What would you like to see from Edge Studios?

By DangerShine Designs, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Lords of Nal Hutta is my favorite "era" book. It really helps bring Hutt Space to life.

I'd love to see another criminal faction or organization get the same treatment: Crimson Dawn, Black Sun, Crymorah, the Pyke Syndicate, et cetera. (Or all of them, actually.)

How did the organization get its start? Who are the most important figures? What are their goals and motivations? Where do they have a presence within the galaxy? Are they expanding or in decline? What's life like within the organization and for those around them? What activities do they focus on? Who are their main rivals? How do they interact/conflict with the Empire and other criminal factions?

Think about what makes the Five Families, Sinaloa Cartel or Yakuza unique and compelling. Detailing similar organizations from the Star Wars universe could help create countless interesting campaigns.

23 hours ago, Oldmike1 said:

I feel a 2e will kill the game its not like D&D and you can get 3to6 books and have all you need the rules are far to spread out.

I would like a 2nd edition someday, just not now. I think that might be a disaster. With not much time remaining in their SW license, it would be a rush job. Not a good idea from the start of this big expansion for Edge. Let them edit what they have and do some reprints (so1.1 editions perhaps) with errata. Let them make a few new books for SW as some have suggested above. I think that is a much better idea then sinking their teeth into a new edition.

Fast forward a few years. IF Asmodee/FFG renews the Star Wars license, THEN start a 2nd edition. They will have more experience with the line by then and can do it better. Start over with the format of the black series in my opinion. A player and referee book followed by various expansion books. In the 2nd edition, include some corrections (such as vehicle rules) that were "fixed" in Genesys.

I would definitely start buying all of that. I don't think I would start buying a 2nd edition if it starts coming out in the next few months. I would instead be willing to buy more books of 1st edition to keep my collection complete. I don't see me boxing all of them and starting all over unless there's a break of at least a couple years.

Waiting won't make it better. Now is the best time for them to kill the old, sick FFG system and move forward with something that makes the money of a fresh core book.

Yeah, a second edition would discourage me at this point. I just started picking up stuff for this game a year ago. I would gladly pick up reprints of stuff. I have a long ways to go before I complete the set. (After thinking about it a bit, if a second edition came out I would probably buy because, Star Wars, you know we all would would at least give it a shot)

I would love to see more adventures. I am new to RPGs so a selection of one shots slightly longer and then big campaigns would be nice, something written so a newbie can see how to incorporate all three cores quickly and easily. "Black line 'adventures if you will.

As far as second edition goes: while I like the system as is I think they need to nix having three lines and go down to a single core book or a player book and a gm book. I like the black line and think that is the route to go. They need to make the path of entry as streamlined as possible for new players.

Also, and I know this will not be a popular idea, as much as i like the dice system, I think its really interesting and makes for some great story telling, the proprietary dice are a big setback for my group. Introducing people new to rpgs, no problem, but my D&D group loves buying personal dice to reflect their characters. They are not so keen on proprietary dice. I have got to think the proprietary dice are a bit of a hindrance as people like being able to bring "their stuff" to the table.

Edited by Walker Family

If a 2nd edition comes out, I’ll be sticking with what I already have.

I would like to see Imperial Source Books.

PDFs would be top of my list. Maybe they can get around the current license restrictions by being in Europe.

The contract is up soon get the pdf’s put in.

Edited by Eoen
2 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

Waiting won't make it better. Now is the best time for them to kill the old, sick FFG system and move forward with something that makes the money of a fresh core book.

That would more likely result in a lot of people not buying. I dont see very many who consider this system as sick

58 minutes ago, RookiePilot said:

I would like to see Imperial Source Books.

Would love to see that. Our current campaign are disaffected Imps who defected and stole their ship, I used the WEG stuff for some flavor, would love to have seen this.

15 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

That would more likely result in a lot of people not buying. I dont see very many who consider this system as sick

Agree on both fronts. As someone else said, a backwards compatible revision that fixes some of the more common complaints (such as vehicle combat) - possibly released as a Expanded Players Guide - would arguably be more than enough. I don't feel like there is enough broken that would require a 2e, given the potential it has to drive people away from the game.

