Why is this company so incompetant at stocking retailers?

By gredert, in Star Wars: Armada

3 hours ago, geek19 said:

Wait, should we start a wine thread? I've found some solid cheap wines that are really tasty. And, uh, sure, we'll tie it to a commander or whatever. Or an upgrade card.

well, the ocean is sure a tough border, you have your Onagers, we have Wine. At this moment I'm drinking a very fine Riesling 2012, cheers😁

3 hours ago, geek19 said:

Wait, should we start a wine thread? I've found some solid cheap wines that are really tasty. And, uh, sure, we'll tie it to a commander or whatever. Or an upgrade card.

Personally I think it should be a craft beer thread. I enjoyed mixing two hobbies when my wife and visited Quebec City for the prime event. A fun day of Armada and getting to discover new brewaries (micro brasseries for our qc friends) from the area. No definitive findings yet if drinking a red ale pairs well with ships that focus on red dice, but Emporium Microbrasserie & Pub des Borgia are good places to "tap" for testing the hypothesis. 😊

4 hours ago, scipio83 said:

The problem is not with FFG, the problem is that you have a chosen a hobby that is too expensive for you. I am sure I would find wine-collecting really fun, but I can’t afford it. I don’t complain about wine merchants, I simply recognize that it is out of my price range and decide to do something else with my time and money.

Having the ability to pay for something does not equal accepting a bad deal. The market for ships is just absurdly inflated in some areas. That's incompetence, and a turn-off to more than just the people who can't afford to buy them.

Sorry secondary market shouldn't be the only place to get gladiators, Arquitens or fighter packs. I started grabbing them when I see them simply to have them around. Even considering selling my second glad to one of our newer players if they don't reprint soon.

Remember this is the franchise and company that decided that missing xmas TWO years in a row was a good or unavoidable idea.

On 2/12/2020 at 9:39 AM, geek19 said:

Wait, should we start a wine thread? I've found some solid cheap wines that are really tasty. And, uh, sure, we'll tie it to a commander or whatever. Or an upgrade card.

B. Nektar's Episode 13 Mead is quite good, and Star Wars inspired!

53 minutes ago, JJ48 said:

B. Nektar's Episode 13 Mead is quite good, and Star Wars inspired!

That does sound good. Do they distribute outside of MI do you know?

59 minutes ago, Chamberlin said:

That does sound good. Do they distribute outside of MI do you know?

I'm afraid I don't know. I had it as a gift from people in Michigan.

On 2/12/2020 at 1:52 PM, The Jabbawookie said:

Having the ability to pay for something does not equal accepting a bad deal. The market for ships is just absurdly inflated in some areas. That's incompetence, and a turn-off to more than just the people who can't afford to buy them.

Expensive hobbies are expensive. Film at 11.

On 2/12/2020 at 9:39 AM, geek19 said:

Wait, should we start a wine thread? I've found some solid cheap wines that are really tasty. And, uh, sure, we'll tie it to a commander or whatever. Or an upgrade card.

Pretty sure this thread is already a whine thread.

3 hours ago, scipio83 said:

Expensive hobbies are expensive. Film at 11.

Not every price you can pay should be paid.

People can pay $80 for Demo. That may be the current price to participate in this game. But that’s not normal for Armada, it’s not what FFG intends based on MSRP, and it should change.

That’s all I’m saying, and I’m pretty sure that’s the point of this thread. Don’t confuse the base expense of a miniatures game with price and supply irregularities within that market.

Edited by The Jabbawookie

All retailers in the UK are seemingly out of Armada stock (nearly all ships). One has even put a warning that they have no idea when new stock is due in. XW is also running low.

It's almost like FFG don't want our money.

Left a message on their twitter account. It's been getting worse for years but I've never seen it this bad.

It's definitely significantly gotten worse than back in wave 5 (when I started), and there hasn't been an answer for why. I wish I had gotten my own Gladiator and Arquitens when they were available; I've always borrowed from friends but now when I have some more spending money the ships are out of stock, so...I'm still borrowing from friends.

