FFG: As an OT faction player, this wave is pretty demoralizing. I'm still going to buy more TIE Brutes than I should. But after some 4+ years of play, this whole chase card aspect is starting to wear thin. Money is tighter then it has ever been for your players across the world. Without in person play, people are dropping out of the game and selling collections in droves online.

Change the paradigm. Give us loyal players a bit of considerate accommodation. Give us players the same access, at the same time, to game components our factions can benefit from without having to buy out of faction models. It isn't that hard.

Making players wait a whole other wave for cards that are easily printed and cheaply produced at this point, after proving it is easily implemented with Hotshots & Aces and the other card packs, is just asininely insensitive.

Sigh.

They are not going to make a whole pack just for one new card.

2 minutes ago, Sithborg said:

They are not going to make a whole pack just for one new card.

Review the screenshots more carefully. New missiles most likely. New devices. A couple of new talents. TIE configs. Probably a new cannon. Maybe even new torpedoes or systems or modifications.

New Illicits too. Though there are 3 more Squadron packs on the horizon...

Are... are we really complaining about new content releasing with new ships?

2 hours ago, Nyxen said:

Are... are we really complaining about new content releasing with new ships?

You need to understand that a lot of players in a lot of collectible games express a loyalty to an identity. It is part of their appeal.

A big problem with the X-wing model of releases is that the release schedule segments releases particular players of this type will care about, and there are loooong periods of time where certain players get nothing.

If you like to faction hop, you probably don't notice this problem. If you strongly identify with a faction, especially one of the 3 original factions... well...

You can be a bit.... parched for content.

The last new rebel thing to be released in 2.0 outside of a cardboard product was.... let me just check my notes here...

Never. The last thing was never. That can't be right, can it? And the cardboard pilots and upgrades saw next to no-experimentation, let alone play? Shame... shame...

This is... really bad. Sure, it makes players feel bad and not excited for future announcements, but more importantly it also does REALLY bad things to your stores carrying your local products which hurts your game's ability to exist because if a local store doesn't carry the product a local scene won't exist and then paying players can't really exist.

YouTuber Kohdok, who does a lot of stuff on the production and logicists of cardgames, has a series called The Seven Deadly Sins of TCGs, but some low key apply to other products as well. One of the Sins, "Do not have too many uncombinable attributes" is cropping up here, in a manner that low key kinda sorta tends to make games... fail...

Specifically, a major attribute in X-wing (faction) can't be combined at all between lists, meaning many products are going to be released most players don't care about. This isn't a problem as long as each faction gets new content that is also relevant and useful in a timely manner, but they don't, both in terms of totally new content (Again: Rebels have not gotten a single new thing besides from the H&A pack and Rebels is low key probably the faction new players are gravitating towards the most and probably needs to be the BEST supported faction outside the new ones, from a pure player retention standpoint), and in the sense that not every faction gets something every wave. In fact, the waves kinda have to focus on the 'new' factions to get them up to speed, which is why sometimes a wave will have two releases for the new factions and some old factions don't even get a re-release.

This creates a problem because you now have segments of your market just not buying content, and because the product is non-randomized (which is good, don't get me wrong) you also will, if you carry re-releases or a faction no one cares about, get overstocked on product you can't move and have to store, meaning supporting X-wing is more expensive for local stores and less attractive as a result. This is why almost all the pure re-releases were just flat out canceled, like Saw's Renegades or most of the epic ships: No one wants to buy a bunch of product whole sale when, despite having a 9-12 person X-wing tournament, most of the product just doesn't freaking move because most of your casual players play the factions from the movies that made them like the IP in the first place and those factions are either not getting anything or you can't compete with the value of a conversion kit and 10 dollar X-wings or TIEs off amazon.

FFG tries to get around this by packaging new generic cardboard with other faction ships, but this doesn't work great, because most players are reluctant to buy plastic for a faction they don't intend to play to get one card. And casual players probably aren't super aware of the content of packs that don't belong to their faction anyway. Do you know how many people thought Magpulses and Snap Shot were new to H&A, or Electron Proton Bombs were to Fully Loaded? The answer may shock you!

