47 minutes ago, jonboyjon1990 said:

@SpiderMana why is this a bad thing?

Not sure what you’re referring to?

I think I tried to link you to a post about the leaks somewhere, though my link might have gotten goofed up, if that’s your confusion.

The leaks are bad because us not knowing things keeps us engaged while we wait for products. That’s why FFG puts out articles with such regularity compared to the expected release date, and that’s why it’s not good for FFG if too many packs are completely leaked so early. Thus—while I too am curious to know everything about the Dr Strange pack—I don’t mind if I have to wait for a proper article or livestream.

As for Allies being produced as Heroes already, I have no problem with it. The obvious potential issue is that it limits deck building options with the game being in such an early state, but I really don’t think it’ll be a problem. If Strange is indeed Protection (which would be my guess), then we should still have at least three Protection Allies (not counting Black Widow) within about a month of Nat’s release. And Thor I believe includes at least two Aggression allies (Herc and Valkyrie) so that aspect will be fine by the time Hulk releases (also making the assumption that Hulk will be an Aggression pack.)

As for why they’re doing it this way—I think it makes plenty of sense for them to want to include mostly pretty core characters in the core set, including Allies. It gives players a solid foundation with recognizable allies they can enjoy playing. Especially with Task as her nemesis, the Black Widow release makes plenty of sense, and Hulk is the last of what I tend to consider the Big Four Avengers (at least since the MCU), so he makes loads of sense to come out sooner as well.

One final thought for now: If the aspects are as we suspect, Leadership and Justice will be one pack behind the other Aspects come the Story box. If the story box is going to balance things (it might not—it might just have an equal amount of each aspect and leave them unbalanced until the next wave), it almost makes me expect we’ll see the GotG in the box this summer? Quill getting some extra Leadership cards and Gamora getting some extra Justice (spy/assassin-y stuff) would make sense to me.

Yeah I agree with SpiderMana. Leaks are bad because they derail the hype train since it removed their power to "reveal" things to us to keeps us excited about upcoming products. FFG is very strategic with how they release information about upcoming packs and so far it's been a very effective formula. Getting little nibbles of information keeps the interest level at a reasonable level throughout the wait for each product while a full blown leak creates a flurry of interest and then a large lull in the dead space up until release.

It's sort of the same criticism of the Netflix release model versus a more traditional release model for a TV show. In the netflix model everyone talks about the current season of Stranger Things for a week or two and then no one is talking about Stranger Things until the next season comes out. In a show like Mandalorian people are talking about the show spread out over a matter of months because the show is rationed out. Therefore it lives in the culture for longer and there's less of a dead period between releases. Also people take the time to appreciate each installment more than if they feel compelled (or forced due to FOMO) to binge the show and just blow through each episode. In the traditional model there's more of an opportunity for a community to grow around the content.

To bring it back to card games this basically takes the wind out of the sails of their Livestreams, articles, and podcast appearances which is the meat of their community building especially for a co-op LCG. The silhouette article for example was a great teaser because it generated buzz and conversation around the speculation. That will carry a community through the lulls in releases and keeps the community engaged. You remove all these tools from their toolbox and they suddenly have nothing in their pocket to keep us engaged. Luckily in this case it's only the heroes that are spoiled so we still have some meat for discussion with the actual pack content. If the entire pack contents for each of these were spoiled I'd be more concerned. Though clearly they wanted each of these heroes to be a big reveal considering the way they were packaging the information. That said if someone buys them and leaks the pack contents then we are back where we started. We'll have no real surprising information for the game for months. That's not great.

Also this has to be very concerning for FFG since this is actual product that seems to have broken free of their distribution chain. That is direct theft of their goods or maybe even unlawful reproduction of their product if the issue is all the way back at the printers. Once the product is actually released how much of the product online is coming from the legitimate supply chain versus some other method. I'm sure they have to be worried about that. That's direct profit loss for FFG, and for us that can have an effect. A more profitable game means a more well supported game since the designers and distributors are being more rewarded for their work. They can afford to have the designers work on new designs. They have a better art budget for card art. They can be more generous with promos and box contents. They can take more risks with new product support or design approaches. So us as fan should want FFG to be as successful as possible since we have a vested interest in seeing this game grow and have a long tail.

Good grief! These are obviously fake!

FFG ought to get on top of this, people are being scammed. These are clearly not genuine!

3 minutes ago, signoftheserpent said:

Good grief! These are obviously fake!

FFG ought to get on top of this, people are being scammed. These are clearly not genuine!

On what basis do you make that assertion? Various people looked into the seller somewhat and they have a good track record. I was unsure to begin with but am now convinced.

29 minutes ago, signoftheserpent said:

Good grief! These are obviously fake!

FFG ought to get on top of this, people are being scammed. These are clearly not genuine!

If they’re fakes, they are incredibly accurate ones... it’s a **** of a lot of effort to go to for something with very little pay off (The Black Widow pack sold for quite a bit, but only because the seller was tipped off by the interest in the Dr Strange pack) - I think these are pretty obviously the genuine article, but I guess we’ll see next Thursday...

The QR codes also point to FFG. All signs are that they are not fake.

46 minutes ago, Deadwolf said:

The QR codes also point to FFG. All signs are that they are not fake.

While I do happen to think these are the real deal, QRs are nothing but encoded text (including URLs). It would be trivial to generate a QR for a link that followed the pattern from the previous packs.

Though that seems like alot of detail for little pay off at least in the Dr. Strange pack's case. As pointed out above it sold for much less. I'd say right now the weight of evidence seems to point to them being real. Especially since we know the leaked core sets were real products and not knock offs. So there already exists some sort of manufacturing/supply chain leak for this game.

3 hours ago, phillos said:

Luckily in this case it's only the heroes that are spoiled so we still have some meat for discussion with the actual pack content. If the entire pack contents for each of these were spoiled I'd be more concerned.

If the card spread out can’t we rule that we will not accept spoiler there ? That each of us will support FFG by not be curious and let them show it at there own time ? That if somes spoil themselves they will not spoil other and if they are less enthousiasme that there own fault ? After all marvel character are about been hero and choose the harder way sometime for the better good of all. If no one will see the spoil those spoiling will have less interest to spoil and if this happen again they will not participate this time. I know it’s maybe too naive to ask this. But it’s what I ready to do (and as a French I see card with more time between the FFG presentation and the product been available).

Certainly. If there was any theme that would inspire that sort of immediate sacrifice for a greater total gain then it would be a game based on super heroics. It was impossible to miss the hero spoilers since both on BGG and here they are right there in the thread title, but I'm leaning toward not looking at full pack spoilers and enjoying the ride.

The nail in the coffin against these being fake is that the seller also had multiple unreleased Marvel Crisis Protocol sets, and included pics of the open boxes and miniature sprues. Based on that, these are definitely legit.

On 1/6/2020 at 8:18 PM, Mon no Oni said:

Also, somebody on BGG:

" I put the Doctor Strange info up on FB. The super sleuths over there have found the seller on EBay and he/she confirmed that they also have a Black Widow and Hulk decks that they will be selling. "

Is it real Hulk or Cho?

Based on the third profile from the image in https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/303072-thor-reveal-article-up-on-ffg-website/ , I believe it will be Banner. Maybe he'll have an awkward Cho-hulk ally that can't be in play when Banner is being Hulk!

1 hour ago, AradonTemplar said:

Based on the third profile from the image in https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/303072-thor-reveal-article-up-on-ffg-website/ , I believe it will be Banner. Maybe he'll have an awkward Cho-hulk ally that can't be in play when Banner is being Hulk!

Not sure if you were joking or anything, but I think that according to the Rules Reference, you could have both Hulks out at the same time. On p. 18:

Quote

In the Marvel setting, it is possible for multiple people to bear the same title. (For example, more than one person can bear the title of “Captain America,” but there is only one Steve Rogers.) Because of this, a comparison of alter-egos and/or subtitles between two cards may create the following exceptions to the unique rules stated above:

• If a hero and a unique ally share the same title, but the alter-ego and the subtitle are different, they may coexist in deckbuilding and in play

Oh, nope I just wasn't familiar with the rules!

