Let's give AMG a cheer up!

[Triangular 1,138]

Hello there! Maybe Star Wars: Armada will benefit if the game will be attended by a studio only developping miniatures games.

Anyhow, let's go to the Facebook page of AMG and show them, that we are an active, vivid community that loves the game and wants them to make it a success! 😀👍

https://www.facebook.com/AtomicMassGames

[Green Knight 9,797]

Handing out accolades is premature.

Let them prove they know what they are doing and care for the game.

[Triangular 1,138]

23 minutes ago, Green Knight said:

Handing out accolades is premature.

Let them prove they know what they are doing and care for the game.

No, it's a polite way of showing, that there exists a community. I want them to know that before they decide how much energy they put in.

[Truthiness 5,705]

45 minutes ago, Green Knight said:

Handing out accolades is premature.

Let them prove they know what they are doing and care for the game.

Saying "hi, we wish you well" is not an accolade. It's a well wish for a game we supposedly all love.

[ninclouse2000 1,061]

I think they’ve been in charge of 1 minis game,  now they’re in charge of three large Star Wars games, 2 of which are prepainted.  I’ll wait and see.  I’m just too skeptical.

[Frimmel 2,597]

36 minutes ago, Truthiness said:

Saying "hi, we wish you well" is not an accolade. It's a well wish for a game we supposedly all love.

Their resume is not extensive enough to be more than fear inducing particularly given the type of game on the resume and given that many of these Atomic guys seem to have designed a game I did not care for on my exposure to it. Well wishes is simply a new hope if you will. He who lives on hope has a slender diet. I have a substantial contribution to my diet tied up in a pre-order based on the idea that I would be fed more in Q1 2021. The present contribution is not palatable without assurances the additional feed will be provided. Also given the nature of this Crisis Protocol game I am quite unsure what it is I will be wishing them well at. 

The reports around employee dismissal suggest having kept the minions who might be necessary for fulfillment of getting the final products in these lines to market while dismissing those who are chiefly responsible for their creation. I have little reason to suspect that any of these three games will continue to look like what we are accustomed to if they in fact continue to exist. 

This news certainly explains why there was no firm word on whether the Clone Wars Armada Starter ships would see individual release. By my reckoning there are four X-wing products, four Legion products, six armada products with another four claimed but not having been shown in a typical announcement article in the pipeline far enough that we should expect their release. These products may mark the end of these product lines. 

What exactly might I be wishing this studio well at? 

[Formynder4 811]

6 minutes ago, Frimmel said:

What exactly might I be wishing this studio well at?

Their development of Armada and hope that the game continues on well. 

[Alzer 1,119]

Many of the names I've heard from AMG are former Privateer Press developers and designers. PP created Warmachine/Hordes which had some of the best competitive rules and gameplay of any minis-wargame I've been involved with. I'm very displeased that FFG is being torn up like this and my friends are losing their jobs. AMG is not at fault for this. Asmodee is, and I'm willing to give AMG a fair shake.

[Truthiness 5,705]

24 minutes ago, Frimmel said:

Their resume is not extensive enough to be more than fear inducing particularly given the type of game on the resume and given that many of these Atomic guys seem to have designed a game I did not care for on my exposure to it. Well wishes is simply a new hope if you will. He who lives on hope has a slender diet. I have a substantial contribution to my diet tied up in a pre-order based on the idea that I would be fed more in Q1 2021. The present contribution is not palatable without assurances the additional feed will be provided. Also given the nature of this Crisis Protocol game I am quite unsure what it is I will be wishing them well at. 

The reports around employee dismissal suggest having kept the minions who might be necessary for fulfillment of getting the final products in these lines to market while dismissing those who are chiefly responsible for their creation. I have little reason to suspect that any of these three games will continue to look like what we are accustomed to if they in fact continue to exist. 

This news certainly explains why there was no firm word on whether the Clone Wars Armada Starter ships would see individual release. By my reckoning there are four X-wing products, four Legion products, six armada products with another four claimed but not having been shown in a typical announcement article in the pipeline far enough that we should expect their release. These products may mark the end of these product lines. 

What exactly might I be wishing this studio well at? 

