I feel like in this day and age, the no PDF thing is one of the biggest hurdles the Star Wars RPG is facing, not that its Asmodee/FFG's fault. It would go a long way to alleviate some of the heartache that the overseas crowd has to go through just to get the books. It just seems so ridiculous that they're under such a stranglehold.

About a second edition...

Unless the FFG staff were already well into developing such a thing prior to the January layoffs, I don't think we're going to see such a thing anytime soon. Sturn brings up a valid point in whether Asmodee/EDGE are going to renew the license when it comes due in a few years, and there's not much point in creating an entirely new edition if they're looking to unload the license (either in part or in its entirety) within a couple years.

The problem with a 2nd edition that makes radical and/or sweeping changes is that it does tend to invalidate a lot of the older crunch that a game line's existing fanbase has already invested in. WotC ran head-first into this with the move from 3.X to 4th edition, and Paizo was able to capitalize on this by creating their own version that was largely 3.X compatible, but from some of the grumblings I've heard are now running into a similar issue with their move to a second edition (I don't pay much attention to Pathfinder, so I've no idea if the complaints are valid, how sweeping the changes from PF1e to PF2e are, or if its just their fanbase grousing about an edition change).

Oddly, WEG managed to avoid the worst of this, but then there really wasn't a whole lot of serious changes between the editions of their Star Wars editions, with the move from 1st edition to 2nd edition having the most drastic changes/updates (some good, some less so depending on one's POV).

I think the best opportunity to include (or at least test the waters) for revised vehicle combat rules (this system's biggest shortcoming) would have been the vehicle splat, but that's an opportunity now past. I could see an "expanded rules guide" supplement as a prime opportunity to test out incorporating elements of Genesys, as well as revising how Force powers and learning them operate (the new canon works very differently in terms of learning the Force than how Luke went about it in the OT, which was the original basis for how the Force rules were written, and those rules are showing their flaws now that Force users are a fully-integrated part of the game). This way, those folks that are happy with the rules as they exist can continue doing so, and those folks that want to change one or more elements of the existing game have a means to do so. Plus, the response to those changes is feedback that EDGE Studios can make use to determine if there's enough of a need for a new edition of the game.

6 minutes ago, Swordbreaker said:

I feel like in this day and age, the no PDF thing is one of the biggest hurdles the Star Wars RPG is facing, not that its Asmodee/FFG's fault. It would go a long way to alleviate some of the heartache that the overseas crowd has to go through just to get the books. It just seems so ridiculous that they're under such a stranglehold.

You're right, in that it is the biggest hurdle that any version of the Star Wars RPG faces in the current century. It hampered WotC, and it's hampering FFG, especially with the difficulty they've had in keeping books in stock; WotC for its part only did reprints of the core book, much to the chagrin of folks that missed out on the Starships and KOTOR splats (both of which have gone for crazy high prices on the secondary market).

Sadly, the problem lies with how the license was broken out during the WEG days, back when PDFs weren't a thing and LucasArts had a stranglehold on anything deemed "electronic media." I've heard some rumors that Lucasfilm is looking to do away with the exclusivity license with regards to video games (apparently due to discontent with how EA has handled/bungled things), and if that license goes away, it opens the opportunity for EDGE (or whoever's got the RPG rights at that time) to be able to publish PDFs of the books. However, that's all rumor and speculation at this point in time.

2 hours ago, Eoen said:

The custom dice don’t help either although I have come like them. They are a barrier to entry (cause change and symbols are scary).

Well, the custom dice being a barrier to entry has been a thing since the game was announced; I myself was amongst the initial skeptics when FFG made the announcement. So at least that's one point of consistency about the game

Granted, in many cases when folks get the opportunity to sit down and play the game, the dice become less of a hurdle to overcome (though their availability is still a sticking point, and wasn't helped when there was a bungled print run that included Imperial Assault dice instead of the correct dice). But I've seen and talked with a number of folks that disliked the custom dice even after trying the game; most of them said that it still felt far too gimmicky (a complaint I often heard about and had myself had with WFRP3e).

An edition change doesn't always bold ill. RCR -> Saga was a good move (though, from my understanding OCR and RCR were pretty bad so, no surprise there). And 4e -> 5e was a hit (again, thanks largely to 4e's poor reception, main stream media, and stuff like Critical Role).

I wouldn't mind a 2e. I'll at least pick up whatever core book would drop and give it a read through.

8 minutes ago, kaosoe said:

An edition change doesn't always bold ill. RCR -> Saga was a good move (though, from my understanding OCR and RCR were pretty bad so, no surprise there). And 4e -> 5e was a hit (again, thanks largely to 4e's poor reception, main stream media, and stuff like Critical Role).

