A heads up from a Warcor. We were told on same day as the leak that ASA would be being mothballed and why. We also got news about whats going to happen with the profiles being updated and when (not specifics but generalities). We were also asked not to give out any information other than confirming that ASA would be the next mothballed sectorial if asked and to say an official announcement would be forthcoming. Basically we were given the information and the context and told to prepare players but not leak any of the specifics. At the same time this happend CB also sent an email to their retailers and distributors informing them of the SKU’s that were being discontinued. There was no stipulation that retailers keep this information private and so they began leaking the information to their players and thus to the wider community. They release the info without context or any of the additional information that we Warcors know and that would have made the situation far more palatable. The FMRF announcement was the way this should have gone down but due to an SNAFU by whoever drafted the email to the retailers and an over eager retialer leaking info we are left in the current situation. I’ll be very candid with you here and say that the majority of “big leaks” that have come out are due to retailers and distributors posting up info they shouldn’t have. This includes some of the stuff that goes up on 4chan though in this case at least one Warcor is leaking this info either through ignorance or malice, we don’t know which. CB need to have better information controls and that means having a unified system for distributing confidential information to both Warcors and retailers. What’s more repeat offenders need to be reprimanded and in the case of retailers and distributors there is at least one repeat offender who cannot be trusted to not leak information. The ASA thing could have been handled allot better and I think it needs to be used as an example of what not to do when it comes to communication with the players and community.
That's a huge questionmark for me. Uprising was overall very positive, and player numbers from ITS Data suggest JSA is actually by far the most played Sectorial compared to the timeframe it was released in. So not only has the vocal minority crusade of a few YJ players trying to demonize the changes been shedding a wrong light on the situation, JSA also maintains to be very popular and clearly attracted old and new players beyond expectations. This is mostly a problem in this very forum, where there seems to be a vocal minority that isn't critical of the game, but categorically fails in trying to understand the multifaceted reasons behind CB's steps. And in addition makes up bold claims for exclusively selfish reasons. These people are our homegrown problem and while they are making a valid point once in a while, someone who can't see the other sides argument can't be reasoned with or trusted to provide accurate data. It's the same mentality that leads to a bad outcome in other areas of life, which ones should remain unnamed to not make this a political argument. So here are a few negative and positive arguments for both sides. You can go figure if you can get behind CB's decision afterwards. Contra: - SAA is a very playable Sectorial and player numbers suggest it isn't even scraping the bottom of the barrel. - MRRF was vastly improved by it's Update and player numbers as well as sales should have increased just from that. Same will be true for SAA, does it even need to be benched with a possible resurgence after the update? - The benched Sectorials don't cannibalize others and add their unique inner workings to the game. Both SAA and MRRF play very different from the rest of their Faction. Pro: - CB might have hit production capacity, they might need to put some less popular stuff on hold, just because they can't keep up. For me personally Preorders are arriving at or after general release dates. So this doesn't even seem far fetched. - SKU bloat is not just a problem for CB, but mainly for physical shops and the vendors that run them. To keep them competetive in the face of online shoops CB has to do this for their FLGS partners. - The release Marathon for NA2 Mercs +5 new Sectorials this year puts a big strain on design capacy. Almost every Faction complains about a lack of Updates until it's their turn. In between leaving things like MRRF and Shas unsupported for almost 5 years, a rules Update with a freeze should be the preferable option. - Going OOP in November doesn't mean out of stock. CB themselves as well as vendors will probably make it possible for people to buy new SAA models for the next three months, even without considering any 2nd hand or recasting services as long term possibilities to get the minis anyway. Personally this leads me to the conclusion that CB are not putting Sectorials on hold because they want to. But because it is the right thing to do for everyone. The players literally have no downsides to fear, as they are still there and still available if you really want to. We can't say for certain what the precise reasons for doing this are, but we honestly don't have to even ask that question. I get that poeple don't like it because what they want is the Update and to keep all the models available. But that is not an option here. If the options are either Update+on hold after getting time to work around that or no Update at all and leave them to rot till the next book, picking in between those doesn't seem hard.