The actual solutions are either to allow faction mixing between 2 factions (Then EVERY new ship could be a new rebel ship, and which has the added bonus of pushing all players to be faction-hoppers because no part of their collection is isolated from each other: this is what 40k ended up doing to great success) which is uhh... not realistic at all and probably will never happen just because the competitive scene is too important to X-wing and it would make balancing way too hard, or to accept that a cardboard product each wave is necessary to keep single faction players buying.

So this isn't just entitled whining of people who don't want to buy new ships. I know it sounds that way to the majority of people on this board, who probably have been to so many tournaments they lost count and already are collecting 4 factions anyway, but some of us are only on 3 factions (Rebel, Scum, Imp myself, bought into Imp juuust before the outbreak, bad timing on my part) and it seems likely that most people getting into X-wing will be single faction for at least 2-3 waves.

X-wings future... is cardboard. If it doesn't get the go-ahead to invent things whole cloth (which honestly is how a lot of great Star Wars ships and characters originated, but Disney is no fun), then its going to become harder and harder to keep players of the 1.0 factions around and engaged as they continue to not get new cards and, honestly worse, new ships.

At some point, I suspect FFG is going to bite the bullet and release a cardboard product with each new wave, which contains the wave's upgrades as well as probably one or two exclusive cards for factions not getting anything in the wave (and maybe even some for old ships in existing factions, to help keep those packs moving a bit and to create a perception of value in players who haven't started collecting that faction). Just... kinda makes more sense than hoping Joey Justwantsahavefunenstein is going to drop 30 bucks on one card they may not even know exists. They are resisting doing this, because they can charge more for plastic bundled with cards with the new aces packs (especially if you have to buy multiple ships to get those new cards), but I suspect those won't work amazingly well. They will be a good product still (I plan to hop into Resistance using an aces pack and a few individual packs!) but they won't scratch the itch I know every Rebel Loyalist has for something that isn't plastic for a ship they already got with cards that came with the conversion kit. On top of that, cardboard products are easier to ship, easier to display, and easier to restock. It would make stores very happy for there to be a product in the line that the week they get it 3-4 copies get yoinked right away because everyone wants the new pilots/upgrades for their own faction's old ships, even if they are also getting the other stuff too.

Also gives them a neat chance to do something thematic with waves: Give them a cool name that can go on the wave package, tie the art visually together on the cards, maybe include a scenario card, and, again, it would let rebels get new content please FFG please I am so thirsty I am dying.

Look, I get it. In an ideal world we’d have a card pack with each wave containing upgrades that were released that can be used in each faction. There is no doubt that in many ways it would be a very pro consumer move...

it can also be a logistical nightmare for players, FLGS’, and FFG.

”I want upgraded X...now was it in fully loaded or wave 5 card pack...or was it wave 7 card pack?”

having a card pack per wave means they have to allow shelf space for and ship another product per wave instead of doing what they did and wait until there are quite a lot of upgrades and then release a card pack.

forgive me for thinking of people other than the end consumer...

45 minutes ago, Ebak said:

it can also be a logistical nightmare for players, FLGS’, and FFG.

Literally the opposite.

45 minutes ago, Ebak said:

”I want upgraded X...now was it in fully loaded or wave 5 card pack...or was it wave 7 card pack?”

...As opposed to now, where to find a specific upgrade you have to look it up from a list of 48 individual products?

It is absolutely bonkers to me that you think that it is harder to navigate a collection of cardboard that is all inclusive for a wave, compared to having to hunt down every individual upgrade from a wave from seperate ships. Like... its super obviously easier than now, not harder.

The current status quo is that to find an upgrade you HAVE to look up which ship it is with. Do you know off the top of your head what expansion had passive sensors? I guarantee you Joey Justwantsahavefunenstein does not. At all. So what is easier? Joey having to check each box to find which one has passive sensors and deciding not to buy it cuz they don't want to spend 30 bucks on a droid bomber they don't intend to use and don't want to store? Or Joey knowing passive sensors are a new upgrade so they can just buy The Wave 4 Collection: Battle over Naboo Coruscant? And, oh look, it comes with Obi-Wan as a new crew for Rebels, the faction he actually flies, so he will totally buy it.