Most of those sins you list are Asmodee's, not AMG's. I'm sorry you don't care for Crisis Protocol, but not every game a company makes is for everyone. I don't care for X-Wing, but I still love FFG for Armada. I am perfectly capable of hoping AMG does well and being pissed off at Asmodee for treating FFG like garbage. Why? Because I want this game to continue. Period. Am I going to give AMG the benefit of the doubt? Absolutely not. They really need to earn this community's trust, which will be hard given the nature of this change. Do I hope they do well? Absolutely. The alternative is this game dying. By wishing AMG ill, as you seem to want to do, I would be actively rooting for this game to die.

[Frimmel 2,597]

7 minutes ago, Truthiness said:

By wishing AMG ill, as you seem to want to do, I would be actively rooting for this game to die.

I am not wishing them ill. I am however unwilling to greet this news with open arms and cheers and salutations. If Asmodee is the problem here they are not going away. They are simply making the responsibility for cleaning up a problem of their creation that of another of their studios. My FLGS pretty much said I was on my own with regards to getting the Clone Wars Armada and the new X-wing stuff upcoming. He doesn't carry Crisis Protocol either. That is an Asmodee distribution issue. Why should I suspect that to cease because a new studio is in charge of these games?

These sorts of changes don't come about because everything is fine. When things are not fine changes follow. Change is rarely all good and even when good tends to come with pain. Hence my lack of enthusiasm. 

[Madaghmire 7,281]

They come when the parent company is trying to sell off a piece but don't want to part with the profitable star wars license.

[Truthiness 5,705]

6 minutes ago, Frimmel said:

I am not wishing them ill. I am however unwilling to greet this news with open arms and cheers and salutations. If Asmodee is the problem here they are not going away. They are simply making the responsibility for cleaning up a problem of their creation that of another of their studios. My FLGS pretty much said I was on my own with regards to getting the Clone Wars Armada and the new X-wing stuff upcoming. He doesn't carry Crisis Protocol either. That is an Asmodee distribution issue. Why should I suspect that to cease because a new studio is in charge of these games?

These sorts of changes don't come about because everything is fine. When things are not fine changes follow. Change is rarely all good and even when good tends to come with pain. Hence my lack of enthusiasm. 

I think you're mixing up wishing AMG well with enthusiasm for this move. Those are two very different things. And perhaps I'm not being clear. I hope AMG does well with the game, and I have no personal animosity toward them. They are at the whims of Asmodee as much as FFG. I hope they do well with our game simply because I want our game to continue on and even expand.

As for enthusiasm for this move? Absolutely positively not. I hate this move. It has caused friends to lose jobs, disrupts the game at a critical juncture of its viability, and further dismantles a great studio Asmodee seems intent on wrecking.

[Frimmel 2,597]

1 minute ago, Truthiness said:

I think you're mixing up wishing AMG well with enthusiasm for this move. Those are two very different things. And perhaps I'm not being clear. I hope AMG does well with the game, and I have no personal animosity toward them. They are at the whims of Asmodee as much as FFG. I hope they do well with our game simply because I want our game to continue on and even expand.

As for enthusiasm for this move? Absolutely positively not. I hate this move. It has caused friends to lose jobs, disrupts the game at a critical juncture of its viability, and further dismantles a great studio Asmodee seems intent on wrecking.

See. I am not constitutionally capable of wishing folks who put my friends out of work good luck at doing my friends' job. Those folks find themselves in the position of needing to earn more than the most minimal of courtesy which in my case is not wishing them ill. 

[ninclouse2000 1,061]

5 minutes ago, Frimmel said:

See. I am not constitutionally capable of wishing folks who put my friends out of work good luck at doing my friends' job. Those folks find themselves in the position of needing to earn more than the most minimal of courtesy which in my case is not wishing them ill. 

I think your anger and frustration  should be directed at assmodee, not atomic games but to each their own.  Have a good day and I hope those that are into clone wars get all their expansions without a hitch.  

[EBerling 189]

2 hours ago, Madaghmire said:

They come when the parent company is trying to sell off a piece but don't want to part with the profitable star wars license.

Bold of you to assume that Asmodee is looking to sell FFG and keep AMG, and not the other way around.

[Rmcarrier1 629]

My thoughts around this are pretty simple: for Armada to be successful, Atomic Mass must be successful. So needless to say, I'm rooting for their success. I'm hoping (cautiously) that the studio sees this as an opportunity, grabs the reins, and goes for it.