Dissatisfied customers far more vocal than satisfied customers. Think of the 1-10 scale on a survey, anyone under a 4 will gladly post on the forums, twitter, Facebook, telegram, Discord, or build a feckin' bonfire in their garden to use smoke signals to let everyone know how they feel, but only the top end of the 10s will post anything more than 'good job' and the 5-9s are pretty much silent until they're asked directly. I don't think anyone loves the idea of losing access to models that we still have profiles for, but what are the alternatives? Keep Buggering On: continue to receive concerns about the massive range of products, while adding a whole other range via Aristeia, and look to the future for InFantacy, RPG support, Spaceship combat, Dogbowl, a 5-15mm mass warfare game, and unmentioned spin-offs from the fantasy fluff to do the same many times over. Retailers will only want the most popular products, which will limit the exposure of the lesser loved ones more. Change the entire range to reduce SKUs: that's a terrifying process for any company, and the first step is to reduce the number of SKUs before repacking/ resculpting/ remanufactureing the product in a way that one SKU covers a wider range of profiles. Spin off a completely different business to cover the missing SKUs: Forge World style direct sales only could work, but it would require new staff (my CV is available on request...),new premises and equipment, a massive advertising campaign etc. At best CB would be looking down the barrel of a high 6 figure Euro investment. Pay someone to break the fingers of the people complaining: the legality is questionable,(I do have a valid passport and my own hammer...) and it won't actually solve the problem but the extra effort required to type complaints with elbows will filter out the knee jerk reactions at least ....
Doesn't this community have a long standing tradition of solving peop- problems with socks and Maghriba Guard?
Well they'd be wrong. If CB were paying me I'd be *an employee* using violence to silence criticism, not a fanboy. :p
The idea of something being harder or more expensive to find and still tournament legal is concerning, however the proxy rules make this a pretty easy pill to swallow imo. Unless I am misunderstanding something that really is the only effect here correct?
If it's about SKU bloat and not production capacity, I don't really understand why they couldn't discontinue the individual products but box them all together like a 300pt army box, doing the same thing with the rules update etc. Then you eliminate almost as many SKU's, but new people who really wanna play the hipster mothballed sectorial (or a Dragao in Vanilla) can still get them if they need to. Make it direct order only if you really have to. If they don't sell very well you don't have to do a production run very often anyway. It's just an unsettling idea that game pieces that are still actively used can have support dropped like that, when there would seem to be other ways to achieve the same thing. Overall it just seems off to be that a company that sells models would not sell you their models in any form at all.
It's also about production capacity and how many items are needed to complete a box. I'd thought of the idea of 300pt boxes as a single SKU when FRMF was mothballed but it still puts strain on the limited production capacity of the current factory
Would be nice to combine a "get the faction" box deal with an on demand option. I mean CB is surely not throwing away the form, and if someone really wants the "old" models, shelling out some extra cash to order the core/most of it/all of it souns reasonable. I sure know I would do if one of my want-to-have armies was affected
If the production capacity is limited then the main options are increasing the capacity, redesigning minis so less product will cover more profiles, or continue to rotate out production of certain products. Increasing the production capacity is expensive, so CB will probably need to use the rotation as a stop gap. Redesigning will take time, So CB will probably need to use the rotation as a stop gap. Rotation will mean that eventually they'll be trying to free up production capacity to add stuff to a faction or even a game that doesn't have anything that can be easily shelved, just imagine the potential outcry in a few years when someone in Infinity has to 'loose' a sectorial in order for a new faction to be added to the (at this point entirely theoretical) Fantasy game. TLDR: rotation is the best option for now, but it's not a permanent solution.
For what it's worth, any kind of direct-only product is a really good way to piss off the retail channel. The GenCon exclusives are bad enough.
There has to be a compromise somewhere, it's impossible to balance everything between keeping CB profitable, what the customer says they want (and what they'll actually pay for...), keeping the rules competitive and keeping the retailers happy. There are some products that retailers either can't stock or just don't have any demand for, the problem is if they sell well enough direct only to make it worthwhile, then retailers will want to stock those products... The bottom line again becomes Lowering the number of SKUs and increasing production capacity. Without a degree in Economics, a peak at CBs books an a little bit of clairvoyance we won't be solving the problem on the forum, all we'll be doing is saying that we don't like the sectorial rotation much even if we understand the need for it in the short term...
Removing a sectorals worth of troops with nothing to show for or ameliorate it was a pretty negative event. There was no hint of the path forward, no glimmer of how we begin to make up lost ground. Nothing but silence for months in regards to how we'd replace that hole. Disabling access to 1/3 remaining characters a few weeks later, on the faction that not only had to be the punching bag for Ko Dali but the biggest exodus of characters period, was insult to injury. Not to mention the flanderization of Yu Jing as the incompetent and war crime loving mustachioed villain. It was not just change. It was a shit sandwich with sewer dressing. ****** But in regards to ASA, if you don't get in front of it, rumors and hearsay will explode. If the rotating catalogue is going to be a continuing thing, better to make it official and get the queue going. This is an industry where the industry leader has let factions lie fallow through decades and editions. The more lead time and fewer surprises you give your retailers and customers the better.
