A Warning to FFG
Please FFG... if you want the games X-Wing and Armada to live on, you need to stop the power creep. I think there is a fundamental problem here with FFG's designs, especially in X-Wing. They keeping feeling like they need to make each ship so good and effective (unless it was from Rogue One) that players will buy it to power up their next squadron.
I, however, feel like they need to take a different approach... especially with the glutton's portion of new ships that it sounds like Episode 8 will spawn... just make them subtly different than the Episode 4-6 equivalents and do the titles and such so that FO/Resistance "Awings", "TIE Bombers", "TIE Interceptors", and maybe the Kylo TIE Advanced are just slight variations on the existing ships of the same name and who's power-ups can be used on the old namesakes. That would make a lot of the old time ships and their players very happy
For AWings and Interceptors: give them someway to strip tokens off of targets prior to shooting... For Bombers and maybe Y-Wings, make them large ship killers (oh please, give incentives for the Y-Wings to drop the TLTs and instead chuck torps at things), and maybe somehow give the TIE Advanced an easy way to put stress, without an action, in the spirit of the Kylo Ren Upsilon.
Resistance A-Wings and B-Wings could have an extra hull and a better dial, respectively... give the FO Bomber and Interceptor 2 shields... and give the Advanced the Advanced Prototype dial and an extra hull or shield. That's it. Cost it correctly and we'll not need any real power creep. I think you believe we want power creep... we don't... Walken might... we don't
Because, and this is the warning, power creep angers just about everyone... you either feel like the ships you have are being edged out or you're feeling like you're being forced into purchasing things for temporary reasons (until the next expansion with the next +1 better ship for same or fewer points comes out).
FFG, people will buy your ships because the models are great, they like the Star Wars Universe, and the new ship is simply different and more. We are collectors as well as gamers. Tons of people buy the iconic stuff just to put on a shelf or desk and look at. Please stop thinking you have to make everything more and better. It's killing your game, and it will turn away way more buyers in the end than it will draw. Not everyone is playing for Worlds. In fact a large section of players aren't even playing to win the next tournament, and the more you power up everything, the more you leave the majority of your players behind, without the ability to run a thematic list against the new net-list and even have a chance or have fun.
Episode 8 will give you new opportunities to bring old ships up to pace and keep the dice and token escalation contained. Please don't blow this... because you're dangerous close to tipping the scale for some casual players (the vast majority of your buyers), and you need to stop the oneupmanship now and bring balance to the Force/game.
I, however, feel like they need to take a different approach... especially with the glutton's portion of new ships that it sounds like Episode 8 will spawn... just make them subtly different than the Episode 4-6 equivalents and do the titles and such so that FO/Resistance "Awings", "TIE Bombers", "TIE Interceptors", and maybe the Kylo TIE Advanced are just slight variations on the existing ships of the same name and who's power-ups can be used on the old namesakes. That would make a lot of the old time ships and their players very happy
For AWings and Interceptors: give them someway to strip tokens off of targets prior to shooting... For Bombers and maybe Y-Wings, make them large ship killers (oh please, give incentives for the Y-Wings to drop the TLTs and instead chuck torps at things), and maybe somehow give the TIE Advanced an easy way to put stress, without an action, in the spirit of the Kylo Ren Upsilon.
Resistance A-Wings and B-Wings could have an extra hull and a better dial, respectively... give the FO Bomber and Interceptor 2 shields... and give the Advanced the Advanced Prototype dial and an extra hull or shield. That's it. Cost it correctly and we'll not need any real power creep. I think you believe we want power creep... we don't... Walken might... we don't
Because, and this is the warning, power creep angers just about everyone... you either feel like the ships you have are being edged out or you're feeling like you're being forced into purchasing things for temporary reasons (until the next expansion with the next +1 better ship for same or fewer points comes out).
FFG, people will buy your ships because the models are great, they like the Star Wars Universe, and the new ship is simply different and more. We are collectors as well as gamers. Tons of people buy the iconic stuff just to put on a shelf or desk and look at. Please stop thinking you have to make everything more and better. It's killing your game, and it will turn away way more buyers in the end than it will draw. Not everyone is playing for Worlds. In fact a large section of players aren't even playing to win the next tournament, and the more you power up everything, the more you leave the majority of your players behind, without the ability to run a thematic list against the new net-list and even have a chance or have fun.
Episode 8 will give you new opportunities to bring old ships up to pace and keep the dice and token escalation contained. Please don't blow this... because you're dangerous close to tipping the scale for some casual players (the vast majority of your buyers), and you need to stop the oneupmanship now and bring balance to the Force/game.
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