Also, the fact that upgrades only come with expansions compounds the problem. I don't like worrying about losing my friend's copy of Minister Tua I can't easily replace (hasn't happened yet, thankfully).

Edited by Bertie Wooster
10 hours ago, scipio83 said:

Expensive hobbies are expensive. Film at 11.

This *isn't* an expensive hobby - it's only the rank incompetence of FFG that's making it so.

Edited by JauntyChapeau
10 hours ago, scipio83 said:

Expensive hobbies are expensive. Film at 11.

Sanctimonious contrarian completely misses the point. Film at 11.

33 minutes ago, RogueCommander said:

Sanctimonious contrarian completely misses the point. Film at 11.

Nah, most people here have been so spoiled by a capitalist consumer culture they are offended that things can cost more than they are willing to pay.

23 minutes ago, scipio83 said:

Nah, most people here have been so spoiled by a capitalist consumer culture they are offended that things can cost more than they are willing to pay.

It's like you're in here, deliberately misunderstanding the situation and why people are unhappy about it.

Living in Canada myself I learned my lesson and now always preorder Armada realease, they are usualy back order the day after release. It's also true that most Canadian online shop inventory are quite low on stock, to non existent.

One thing I noticed since I started to play Armada was the large amount of Armada expansion on Ebay...This is what I think a big issue, most of those Ebay sellers buy a bunch of stuff and try to sell it way above the average retailing price, for FFG this might not be a problem since they sale their products but it also force them to make reprint of expantion that are not realy backorder. With no reprint in the horizon I fear the online stores will remain empty for awhile.

It's only speculation, but I guess that taking all those physical copy back to FFG warehouse would be enough to refill some store shelf around the globe.

42 minutes ago, scipio83 said:

Nah, most people here have been so spoiled by a capitalist consumer culture they are offended that things can cost more than they are willing to pay.

Great. I have 5 Gladiators. As best I can tell, the going rate for a Glad is 70-90 USD right now.

If you would be willing to buy those Glads for 5 each, you should buy mine for 350. Or 1 for 70, that’s okay too.

And if you aren’t, it’s clear this hobby is just too expensive for you. And there’s nothing wrong with that, you’re just spoiled because of The Capitalism.

Right?

And if you didn’t want those Glads, because you give off the air of someone who got in the door when things were priced reasonably, let’s say you don’t have any.

...I’ll be done now. I feel trolled more than part of an actual debate.

2 hours ago, The Jabbawookie said:

Great. I have 5 Gladiators. As best I can tell, the going rate for a Glad is 70-90 USD right now.

If you would be willing to buy those Glads for 5 each, you should buy mine for 350. Or 1 for 70, that’s okay too.

And if you aren’t, it’s clear this hobby is just too expensive for you. And there’s nothing wrong with that

Correct. There is nothing wrong with the price point of a hobby being too high for some people. We aren’t talking about food, medicine, clothing, or shelter. We are talking about prepainted miniature plastic spaceships.

There is nothing wrong with FFG putting distribution to some markets on the backburner, especially if the ROI for doing so isn’t huge. You may recall that this is a company that recently went through significant layoffs - you know, where people **lost their jobs** and now have to worry about feeding their families.

So please forgive my lack of patience for the whining about prepainted miniatures being harder to come by than you would like. Be frustrated, sure. But moan about the company’s ā€œincompetenceā€ and act entitled to what is essentially a luxury good? That shows a shameful lack of perspective.

1 hour ago, scipio83 said:

Correct. There is nothing wrong with the price point of a hobby being too high for some people. We aren’t talking about food, medicine, clothing, or shelter. We are talking about prepainted miniature plastic spaceships.

There is nothing wrong with FFG putting distribution to some markets on the backburner, especially if the ROI for doing so isn’t huge. You may recall that this is a company that recently went through significant layoffs - you know, where people **lost their jobs** and now have to worry about feeding their families.