Oh, another book I'd like would be on the new, fancy High Republic era. Seems like shoe-in tie in.

14 hours ago, Inquisitor Tremayne said:

Perhaps a Yawning Portal-type book with several adventures in it.

I love this idea.

Numerous encounters with ALL the appropriates specs in a well organized format. Better yet make it a box set and fill it with maps, deck plans and counters. I could personally do without the counters but it seems like a logical addition.

1 hour ago, Daeglan said:

That would more likely result in a lot of people not buying. I dont see very many who consider this system as sick

That gets said every time a new edition comes out, and it's always proven to be false. There have always been buyers for new versions, very often that includes the same people that claimed they wouldn't buy it.

4 hours ago, Walker Family said:

(After thinking about it a bit, if a second edition came out I would probably buy because, Star Wars, you know we all would would at least give it a shot)

Of course you (and many, many others) would. Let the past die, fire those guys if you have to... Oh, they already did that part.

20 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

That gets said every time a new edition comes out, and it's always proven to be false. There have always been buyers for new versions, very often that includes the same people that claimed they wouldn't buy it.

Looks at Pathfinder. And many do not always go to the new edition. In fact it can result in literally cuttingnyour marketshare in half. So probably not a good idea to just willy nilly put out new editions when a large segment of your audience is not interested.

11 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

Looks at Pathfinder. And many do not always go to the new edition. In fact it can result in literally cuttingnyour marketshare in half. So probably not a good idea to just willy nilly put out new editions when a large segment of your audience is not interested.

Perhaps, but the existing players of the FFG game are already dwindling. It's dying. New players are needed for a more vigorous line to make something for the new company. Or they can squeak by with end of life support. If they want to make it their own, they need to get to it. It's what FFG did when they bought WFRP: drop a few new books for the old line then abandon it for their own take.

5 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

Perhaps, but the existing players of the FFG game are already dwindling. It's dying. New players are needed for a more vigorous line to make something for the new company. Or they can squeak by with end of life support. If they want to make it their own, they need to get to it. It's what FFG did when they bought WFRP: drop a few new books for the old line then abandon it for their own take.

That would not be supported be the fact i am seeing a fair number of newbies here.

30 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

Perhaps, but the existing players of the FFG game are already dwindling. It's dying. New players are needed for a more vigorous line to make something for the new company. Or they can squeak by with end of life support. If they want to make it their own, they need to get to it. It's what FFG did when they bought WFRP: drop a few new books for the old line then abandon it for their own take.

the fact that the books are not in stock and the idea the game may end soon is what dose the most harm to the line

a 2E with the fact they cant keep books in print will be the last nail who want to risk jumping into a game you cant get the books for

54 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

Perhaps, but the existing players of the FFG game are already dwindling. It's dying. *

* citation needed

47 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

That would not be supported be the fact i am seeing a fair number of newbies here.

Would also be supported by the continued growth in one of the larger FB groups (obviously, totally anecdotal)

Not sure how this has from 3rd best-selling TTRPG in 2019 to 'dying' in 2020 (unless COVID-19 is even more insidious and wide-reaching than we first thought...) - @HappyDaze , where are you getting that data from, or is it also annecdotal?

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.

7 hours ago, DangerShine Designs said:

* citation needed

Would also be supported by the continued growth in one of the larger FB groups (obviously, totally anecdotal)

Not sure how this has from 3rd best-selling TTRPG in 2019 to 'dying' in 2020 (unless COVID-19 is even more insidious and wide-reaching than we first thought...) - @HappyDaze , where are you getting that data from, or is it also annecdotal?

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.

8 hours ago, Oldmike1 said:

the fact that the books are not in stock and the idea the game may end soon is what dose the most harm to the line

a 2E with the fact they cant keep books in print will be the last nail who want to risk jumping into a game you cant get the books for

That first fact that you mention might be what sets Edge up to take a stab at a new edition unshackled by the failings of FFG.

Your second line doesn't follow from that if Edge is making their own line rather than continuing to animate the corpses of these dead lines.