I wouldn't mind a 2e. I'll at least pick up whatever core book would drop and give it a read through.

That's the spirit!

1 hour ago, kaosoe said:

An edition change doesn't always bold ill. RCR -> Saga was a good move (though, from my understanding OCR and RCR were pretty bad so, no surprise there). And 4e -> 5e was a hit (again, thanks largely to 4e's poor reception, main stream media, and stuff like Critical Role).

I wouldn't mind a 2e. I'll at least pick up whatever core book would drop and give it a read through.

As you said, the OCR/RCR to Saga Edition was well received due to that prior edition having a host of problems (being just a reskin of D&D 3.X, which itself had a host of issues) and there being a substantial gap of time between the editions (RCR stopped publishing not long before Episode III, and Saga Edition started up some years after).

With 5e, again you've got a long time span as well as that system reverting back to a number of things from pre-4e that D&D fans liked/requested/demanded. And yes, having a major show like Critical Role pretty much promote 5e D&D goes a long way, as it's introducing a very large segment of the populace that otherwise didn't care about D&D into the hobby. If CR had tanked like most of the crew (Matt Mercer in particular) expected it to, then it's a question of whether D&D 5e would have reached as broad an audience as it has. Many of 5e's fans that were D&D players of prior editions have rejoiced at having a game system that stuck to the long tradition of what D&D generally was as opposed to the very radical shift in mechanics that 4e represented. And even now, there are 4e fans/veterans that lament how much of an unwieldy mess the game got (you know it's not a good sign when even in the game's very early life span having an online character builder was seen as a necessity rather than a luxury).

Conversely, there's World of Darkness, where the shift to the very revamped New World/Chronicle of Darkness versions of their game lines was not very well received for various reasons, in spite of there having been a decent time span between when the original flavor of WoD having been ended after dragging on for some time. It's rather interesting that the 20th Anniversary editions of the classic World of Darkness games had generated a lot of excitement/interest in comparison to the Chronicles of Darkness which had soured a lot of White Wolf's existing fanbase without necessarily drawing in enough new blood to replace the exiting customers.

14 hours ago, RookiePilot said:

We actually have more games of SWRPG at my FLGS now than when the books first started rolling out. There was always a strong X-Wing presence, but crossover into the RPG has become a thing. And, my home group has just started an Age of Rebellion campaign as well. I doesn’t feel like this game is dying at all.

Even when it looked like it was going out of print, I really wasn’t too disappointed. The game has enough stuff to keep me busy for many years. Which is why I don’t feel compelled to hop over to the next great thing. Now, more source books and modules, I’d readily gobble them up.

my local FLGS has no community but love that yours does. And totally agree with your last point.

8 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

None of us are privy to the insider information on sales, and impressions of player numbers is always going to be anecdotal. I have seen several groups that were once interested in the system lose interest, and the stores that sell the product have said that interest in buying it has dropped. They may have trouble getting the product, but they also have far less demand for it any nobody is playing it in the stores. This could be because those that want it are ordering it online and playing at home/online, but it could also be a sign that it's fading. Because I want it to die and something new to come along and replace it, I'll cling to the hope that it's the latter.

Got it.

the fact is any ideas of a 2ed is pointless as they don't promote the game at all and a dice game that's ending gets more.

that is why I have little to no trust in them to put out anything new for SW add in the cash problems they are facing it may all end

40 minutes ago, Oldmike1 said:

add in the cash problems they are facing it may all end

depending on what happens in the next 6 months, there are a lot of companies that could have very serious cash(flow) problems that may impact various areas of our lives, including gaming.

5 minutes ago, DangerShine Designs said:

depending on what happens in the next 6 months, there are a lot of companies that could have very serious cash(flow) problems that may impact various areas of our lives, including gaming.

Many have already said they have enough gaming product to last them for decades. It must be a very narrow focus of doomsday prepping.

37 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

Many have already said they have enough gaming product to last them for decades. It must be a very narrow focus of doomsday prepping.

If the is the last Star Wars RPG then I’m set for the foreseeable future.

25 minutes ago, Eoen said:

If the is the last Star Wars RPG then I’m set for the foreseeable future.

And if it's not, then you'll be buying the next?

honestly at this point, any official announcement about the star wars rpg would be nice

since the transfert to edge studio, only the miniatures games, ccg & l5r rpg had upcoming products in the site news so the star wars rpg status is still unclear

37 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

And if it's not, then you'll be buying the next?

Probably, but I would prefer a 1.5 over a 2, since I’ve spent nearly a thousand dollars collecting this game, I’d like to still make use of the existing material.