So please forgive my lack of patience for the whining about prepainted miniatures being harder to come by than you would like. Be frustrated, sure. But moan about the company’s ā€œincompetenceā€ and act entitled to what is essentially a luxury good? That shows a shameful lack of perspective.

Also more important than miniatures games: animal cruelty, climate change, student loan debt, and a billion other things. The money and time we put toward miniatures would be better spent there, but by virtue of being here we aren't making that choice. Just because something is a hobby rather than a top moral priority doesn't make it an acceptably functioning system. Draw your line where you like (we all do,) but it's not definitively okay for things past your line to be dysfunctional. Especially when there are, in theory, people who specifically devote their careers to fixing these problems.

Or, go on every FFG thread saying something should be changed and tell them it doesn't matter because there are more important problems in the world. People will love it and great discussions will follow.

It is my belief the layoffs are caused by the private equity firm Eurazeo trying to sell Asmodee. So sure, I definitely don't like that and feel bad about the 14 people seeking new employment. It's also outside our control, and I fail to see a connection to the lack of product getting printed. We're not an RPG. We aren't an app. And we aren't the perceived fat being trimmed for potential buyers. If anything, the Star Wars IP is what FFG should want to be doing well, because it's the biggest thing they have to brag about.

Edited by The Jabbawookie
2 hours ago, scipio83 said:

Correct. There is nothing wrong with the price point of a hobby being too high for some people. We aren’t talking about food, medicine, clothing, or shelter. We are talking about prepainted miniature plastic spaceships.

There is nothing wrong with FFG putting distribution to some markets on the backburner, especially if the ROI for doing so isn’t huge. You may recall that this is a company that recently went through significant layoffs - you know, where people **lost their jobs** and now have to worry about feeding their families.

So please forgive my lack of patience for the whining about prepainted miniatures being harder to come by than you would like. Be frustrated, sure. But moan about the company’s ā€œincompetenceā€ and act entitled to what is essentially a luxury good? That shows a shameful lack of perspective.

I don't look at it so much as a whine. We are allowed to call them out on a short coming. Don't do this to be needlessly cruel, mayhapse a little bit of selfishness, but do want to point things out so things can improve. Got some momentum trying to get a solid group together, but lack of product is hurting that. I love this game and want to see it grow, but having to rely on secondary markets for certain things hurts that. So yeah come here to threads like this trying to keep things rolling as it also means money for them. They make nothing on the secondary market.

this is... a ridiculous swerve of conversation. I wish more people would see it so.

11 hours ago, scipio83 said:

Correct. There is nothing wrong with the price point of a hobby being too high for some people. We aren’t talking about food, medicine, clothing, or shelter. We are talking about prepainted miniature plastic spaceships.

There is nothing wrong with FFG putting distribution to some markets on the backburner, especially if the ROI for doing so isn’t huge. You may recall that this is a company that recently went through significant layoffs - you know, where people **lost their jobs** and now have to worry about feeding their families.

So please forgive my lack of patience for the whining about prepainted miniatures being harder to come by than you would like. Be frustrated, sure. But moan about the company’s ā€œincompetenceā€ and act entitled to what is essentially a luxury good? That shows a shameful lack of perspective.

You do perhaps realize this IS a forum for those who love to play a game of plastic starships from a galaxy far far away?

Where else would their air their concerns and frustrations?

New players can't get Armada products. Not a problem for the game's health? Or a source of frustration for those who haven't gotten 5 of everything?

And this you have no patience for?

And shame on those who do not agree with you?

I've been on this forum 5 years or so, and well... you perspective is, I think, unique.

I've loved my share of FFG games over the years. How to do so for many more to come.

But they still suck as deadlines and restocking both.

4 hours ago, Green Knight said:

You do perhaps realize this IS a forum for those who love to play a game of plastic starships from a long time ago and in a galaxy far far away?

FTFY.

Because this game that we so dearly love is definitely a historical miniatures game.