I was just wondering how everyone else feels about this.

Why are Promo cards the same as basic, but a different picture.

I mean if they even just had an extra upgrade or something to make them play different, I might want them, but for right now. I can see any value in them period.

Just wondering?

Probably because if they DID make them different (god forbid, better) you'd have a whole other contingent of fans all outraged because the game was 'pay to win' and they were unbalancing it, and it wasn't fair, and why should they be punished just because they couldn't make it to GenCon, and... There's already at least some grumbling about the fact that Porkins, whatever other X-Wing pilots, and any upgrades they may come with, bundled in with the Rebel Transport, are going to be unfair/unbalancing/etc unless they also make the escort X-Wing available for purchase separately.

Plus, it's kind of a chain effect - if they change the abilities or stats, they have to change the cost, and suddenly they run the risk of creating some rule contradiction or confusion, an unbalanced combo with some other card, it changes the point cost of every build associated with that ship, they have to figure out what ships people would now try and play with the "new" Lando or whoever, and what all of the effects of that on the game will be....

Or they can just slap a photo of the pilot on there from one of the movies and just have it look cool on the table so people ooh and ahh and ask you where you got that. They're just kind of a cool alternative, like if they gave out an Interceptor that came with blood stripes, or an A-Wing with the prototype paint job. Which would be awesome, by the way. It gives you something a little cool and different but doesn't make them listen to a thousand complaints about how unfair or unbalanced it is and doesn't require them to take time away from working on the next couple of ship expansions to contemplate how a new stat line or ability interacts with every single other cart and stat line in the game.

Ffg has for a long time been about fairness. There is no randomness to the xwing booster you buy. Everyone gets the same materials, unlike other collectible games, like mtg. Promo cards, if they were differently worded, would go against their policy of fairness and drive up secondary market prices. I mean, sure they're fun to have, but they aren't necessary to win with, and no one has to keep track of which version of the card you're using. Having the card doesn't give you an advantage over others that don't, and that's what ffg is going for with their promo materials.

I am glad that they don't make differently-abled cards, and I suspect the majority of people playing the game are, too. I have seen a lot of complaints about the exclusive Gencon and tournament prizes for the new Star Trek Attack Wing game. I would hate that as well if I was playing that game.

Yeah, it's a good thing. I just picked up WizKids' game licensed off this system, Star Trek Attack Wing; they do different stuff and we're already kind of upset. There are weighted "elite" dice or something as a participation prize for the Dominion War.

There are unique ships as prizes, which seems a little different since those you can at least count on being a small number as opposed to a card you just swap in, but people are also upset. There are a lot of people whose local stores aren't running those events so they're SOL. I'm pretty lucky that it looks like a group materialized here, but since my favorite Trek ship is a prize, I know I'll be grumpy if I don't win one....

Pretty much what Hothie said. Like with the Transport, the 'escort' X-Wing sweetens the pot for a ship that, let's face it, doesn't really DO much. It's a space bus. It's not like the Corvette, which sells itself. I suspect Porkins will be a ps7 X-Wing pilot (it's where there's an obvious gap in the Rebel lineup), and there may be a named ps4 or 5 as well. But regardless of what's in there, anyone who wants one can buy the Transport, it's not going to be anything radical or gamebreaking, and since it's bundled with the transport you're unlikely to see a lot of people trying to field like 6 of whatever. Even if they did a 20pt generic X-wing, I think you're legally allowed to slap anyone who shows up someplace fielding 5 of them.

But anyway yeah like Hothie said, they like to give out stuff that stands out, looks different, gets some attention, but doesn't change the balance of the game or give anyone an advantage, even a perceived one. And I have to respect that, because for every person that's annoyed it's just a different picture, you'd have a hundred people storming their headquarters with pitchforks if it actually did something different and they couldn't go out and get one themselves.

The reason they have different pictures is because nobody liked the oversized cards

EDIT: But I'm pretty happy with my oversized Han/Boba card, and will probably use it as much as I can.

Heres why: my Wedge card is better than your Wedge card. I also had to cut down a LOT of rebel ships to get my Wedge card. My paintball barrels were hot after my match ups.