45 minutes ago, Ebak said:

having a card pack per wave means they have to allow shelf space for and ship another product per wave instead of doing what they did and wait until there are quite a lot of upgrades and then release a card pack

I can say this from experience: Stores FAMOUSLY hate blister packs, and love cardboard product. Stockers too. One cardboard product a wave, especially if it is half the size of the current massive packs, is going to be fine. Blisters require special displays to avoid becoming a mess (If you put them on regular shelves they go everywhere) and because of how X-wing has so much product at a given time often its obscured behind the other stuff, so it gets everywhere.

****, Armada is easier to display, because usually, despite being a plastic product, they are LARGER than blister pack format, and thus can go on a full shelf. Or even act as a window piece, in the case of stuff like the Super Star Destroyer. I would rather shelve a small box than a blister any day, and as a bonus card packs can be stored sideways and still be legible meaning less shelf mess and less re-shelving as a result. WAY easier to store too, you can just stack them neatly in a box, while blister packs do not lay flat on top of each other.

Almost every major minis game has moved away from blisters for this specific reason: They have these weird shelf space demands intended to show off the product in a way stores can't control. A big part of why many stores don't carry Infinity is for this reason, and its part of why the Warhamhorde line often got relegated to some back corner and stopped getting re-ordered. Even Legion, another FFG game, wisely has traditional boxes that can be hung like blister packs, rather than blister packs that can't be stacked or displayed without pegs. X-wing kiiinda tried to do this as well but the bottom isn't stable enough due to the plastic protrusion, which makes them tend to get messy and makes product both fall over and hard to stack vertically in any orientation, so you can't have a double tall shelf with one display piece presented and then the rest stacked up to take up less space.

Honestly if they just encased the blister with a cardboard box and transparent window, like the aces packs, I think X-wing would be far more popular with stores. Their form factor just... absolutely bites.

Quote

forgive me for thinking of people other than the end consumer...

The status quo is not good for stores. Like objectively so. It literally caused such huge problems FFG was forced to cancel products because stores don't want to keep ordering 'X-wing crap' that won't move, because most customers do not want to buy reprints or ships from a new faction. Most stores that still have X-wing communities either have tons of 1.0 stuff on the shelves, or sold them all at massive discount to clear the space and are not inclined to order more re-prints.

The status quo isn't convinient for the end user or stores. It... frankly purely exists because selling a piece of cardboard with a piece of 30 dollar plastic at minimum is economically beneficial to FFG. It isn't actually good for stores, the community (Because it serves as an additional hurdle to get new players engaged, and X-wing is already an extremely hard game for the uninitiated), or individual players. The profit margins on cardboard are higher, but if they can get someone to buy two ships for two cards its going to be WAY more money in FFG's pocket than buying one cardboard pack for nearly 100% profit, despite manufacturing costs for the plastic. That is... literally the only reason for the status quo, and while FFG should make money... I think it is a bit much and 'extortion-y' to try to shake people down for all the plastic and then release a pack that will have new content and thus be a mandatory buy even if you got all the plastic anyway.

There is a secret 3rd solution, which is basically to pull a Warhammer Underworlds, which has each plastic set not come with one new card, but a whole new deck, so there is more value in just buying for cards. Doubt that would work

52 minutes ago, dezzmont said:

The status quo isn't convinient for the end user or stores. It... frankly purely exists because selling a piece of cardboard with a piece of 30 dollar plastic at minimum is economically beneficial to FFG. It isn't actually good for stores, the community (Because it serves as an additional hurdle to get new players engaged, and X-wing is already an extremely hard game for the uninitiated), or individual players. The profit margins on cardboard are higher, but if they can get someone to buy two ships for two cards its going to be WAY more money in FFG's pocket than buying one cardboard pack for nearly 100% profit, despite manufacturing costs for the plastic. That is... literally the only reason for the status quo, and while FFG should make money... I think it is a bit much and 'extortion-y' to try to shake people down for all the plastic and then release a pack that will have new content and thus be a mandatory buy even if you got all the plastic anyway.

