No updates. No GPS location of your boat. Nothing. If docks are busy, customs stops a boat, storms are particularly bad, or there are dock strikes can all keep this boat from showing up when expected. The next phone call/email that FFG gets is a notice that the container is off the boat and on the way to Minn. So chances are, as soon as FFG got that call, Matt hopped on Facebook to share the info. 2.5 weeks from dock to LGS is just about right from the shipping and receiving I've been a part of.
From watching Matt Holland communicate, he is learning what people want and trying to improve his method every day. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries harder each time to keep everyone informed.
39 minutes ago, crx3800 said:They haven't known all along.
What happens after the boat is loaded and sent off into the waters? Nothing. No updates. No GPS location of your boat. Nothing. If docks are busy, customs stops a boat, storms are particularly bad, or there are dock strikes can all keep this boat from showing up when expected. The next phone call/email that FFG gets is a notice that the container is off the boat and on the way to Minn. So chances are, as soon as FFG got that call, Matt hopped on Facebook to share the info. 2.5 weeks from dock to LGS is just about right from the shipping and receiving I've been a part of.
There's a website where you can track container ships as they travel accross the ocean by ship registration number. A Kickstarter I backed provided the information for backers to track stuff as it sailed from China to San Diego.
All ships have GPS these days, it's stupid not to have the most basic of safety features.
Edit: furthermore, the initial comment from Matt looks like it was in response to questions, not sponaneusly posted. We shouldn't have to hound FFG's staff, and the information should be here, as a news post.
The fact he says "it wasn't delayed until it was" is indicative of multiple delays that pushed it further in September, and it was only when the delay finally pushed it to October that the product was "officially" late.
You're also assuming it was a shipping delay as opposed to a manufacturing delay, like with Dewbacks.
Edited by Caimheul1313I was speaking from my experience in shipping/receiving games. I'm sure the boats have GPS and the company that put the container on the boat knows, but getting that info sent to FFG so that they know is probably where a lot of the loss of information occurs. We would get an update the boat left, then we would get a phone call months down the road saying we better take the container tomorrow or pay a fee for not taking it on time.
I'm not trying to claim Matt is perfect. Just saying that I think he's seeing what people expect to hear about shipping, updates, etc, and hopefully he will adapt his efforts to help with it. Him responding at all is more than we used to get from FFG.
As far as cause of the delay, who knows. Probably manufacturing, but I suspect it's mainly trying to get this much product for one game at roughly the same time while also trying to use new manufacturing methods with the new plastic. I'm betting they weren't all put on the same boat or they were loaded very far apart from each other on the ship and they've just now dug down to the bottom to get the containers with cores in them.
I remember just about every other game getting a bit of a release nudge when Xwing 2.0 shipped. Everything else got pushed up or back a week or two to get it away from the 2.0 release.
2 minutes ago, crx3800 said:I was speaking from my experience in shipping/receiving games. I'm sure the boats have GPS and the company that put the container on the boat knows, but getting that info sent to FFG so that they know is probably where a lot of the loss of information occurs. We would get an update the boat left, then we would get a phone call months down the road saying we better take the container tomorrow or pay a fee for not taking it on time.
It might depend on shipping company/era. The fact is that I or anyone else, with no ties to any company, can use a publicly availabr website to track shipping vessels. A Kickstarter by a startup was provided with the ship number, so I'd be surprised if FFG can't get that information as well.
I don't know how large the company you used to work for was, but again, I got this information from a startup.
It's probably a matter of how much expense and effort the company puts in. New companies that only have to track one game from production to release are going to be pretty on the ball about it. I'd be a little scared if they weren't. That would show me some disinterest in the product they sold me.
You might be right. There might be a pile of emails that have shipping updates on them that FFG doesn't pay anyone to read. Which is probably exactly the same reason why the "upcoming" page is always misinformation.
I've just gotten used to FFG not having solid release dates and for the most part, it keeps me from getting me wound up about when they should be here or when they shouldn't. But I have played LOTR lcg for a long time and sometimes they didn't get releases or news for months.
