FFG PLEASE stop the endless speculation & give us something concrete

By Spirit Juggler, in Star Wars: The Card Game

cleardave said:

Something I've noticed nobody has addressed-or at least that I've seen-is that if FFG remakes SW:CCG under the same card distribution template as every other LCG thus far, we would lose the ability to make a swarm deck.

Stuff about having to buy extra expansions to make a swarm deck.

FFG would almost assuredly implement their usual 3x max card copy rule for this game, making it significantly different from SWCCG. Decks would require more variety. This may seem lame to people who want to use 10 x-wings, but it also helps mitigate the decks which were designed around abusing destiny draws…which may or may not be a good thing.

Oh, don't even get me started on Destiny draw exploits. Tracking Destiny was like a whole other meta skill you needed in that game to pull off some daring things, or have a really great finish to Jedi Test #5. But I guess that's why they invented The Bith Shuffle.

For those reasons we discussed, I am confidant this "back to the drawing board" design for SW:LCG will not be some surprise remake of Decipher's model. Which is a good thing for us.

Budgernaut said:

As most of you are well aware, I'm against a SW:CCG remake. But to follow the current topic, I think they could facilitate a swarm deck by having "Rogue Squadron X-wing" and "Red Squadron X-wing" and "Blue Squadron X-wing", for example. This would give you 9 non-unique x-wings without requiring a purchase of multiple packs and maintain the limit of 3 of each card per deck. You'd probably have to wait a few cycles, but you could run a swarm deck eventually.

They could do it by having 3x core sets, and then have individual cards available for a certain purchase price. Then, you could place an order for any number of any card to make a swarm deck. They could charge maybe $0.25 to $0.50 each card. Then, they could say "your order may take several weeks and will be fulfilled when enough cards have been ordered by enough players to do a print run." Then, they wouldn't be wasting space by printing an over-abundance of cards AND people could get as many as they want of specific cards rather than being stuck with 100 Rebel Troopers. Also, they could just buck their usual trend of limiting how many copies of cards could be used (unless an abusive strategy trend emerged).

For me, I tended not to use more than three of something other than Stormtroopers or ships, but usually no more than 5 or 6. So, I would be fine with buying a core set and then ordering 3-5 extra of a couple of things.

herozeromes said:

They could do it by having 3x core sets, and then have individual cards available for a certain purchase price. Then, you could place an order for any number of any card to make a swarm deck. They could charge maybe $0.25 to $0.50 each card. Then, they could say "your order may take several weeks and will be fulfilled when enough cards have been ordered by enough players to do a print run." Then, they wouldn't be wasting space by printing an over-abundance of cards AND people could get as many as they want of specific cards rather than being stuck with 100 Rebel Troopers. Also, they could just buck their usual trend of limiting how many copies of cards could be used (unless an abusive strategy trend emerged).

For me, I tended not to use more than three of something other than Stormtroopers or ships, but usually no more than 5 or 6. So, I would be fine with buying a core set and then ordering 3-5 extra of a couple of things.

Considering how there have been people wishing for such an "upgrade pack" to the Lord of the Rings Core Set for some time now, it doesn't seem likely to happen that FFG will provide such a product. I wish they would though. A Print on Demand LotR Core Set filler pack would be terrific.

Ultimately, it comes down to FFG taking out the 3 card limit, and patterns suggest this just won't happen with the LCG template. That said, maybe Netrunner will surprise us all and do something different with the basic format.

Anyone else coming here less and less, losing hope for any sort of update for this game?

Yeah. I come here once a day, down from 5 times a day last year and 3 times a day at the beginning of this year.

Kordos said:

Anyone else coming here less and less, losing hope for any sort of update for this game?

I've been coming here more lately because if this game is really releasing around the 2012 holidays then there's got to be some sort of information soon-ish, right?

Mattr0polis said:

Kordos said:

Anyone else coming here less and less, losing hope for any sort of update for this game?

I've been coming here more lately because if this game is really releasing around the 2012 holidays then there's got to be some sort of information soon-ish, right?

That requires the assumption that this game will be releasing at that time, which is no certainty at this point. (And I've played enough CCGs to know that prolonged silence about a game is never a good sign toward its future.)

Also, X-Wing is supposed to be releasing in "Summer 2012" and all we've got there is a list of the first products…

My current theory (that is to say, desperate hope) is that they're concentrating on pushing X-Wing and, whensoever that actually emerges from the mists, we'll then start to see articles about the LCG. I'm expecting X-Wing by the end of August, so it's not too long now…

And, assuming the date of 2012 holidays is reasonably accurate, we have less time left to wait now than we've waited through since the initial announcement, just…

My god, I'm far too positive today!

