An Open Letter to Fantasy Flight and Cubicle 7 -- Cut the "Foreplay" and Give Us the Good Stuff

I remember playing WEG Star Wars. We had 2 types of Jedi characters.

1. was the old and used up jedi who had spent long years in hiding and wasn't quite who he used to be. Playing the game could change that to becoming a vibrant force master perhaps with a young flock under his wing.

2. was a young know-nothing kid who was force active. He didn't even start with force powers, just potential. Playing meant becoming a full fledged Jedi Knight and fighting for peace, hope, and justice in the galaxy.

Now we played them like a bombed out drunk and a childish, whiny brat, but then it was college and Star Wars was more of our go to drinking RPG.

innerdude said:

You're risking that you'll sell more expansions to make up for those who won't buy the core system up front.

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I think that it is worth mentioning that Age of Rebellion and Force and Destiny are not going to be expansions of Edge of the Empire, but rather compatible stand alone games. Just as EotE is FFG's "Adventure on the Fringe" game, so will AoR be a dedicated "Rebels vs Empire" game, and F&D a dedicated Jedi game. How much difference will there be between them? We don't know yet. But that does mean that if all you are interested in is Jedi(and the Force Exile in EotE isn't enough for you), then you can skip out on the currently available game and use F&D all by itself.

Part of me gets why FFG are 'withholding' Jedi, the idea of all the PC's running around with light sabers just isn't Star Wars to me (someone besotted with the original three movies and the original WEG d6 RPG rules). On the other hand, Star Wars is so much more than the original three movies now, and players expect to be able to partake of the whole saga. Which of course, is the problem. It's now so big, it's too much to cover in one rulebook.

Splitting the settings up into different product lines is an obvious choice for FFG. In some ways it makes a lot of sense, players can choose the bits they like, but it also causes massive product creep like we've seen in their WH40K line of products. That, and some people will inevitably have to wait until the book they want to see comes out, if it ever does.

I truly sympathise with the book shelves of whoever decides to follow (purchase all) the FFG's Star Wars line.

Dear Esteemed Designers at Cubicle 7 and Fantasy Flight Games,

Hello! I'm very happy to report that I am a proud owner of products in several of your product lines. I have greatly enjoyed using them, and am very happy with my purchases to date.

I recently purchased Edge of the Empire which was released a few weeks ago and support for Jedi character concepts were only conceived in vague hints and allusions to future products. Jedi are overrated anyhow, I look forward to checking them out in the future products, but for now, I'm content to run the shadier side of the SW Universe by playing in the Outer Rim.

Making money means producing products that people will buy. If you don't sell products, you don't stay in business. I'm glad to see that EotE has been so well received. There are some players disgruntled, claiming they should get "all of the game", but considering that you've mentioned from the start that there were going to be three separate standalone yet cross-compatible products, each focusing on a different era, their arguments are pretty much invalid. Likewise, the idea that this is somehow a marketing ploy to make more money is ridiculous, considering that no one is forcing them to buy any of the books, if they want to play Jedi then they can wait and buy Age of Rebellion or Force and Destiny. No one is making them buy EotE if they don't want to play scoundrels and villains in the Outer Rim. I on the other hand love the idea and can't wait to kick off a seedier campaign in the SW Universe.

Cubicle 7 seems to be taking a similar approach with The One Ring product line. Edge of the Wild was a FANTASTIC release, and I love the system and the cultures included with it. Like FFG, I knew that the rest of the core stuff, wasn't going to come out for another three years, this was made quite clear from the start of the game's design. Once again, some people hate the idea that they don't get "all of the game" right away, but once again, no one is twisting their arm to buy the products until they are available.

Look Cubicle 7, it's pretty simple---you have given us a core product from which to start. While I look forward to expanding into areas throughout Middle-earth, the cultures, locales and adventures you have given us to start are fantastic. I like the approach that you are taking in that great detail is going into each product that you are publishing, instead of trying to cram a little bit of everything into one book. I appreciate you spreading this out. Yeah, the proposed stuff for Rivendell sounds awesome, no doubt. But believe me when I tell you, we . . . look . . . forward . to. . . playing . . . in . . . Gondor . . . and Rohan. When the products are finally available I hope to wander the forests of Beleriand as high elves, and fight battles against Melkor as Feanor.

As your customers we appreciate what you give us and understand it takes a lot of time and effort to put out quality products.

You too, Fantasy Flight. STAR WARS = mother-friggin' AWESOME, keep up the great work. Until Jedi are available for play, the whole Han Solo / rogue scoundrel / Hutt-evading-smuggler thing has great appeal.