Edited by crx380025 minutes ago, crx3800 said:It's probably a matter of how much expense and effort the company puts in. New companies that only have to track one game from production to release are going to be pretty on the ball about it. I'd be a little scared if they weren't. That would show me some disinterest in the product they sold me.
You might be right. There might be a pile of emails that have shipping updates on them that FFG doesn't pay anyone to read. Which is probably exactly the same reason why the "upcoming" page is always misinformation.I've just gotten used to FFG not having solid release dates and for the most part, it keeps me from getting me wound up about when they should be here or when they shouldn't. But I have played LOTR lcg for a long time and sometimes they didn't get releases or news for months.
I'd be surprised if a company like FFG/Asmodee didn't have an individual/team whose whole job is monitoring incoming product from manufacturing through shipping if only to ensure there is space in warehouses when product is incoming.
I've noticed the trend as well, having starting buying into FFG games back in the days when they had a licensing agreement with GW. It's always been an annoyance that everyone dealt with. But, with Legion I and other noticed early on the expected release date was going up on the FFG spanish page up to a month in advance of the product released. Plus, I remember when FFG messed up and posted the Rebel Trooper article with a release date in it. Now, that release date was WRONG, and the article was fairly quickly edited, but it remains that FFG had a specific date in mind. Their current method only serves to give them larger delivery window, allowing for delays from their expected date of release, but still hit their announced quarter (in general).
But, they occasionally give us hints as to when stuff is expected to be released such as an RRG with new rules that pertain to the new miniatures/upgrades. We wouldn't have to use these indicators to speculate if, for instance, FFG only opened pre-orders 1-2 weeks before they expected to ship products, or they didn't announce new product 6-9 months before release.
It's an annoyance we all have to put up with if we want to buy Star Wars miniatures, but that doesn't mean we can't complain about it in a civil manner in the vain hope that something change at FFG. I do hope that Matt is able to keep the community informed in some way, but it is possible that he may be told to stop by corporate since it goes against the usual policy of silence.
Edited by Caimheul1313I doubt very much that FFG wasn't aware of a delay well before Matt's announcement. As has been said, the RRG going live on the 12th and some comments made around GenCon (I'll have to see if I can track them down" both pegged the release as "early or mid-September." The long silence on the release date (not even bothering to answer the countless people asking with "Q3") indicates that there was a problem, but they were hoping it would straighten itself out, or at least only delay it by a few weeks. It wasn't until they finally were sure that they would completely miss their three month window that they realized they'd have to say something.
Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy to finally have a release date, I'm just skeptical of the "official" version of the events.
And my skepticism of the October 4 announcement is justified (unfortunately).
Fail again FFG
1 minute ago, Darth evil said:Fail again FFG
FFG: Frequently Fails Gamers?
I really wish whatever the hold up is would sort itself out, or FFG would sort it out.
Just now, Alpha17 said:FFG: Frequently Fails Gamers?
I really wish whatever the hold up is would sort itself out, or FFG would sort it out.
I've given up on CW, i just want the upgrade packs
Just now, Darth evil said:I've given up on CW, i just want the upgrade packs
My point. People will stop supporting CW.
More lost profits :[ .....
14 hours ago, charlesanakin said:Its nice to finally know and now that the original date of Sep 27th was only missed by a week many of you can put down your pitchforks and torches and return to your homes and wait it out.
James
Can we break out our pitchforks and torches again now?
@Caimheul1313 I'm with you now. I've got nothin. That was a big mistake to make an announcement and then have to recant it.
1 minute ago, crx3800 said:@Caimheul1313 I'm with you now. I've got nothin. That was a big mistake to make an announcement and then have to recant it.
Especially given they had to recant it within 24 hours.
I think this is WHY FFG in general doesn't announce release dates. Hopefully, this is actually a one time thing and it's not that their supply chain is wrought with issues and rather than try to fix the issues, they just keep release windows vague and large, making them easier to hit.
I'm going to be honest, I really wish I had been wrong, and that this whole thing was just one single delay from end of September to early October.
This is partly why I actually like no definitive release dates. I don't get my hopes up on getting anything. Stores were even getting their options to preorder yesterday, so they must have thought it was good to go.
Oh well. I have to wait even longer to get more droids to add to my army.