It was good to see thast the Realms of Terrinoth event last weekend passed off well and a good time was had by those who attended. Clearly there is a future for the whole realm of Terrinoth, but what do you think the future holds for Descent?

I, like many others I suspect, was hoping that there might have been an announcement of some sort regarding Descent at the event, clearly this did not happen which is a disappointment. It does leave me wondering whether or not there will be any more Descent product offerings in the future. It is well over a year since Sea of Blood was released, which despite its many shortcomings and rough corners I love to bits. Since then there has been the Ocean Map Board (which I bought) and the new Lieutenant Figures (Which I haven't bought). I have to say that this is a fairly slim diet on which to exist and there is no new product on the horizon.

It is terribly sad to think that such a rich and wonderful game has reached the end of the road. All of the existing products have had reprints (except for Sea of Blood) so clearly demand is out there for both the base game and the expansions. Perhaps Gen Con will have some news for us, but if that is the case then it seems unlikely that there will be anything new released before christmas. As for the new card game, I don't need another card game, I've only recently broken the habit of a well known CCG so don't want to start in on cards again just yet. I know the new game is self contained and non collectible, but it seems to me that it is simply an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Dominion and other similar deck building games. I cannot criticise FFG for this after all they are in business to make money and anything that gives them an opportunity to make more of the said money is fine by me. I just wish that I was able to start saving for a new Descent expansion rather than be faced with the bleak prospect of a void with no news.

What does everyone else think?

I pretty much agree with you. I was really hoping for some new descent news to be released on that Realms of Terrinoth weekend and was totally let down that it was a card game as I feel these games are a dime a dozen. But I understand that they are a business and perhaps this card game is what people want although I hold a hope that they are or have plans to work on Descent, whether it is an expansion, a second edition or whatnot and that it is just taking or will take time due to the scope of the game.

It is a great game, there are a few problems but whatever it is a great game! My group of friends and I have played D&D casually for awhile now but once my brother picked up Descent we've been playing (Descent) almost every Friday night for a number of months, everyone loves it!

My point being, I know there are a lot of people out there that love, not just me and my group, so I don't see how it would make fiscal sense for FFG not to continue with the game.

Falkbert

Descent is a good game especially because of the components - the puzzle-like dungeon tiles with which a nearly infinite number of dungeons can be created.

They are so well-made that if I ever play D&D again, I would create dungeon levels by using the Descent dungeon tiles (and probably use the figures, too). The dice system is good, too. So are the ideas of the OL threat and cards, the skills, the feats. Victory or defeat doesn't depend on the level of kindness of a GM, too.

All these reasons are probably why I play Descent campaigns rather than D&D campaigns.

FFG made just one mistake with SoB, which you can see when you look at the credits. For RtL, you see 22 names in the playtesters list. For SoB, you see 8.

Such an obvious mistake is easy to correct for future expansions/campaigns. If FFG doesn't want to go on with Descent because of that one mistake, maybe they should think of selling the license to a company with more resources. For a game with such a potential, there should be enough takers.

I have a difficult time believing Descent is finished, although I do admit it has been a good long while since anything new came out. The game seems to be in high demand, even now. There are still new people buying into the game (and buying up the expansions, too.) At this point, my hope is that they're giving the game some space before releasing a second edition that will (hopefully) clarify and rebalance the rules and (dare I dream) make the game more strongly thematic than it has been up till now.

If you look at each of the three editions of Twilight Imperium, you can see that when FFG revamps a game, they **** well revamp it. Each edition of TI is stronger than the last and the changes to mechanics, while sometimes sweeping, are generally in the interest of refining the game experience. My hope is that something similar is on the way for Descent in the next few years.

If not, well we do still have some dungeons that have yet to see the light of day, so it's not like we're packing it up anytime soon anyway. =)

I agree with everyone here so far.

However, like some of you, i cannot believe descent is finished yet. It is my favorite game of FFG's by far.

A couple things i took note of in the 'write-up' for realms of terrinoth in the Descent section:

"Encounter Level Maps": I know we have encounters in Descent Campaign and I am sure this is all they are pointing too. But are there new encounters being explored, maybe they are pushing the whole 'encounters' concept like DnD is pushing. Perhaps they want to go in this direction. Did anybody see what the encounter maps were all aboutwere they just old rehashes of the campaign encounters?

"Tournaments" they are clearly buidling rules or more thought into tournament conceptsbuild your own maps...team dungeon crawling...perhaps a product based on this.

I know I am stetching here but I am hoping Descent is not over.

