i'll believe it when i see it. According to the start of affair post, it seems tactics is greater than games redheaded stepchild that no one wants.
Actually it is the one they really like, and want to use to carry the story and Sentinels Games past the end of the card game, but also the one that underperformed.
So now it is in the midst of a big evaluation process that has gotten the short end of the stick because in order to do it right it either needs to take a back seat to some other things or the company needs to drop everything else in order to put in the required work.
I admit, I do keep forgetting about Prime Wars and Broken City, but I can see them really focusing in on it more once the pipelin is cleared of the other material.
It is also interesting to look at the State of the Game post and think about the backdrop of all this happening. GTG was having finiancial issues, this product was underpreforming, and they were worried about the state of the company as a whole.
They didn't communicate this to us, but I can see why, and in the juggling act of trying to pull through this, Broken City and Prime Wars get held back until the known money-makers can help the company balance out.
That's my thought proccess at least, they are still doing better than the D&D History DVD I kickstarted that ended up embroiled in legal issues (half their team took the footage to make a competeing movie) and I don't even see a light at the end of that tunnel after.... 5 years for that, and I still expect that one day I will recieve that film
I, too, am frustrated by the long delays in delivering on the Tactics Kickstarter. Before Tactics was released, I longed for some way to run tournaments with Sentinels of the Multiverse. I was organizing events at local gaming stores, and while fun, I wanted SotM to take off the way Magic had, for droves of people to show up every week looking to play. When Tactics was released I was cautiously interested. Then I played in a tournament. Oh My Gawd! So Awesome!
I was inspired. I excitedly watched videos from the tournaments at PAX East and PAX South. I organized a local tournament at Who's Yer Con. I created the Indianapolis Sentinel Tactics League. I took Sentinel Tactics to gaming stores and other conventions to introduce it to new players. I followed the championships at GenCon. I ran a local tournament again at Who's Yer Con the next year. But eventually I had to admit that Tactics just wasn't making it. Yes, it had a little bit of a following, but GtG was having trouble filling tournaments. It took longer than I liked to teach the game, so people not really inclined to tactical games would lose interest, and then the end result wasn't complex enough for people who were really inclinced to tactical games. The core of the game is really, really interesting to me -- a relatively streamlined way to get into superhero tactics with characters that I already love -- but if you weren't already invested in the characters, there wasn't a broad enough appeal.
GreaterThanGames seems to have come to a similar conclusion. They poured money into the Tactics tournaments -- really excellent, technical equipment, impressive cash prizes. Despite that, interest flagged. Now, they are trying to rework some aspects of the game to make it easier to learn and faster to play. They switched out the original Kickstarter characters with ones that are more well known.
Should they have figured out the need for this switch before launching the Kickstarte? Maybe, but they didn't, so they're at least offering refunds.
Should they have focused more on the Tactics work rather than launching a bunch of other games? Maybe, but they decided that financially they couldn't afford to. This isn't just a money grab. Cash flow issues caused them to have to back out of PAX South and to take paycuts. It's a small company. They have _got_ to bring in cash.
GtG are certainly not perfect. The scenarios in the original game were in some cases pretty broken. They promised scenarios for the extra maps, and haven't delivered them after a long period of time.
So, yeah, as a Tactics fan, this situation sucks. Even so, I don't see a path for GtG that's better than the one they are on. From what I've seen in the playtester forums, the changes to Tactics and the scenarios that we'll get will be very good.
Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel
I second the observations that Tactics took too long to learn and will add that it ended up a bit fiddly while playing. Fine for me as an invested person, but my wife (although invested in some of the characters) could not stomach the flow of the game, as it took too long and paid of too little (compared to the card game). As a result, I rather teach people SotM, hoping they get invested in the characters enough to eventually want to play Tactics, rather then teaching them Tactics straight away.
Actually it is the one they really like, and want to use to carry the story and Sentinels Games past the end of the card game, but also the one that underperformed.
So now it is in the midst of a big evaluation process that has gotten the short end of the stick because in order to do it right it either needs to take a back seat to some other things or the company needs to drop everything else in order to put in the required work.
Also that would be blue bearded stepchild.
Lead Bit Flipper, Handelabra Games
Developer of Sentinels, Bottom of the 9th, and Spirit Island
I admit, I do keep forgetting about Prime Wars and Broken City, but I can see them really focusing in on it more once the pipelin is cleared of the other material.
It is also interesting to look at the State of the Game post and think about the backdrop of all this happening. GTG was having finiancial issues, this product was underpreforming, and they were worried about the state of the company as a whole.
They didn't communicate this to us, but I can see why, and in the juggling act of trying to pull through this, Broken City and Prime Wars get held back until the known money-makers can help the company balance out.
That's my thought proccess at least, they are still doing better than the D&D History DVD I kickstarted that ended up embroiled in legal issues (half their team took the footage to make a competeing movie) and I don't even see a light at the end of that tunnel after.... 5 years for that, and I still expect that one day I will recieve that film
I, too, am frustrated by the long delays in delivering on the Tactics Kickstarter. Before Tactics was released, I longed for some way to run tournaments with Sentinels of the Multiverse. I was organizing events at local gaming stores, and while fun, I wanted SotM to take off the way Magic had, for droves of people to show up every week looking to play. When Tactics was released I was cautiously interested. Then I played in a tournament. Oh My Gawd! So Awesome!
I was inspired. I excitedly watched videos from the tournaments at PAX East and PAX South. I organized a local tournament at Who's Yer Con. I created the Indianapolis Sentinel Tactics League. I took Sentinel Tactics to gaming stores and other conventions to introduce it to new players. I followed the championships at GenCon. I ran a local tournament again at Who's Yer Con the next year. But eventually I had to admit that Tactics just wasn't making it. Yes, it had a little bit of a following, but GtG was having trouble filling tournaments. It took longer than I liked to teach the game, so people not really inclined to tactical games would lose interest, and then the end result wasn't complex enough for people who were really inclinced to tactical games. The core of the game is really, really interesting to me -- a relatively streamlined way to get into superhero tactics with characters that I already love -- but if you weren't already invested in the characters, there wasn't a broad enough appeal.
GreaterThanGames seems to have come to a similar conclusion. They poured money into the Tactics tournaments -- really excellent, technical equipment, impressive cash prizes. Despite that, interest flagged. Now, they are trying to rework some aspects of the game to make it easier to learn and faster to play. They switched out the original Kickstarter characters with ones that are more well known.
Should they have figured out the need for this switch before launching the Kickstarte? Maybe, but they didn't, so they're at least offering refunds.
Should they have focused more on the Tactics work rather than launching a bunch of other games? Maybe, but they decided that financially they couldn't afford to. This isn't just a money grab. Cash flow issues caused them to have to back out of PAX South and to take paycuts. It's a small company. They have _got_ to bring in cash.
GtG are certainly not perfect. The scenarios in the original game were in some cases pretty broken. They promised scenarios for the extra maps, and haven't delivered them after a long period of time.
So, yeah, as a Tactics fan, this situation sucks. Even so, I don't see a path for GtG that's better than the one they are on. From what I've seen in the playtester forums, the changes to Tactics and the scenarios that we'll get will be very good.
Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel
Broken City/For Profit was a Preorder not a Kickstarter.
Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31
I second the observations that Tactics took too long to learn and will add that it ended up a bit fiddly while playing. Fine for me as an invested person, but my wife (although invested in some of the characters) could not stomach the flow of the game, as it took too long and paid of too little (compared to the card game). As a result, I rather teach people SotM, hoping they get invested in the characters enough to eventually want to play Tactics, rather then teaching them Tactics straight away.
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