I'm just wondering how long I have to wait for my Luke Skywalker avatar? I've been stuck with this guy for months and I don't even play Anima that much!

You know, that would be a nice touch. Wherever they may be with the rules, they will no doubt have commissioned (and received) plenty of art by now. Why not give some of it to us as avatars? They could even heavily crop them (to just faces and such), so that the actual cards are still exciting to see, once we get them…

Yeah! After all, we've got two sets of Star Wars card sleeves and no avatars? That's a little ridiculous. And at least they should have X-wing avatars. That artwork should be all finished. I'd love to get a Y-wing avatar.

so i talked to some guys who said they know some ff devs who r working on the star wars card game. apparently what happened was they had one of their lead game designers try the game and he felt the game would work better going in "a different direction". From what the dudes said hes done some really good games, though i cant remember his name or the games they told me.

In fact it may even be from their speculations that the game is no longer co op. But they said from what was explained or shown to them they r really hyped about it and told me its gonna be a way better game then the co op clone that was originally intended.

Mind you this is second hand, i didnt speak to the devs and am just passing what was told to me. But I think it gives us a little bit of hope and news.

Beyond that the X-wing miniatures game is coming out soon. And while no game has been made for it Knight Models is now making new star wars 30mm miniatures which fit in perfectly with the old wizards game and look much better, so long as you are good at painting.

In fact it may even be from their speculations that the game is no longer co op.

Thanks for the update. It's good to hear that they're so psyched about it. Hope it lives up to expectations.

Just a question about the quoted sentence. Is "their speculations" referring to this new game designer that walked into the project, or the dudes you were talking to? Did you get any gist from your conversation on whether it was co-op or pvp?

cant say for sure, but the impression i got from the people i talked to was that it might be headed in a different direction. But it may still have a solo play feature. We wont know till it actually is confirmed. But im sure this delay is for the best and thats the impression i got from the guys i talked to. Also in really good news, from what they said the whole reason that ffg went with the painting images instead of screen caps is so they can explore the expanded universe. That if its true is the most exciting news for me as id personally love to see every single character and story line make it onto the game.

If the lotr lcg is any indication well also get to see the clone wars and possibly even bane and the TOR. I think if i was in charge id release TOR, Clone Wars, Legacy, FOTJ, Legacy, New Jedi Order, Classic, and so forth as different games but with the same rule base so we can easily cross over. But most likely they will do it as they are doing LOTR with the new upcoming Hobbit Expansion.

But again only time will tell. Heres hoping we will get a game worthy of Star Wars that we can enjoy. What I will say to FFG is this.

PLEASE dont make the game if its a co op or solo game so **** hard. the LOTR most recent expansions have been nearly impossible to do for me and my friend. We play a two player game and the last watcher in the water expansion just cant be done duo. Least we havent figured out how to do it yet, but it seems like the coop game expanions, some of them focus on 4 players and thus are nearly impossible for solo or duo players.

I think the solution to that would be printing on the cards that if there is X amount of players this happens instead of some crazy super killer cards that just slaughter all your characters and or companions.

Anyway my best suggestion is PLAY TEST PLAY TEST PLAY TEST!!

and DONT BE AFRAID TO ERRATA certain OP cards.

Back on topic yeah, The new star wars game might actually be pretty cool, well just have to wait to find out.

yagyu said:

cant say for sure, but the impression i got from the people i talked to was that it might be headed in a different direction. But it may still have a solo play feature. We wont know till it actually is confirmed. But im sure this delay is for the best and thats the impression i got from the guys i talked to. Also in really good news, from what they said the whole reason that ffg went with the painting images instead of screen caps is so they can explore the expanded universe. That if its true is the most exciting news for me as id personally love to see every single character and story line make it onto the game.

That is super super exciting :)

yagyu said:

If the lotr lcg is any indication well also get to see the clone wars and possibly even bane and the TOR. I think if i was in charge id release TOR, Clone Wars, Legacy, FOTJ, Legacy, New Jedi Order, Classic, and so forth as different games but with the same rule base so we can easily cross over. But most likely they will do it as they are doing LOTR with the new upcoming Hobbit Expansion.

If I had it my way, the starter and the first cycle would be for classic era and each succeeding deluxe expansion and cycle would explore a new era. Then they could move on to cycles that mix eras. If they released it that way, they would really be succeeding in making a game where you can easily pick and choose which products you want to buy. I don't think it will happen like that, though. More money to be made if you mix up the eras in the packs so a TOR fan has to buy all the CW stuff too.