I don't know if anyone on the Descent forum also follows Arkham Horror, but a recent development with AH could possibly be instructive for what is to come with Descent.. A new expansion, Miskatonic Horror, is going to be released. While it will contain new material and even a new board, it will also heavily emphasize the integration of material from the previous expansions. Below is a couple of paragraphs from the release notes FFG announced:

"Miskatonic Horror is a new type of Arkham Horror expansion that builds upon the materials found in the ample library of other Arkham Horror expansions. While the components and rules found in Miskatonic Horror can be enjoyed with only the Arkham Horror base game, the more expansions you incorporate, the more aspects of Miskatonic Horror you can enjoy.

With nearly 450 new cards, Miskatonic Horror adds new Mythos and Location cards for Dunwich, Kingsport, and Innsmouth, as well as new cards for Gates, Epic Battles, Relationships, Injuries, Madness, Skills, Blights, and much more. Miskatonic Horror provides new materials for every Arkham Horror expansion."

I don't see why this same strategy wouldn't work equally well with Descent expansions.

The other advantage, for FFG, is that an expansion of this sort brings new attention to the previously released expansions and provides additional incentive to purchase them. It's really a pretty brilliant marketing strategy, if that is indeed the intent. So if they're using this tactic with Arkham Horror, might they be thinking along the same lines with Descent?

I hope so.

Schmiegel said:

You're right, a similar idea for Descent could work equally well. The only thing to keep in mind is the "equally" part. MH Is something of an experiment in expansion philosophy for FFG. If it sells well, I'm sure they would happily do similar things for other games. IF it sells well. I doubt they have any current plans to repeat this experiment, waiting instead until they see results before moving ahead with other similar ideas.

Schmiegel said:

For some people it provides incentive to purchase the other expansions. For myself, MH is providing disincentive to purchase it, since I don't yet own all the other expansions and I don't enjoy the prospect of having useless bits lying around for the expansions I don't own. But that's just my situation with AH. The same thing over here in Descent-land would at least be seriously considered, since I do own all the Descent expansions thus far.

I'm not trying to hate on FFG or anything. I really do hope MH works out for them. My point is just that I wouldn't start counting my chicks for other similar expansions until the ones from MH have actually hatched.

First of all I'd just like to say that I too am a huge Descent fanboy and am eagerly awaiting the release of any new product for it, which I will doubtless gobble up like a mindless lemming regardless of what it is.

I am hopeful that things are as Steve-O said, they are giving a large amount of breathing room before releasing a 2nd Edition of Descent, one that really revamps the game and clears up the numerous rule ambiguities. If done right, I think it could be a real boon for the game.

I also am privately curious if the reason that there haven't been any new Descent products is because of poor selling on the last two releases: The Quest Compendium and Sea of Blood. Now I have purchased both, and I'm sure I'll keep both, but both left me with a feeling of "They really cranked this out in a hurry without any real thought or care......" Both have poor editing and play testing qualities and both have so many rule questions requiring massive additions or entirely new FAQs that it is nothing short of shameful. I can't imagine either have sold very well compared to their previous releases, and now I wonder if FFG has gotten somewhat gun shy .....

Steve-O and Kartigan, you both make good points. I wasn't actually counting any chicks just yet, but merely speculating/wishcasting. (Are baby razorwings still called chicks?) (Or were you referring to Runewitch Astarra perhaps having a sister?)

Personally, I would think that the lesson to be gained from possible poor sales of Sea of Blood and the Quest Compendium is just what you alluded to, Kartigan. I too had a definite sense that these offerings were rushed to market without adequate editing and playtesting. I guess that's obvious. But up until then, Descent products have been outstanding overall. So perhaps the lag between releases (if that's what it turns out to be) might be attributable to FFG having learned from those experiences. Maybe this time around (if there are Descent projects in the works) they are intent on learning from those experiences, and the resultant poor sales (which really shouldn't be too shocking). Again, one can always hope. It should be clear that Descent remains extremely vibrant, and should remain so going forward. People are practically begging for more of it.

Schmiegel said:

Indeed. Literally begging for it based on some other threads floating around right now.

I'd be happy with either a new expansion or a new edition, but the more I think about it (and the more time passes without news), the more I hope for a whole new edition. Any expansion that continues the 1e line will ultimately be bogged down by how its rules connect with the mess that exists right now. No matter how much effort goes into that, there will undoubtedly be issues left unresolved. A 2e base game, with appropriate time and forethought, can clean things up and set the game aright for future prosperity.

As I said before, though, I have a hard time believing they'd walk away from the title entirely. No matter how much we complain about the rules, the game still appears to be selling too well to ignore. (For an outsider perspective anyway.)

Schmiegel said:

That's very interesting and I would be excited to see something like that for Descent. I only started with Descent in December 2009 but love it so much that I have bought expansions and made a lot of my own maps and heroes for the game. I want to eventually own all of the expansion (of course it is a matter of having money every time I'm eyeing one) of Descent, Arkham Horror and Runebound. - I would truly be sad if my favorite game (Descent) ended just like this, after I just started playing it a little over a year ago.