Darn. I really wish I was a play tester so I could see what kind of changes were being made. It actually sounds like an exciting opportunity to change things.
We haven't seen the changes yet ourselves, other than normal testing iterations of things.
I guess then my next question for Paul does this mean flame of freedom and uprising is getting an upgrade as well and can I plant the seed of having an upgrade pack instead of buying a full new game
Copy paste of my comment from the news article:
I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I do feel that Sentinel Tactics was an underwhelming game that I probably wouldn't care about if it didn't use the Sentinel Comics characters that I already enjoy, and am excited for a complete rework of the game. On the other hand, a year of extra wait? Ugh...
My main complaints lie with the rule book, which seems to jump around a lot with no real focus, and the fact that the skirmishes just feel... Sloppy. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer that a character be harder to kill and stay down when they're incapped, rather than an incap basically just being a victory point. The whole "stand back up with full HP on your next turn" thing doesn't sit well with me- and the location maps don't seem very well suited for skirmish play (which is sad, since that seems to be the only thing they can be used for at the moment).
I suppose in the end, it'll probably be worth it, but still bummed out about the extra waiting.
Although... The boxart? Really? That's one of the major complaints people had? I mean, sure, it's not like it's some artistic masterpiece, but... I just find it hard to imagine someone saying "Yeah, it could have been a great game if only the boxart was better..."
That was probably more of a retailer complaint than a player complaint, and the first impression most people would have is the boxart so underwhelming boxart would cost sales.
same issue is with books. If it's a newer book with not as large fan base a catchy cover is the difference between if someone will pick it up and take a look or not. I have been doing a lot of running across country lately for family stuff and stopped in at a lot of game stores along the route looking for good deals. A lot of these places have the games on the shelf in such a way all you see is the side of the box. So a random person who doesn't know what it is may not catch their eye and make them want to pick it up.
Another marketing thing that is slowly becoming apparent is if there is an app, sales of the physical game will increase. A lot of game companies are seeing a boost in sales once they get that video game version out because it is cheaper to try than just buying the game. So with that being said, it would be nice if handelabra can lay the ground work by the end of the year for sentinel tactics the video game. If they can get even just flame of freedom out in digital format with some type of free trial version people will try the video game and then hopefully turn around and buy the physical copy.
I think that would be a big ask from Handelabra. They have already sold a season pass that commits them to the card game for a while longer. The next thing would be to incorporate Vengance style play as I believe that would be much easier for their framework to handle. If you start talking Tactics it would be a build from scratch situation. I might be wrong about that and MigrantP or Jeremy could correct me. At the end of the day Handelabra is a business too and they have to make decisions that make sense for them.
They have hinted that if SotM:TVG is a success, then once they've finished all the expansions that they'll talk with GtG about adapting Sentinel Tactics.
Huh, I didn't realize people still used covers to decide whether or not they should buy something. I would have thought that with the internet and such easy access to reviews nowadays, such would have been a thing of the past.
If you are walking into a store to buy something (not knowing what), you don’t have enough time to check reviews on every game. If something doesn’t pop-out, they won’t look up the reviews.
Also, many times what the box looks like is a good indication of the production values of the game. To many, that can be a big deal.
The third set of mini expansions for SotM came in the clamshell case instead of the plastic bag to give them more appeal. I doubt it was done because it's cheaper. To me the box art issue is more to attract impulse buys rather than people who have reviewed stuff online.
True. There's nothing about the side of the box that tells you it's a superhero skirmish game (even the word "Tactics" doesn't really give you much information) so unless you pull the box down it really could be anything. And I guess people just don't pull down a plain box they have basically no info about.
I have to admit that the box only stands out on my game shelves because it's one of the few that doesn't stand out. That doesn't bother me at all, but then I'm really not the target mass market due to playtesting it and then backing on Kickstarter and already being invested in the Sentinel Comics world.
For a while I was at a few local game store fairly often, running or participating events. During that time, I found myself on a few occassions killing some time in the store, and thus more loitering than looking for anything in particular. As such, I was more aware of what _other_ customers were doing in the store. I was surprised at how many people walked in and said something along the lines of either "I'd like to buy a game for my kid, but don't really know what sort of game" or "We've played a few different games and thought it would be fun to pick up something, but don't know what".
In these cases, people are almost universally going to buy something recommended to them by the people who work in the store. You want your game to sell well? Get the people who are making recommendations excited about it.
All the other things being discussed have to be be good, too, of course: It's got to be a fun game that easy to get into enjoying
So where does box art come in to it? Well, when the retailer points out a few games that would be good choices, the potential customer is then faced with a few boxes, all of which have been recommended, and they now have nothing to base their choice on except how those boxes look.
... and Andy standing behind them coughing loudly and grimacing when they pick up the incorrect box.
This may be unburying the dead horse in order to beat it some more, but what about those scenarios for the Maps I paid extra for way back in the KS? Are those even in the line at all? They were supposed to be available online at some point, but I still feel unfulfilled, despite receiving my extra bundle. I haven't even played on them yet because they feel...incomplete. Are THEY affected by this overhaul, as well?
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1511618/delayed
What blue said. here is the thing. based off their current production schudule, usually they release a large expansion after roughly 3 months and a small expansion after 2 tops. the only reason the wait between infernal and mini pack 2 was so long was because of multiplayer. so based off some quick calculations, unless vengenace takes them 6 months, we may be able to see a Sentinel tactics the video game by the end of 2017, or at least the ground work for it. It really depends on how they change Sentinel Tactics. It would probably be better to wait till after Broken City comes out anyways because then that gives Handelabra more expansions to add into the game to keep people occupied.
I do like what someone else said above about what makes Sentinels great is the Co-op and that gets lost in Sentinel Tactics a bit. The issue with the game though is no matter what you will always need that one villian. The few games I have always played with the scenarios is it feels more leaned toward the heroes anways, so there is going to have to be some better power ups. Maybe start the villian with X times the number of Hp where X is the number of heroes and there be no incap during scenarios would be better.
Trust me, I am all for an online multiplayer version of Sentinels Tactics. We already have the base game, one expansion and 4 additional maps. So there is content. I just don't know the time it would be realistic to expect it in. As an outsider who knows nothing about their process it would be tempting to say it would be easy, but I just don't know.
The gameplay of Tactics isn't going to change.
Just like how much Villains changed from Vengeance, yet none of the actual gameplay was changed. Just making it work better and making it more fun and less work.