 

*Hearing from Atomic Mass themselves (and not merely Asmodee via press release) would be a start!

Edited November 17, 2020 by Rmcarrier1

[Frimmel 2,597]

45 minutes ago, EBerling said:

Bold of you to assume that Asmodee is looking to sell FFG and keep AMG, and not the other way around.

There's an idea. Maybe throw in Outer Rim, Rebellion, and Imperial Assault (and whatever other Star Wars properties they have) and sell the whole kit and caboodle to Hasboro? 

[Gallanteer 520]

I remain unconvinced by this move to AMG (but very open to being proved wrong). Regardless of the experienced staff the company might have, this is one heck of a jump from supporting a single popular game to adding in 3 extremely large and demanding games - do they have the infrastructure to handle it regardless of the goodwill and intentions?

One thing AMG need to do is get on top of communication and FAST. If they don't rumours will get out of control very quickly with such large existing player bases. One example - their website is dire. Why isn't this news splashed all over it (instead of hidden away like it is).

If this is the result of Asmodee suddenly announcing it to the world and its the first both studios know about it, then shame on them for not thinking about this, or at least stating any form of timescale for this transition in the original announcement.

All business is made or broken by communication, minitures games companies are no different. They need to be very cautious, this could affect preorders if mishandled. The whole Netrunner relaunch and within months shutting it all down because of losing  the license is still vivid - although this is of course completely different. As I stated - all involved need to get on top of better comms extremely quickly.

As an aside, I wonder if Asmodee are gearing up AMG to take on CMON and GW directly.

Edited November 17, 2020 by Gallanteer

[Rmcarrier1 629]

16 minutes ago, Gallanteer said:

One thing AMG need to do is get on top of communication and FAST. If they don't rumours will get out of control very quickly with such large existing player bases. One example - their website is dire. Why isn't this news splashed all over it (instead of hidden away like it is).

Couldn't agree more. I want to hear from Atomic Mass.

[Bertie Wooster 1,897]

40 minutes ago, Rmcarrier1 said:

Couldn't agree more. I want to hear from Atomic Mass.

They gave us...something.

https://www.atomicmassgames.com/starwars-qa

[Bravo Null 90]

It's something alright. It sounds like only small changes are going to happen, AND they're keeping the games!

[GilmoreDK 192]

Rumor has it that Lead Developer Michael Gernes has been laid off...  that is bad news.. he has been working on the game since release .. 

[Rmcarrier1 629]

That's an interesting update.

 Does this mean we should expect changes to X-Wing, Legion, and Armada?

 Will: One of Atomic Mass’ core philosophies is that there is no finish line. We see ourselves on a lifelong journey of learning and improvement. That’s a pretentious way of saying yes (laughs).

 If we’re doing the job right, and staying true to our ethos as a studio, changes will most certainly happen.

Yes, but what changes, exactly? Changes to gameplay? Changes to expansion strategy? Changes to product volume? This update is certainly better than nothing, but it raises more questions than it answers. I wait with baited breath!

[The Jabbawookie 5,747]

43 minutes ago, Rmcarrier1 said:

I wait with baited breath!

Bated.

Freudian slip?

[Frimmel 2,597]

45 minutes ago, Rmcarrier1 said:

That's an interesting update.

 Does this mean we should expect changes to X-Wing, Legion, and Armada?

 Will: One of Atomic Mass’ core philosophies is that there is no finish line. We see ourselves on a lifelong journey of learning and improvement. That’s a pretentious way of saying yes (laughs).

 If we’re doing the job right, and staying true to our ethos as a studio, changes will most certainly happen.

Yes, but what changes, exactly? Changes to gameplay? Changes to expansion strategy? Changes to product volume? This update is certainly better than nothing, but it raises more questions than it answers. I wait with baited breath!

Those remarks from Atomic Mass and the entire situation really bring to mind a story I once heard about Games Workshop. The executive types showed up one day to find all the employees playing the game. The executives lost their heads over this. They did not consider Games Workshop a game company but a model company.

Given the pace of releases for Crisis Protocol has been characterized as "rapid" and that the expansion strategy has been characterized as "power creep" I find myself considering whether or not Atomic Mass considers themselves (or perhaps Asmodee considers Atomic Mass) a model company. 

Does Star Wars: Crisis Protocol seem particularly far-fetched?