8 hours ago, Daeglan said:

That would not be supported be the fact i am seeing a fair number of newbies here.

The facts that you are seeing are totally countered by the facts that I am seeing. That's the beauty of anecdotal evidence. I choose to cling to hope. Hope for something better rather than more of the same old poorly balanced crap that needs dozens of pages of rules clarifications (yet rarely received official errata) and has half-boiled rules expansions tucked into the nether cracks of every book.

It’s hard to maintain healthy interest in a book line that’s never on the shelf’s, often out of print and hard to get sometimes on release day.

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).

Edited by Eoen
9 minutes ago, Eoen said:

It’s hard to maintain healthy interest in a book line that’s never on the shelf’s, often out of print and hard to get sometimes on release day.

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).

I've also heard from several players (some current, most former) that they consider many of the books beyond the core rulebooks to be undesirable. The additions of unbalanced rules and poorly put together stats for weapons/species/starships lead to more and more disappointment. The one group I know that still plays locally only uses the core books along with a rather lengthy list of house rules. I'm not a fan of heavy house ruling; if it needs that much to make it feel right, I'd rather play a different game. In this case, I'm hoping Edge will make that different game.

11 hours ago, DangerShine Designs said:

Would also be supported by the continued growth in one of the larger FB groups (obviously, totally anecdotal)

Not sure how this has from 3rd best-selling TTRPG in 2019 to 'dying' in 2020 (unless COVID-19 is even more insidious and wide-reaching than we first thought...)

If anything's dwindling, it's the traffic on this forum. More and more folks are turning to reddit and Facebook groups for questions and discussion rather than forums, be they official or otherwise. I've seen a few different reddit posters advising that if you want help from the fans, this forum is the last place to go, with one such post naming specific individuals such as TrampGraphics and HappyDaze as prime reasons to avoid this place, along with a general advisement to just skip any threads that discuss the new movies given how utterly toxic (amongst other unflattering words) the anti-sequel crowd has been in that poster's opinion.

As for the game lines themselves, they have sadly been plagued with distribution problems, especially overseas where getting the books has been problematic since the early days of the line. There's a degree of uncertainty about the line's viability, but that's been hanging around for a couple years, and only becoming more noticeable with Asmodee's shake-up of firing the FFG RPG team and shunting all the RPGs to a foreign company that most people have never heard of. The "doom and gloom" crowd have been saying this line is dead/dying from the moment the Allies & Adversaries book was announced; which isn't an unfounded view as compilation books are usually a tell-tale sign that an RPG line is winding down, either to stop publishing new material and stick with reprints, or ceasing all production of materials for the RPG entirely.

Sturn does bring up a good point about the license, mostly as we don't know the terms of what licensing agreement FFG signed with Lucasfilm. It could well be that the licenses for RPGs, card games, and minis-based games are all separate things, and Asmodee/EDGE may well opt to unload the far less profitable RPG license, especially if they're having issues with just getting reprints of existing books, in turn allowing them to allocate those resources to products for which they own the IP (Genesys, Legend of the Five Rings) and are thus more profitable for Asmodee as a for-profit corporate entity.

9 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.

Sadly, that can depend on the game store. My local one has a pretty strong X-Wing presence, but the RPG isn't doing as well in the store due to the shop's owner and his primary staff being generally disparaging of the line due to their personal biases; they'll still sell the books of course, but they don't order more than the bare minimum required so if one misses their initial stock, they're left to find alternate avenues to procure the books. There's still strong local support in the area for SWFFG, but that's independent of the area game shops (one of which won't stock anything that isn't tied to either D&D or Pathfinder).

I do agree with the general sentiment that with regards to the original era of play (Galactic Civil War), the game is pretty much complete, and the line could cease production entirely and still be viable for years. After all, it's been decades since there was an official WEG supplement, yet the d6 system still has a healthy fan base with folks still playing that system to this day. And there's still folks playing and having fun with the various d20 games that WotC published (Saga Edition would appear to be the forerunner based on what I've seen).

Edited by Donovan Morningfire