1 hour ago, Eoen said:

Probably, but I would prefer a 1.5 over a 2, since I’ve spent nearly a thousand dollars collecting this game, I’d like to still make use of the existing material.

Nobody would be stopping you 🙂

34 minutes ago, CloudyLemonade92 said:

Nobody would be stopping you 🙂

But doing a new addition would make buying bew books less attractive. The game does not need a new edition. A book foxi.g the couple issues would be better.

30 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

But doing a new addition would make buying bew books less attractive. The game does not need a new edition. A book foxi.g the couple issues would be better.

That's way more typos that usual from you. You OK?

As to which would be better, that entirely depends on whether you want more of the same or something new and different (I do not want something that is 90% the same; I want something as different from the current game as it was from d20 Star Wars). Backward compatibility is a total waste of time, but those that like the FFG system can still use what they already have.

22 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

That's way more typos that usual from you. You OK?

As to which would be better, that entirely depends on whether you want more of the same or something new and different (I do not want something that is 90% the same; I want something as different from the current game as it was from d20 Star Wars). Backward compatibility is a total waste of time, but those that like the FFG system can still use what they already have.

Things I’d like to see is a real robust world building system, vehicle construction, more ship combat options, and game mechanics that mimic what we see on screen, like shields that act like Star Wars shields. It should also be harder to hit people in combat without them having to take scads of talents, maybe an opposed defense roll instead of a static dice target.

For me, I'd really like a Genesys sourcebook for Star Wars. One book that combines the best of the three core books: species, careers, gear, vehicles, and Force powers. Convert the talents to have ranks; the book would have the core book talents and a chart for talents found in other books. The idea is that a Genesys player can play anything using this book, with the black universal books being ideal supplements.

From a business standpoint, it would be easier to keep in print one core book than three. Then they can focus on printing era and regional supplements instead of the 18 career books. Newer material going forward would be more universal instead of catering to the three branches.

Finally, everything would need to be compatible. Thus both old an new books could be used with either rules set (i.e. Star Wars and Genesys).

That is my wish list for new material. I understand others would rather not go this route. Both lines could be supported. The only major addition would be the Genesys Star Wars book.

(I am already running a hybrid of Star Wars and Genesys. The house rules work, but an official book would be nice.)

35 minutes ago, Eoen said:

Things I’d like to see is a real robust world building system, vehicle construction, more ship combat options, and game mechanics that mimic what we see on screen, like shields that act like Star Wars shields. It should also be harder to hit people in combat without them having to take scads of talents, maybe an opposed defense roll instead of a static dice target.

I have played games with opposed combat rolls. the bog the game down for no benefit. And the way they did things is effectively what you would get with opposed rolls. only less die rolling. which means.

as to star wars shields. the only thing missing are the ablative nature. Though to be fair that isnt really in the media. just the video game.

40 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

I have played games with opposed combat rolls. the bog the game down for no benefit. And the way they did things is effectively what you would get with opposed rolls. only less die rolling. which means.

I'm guessing early on the original play testing in fact involved the player rolling not to be hit instead of the NPC rolling, or some such. An opposed check possibly. But, as Daeglan pointed out, this quickly morphed into what we have due to the number of rolls being made and/or the strangeness of rolling the attack on yourself.

11 minutes ago, Sturn said:

I'm guessing early on the original play testing in fact involved the player rolling not to be hit instead of the NPC rolling, or some such. An opposed check possibly. But, as Daeglan pointed out, this quickly morphed into what we have due to the number of rolls being made and/or the strangeness of rolling the attack on yourself.

You don’t need to do it that way just make the attribute/skill pool be the appropriate red and purple dice the GM rolls.

It just seems in the media the main characters hardly ever get shot.

53 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

as to star wars shields. the only thing missing are the ablative nature. Though to be fair that isnt really in the media. just the video game.

The shields in phantom menace are deflective or absorbing not ablative. They stopped all damage coming as long as the shield generator could hold up.

12 minutes ago, Eoen said:

You don’t need to do it that way just make the attribute/skill pool be the appropriate red and purple dice the GM rolls.

It just seems in the media the main characters hardly ever get shot.

The shields in phantom menace are deflective or absorbing not ablative. They stopped all damage coming as long as the shield generator could hold up.

They arent consistant about how they work

As to opposed rolls. That is still really limiting.

26 minutes ago, Eoen said:

The shields in phantom menace are deflective or absorbing not ablative. They stopped all damage coming as long as the shield generator could hold up.

I like the idea of doing them much like how you can parry melee attacks. You have a certain strain threshold, it costs strain to do the parry, you can recover strain in a variety of ways, and if there is more incoming damage than you can parry, then the remainder might even get through your armor.