We love the game and we love its community. And we hope it shows. We do weekly, multi-hour shows, and this does require a certain amount of sacrifice on our parts. I'm very grateful for the response we've had over the course of our run; it's made the effort well worth it. And there are so many terrific podcasts now, I can no longer keep up on all the ones I'd like to listen to! We're in a Golden Age when it comes to X-Wing content, with podcasts and streams and boards that fulfill all needs and tastes. When I started playing, there was a sliver of what we have now, and it's great to not be starved for X-Wing related material. It reminds me of television: when I was young, we watched all sorts of garbage. Now, we have the luxury of carefully selecting which of the quality content we're going to fill out limited hours with. Regarding our Patreon, thank you so much patrons. We're currently putting every last penny back into fulfillment or saving up for equipment to provide more for our listeners. And our regular listeners know that I'm not one to cater to a specific audience OR run out of topics, so Kessel Run can put those fears to rest For those of you who have stated that we've been off our game or off the rails of late, it's likely my fault. I've had a rough go of it for some time now, with multiple family deaths and yet another familial terminal illness currently drawing my attentions. The X-Wingers that knew about this have been a tremendous source of support and encouragement, and I will be always thankful for it. And there was that infamous episode, where I was *actually* angry at Farmer, and it bled into the show. I apologize for those times that I've let you down, and I'm endeavoring to Podcast Better. Toward that goal, I am and always have been completely open to specific criticism. Vague and undefined negativity doesn't help me get any better. I'd greatly appreciate specific comments on what you do or don't enjoy about the show. I can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, but I always do carefully contemplate all feedback. You can do it publicly or via PM if you're confrontation adverse. Never worry about hurting my feelings; I'm a big boy!

Our Patreon numbers are noise!

Thanks OP. This thread is a good reminder. You quote the excitement of improving in our squadron motto, and the first reply is my comic which I never tire of seeing resurface. OVERWHELMING FUN! Let's not worry about competition and balance in this thread (we've got plenty of others for that), and remember the joy of PEW PEW

One of our Mynocks somehow managed to win Bakersfield store champs with 3 Strikers and a Hux Shuttle...

Thanks. I get static every time I dare suggest that TLT is unbalanced. Your turn!

Oh, and Luke (DTF + R2-D2) was extremely competitive through Wave 3 (before Whisper). There's a 44% chance that Luke's ability procs, EVERY time he's shot at. 58% at range 3. I do hope we get a new Episode VIII Luke. Who knows if he steps into a fighter though...

First, you can't point at Biggs and say X-Wings are in the game. The issue is that there isn't much of a place for straight jousters in the game. Between Whisper, turrets (TLT in particular), and ordnance (am I missing anything else?) how do you "fix" the X-Wing to competitive levels? Integrated Astromech was at least 4 squad points of free value, and it still wasn't enough. How far can you push it? We all saw what happened with x7 Defenders. WHAT HAPPENS TO BIGGS?? I'm sure a fix is possible. It's just crazy tricky.

Whoops, sorry double post.

Alekzanter and mkevans80, I feel yas. I just had 3 games at store champs today that were so many standard deviations off the mean that it made me want to quit playing competitively altogether. The worst is when your RED variance goes into the septic tank. I had Jess Pava (while focused) roll blank into blank 11 consecutive times (many of which would have been kill shots). Declaring "75 percent!" each time did not help at all LOL. The worst is when you start tallying the odds. I've never hit 14 million to 1 against (is that exaggeration?), but I have hit 7 figures before. I've had a total of 3 runs that I've tracked into deep 6 digits. I do this to make sure that I'm not just falling victim to recency, confirmation, or other kind of bias, but it truly scorches the soul when actual math mocks you. I'm with J Wilder. You do have to build AND fly better. And also roll better. You gotta be good and lucky at the same time to win. And I'm not superstitious cerebrally, but I'm totally superstitious viscerally. I was using some prize dice that were just awful to me for months on end, to the point where my X-Wing bestie asked me why I kept using them. I replied, "If I love them hard enough, eventually they will love me back." Then they went on a magical run into cut at the first Hoth Open, then a Regional win. And now I'm mediocre again. Wilder's right. Before I went on those runs, I strategized and played non-stop. Now, I play maybe 2 games a week. You make most of your own luck. You gotta shake off bad dice, and focus on the aspects that you can improve. And if you list build AND fly flawlessly, and STILL get dumped a loss, you have to just accept fate. The dice don't lie.

I know who Kraytvented the Illumanti. The core conspirators are HGGGHK *choke* ghhhku...ahhhhh....

No need to be nice. I consider 'nice' and 'polite' to be dirty words. I hope you saw my apology post, and I take everything to heart. Constructive criticism is always greatly appreciated. What would make you a listener?

There's always a disconnect when it comes to nerf talks. From a design standpoint, discussing problems with the game is entirely legitimate. Competitively, I'm right there with BioPhysical. Fly Better. Find a way to beat the brokenness, even if it means joining the brokenness and tweaking it to be even better. These should be discrete, separate conversations, but they bleed over. When people complain about complainers by telling them to get better/gud, that's not helpful. Conversely, when players blame 'brokenness' for their losses, that's not profitable. Design-wise, Biggs is a tough one. I appreciate the "if you nerf him, Rebels collapse" perspective, but is perpetuating a corrupted platform the correct choice? I'd rather bite the bullet, take my medicine, and then look forward to FFG beefing up Rebel content to match the other factions.

Nope! We're never in a state of being fine Farmer is family to me, and we're constantly in a state of (occasionally constructive) familial mutual antagonism, which is what Farmer is referring to as fine. What we are is good. What happened is that I was extremely irritated at him a few hours before recording, and it spilled over. Completely unprofessional of me, and I apologize to both Ryan and our listeners.

+1 I need to start doing up ship/upgrade writeups, and that would be a pretty handy resource.

Assuming we take this anecdote at face value, I think this is the wrong attitude. Hanging out with smart people makes you smarter, and I relish time with people more intelligent than me. Look at it this way - we're impatient and short when dealing with people that we deem stupid. Well, that works both ways... We should humble ourselves if it means an opportunity to learn.