I posted this in another forum as well but I wanted to add my thoughts here as well. I'm definitely getting the game, at least to try. I'm not a Star Wars or FFG fan in particular but this is what I see:

Deckbuilding: The decision points in the meta of deckbuilding have been reduced from 50 to 10. This does not make it any more or less complicated because each decision of the 10 is actually a verdict on a mixture of 5 cards. In fact, I can see where this could potentially open up a game to a massive meta. For example, an objective set where 1 of the 5 cards is actually a Rebel "spy" that provides a negative effect for the Imperial player who chooses it. However, the other 4 cards and the objective in that set are awesome! Do you take that set or not? Maybe the "spy" comes into play on the opponents side when it enters your hand? The possibilities are endless…

Thematic play: Rancors vs. Ships. Ewoks vs. Devastator. Is that silly taken directly in comparison? Sure. But really? We play games and watch TV all the time in suspension of belief. AGOT LCG is fantastic, probably the best, but there are scenarios that can occur in it that are just as unbelievable. True devotees will go to great lengths to justify the theme in both of those games, but frankly, I don't care. IF (this remains to be seen) the gameplay is fun, that's enough for me.

SW LCG brings nothing new to the table? Even if I agreed with that, that would also apply to 99% of the games on the market, including the previously released LCGs. However, the main thing that SW LCG does add is the focus tokens. These are an annoyance to some as well, I can see that, but it allows you to double "tap" or double exhaust cards. Heck, you can even triple or more exhaust them. It adds an interesting mechanic where cards could potentially become active during different rounds rather than simultaneously. This does require the presence of the tokens, and I'll give the pure card enthusiast that it does make it slightly more than just a card game. Many (if not all?) of FFG LCGs have tokens.

I have NOT played the game yet but I definitely will buy it and give it a chance. I love AGOT but it is definitely better multiplayer, so this game may be perfect for my two player fix!

What I really like about the focusing mechanic is that it creates a situation I've never seen in CCGs before, wherein you can play your biggest card on Turn 1, so long as you're willing to sit on nickels and dimes for Turn 2. That's very fitting for the universe being described: you don't have to wait till the climax of the "film" before your main character shows up. I mean sure, you can build a deck full of stormtroopers, but let's face it: You want Darth Vader on the table leading them, or it's just not the same.

The game does take a little from many different games, but at least it's taking good parts. Resource generation is similar to L5R, the discard then draw mechanic is very MECCG(one of the only other ccgs which allowed players to see their entire deck during play). Objectives feel like locations in SWCCG, etc..

I like that FFG at least provides us with tokens instead of say…. WotC. I admit, I want to buy red and blue plastic tokens. Or maybe I'll go to a craft store and get some glass beads a la LOTR TCG. I also like that the FFG deck boxes have token compartments.

Focus tokens are neat. It takes some basic lockdown ideas from MTG blue and white cards and applies them to the entire game. I'll be interested to see how well choking one's opponent works.

You feel the resource generation is similar to L5R? I don't see the similarity. But the edge battles feel like L5R duels, and engagements feel like L5R battles, except with both benefiting from streamlined gameplay IMO.

You might know what your enemy has but the xwing pilot doesnt, hes flying low to make a strayfing run on an objective, however he doesnt see the giant rancor! his mission ended almost before it began… I cant wait to try to come up with scenarios on how two seemingly impossible things can collide

MarthWMaster said:

I guess not so much the generation as the spending. You have X resources from one source, you spend Y, the remaining Z are now unavailable.

It's nice to see people are excited about the game

I haven't played it yet, either, but I'm really excited about a lot of it. In fact, the whole **** game experience looks like it's going to be really good, I'm looking forward to getting my two pre-ordered core sets (hopefully) next month. I have personally felt like all the LCGs I have played from FFG share some aspects in common, or have great similarities, so having another one that shares aspects, to me, just feels like it's one of the family. It also makes it easier to play by having some familiarities to help. The deckbuilding should be really good, the edge battles, the objectives, the focus tokens, I just can't wait for any of it! True, I don't really see the need for that Force step that's added on to the end, but what the hell. It looks like it's going to be another excellent success, and I have only one thing to add - get me to that Hoth cycle, and now!

