No matter what FFG does or doesn't do, there will always some permutation of the Star Wars license popping up in tabletop format. All the same, I think it would be an excellent license to secure, if indeed Lucasfilm is in the market for selling it again.

Agreed.

Toqtamish said:

Epic fail

locohost said:

I think the biggest problem FFG would have (after acquiring the license) would be choosing which edition to use. Assuming they went the “Dead Card Game” design route.

I mean you have Deciphers CCG. I haven't played it, but I have read the rules and it seem WAY more complicated than you would expect a two player “kill the other guy” card game to be. Which is enough of a first play shock to turn off a lot of people who aren't into heavy rules, or a large amount of card and number management. Although I can see where once you've adjusted to that, that the game could be very enjoyable. I mean it takes great strides to make itself play like a full galactic space epic.

Now, WotC TCG didn't have that grand of scale. I've played this one, and I really enjoy it. If you have ever played WotC Star Wars minis game, you've pretty much played this, with a few modifications to the rules, for instance victory is obtained the same way as in Warhammer: Invasion but it's based on who has a unit in that area and who doesn't. But looking at the unit cards for this game, and comparing them to the minis reference cards, your looking at a lot of the same information that's just modified to not use a grid. The draw to this is that it is quick to pick up, and quick to play. It adds a luck mechanic in that dice rolling, in combination with card draw, can completely turn the tide. Compared to the CCG, the games are much quicker, yet still satisfying win or lose.

So I mean it probably comes down to marketing. How many people would be willing to play either of these as a LCG. The TCG seems more marketable just because it can be picked up and explained quickly. And as far as the CCG fans go, most of them still regularly meet up and play with their current collections. But if they where willing to buy new cards using the same system, they might swing with that.

Either way, some sort of Sci-Fi LCG would feel really good right about now. Even if they went way out of left field and asked James Cameron for the right to one of his works. XD

Please take Jar Jar behind the barn and put him out of his misery.  THere are so many other good LCG's they could do. I know a SW LCG Could potentially move a  lot of units per month generating great revenue for FFG, but, um, just no please don't. It's not worth all the criticism they would inevitably take from whatever fans were not happy that week, and after Star wars pocket models and other marketing endeavors from various companies, I just don't think they should touch it.

I have to agree with the others that say do not touch Star Wars.  It has been done too many times in too many incarnations that is just bores me.  Actually, after episodes 1-3 I could care less about Star Wars (I actually enjoyed Episode 1 as it did what I thought it needed to do:  set up the story).

As a big fan of Decipher's CCG I would love to see that game recycled as an LCG!!!

As a fan of the Saga Edition RPG and the CMG, I was dissapointed to hear WOTC lost the liscence. If FFG gets it...that would make it up to me.

NO, I say to the cartoon and anything related. Hate the art, hate the stories, love Cad Bane, hate the corny Jedi, hate the awful dialogue, hate the sappy Mando'ade, hate the destruction and total ignoring of EU canon....

But, if they can actually do a LCG based on the movies...and if it could be unique...either mass combat or heroic/skirmish in scale....that would be cool. Man, I love these ellipsii. If I spelled that right.

I can see both sides of this discussion. Yes, Star Wars is kind of on life support right now, and Lucas's involvement isn't helping on any level. That being said, it's still a rich universe with a huge and diverse fanbase who LOVE buying merchandise. So while I'd prefer for the franchise to quietly fade into the night for a few years before seeing a rebirth (like Star Trek, or the Batman films), it's almost inevitable that someone is going to pick up the license (or that Lucasfilm will begin seeking out potential buyers, I'm not really sure how license acquisition works) and produce a new game.

If that's going to happen, I'd like FFG to pick it up.

In addition, if the relative success of Wizard's miniatures game is anything to go by (as well as the massive success of the KOTOR series of games), the fanbase is growing increasingly interested in both the EU and other eras of the universe's history. It has really grown into a rich and detailed epic of a franchise, with the potential for including multitudes of characters and concepts in a potential card game.

This is a huge advantage. A card games lifespan is based on two things:

1. The loyalty and involvement of the fanbase, which can be encouraged by regular support from the game manufacturer in a variety of forms (tournaments, league play, promotions, just plain listening, etc.) If the fans of a game don't support the game, it'll die. This is obvious.

2. Less obvious, but no less important, is the potential for longevity in design that a game's world presents and its design requires.

Let me break that second one down a bit. If you design a game that uses a lot of character cards, then the world you're designing that game for is going to need a lot of characters to fill those design spaces. If you don't have a large cast of characters, you're eventually going to run out of design space or will spiral into ridiculous ways to "reinterpret" that character from a mechanical standpoint. If you can't design new cards (or if you're designing new cards that are in some way displeasing to your fanbase) then your game is going to die. (Of course, you could always design your game to focus on only one or two characters, and thus prolong the amount of new material you can get out of a limited cast of characters. Score's old Dragonball Z CCG did this very well.)

Alternatively, you can make up characters that don't exist in the canon. FFG's new LotR game is doing this, so far as I can tell. It's one of the things I haven't really like about the game, but I can certainly see why they're doing it. While this gets around the design challenges of a limited cast of characters, it has the potential for angering your fanbase, thus producing the same effect that you were trying to avoid in the first place. (Also, with such a tightly controlled property as Star Wars and others, you run into licensing issues where the original owners of the IP don't approve of you making new characters for "just a game.")

Here is where we get back to Star Wars. There hasn't been a solid TCG for Star Wars that really tries to open up the universe for it's players. Delving into the wider mythology to form at least half a dozen different factions, each with dozens of interesting and beloved characters. This is what's so great about GRRM's "A Game of Thrones," and why it makes such a compelling card game. And I think this is a really viable idea for Star Wars. Naturally, you'll need to focus on the movies at first, and from what I've heard about the Lucasfilm license, you'll be required to include an Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader card in every expansion. But as the game develops, the sheer number of possible cards that could be created from characters and vehicles alone could give the game an extremely long life, which is only a good thing for a publisher.

 Wait what characters is their LotR game inventing? I know the Gencon preview was not a finished game, but all the heroes were straight from the books, only the allies were generic characters, and presented as such. They didn't invent any new names for any of them. Have you got something that points out that they have changed this?

Penfold said:

 So that doesn't refer to Sam's oldest child?

Penfold said:

 Funky. Well it will be interesting to see if they continue with that. I was under the distinct impression from talking to them at Gencon that it was going to be entirely on the books. *shrug* I guess time will tell.

Blutsteigen said: