I mentioned this in the review I did of the Beginner Box over at the GSA website, but included is an advert flyer for the "Long Arm of the Hutt" follow-up adventure with the flip side being an advertisement for the Edge of the Empire corebook.

So here's what we now know courtesy of said advertisement:

- 400 pages (the current Beta book is only 222 pages, so lots of room for additional material)
- Hardcover (FFG_Sam_Steward already dropped this tidbit, but now it's in print for the skeptics)
- Release date is slated for Spring 2013

So if I've got my game publisher calender right, that would mean a release anywhere between early April to end of June. On a personal level, I think having this be released on May the 4th would be freakin' sweet, even if it is a Saturday for 2013.

Wow, almost twice as long. Setting material? I don't think there'd be that much for additional rules and art. Any idea about price?

Doubling the size is probably the fact that they need to add more fluff to the book and reformat other stuff which adds padding. So does adding artwork. Just look at other RPG products. Quite a lot of space is consumed by images (but that is good if they help improve the look of the product). I'm guessing that the book will be in the $50 - $60 range given its size and cost of license.

The art in the Beginners' Game rulebook is quite large, and takes up a lot of space. This is not a complaint, because the book (and the art within it) is beautiful . I have absolutely no problem paying a premium price for a 400-page hardcover that looks as good as this Beginners' book does.

As far as those additional 178 pages, I figure somewhere between 40 to 60 of them will be taken up by background/setting fluff to help set the stage for EotE campaigns, and possibly even some quick charts regarding making a career/living out of being a free trader or simply living on the fringe. Artwork is a lot harder to guess at, but a 100 pages' worth is my high-end guess, though it certainly could be a lot less. As much as I really like the art style that FFG is using for Edge of the Empire (or at least what they used for the Beginner Box), I'd really prefer to not have multiple entire pages taken up by huge artwork pieces.

It's probably a vain hope, but maybe we'll get some (very basic) Jedi material, such as a specialization to reflect a Jedi neophyte/trainee much like Luke was in ANH and early ESB. Shouldn't take more than two or three pages, at least if the presentation given in the Beta book for the F/S Exile is any indication. We might even get a few more species added in (Duros and Zabrak would be my top choices)

Kallabecca is right in that room will need to be made for various changes that we've seen courtesy of the Weekly Updates, such as additional charts and sidebars, but at the same time there's material that's been condensed and cut (mostly Improved versions of several talents), so I'll guess those will account for about 5 pages in total.

We already know at least one piece of additional content that will account for a page or two - melee weapon modifications.

Oh, and can I get a link to the review please? Although my beginner's box is on it's way as of Saturday, I've resigned myself to the fact that it's not going to arrive in NZ before christmas, so I won't get my grubbly little mitts on it until mid-January now.

gribble said:

Here you go.

http://gsa.thegamernation.org/2012/12/15/rpg-review-star-wars-edge-of-the-empire-beginners-box/

Donovan Morningfire said:

Thanks man.

I see the Rivals/Henchmen thing in the review, but are there any other obvious rules differences that you have picked up (apart from autofire/linked and other changes in the more recent weekly updates)?

gribble said:

Not really, but I'll admit to not having gone through the BB's Rulebook with a fine tooth comb.

Do you think they will automatically upgrade those who buy the beta to the final product? Or at least sell it at a discounted cost?

Unlikely. Everyone knew the cost going in, and had the choice to buy or not to buy. Plus, that sounds like a potential customer service fiasco.

I. J. Thompson said:

This. It'd be nice, but $30 for a pretty book and a solid game from a well-reputed gaming company is more than fair IMO. I am sure that I will be happy for every penny I spend on the game when it comes out, even after having purchased the Beta book for $30 plus the exhorbitant shipping costs at the outset

Azai said:

Pretty sure this got mentioned before, in the early days of the Beta, and the ultimate response was "Sorry, but nothing doing."

As others have noted, it's not like the 30 bucks you spent to get the Beta book is completely wasted, as you got a pretty well put-together physical book that can played as-is without having to pay another cent for additional material if you so choose.

Also, with the various retail store and eBay sales and what have you, there's really not any viable way for FFG to accurately track who has a legitimate copy of the book and thus would deserve a discount.

The only thing I could think of would be literally shipping in your copy of the Beta book, but that just leaves FFG with outdated product that they'd then have to pay to dispose of, to say nothing of potential collectors' value of these books (heck, mine still has the dice sticker sheet intact as I bought the dice roller app almost immediately after getting the book).