General FFG Game Packaging Feedback

By JBondoux, in Fantasy Flight Supply

I don't see a terribly relevant forum to post this in - this seems the closest in terms of content.

I need to give FFG feedback on their packaging and general initial contents for their games in general. I now own 9 FFG games and dozens of expansions, blister packs, miniature packs etc... They cost the earth as you all know (and we're happy to pay as the games are so good). But seriously please pay more attention to the packaging!

1st example: Arkham LCG:

The initial box is ludicrously small if you want to collect an entire series of chapters for one story arc. The empty box you get for the 'Return To...' expansion is a perfect box for the cards - but why not put sufficient dividers in so we can store the entire set of cards inside this without having to purchase more dividers? The initial box should be able to hold all chapters' worth of character cards items etc (so therefore be big enough). The expansion boxes should hold all the expansion cards. Each should have dividers to separate all cards into useable, searchable sections that facilitates the setup and strike of a game session. Every time I play this annoys me and it annoys my friends who play. It is so annoying that it has often been the sole cause for us to choose another game to play - that really should not be the case!

2nd example: Marvel Champions:

This seems to be you guys learning from the mistakes of the Arkham. I don't have any expansions to this yet but the box is a good size with ways to partition the sets, but again no dividers. Why on earth not? You've spent the money on a plastic insert to store the cards, but no apparent way to split your decks into useable sections. So I simply need to buy plastic bags (like I do when I purchase of your games). Absolutely no need, you started off really well (I even smiled about it when opening the box!) and then fell at the last hurdle.

2nd example: X-Wing 2nd ed:

The initial box is small, it doesn't really need to be any larger, but the window in the front and the partitioning inside make it difficult to pack - especially as you start gaining more cards. Then you have the ship packs, most of which in boxes that are more than spacious enough to hold the ship for storage, but the window again ruins this. What it means is the entire packaging for a model gets thrown out and a replacement box has to be sourced. Sure there are many players who will fork out for padded flight cases etc - but there really should not be any need. Your sales boxes should hold the game for storage - it's not too much to ask really.

Overall all your games have so many pieces that need to be stored in separate bags, so many cards that need to be stored in so many separate decks but you provide little to no way of storing them efficiently without us having to spend more money on plastic bags, card storage systems, extra storage boxes.

A little thought in your design process here would infinitely make the games more playable, this may sound silly but have you any idea how many times I have had friends over to play Star Wars Imperial Assault and failed? We get (ALL) the boxes down and open them to witness bags upon bags of cards and pieces and models in no obvious discernible order, unable to fit in one box a set of related items. We despair at the amount of time we expect this to take to setup - we end up playing something else! An absolute shame.

You guys aren't alone in this - look at Gloomhaven. This had SO many pieces I ended up buying one of those extortionate wooden separators. Oh my God! This makes the game come out of the cupboard so many more times than any of your products! The game is ready to play in moments. Agreed this is nothing to do with the publishers of the game - it was a third party product. But even simple card partitions for the Arkham 'Return Of' boxes would have made your game come off the shelf more - so I bought some (eventually). Instead of pulling out cards from bags every time we play we can simply select the deck, pull it out, take relevant cards and return to the box - it's almost as joyous as the game itself! Ok, maybe not but you get the point.

One final rant and I'll finish. This whole packaging/storage issue in my mind makes you look cheap. But it's not just me, the comments from those who come round to play are agonising. To top it off, someone in your company has had the wonderful idea to not provide sufficient dice for a single player to roll a single test. This is the case in nearly all my games of yours. Now you just look like money grabbing thieves to all who experience this. When I'm asked how much I paid for the game, they then laugh at me - I shrug it off as the games are GOOD - but you as a developer/publisher look mighty bad.