So. Today, at last, I managed to persuade myself that I could use money on three miniatures, some dice and a bunch of cardboard. We (me and my lady) did not get into the rulebook, we opted for the quick play rules - she starting out as the rebel, while I was the benevolent and all powerful empire. While it looked to be an win for me, she managed, with 1 hull/shield left to wipe me out. We then changed sides (honestly I did not whine and cry like a baby to play the x-wing) … and she wiped me out again!

So, she likes the game

It was a great game, but I must admit - and I'm sure there are threads and complaint about this - I think the price was steep. In particular I find the price for the expansion packs to be very steep. I will not belabour the issue though. Its out there, many might disagree and I won't discuss it any further.

What I'd like to see next (beyond the already planned expansions): B-wings, I seriously want B-wings (the E-wing would also be nice, but its not in the movies so I guess it won't be added). At some point I would also like to see capital ships - at least bigger ships like corellian corvettes and nebulon-Bs - I don't need the ISDs and MonCal cruisers… yet

The price is only steep if you pay retail.

 If no one paid retail we'd have no where to play. It bothers me when the instant solution to every price complaint is 'just buy it online'. I for one choose to support my LGS. I want to keep it around. I have as limited a budget as anyone, and I'm not going to waste undue amounts of time complaining about the price, because yes it is my choice to not take the absolute cheapest option…but that doesn't make someone's gripe any less valid. Just sayin'.

Compare the price of the box you bought to what it would have cost you to take your girl to the movies…. the popcorn and drinks alone would pretty much have cost you what the box cost let alone the price of 2 tickets… for 2 hours of possible enjoyment… it would have been more likely that only 1 of you would have actually enjoyed the movie unless your girl like action movies or you like sissy movies.

You only had to buy that box once and you can get enjoyment out of it time and time again…. I say with the cost of doing anything these days that the cost of buying this if it is something that you enjoy and gives you happiness multiple times is a very reasonable price to pay.

The reality is that if you are new to minature gaming you may find this expensive, if you have been a long time miniature gamer, you can get 2 full on playable tournament ready forces for peanuts compared to what it would cost you for just a fraction of one tournament ready force in almost every other minatures game… and this is a game with the star wars license and models that are quite good for this scale.

KarmikazeKidd said:

Exactly. FLGS's need in-store sales to pay the bills.  Call it table rental, call it whatever, but if you're going to use their space to play, show some gratitude and help keep them in business.

On Topic: X-W seems a bit pricey at first, but let me give you a cost breakdown of one of the most popular miniatures games (in the US).  Single faction starter box = $50.  You'll need to assemble and paint the contents.   Expansions once you realize the starter box isn't competitive = $15 - $90 each.  Again, you'll need to assemble and paint.  Rulebooks , faction books = $50 each.  It really adds up.

frogimus said:

I like using this comparison as well, but it's also worth adding that the depth of experience you get out of X-Wing is just as worthwhile as it is for other miniatures games.  For my money, a lot of the larger, army-scale minis games end up running too long at the suggested play values.  100 points of X-Wing has cost me $100 (retail, because I support my FLGS) and given me everything I need for two players to play comfortably and competitively against one another in a reasonably amount of time.  

An additional $60 will probably get me everything I would need to play both factions comfortably in a highly competitive/tournament setting.  The only game I know of that even comes close to matching that kind of value is Firestorm Armada (or Dystopian Wars, or Uncharted Seas - any of Spartan's games), but those are unpainted, unassembled resin miniatures.

Apologies, guys. I've re-read my post a few times now and that "because I support my local FLGS" line comes off way too douchey. I mostly wanted to point out that I don't regret spending retail on the game because I feel I've gotten my money's worth.  

KarmikazeKidd said:

I can't blame someone for bargain hunting, but wargaming just isn't the hobby for it.  A competitor to my store opened up two years ago because our store doesn't often offer discounts.  So they opened a store, tried to maintain online prices, and convinced the players from our store that never bought anything from us to start hanging out there.  Once they realized to keep their doors open, they couldn't sell everything for the prices of the online stores, they had a store full of people playing games that hadn't bought them there.  This coming Saturday is the last day they'll be open.  Aside from fracturing the gaming community and hurting our sales when they opened and now while they're dumping all their assets, they accomplished nothing.  We don't often do sales here because we want to keep the place open and offer a place to play for those who are supportive of that.  They thought they could do something better than our 'Old and dirty store' and bought new fixtures and went to a very high priced location…

 This thread has got me feeling very guilty for buying from Miniature Market.

Budgernaut said:

KarmikazeKidd said:

KarmikazeKidd said:

Please step down from thy fanciful steed, sir; not everyone has a LGS.

Not everyone is made of money, either.

photogasm said:

 I never feel bad consciously on my decision to buy or not by from my local game store. It comes natural to me, and my theory on the matter is this-the could honestly care less about where I earned my buck from so I could care less about theirs. I've played other games and bargain hunted because honestly this is my hobby, times are tough, and I'm a broke college student.

That being said.

When I don't buy product I usually buy concession as that's one of the bigger forms of profit for my store. And when it comes to X-Wing I have an online order of a starter and few expansions on the way…went to the store and upon impulse bought a second expansion (which I knew I'd get anyway) and some expansions because my friend who plays wasn't there. Sort of a mutual agreement, they know they get me on impulse 75% of the time, though when I think in my right mind I would never pay for something I can get for nearly half the price online. Regardless both my store and me are happy about X-Wing. Good game, steep prices.

KarmikazeKidd said:

No I didn't, and I don't need to; you're being self-righteous unduly and very judgmental. 

In any event, this is going nowhere.

photogasm said:

While this is certainly true - and I rarely do this with RPGs - I don't live in the US. This means online orders comes with added fees: customs and taxes (in addition to shipping) for importing tiny plastic bits and cardboard (books on the other hand are tax free), at which point the order has to be very large to actually "save" money. Of course I haven't really saved money, because I spent more than I intended by buying online (sure I'd pay more for the same quanta in the LGS but that's beside the point).

Anyway, I only really wanted to say I enjoyed the game and more cash will find its way towards the FFG treasure trove, about the price thing… well. We have oil wells in our backyards over here, so I guess I shouldn't complain - even if I'm a broke university student.