You know, back when it was first announced I spent about a week worrying about the different eras - to the point where I emailed FFG. To what end, precisely, I had no idea. It just seemed like the scope was incredibly narrow, just focusing on the classic era, when they're supposed to be producing a living game. But it would be good to get a game with the eras sorted by the use of factions, much like SW minis from WotC. I like budge's idea of the deluxe expansions bringing in different eras, but I think it's likely they will go along with different eras in the same expansions, if indeed they branch out into the eras etc.

What do people think about the suggestion I had, where the cards would bear a symbol corresponding to the Star Wars publishing eras? Would this be a desirable feature to have, or would it just be annoying?

Yes! I had that in mind when I made my suggestion, but I couldn't remember who had mentioned it. I think an era symbol is a must-have for this game.

My biggest fear is that the game will be made for Dark Side vs. Light Side (or bad guys vs. good guys, if you prefer) and that some of the best card combinations will involve mixing eras. For instance, Order 66 having some way of powering up Vong-forming or something strange like that. I'm pretty sure the best combos will use combinations of era, but I'd like era-specific decks to be competitive as well.

Personally, I'd rather see the eras separated. I think that all the OT with the OT Expanded Universe would work quite well. But the mere lack of existence of Jedi in the OT makes reconciling the Prequels with the OT era's gameplay almost impossible. Either you have cards that are too narrow in scope for both, or you have ones that are too general in scope to make the game really sizzle.

Hate to beat a dead horse, but what ruined Decipher's CCG was the addition of Episode I characters and situations. It completely unbalanced the game and, even if Lucasfilm had left the rights with Decipher, no amount of tinkering with II and III rulesets would have made the game playable with both eras.

herozeromes said:

Hate to beat a dead horse, but what ruined Decipher's CCG was the addition of Episode I characters and situations. It completely unbalanced the game and, even if Lucasfilm had left the rights with Decipher, no amount of tinkering with II and III rulesets would have made the game playable with both eras.

No, what ruined Decipher's CCG was completely unbalanced cards. Being Episode I cards had nothing to do with it as the biggest overpowered offenders where the maintenance cost Original Trilogy characters from Reflections III.

Mattr0polis said:

No, what ruined Decipher's CCG was completely unbalanced cards. Being Episode I cards had nothing to do with it as the biggest overpowered offenders where the maintenance cost Original Trilogy characters from Reflections III.

I should rephrase. The gameplay mechanics and concepts introduced by the Episode I expansions in a rushed fashion around the end of the game's run completely unbalanced it.. What made the game unplayable was trying to merge concepts from the different eras and evolve the game into something else which resulted in unintended consequences. New cards and concepts became so overpowered that it was impossible to play an OT deck simply because no one wanted to lose. They had other plans in place for new OT and EU expansions which were axed when Decipher decided to pull the contract. So, they ended up doing slap-dash Episode I expansions. The main problem wasn't that it was based on Episode I, so much as they didn't take the time to see what could go wrong with it.

Although, one COULD make the argument that it didn't work BECAUSE it was based on Episode I. Logically, the OT and PT universes, as presented, are not the same universe. Sure, they both have space battles and lightsabers. However, the Force is not the same Force and the Jedi are not the same Jedi. Just going by the clues given by Obi-Wan about the past would indicated that the Anakin in the prequels is an alternate universe Anakin. Anakin was not a star pilot when they met. Yoda did not train Obi-Wan as he trained Luke. It's very clear that the methods for instruction of "younglings" introduced in Episode II were just to make up for the fact that Obi-Wan had said that Yoda trained him. Also, the concept of forbidden attachment had to have been made up on the spot just for DRAMA. But, one word really proves that they are not the same universe: Midichlorians.

Exactly, they rushed out those last few expansions with little playtesting which was the problem. If they would've had the proper amount of time (aka not losing the license) there's no reason to think they couldn't have figured out ways to keep the game balanced just because of different movie episodes.

And I'm not even sure what to make of your second paragraph (or your similar post in the era symbol thread) because you went into one of those rambling anti-fan frenzy-rants that seems so chic nowadays. I never understand why people feel the need to do that. They're the same universe, deal with it. Either you like Star Wars or you don't. Or you only like parts of them, which is fine too. But personally I wouldn't play a card game of a franchise that I hate 50% of the movies from.

Also, why should deep-down, true-blue Star Wars fans miss out on cards from like half the movies/books/cartoon/etc or have to play those cards somehow separately just to appease some people who aren't even full fans of Star Wars? It just makes no sense.