I don't know what exactly happened this past week, but I suddenly find myself feeling very cold towards this game. I was super excited about it before, but now I just feel "meh." I mean, I still think I'd have fun with it and there are still times I feel like I want to buy it, but it feels more like I'm just excited to get something new, not that I'm excited to get this particular game. I'm sad to say that after all my excitement and over a year of anticipation, it's sayonara to SW:TCG.

Common syndrome called "anticipation burnout". Very common among beta testers for computer games.

Give it some time and perhaps it will come back

AshesFall said:

Yep, we got demos, full spoilers, rulebook and reviews in a whirlwind of a week or two and then we've had to wait. And as Tom Petty once said, "The waiting is the hardest part." Negative reviews haven't helped (ill informed or otherwise), so those that have been trying to remain positive and support the game have felt wear in that regards. I suggest taking a break from the boards and just put it out of you mind for now and be ready for the fun when it does release.

I have to admit, I've had to withdraw to some extent lately because of the amount of criticism at the game. It's been, what, 15 months since it was announced? That's a long time to wait, and most of it with no news whatsoever. Now that we finally get a game, people have been saying how disappointing it is, I'm thinking the best judge of whether I like a game or not will be myself, so have stopped reading stuff. It also feels a bit weird, after the many months of conjecture-posts on these forums, to finally be seeing rules questions and clarifications. It's not the place it used to be! I'm still really looking forward to getting this, but I'm trying to temper my enthusiasm with Heirs of Numenor, which I hope will get me back into the LotR LCG after a couple of months' hiatus there.

I feel like the "anticipation burnout" might be lessened if they could give us a release date. I know this isn't nearly the size of WotC and Magic, but they manage to pull off large scale releases to the day predicted months ahead of time. We're down to the last few days of November and the best release date we can get from FFG is "sometime before Christmas." *shrugs* I just think anticipation works better with a date when you can stop anticipating.

dbmeboy said:

FFG never gives exact dates. Safer really in case they miss one.

Wizards has flats upon flats of Magic boxes sitting in warehouses the weeks before a release, which is why they always hit their deadline. FFG is a much smaller company, but I've watched how their products come out, and I work at a FLGS, so I know when things hit the shelves. The boat takes as long as it has to, which is easily two weeks before it gets through customs. Two days after that it's in the FFG warehouse, two more days and the distributors have it (like Alliance, GTS, etc), and then local shops have it within the week depending on what day of the week they do their ordering. Sure FFG could say December 20, let the boxes sit in a warehouse, and then hit a release date. Instead, they are getting it to us as fast as possible. We don't know when that might be, which is frustrating, but I'd prefer that situation rather than it sitting in a warehouse so they can wait out a release date.

Yeah, sorry. My previous post didn't end up quite how I meant it. I still think that the release date of Soon contributes to the anticipation fatigue, but I understand that they don't have the size to match WotC and MtG. Part of my problem is probably that my first FFG product was X-Wing, which had a release something along the lines of "oh, by the way, we released it last week."

I've been a bit burned-out too, but that's more because my life's pretty hectic right now. Finishing up my applications to PhD programs, I shockingly don't have much time for card games. It's also hard to maintain as much momentum now that we're all just twiddling our thumbs; we've got the rules and the spoilers, and unless you know someone who got the game at Worlds or your proxying, there's not much you can do with that now.

Thankfully, the game should be coming out (assuming the mid-December predictions prove accurate) right when I'm done with all this application chaos, so that'll be a pretty great way to unwind.

Here's the other thing that might be an issue. I know for me if I didn't have my proxy set and was playing it now by the time my real cards get here I'm not going to have a chance to play until January anyway. Yes, this set will get to us before Christmas, but me and everyone I know is going to be so bust because it is Christmas that I won't get to play with anyone.

How many others have that sitting in the back of their head?

Aahzmandius_Karrde said:

For me Christmas means a break from school so I should actually be able to play when not running around with the wife and the kids. And my brother and nephews are big Star Wars fans so I can play with them when I see them over the holidays.

I'm actually thinking of trying to proxy a couple of the intro decks to teach some people how to play before Christmas… which brings me to another question: are there any decently high-res scans of the demo cards posted anywhere?

dbmeboy said:

Only scans we have are the ones on cardgamedb.com but they worked fine when I printed them. I just made them black & white.

Yeah, never mind… I was doing something funny in photoshop. I am far from a photoshop master, I only have it because school provides it for free for some reason.