We can wait for light sabers and deflecting laser bolts back at stormtroopers. Cutting off people's hands in space cantinas, been there, done that. Once again, JEDI = OVERRATED. KEEP MESSING AROUND WITH THIS WHOLE, "Oh, we'll get to the Jedi in some expansion in 2018, you know, if we feel like it.". We have plenty of time to smuggle goods, avoid bounty hunters, strike deals with Huts, and generally try to just stay alive on the fringe of society.

I'm way excited about the potential of Edge of the Empire. I also like the idea that by the time we're tired of running around the Outer Rum, in four years I can get YET ANOTHER ERA OF FRESH AWESOME SW GOODNESS THAT WASN'T IN THE FIRST BLOODY BOOK.

Since there isn't any other SW RPG material on the market, there really isn't any competition now. With such great products we'll be hard pressed to move on to other interests or go with one of the earlier versions of the Star Wars RPG.

So, in conclusion, Cubicle 7 and Fantasy Flight -- keep up the good work and keep giving us the great quality product, even if others don't see it that way.

Sincerely a gamer more than willing to give you money for stuff I actually want,

-Pilgrim

After reading the book I can say that they have really focused on a minute section of what Star Wars and it has nothing to do with the movies. This game is designed around the Expanded Universe of Pre New Hope. The books about Han, and Lando, and Fett that take place before the original trilogy is what the game seems to embrace. I am surprised by how much Expanded Universe is in here and with some people saying they like the book but don't like Expanded Universe that surprises me. There is also stuff in here for the prequels and we know how well people like those.

Also, and this really surprised me, is that if we just use the dice sets made for the game you don't have all the kinds of dice you need. I figured if they are going to make special dice packs that they would include everything.

darjr said:

I will have, heck already have had, players that wanted to play a character like Luke from the first three movies. I'd prefer that Jedi PC's were in the first rule book. I think it was a mistake to not include them.

They are the mages of the setting.

It's a marketing/sales strategy that I don't appreciate, that's all. Making a good game with, even 'optional', Jedi PC rules would have worked better for my tastes.

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Exactly. Personally I am not a fan of Jedi,at least as they have been portrayed since EP1. I am not a fan of anything prequel (though I tried for years to come to terms with them). But as a game product, it should be included in some optional form, even if I do not want it. Unlike Gnomes and Barbarians in D&D, Jedi, no matter how few have been a major part of the property.

And special dice suck,

Well, this has been an interesting thread to read. I'll just add two points to what some others have said. I'm also a person who wants his Jedi as an option in any Star Wars game, even a game that is conscientiously not focused on Jedi.

The first point I would make is that most folks, like me, who want to and like to play Jedi, don't want to play them because we want to be over-powered Mace Windus compared to the rest of the party, but because we like the character possibilities and the mystique of the Jedi. It is, frankly, the same reason I like to play Wizards in D&D and monks in asian-themed games, because after all what is a Jedi but a mystical wizard-monk. I'm totally up for a system that tries to do that in a non-game breaking way.

Second, I think if we want to consider what the problem was with the prequel trilogy, let's be honest: It wasn't "gobs of Jedi" it was "poorly written, plotted, and directed." A movie with lots of Jedi could have been done better. The fact that it wasn't is wholly attributable to George Lucas's limitations as a writer and director. It's a mistake to project that onto the game system and say, by extension, that a game with few or no Jedi (or even an option to have them), has a better chance of being fun or cool than one that doesn't. What's cool about the Jedi in Star Wars is not their rarity, it's their existence!

Crothian said:

After reading the book I can say that they have really focused on a minute section of what Star Wars and it has nothing to do with the movies. This game is designed around the Expanded Universe of Pre New Hope. The books about Han, and Lando, and Fett that take place before the original trilogy is what the game seems to embrace.

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Yes, there's certainly EU stuff in there. But "nothing to do with the movies?" ANH was exactly the stuff from EotE.

There's nothing wrong with Han/Lando/Boba Fett type stories with no Force. Bu if that's the story I want to tell, I'd rather tell it in a different universe, like the Firefly universe, that's custom built for those kinds of tales.

alien270 said:

Yes, there's certainly EU stuff in there. But "nothing to do with the movies?" ANH was exactly the stuff from EotE.

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No Sandpeople, no Jawas, no X-wings, no jedi, and almost nothing on the Rebels or Empire. There isn't even a listing for the Empire in the index. The second game sounds like it will be about the Rebels which is what Episode 4 is also about so it shouldn't be of any surprise that this books doesn't cover that.