If FFG don't make money, the game ends

25 minutes ago, gadwag said:

If FFG don't make money, the game ends

Sure. But that assumes that FFG is only making money off people buying ships for factions they don't play in mass quantities large enough to offset the potential profit of more cardboard packs and, again, considering the relationship most LGS have with X-wing this is... not only not the case, but the literal opposite problem X-wing has with sales.

Meanwhile Hotshots and Aces did so well it went out of stock not only at my local store, but a at two of my local Barnes and Nobles I went to as a last ditch backup. The demand for cardboard packs is real and far more intense than the demand for getting 1 upgrade from a ship you don't intend to fly, both because it was new products for a segment of the playerbase that hasn't gotten ANYTHING for the entire product history, and because it turns out most players absolutely will not buy ships just for cards and wanted a pure cardboard product instead.

It not only doesn't work, it hurts relationships with stores. Game companies try stuff like this all the time and unless your VERY clever about it (like with Warhammer Underworld, which has the products you buy for cards also be complete stand alone armies rather than things that create a requirement to buy more products to use, and is far more generous with the amount of cards you get) your game tends to... not do great because it creates the literal worst thing for any collectible game: A perceived lack of value in your existing collection. If a player is not getting any new product for them for an entire 'set' of products, and is expected to shell out money for a plastic ship and a card they probably don't even know exists in that set, they are not buying anything. A local store to me (Not the one I play at, luckily) that had active X-wing community canceled their events because the product just would not move despite the X-wing games taking up a lot of nightly table space. Good news for the size of the tournaments at my store, probably not good news for FFG, because not all of those players get going.

A HUGE goal of collectible games, and a requirement for games to survive and continue recieving store support, is 'habitual purchases.' The value to X-wing that would be gained from every wave coming with something hype for everyone would be pretty real. It lowers the idealized maximum profit, but so does removing loot boxes from a video game. Both are methods of artificially increasing the price a portion of your community is willing to pay for an item without changing its vlaue, but you are probably better off not using the exploitative strategy that naturally shrinks your player-base and makes you depended on a small portion of your player-base who buy a disproportionate amount of product for social reasons that will not exist if the community dries up.

TL;DR: The current wave system is not sustainable both because players will not wait for products for their faction, and because stores... don't like it.

4 hours ago, dezzmont said:

A big problem with the X-wing model of releases is that the release schedule segments releases particular players of this type will care about, and there are loooong periods of time where certain players get nothing.

It would let rebels get new content please FFG please I am so thirsty I am dying.

You guys are hilarious.

Play Epic as your primary style.

You'll have the patience of a Jedi Master in no time.

That's our @Darth Meanie alright. Patience of a Skywalker! 😂

If they released one of these once or twice a year, that would be awesome, collecting the generic upgrades since the last one and hopefully also providing a few new ones.

But they aren't going to do it every wave. They just aren't. Not even their print-on-demand stuff has such few cards.

7 hours ago, gadwag said:

If FFG don't make money, the game ends

You can tell you've probably never worked retail. Margin is far higher for essentially printed materials than the plastic ships. Far less expense and more profit selling a card pack than they do a ship. 80% card packs vs. 50-60% on average minis (margin diminishes the larger the ship.) Cost of goods for development, printing, shipping, production errors, labor etc, overseas miniatures are far less profitable. Ships do generate excitement though. I am happy that the newer factions are getting fleshed out. But as a strictly OT player, to not be able to have same day of debut access in a cost friendly manner, yeah.

FFG could easily secure stateside printing vendor and have stuff in our hands within weeks.

Also, pro tip; make those card packs alt arts, and then FFG is REALLY on to something. Money for days.

5 hours ago, FTS Gecko said:

That's our @Darth Meanie alright. Patience of a Skywalker! 😂

I know you mean whiny-ness of a teenage Skywalker, but thanks. 😉

I’m having a ball in the Republic, but I certainly feel for those who are OT only.