That would be awesome if they make Porkins a higher pilot skill than Garven, Biggs, and Dutch, since they lived a lot longer. Porkins, the real hero.

The Wedge photo card I'm kind of meh on, but if I ran Black Squadron I'd totally be using that one. That's a cool picture

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I agree with Hothie, and personally hope the games stays this way.

I like FFG giving out cards, dice and tokens and ONLY changing the artwork (acrylic, etc) rather than adding abilities or rules only available at certain events. It keeps the game balanced and it's one of the reasons I started playing X-Wing.

P.S. I will buy at least one GR-75 when it comes out (two at most but unlikely); but I do feel that FFG should sell, individually, any fighter(s) released with Capitals ships.

I would definitely not complain if they made the 'escort' X-Wing available for purchase individually. I *doubt* they will, but I'd buy a few just for the visual variety and the new generic pilots (if any), if nothing else.

But yeah I agree that if they wanted to give out cool like translucent dice - awesome. If those dice had an extra hit symbol or something - NOT awesome. Nice acrylic templates, alternate card art, fancy tokens, all that stuff gives the person who has it nice bragging rights but doesn't impact the game itself in any way, and I think in the end that's a much safer, more responsible route for them to take.

For colectors having different stats isn't going to make the card more colectable then just having a different picture will.

So it's a win/win really. Colectors get what they want a vararent card, but the gamers don't have to chase after the rare and more powerful units... Something which reallllly makes gamers upset.

It's definitely one of those situations where it's not worth making the one or two players who get some rare, powerful card happy, at the expense of angering every OTHER player, who doesn't have one and doesn't want to play against anyone that does. That could quickly destroy your entire tournament scene.

Sounds exactly the opposite of the Star Trek game from what I am hearing. I don't know about you, but I don't want to play a pick up game with someone who has special stuff no one else has because they won a tournament. Now, I know how that sounds, but considering the precedent set with WizKids clix stuff; I would rather avoid that altogether.

Yeah, if I can get it I'll definitely use the Nebula class ship that's going to be a prize, but no way on those cheat dice. People are hoping, since they're just re-using the Hero-clix molds, that these'll just be named versions of ships they'll release later, but it's unclear. The first one is a Ferengi marauder, which I can't see fitting into any faction particularly well, so that makes more sense as a prize. The following ones are a Bird of Prey, a Nebula, and a D'deridex (I think).

Yeah, I saw what was listed. I sincerely hope that those dice aren't more special than normal dice (maybe a faction logo for the "6") or something. I've seen people use the special tourney prizes in pickup games and league games in other clix stuff, and in general...that person always won. Always.

People say they're more likely to come up hits, hence the "elite" and they've got a point cost. Because that's clearly only worth 5 points....

That seems especially stupid when you consider the fact that X-Wing for example has a thousand ways to modify the dice results. Using legally-rigged dice seems ridiculous, especially when they can then presumably be modified on top of the better than normal results.

Well until it is confirmed about those dice, I will withhold my full judgement. I don't mind special models or cards. What I mind is when they have inherent advantages over the standard game. My correlation would be an SDCC or Gencon exclusive having exclusive rules, and being legal in the game it is intended for. This can be very destabilizing if it has a huge advantage over the rest of the product line's rules. My only current example is the Heroclix superheros stuff.

I would love to see X-Wing do some cool dice - design wise; translucent, or metallic (colored), or something. But yeah not *better* dice.

I'd totally go for some Faction dice.

When MtG does a card in alternative art, as a foil, or even a textless version they don't alter the game provided the card plays just like its normal version. It is wise of FFG to do the same with its promotional material.

I'd totally go for some Faction dice.

Faction dice FTMFW.

The promo cards must appeal to the card game players, I don't see the purpose in it. Collectable card?

The promo cards must appeal to the card game players, I don't see the purpose in it. Collectable card?

Yes that's basically it.

It's rare, because you can only get it from a con or something. It's also different then the standard cards. That means for people who like to collect cards it's desirable. If it were only one or the other the value would be less.

Rare alone is enough, but a foil edged card never seemed to be quite as big of a deal as a rare alt art card in MtG or other card colections.