22 minutes ago, AradonTemplar said:

Oh, nope I just wasn't familiar with the rules!

Me neither, until one day or two ago. Of course that Black Widow thingy spurred related discussions pretty much everywhere, and I think it was on Reddit that I saw quoted as well this very clarification. I hadn't remembered reading that at all. I like it that the designers know what they're doing, seeing as they are covering their bases already like that.

(not that this applies to Black Widow, but still, the ally/hero duplication inevitably leads to that aspect of the game)

3 hours ago, Ascarel said:

• If a hero and a unique ally share the same title, but the alter-ego and the subtitle are different, they may coexist in deckbuilding and in play

Wait, so does this apply only when in Alter-Ego form?

Lets say I'm playing as Black Widow, but I am in Hero form.

Can someone else play the Black Widow ally?

Or does the fact that my Alter-Ego, which is currently not face up in play, has the same name as the subtitle of the Black Widow ally then the ally can't be played?

At this point it would only apply to Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff, but it could get interesting...

50 minutes ago, Majushi said:

Lets say I'm playing as Black Widow, but I am in Hero form.

Can someone else play the Black Widow ally?

Or does the fact that my Alter-Ego, which is currently not face up in play, has the same name as the subtitle of the Black Widow ally then the ally can't be played?

Correct. If you are playing as the Hero Black Widow, then no one else can play the Black Widow Ally because your Alter Ego is the same as the Allies Subtitle.

However, if an Ally existed called Black Widow - Monica Chang, then either you or someone else could play that Ally.

3 hours ago, Majushi said:

Wait, so does this apply only when in Alter-Ego form?

Lets say I'm playing as Black Widow, but I am in Hero form.

Can someone else play the Black Widow ally?

Or does the fact that my Alter-Ego, which is currently not face up in play, has the same name as the subtitle of the Black Widow ally then the ally can't be played?

At this point it would only apply to Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff, but it could get interesting...

If you are Natasha Romanov, no one can play the Black Widow (Natasha Romanov) Ally because the Subtitle and your card name are the same.

No wonder they had 'production delays' then. Someone's been thieving product to fleece people on ebay

17 hours ago, SpiderMana said:

Not sure what you’re referring to?

I think I tried to link you to a post about the leaks somewhere, though my link might have gotten goofed up, if that’s your confusion.

The leaks are bad because us not knowing things keeps us engaged while we wait for products. That’s why FFG puts out articles with such regularity compared to the expected release date, and that’s why it’s not good for FFG if too many packs are completely leaked so early. Thus—while I too am curious to know everything about the Dr Strange pack—I don’t mind if I have to wait for a proper article or livestream.

Yeah I'm totally agree about the leaks being bad (In fact I think you linked to my comment saying as much).

I thought you were saying the allies/heroes thing was bad.

The idiots paying $300 for a pack of cards are fleecing themselves 🤯

1 hour ago, Daft Blazer said:

The idiots paying $300 for a pack of cards are fleecing themselves 🤯

Apparently the person who bought Black Widow posted on Facebook to say that he’d made contact with FFG to return it to them once it comes. They’ll refund him and probably throw in some other stuff.

2 hours ago, jonboyjon1990 said:

Yeah I'm totally agree about the leaks being bad (In fact I think you linked to my comment saying as much).

I thought you were saying the allies/heroes thing was bad.

Ah, no. But I guess there was a good reason I connected your name to that post 😂

10 hours ago, Majushi said:

At this point it would only apply to Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff, but it could get interesting...

My hope is that when we inevitably get a situation like Rescue or Lady Thor getting released, that their packs come with some sort of 'team-up' card or something that replaces their signature card in the affected deck (for instance, Rescue's deck would come with a new Signature card for Iron Man's deck that would replace his 'Pepper Potts' ally when both characters are used in the same game).