I personally would love to see an upgrade card pack every wave. Or at least every other wave.

7 hours ago, CaptainJaguarShark said:

But they aren't going to do it every wave. They just aren't. Not even their print-on-demand stuff has such few cards.

The 'Full' waves seem to average about 15 upgrade cards that can be used with ships that aren't the new ship. Full generic wise its around 6.

They would definitely need to add new content to the wave to justify this product. Luckily, they really need to add content to the waves, because so many factions are in just a total content drought.

Assuming an average of 1 new pilot per faction, and maybe 2 new upgrades intended to work with older ships per-faction, even if you only printed generics and the factions not getting new stuff in a given wave, that is 18 cards, and 4 pieces of punchboard, so a 4v4 pilot square. Adding a second assuming one upgrade will require some punchboard of some kind to make a 'continuing support' upgrade pack. If you double the count of some of the generic stuff, you get maybe an even 30, assuming half of the faction stuff is generic.

This is more cards than your average 'supported' pilot pack that have lots of upgrades and pilots around, and about the same cardboard as a ship. If it goes to a 'bi-wavely' release schedule that would jump to almost 80 cards a pack and twice as much cardboard. This actually is starting to get unwieldy and would probably cost FFG money in the long run if they did it, because its harder to just double the price.

Hotshots and Aces was 16 pilots, and 45 cards, which is pretty comparable . It is 'less value' in one sense, because it is fewer cards, but also creates purchasing flexibility for players who are not 'one of everything' players and could probably be justified at the same pricepoint H&A is currently at, 20 bucks.

The main loss of utility here is that X-wing probably has a profit margin to consider with ships. The actual problem here is less the profit margin, and more that minis manufacturing's price mostly comes in the form of design and manufacturing investments, not the materials. So the profit margin per-ship kinda 'goes up' the more you sell, because its a flat investment. X-wing minis probably have like 50 cents worth of plastic, but a single sculpt costs a few tens of thousands of dollars to get ready to make.

This is probably why FFG has done, frankly, not very smart things with the minis like completely flooding the market with ships that already aren't selling: If they could force them to sell then then the flat cost is a smaller portion of every mini and their profits go up! But I don't think 'I need the hot new upgrade' is doing much to do plastic. Low key, probably the thing ACTUALLY getting plastic to move is people jumping factions for anything new, and that might be a significant hurdle for FFG, but if that is the case I would say that a game that needs to be so coercive probably isn't going to last.

It is also why the aces packs seem like a good idea: Most of the costs to make T-70 and RZ-2s have been paid baby! Aside from the costs to actually run the factories and buy the plastic and packaging they are completely Gucci to put 100% of that money into their own pocket. I just doubt that is going to work super well if one faction out of the 3-4 that basically don't get any service in an expansion because PT factions so badly need ships is getting a reprint with some new stuff, meaning like... half a new release every year because of how long waves take to churn. The current pack actually seems like a neat implementation though, because unlike singleton ships it reeks less of 'wasted value' because its not just a random isolated ship in another faction, but a legitimate step into that faction that makes it more realistic to actually start flying that faction: A rando Nantex is a feels bad investment for a few cards, but I could maybe live with grabbing a resistance pack to get a taste of something for rebels while also just having something to make resistance lists with, and waiting for the rebel release.

Its getting better, but it isn't 'good.'

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I’m having a ball in the Republic, but I certainly feel for those who are OT only.

It is... such an awful place to want to love a game but you just can't because it absolutely despises you and is violently shaking you down for money in a way that forces you to give up the reason you want to like the game in the first place.

There are reasons to be hopeful (them packaging stuff intended for other factions in stuff that isn't just for another faction but fully a way to 'get into it' is better, it makes buying other products to get cards more like Nightvault where you basically get a full army as part of the deal rather than one random stand alone product), but its sincerely extremely rough.

Shaking you down for money. It's like X-Wing as an entity is knocking on your door with a baseball bat saying "Pay up or I break your shins".

I'm not saying what your suggest wouldn't be awesome. The question becomes is it logistically viable for FFG? If its not, then they won't do it.

As a compromise, getting a card pack every few waves is not unreasonable and to be fair, and this is just my opinion; you don't need the cards if you are playing casually, you only need them if you are playing competitively and need to field that many cards. In the past I've simply borrowed from friends if they are not using it.

As for your criticism of the squadron pack...yes. It probably is very cheap for them to produce it given the T-70 Sculpt or the RZ2 was already made. However, as someone who can't paint, it's nice that I can get the repainted ships and new pilots for that faction and not a small pack either a wide assortment of pilots and upgrades. This is only speculation on my part but it looks like it might have a lot of generic upgrades too so its meant to act as a starter pack for those who don't have Resistance stuff to convert, but wants to get into the faction.

I think their plan of having rereleases not including new content other than repainted ships might have bit them on the **** in terms of sales so they are re-evaluating that by doing squadron packs that have more than one repainted ship, new content for that ship and (hopefully) conversion kit stuff for new players. That way new and old players benefit, yes the newer player is gaining more out of it, but unlike current exapansions where all the old player is getting is a repainted ship, they are also getting new pilots and repainted ships. These pilots could appear in a pilot pack down the line.

There is no 1 size fits all solution that benefits everyone and no saying "FFG can suck it up they are a company" is not a viable option as that's what leads to a company losing money and then investing less in a product line as a result. It has to be good for the consumer and good for the developers.

Also, in your response to your earlier comment: I did work in a gaming store, and the very prospect another card pack every single wave isn't much at first, but it soon builds up. That's why it should be done after a series of waves.

I exclusively collect and play Rebels and Imperials. I pre-ordered the conversion kits and 2.0 base game. Then I waited. And waited. I pre-ordered the three card packs when they were announced. Finally some new pilots! I've now had to wait until the TIE Heavy to get anything new. Of course I've pre-ordered two.

I have money in my pocket that FFG are not getting. I'll buy new ships, alt art ships (if they come with something I don't have card-wise. I'm looking at you Rebel A-Wing), card packs etc. There just aren't any for me to buy. Flappy wings aren't enough to make me buy ships I already have more than enough of, if all I'm getting is the ship and no new pilots.

27 minutes ago, Dronevil said:

Flappy wings aren't enough to make me buy ships I already have more than enough of, if all I'm getting is the ship and no new pilots.

I'll say it was definitely a mistake to release the B-Wing before Hotshots and Aces. If they released at the same time or after, it could have included Stab-Foils, Gina, Passive Sensors, and Autoblasters (four cards that B-Wings very much appreciate). As it is the B-Wing is almost unusable out of the box, and there isn't an easy way to price things so that it is without ruining other options.

Probably the biggest mistake in all of 2.0

Regarding the upcoming generic cards etc. (new cannon, Starbird Slash, Hondo, TIE-only upgrades, etc.) I will be profoundly surprised if they don't show up in the Phoenix and Skystrike packs (possible exception of Hondo who will certainly at least be in F&C). It will be a 3-5 month wait max. I don't think that's impossible to endure, and I say that as an Imp primary and Rebel secondary who's been messing around aimlessly in Republic and FO for lack of new toys. 😕

I get the frustration, but it doesn't sound very economical to be releasing card packs for each wave. Money is tight for everyone and I imagine that goes for more niche businesses like FFG as well. In addition to that, while some waves like this one seem to have more stuff on offer in terms of new cards, several waves from the past haven't exactly been jam packed with new upgrades. You can proxy stuff that you don't own for games outside of tournaments so it doesn't seem that critical to me for card packs like the ones proposed to be released each wave. If you are going to a tournament, I'd say borrow the cards you need from fellow players in your play group. It's not perfect but these options do allow you to play with the cards you don't own. Maybe once a year doing card packs with all the upgrades that are new and not obtainable without buying outside your faction could make sense, but each wave just doesn't sound doable to me.

EDIT: I'm a Rebel player at heart and always have been, and do Republic on the side just for context. I am not exactly thrilled with the lack of new stuff for Rebels since launch, but I also acknowledge that essentially every ship received at least minor tweaks in the change from 1st to 2nd ed. It's kinda like us getting a ton of new stuff right at launch and then a pretty lengthy drought leading up to the first card packs. It's not ideal but at the same time I have trouble finding a ship design that is memorable or distinguishing enough to be considered a potential option for a new Rebel ship. It's a weird situation that we're in, but I'm hoping those leaks from awhile back are true and we see a Rebel squad pack with some new pilots for our existing ships.

Maybe there is room to re-think how cards are distributed entirely. What if ship packs only came with generic pilots and 1 each of whatever new upgrades are intended to be used with the ship and then each wave has a "hotshots and aces" pack that comes out which has all the ace pilots and bases and whatever generic upgrades make sense in whatever quantity makes sense.

This would clean up the clutter of buying 2 or 3 copies of a ship and ending up with 2 or 3 copies of unique pilots and provide people with a cleaner way to obtain upgrades. it also gives FFG an avenue for each wave to add in some special content that might not make sense in any other way. The wave 7 pack that has aces for the XI shuttle, LAAT/i, and HMP could include a new ace for the bwing or a new scum ace or something.

If it was tied in that closely to the wave itself, stocking might be more bearable because there's an assumption of selling one per ship pack. It's not a perfect idea to be sure but i definitely sympathize with both the OP's desire for a cleaner way to get upgrades and desire for relevant content in each wave (especially for rebels)

1 hour ago, Hippie Moosen said:

I get the frustration, but it doesn't sound very economical to be releasing card packs for each wave.

I think if it was economical, FFG would be doing it already. I think every year and a half, or every 5 waves we should have a card pack. I get that it can be annoying as I've discussed ad nauseam with people in another topic, as long as FFG are fair I don't see this as an issue.

There are legitimate business reasons they don't do a pack every wave, one it is a big investment for a little return, it's better to do a bigger card pack down the line. Furthermore it does create an element of encouraging cross faction purchasing without requiring it unless you need that card post haste yesterday! If someone buys an expansion just for a few upgrades, maybe they'll like the ships and buy more of that faction.

FFG have said they've tried to cut down on the need to buy outside of faction, but that it's not always immediate and we've seen that with upgrades that were only in one pack in one wave, appearing in a wave for a different faction.

1 minute ago, Cryix said:

Maybe there is room to re-think how cards are distributed entirely. What if ship packs only came with generic pilots and 1 each of whatever new upgrades are intended to be used with the ship and then each wave has a "hotshots and aces" pack that comes out which has all the ace pilots and bases and whatever generic upgrades make sense in whatever quantity makes sense.

This would clean up the clutter of buying 2 or 3 copies of a ship and ending up with 2 or 3 copies of unique pilots and provide people with a cleaner way to obtain upgrades. it also gives FFG an avenue for each wave to add in some special content that might not make sense in any other way. The wave 7 pack that has aces for the XI shuttle, LAAT/i, and HMP could include a new ace for the bwing or a new scum ace or something.

If it was tied in that closely to the wave itself, stocking might be more bearable because there's an assumption of selling one per ship pack. It's not a perfect idea to be sure but i definitely sympathize with both the OP's desire for a cleaner way to get upgrades and desire for relevant content in each wave (especially for rebels)

While an interesting idea...from the perspective of a new and old player you are replacing one product with two.

Personally I would rather get larger packs like hotshots and aces once every season. I felt it was a great value. It also spiced up the hyperspace season.

I worry that people would complain about the contents if they did one each wave. Some waves will be more lackluster than others but I doubt they would adjust the price each wave.

40 minutes ago, reqent said:

Personally I would rather get larger packs like hotshots and aces once every season. I felt it was a great value. It also spiced up the hyperspace season.

Exactly this. I'd like to see two a year so no one has to wait more than 6 months for a card, but the logistical nightmare of a million SKUs is avoided (and new players would be less burdened as well).

One a year seems more likely, but ace packs can help mitigate that a little. One ace pack and one card pack per year seems very reasonable for staying current in a game. IDK