While the decision was made based on customer requests and actions, I have to say that sales of the Ship Card packs on e23 have been mixed. The ones with new color cards have been good. The ones of the high resolution, re-edited color ones that were in early Communiques have not paid for SVC's time (in my opinion). Five packs of the Gorn cards sold, and after e23 takes its cut, that isn't much when you consider that SVC spent several hours doing it, I spent several hours checking them, SVC and I spent an hour making changes, and it probably took me nearly an hour to do the announcements. That doesn't count Mike West's time checking them or Leanna's to get them to e23. That would be at least 9 man-hours to produce something that brought in less than $25.
While SVC made the decision based on what he heard from customers, I would have to suggest to SVC that this change would have to be financially beneficial to the company and I feel sure that Leanna would agree. Nine man-hours that would bring in $100 to the company or the same amount of time bringing in $25 -- what would you choose in my shoes?
Gentlemen, the company needs to stay in business. No matter how crass it sounds, that means we need to bring in money. I cannot in good faith advise SVC to print color Ship Cards in Communique when he has requests for the low-toner ones and it kills sales. I cannot change the requests from customers. Only you can change the sales and prove me wrong.
Don't get me wrong -- the change in Communique was driven by customer requests. It just happens to back neatly into marketing which is driven by customer decisions on e23.
New Hailing Frequencies
Moderators: mjwest, Albiegamer
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JimDauphinais
- Commander
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- Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:33 pm
- Location: Chesterfield, MO
I think we all want ADB to do whatever it needs to do to cover its costs and stay in business. If that means only low toner ship cards in Communique with the color versions later being offered via e23 or some other means, I do not think that is unreasonable.
So, what I am saying is that I don't think you did many of us a favor by moving to low toner cards for Communique, but I don't have a problem with the change if it is ultimately necessary for business reasons.
So, what I am saying is that I don't think you did many of us a favor by moving to low toner cards for Communique, but I don't have a problem with the change if it is ultimately necessary for business reasons.
Jim Dauphinais, Chesterfield, MO
St. Louis Area Fed Comm Group: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/STL ... Commander/
St. Louis Area Fed Comm Group: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/STL ... Commander/
Whilst the lack of color cards in Communique is obvioulsy a downer, It makes sense to keep the color cards for e23 and is what I thought was the driver. So I'm not complaining, though the intial reasoning seems dubious for the reasons Jim said earlier.
As to what has sold on e23 so far, no surprise for me. I think I said something similar in a past thread, from my perspective I couldn't see simply putting up existing cards doing that well, no where near as well as new cards (or cards that require someone having cap logs).
On the other hand, I assume those gorns or whatever on e23 need no further (or very little) effort or investment from you, so every sale, even if they come in slowly, is pure 'profit' at some point. Whereas hard copies require further time and investment every time you need to reprint/restock/reship etc. Bit like royalties - over a small period it may not seem worth it for the initial time spent, but over time the constant slow drip makes it nicer.
Mm, just went on e23 to see what was in the gorn pack - nothing I don't already have. However, I noticed the Klingon pack is stuff that is all new. Must have missed that one - need to go and purchase that!!
[edit] purchased.
As to what has sold on e23 so far, no surprise for me. I think I said something similar in a past thread, from my perspective I couldn't see simply putting up existing cards doing that well, no where near as well as new cards (or cards that require someone having cap logs).
On the other hand, I assume those gorns or whatever on e23 need no further (or very little) effort or investment from you, so every sale, even if they come in slowly, is pure 'profit' at some point. Whereas hard copies require further time and investment every time you need to reprint/restock/reship etc. Bit like royalties - over a small period it may not seem worth it for the initial time spent, but over time the constant slow drip makes it nicer.
Mm, just went on e23 to see what was in the gorn pack - nothing I don't already have. However, I noticed the Klingon pack is stuff that is all new. Must have missed that one - need to go and purchase that!!
[edit] purchased.
Last edited by storeylf on Sun Dec 12, 2010 4:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Just to reinforce Jean's comments, the low-toner cards came about by a two step process.
The first step is that someone (forgot who) created some low-toner ship cards that Steve went and made accessible on Commanders' Circle. He was genuinely impressed with the response to the low-toner cards, and people definitely responded to them. That is why he started making more available.
The second step was the e23 sales Jean mentioned. That is probably the driver for the full change over. However, please understand that without the push from customers in the first place, this part would likely not have occurred. There would have been no change over, as there would have been nothing to change to.
The first step is that someone (forgot who) created some low-toner ship cards that Steve went and made accessible on Commanders' Circle. He was genuinely impressed with the response to the low-toner cards, and people definitely responded to them. That is why he started making more available.
The second step was the e23 sales Jean mentioned. That is probably the driver for the full change over. However, please understand that without the push from customers in the first place, this part would likely not have occurred. There would have been no change over, as there would have been nothing to change to.
Federation Commander Answer Guy
-
Carthaginian
- Lieutenant SG
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:12 am
Lack of color = No big deal
B&W cards are cheaper for me to print and are just as good to play on as color cards once laminated. Color cards are awesome, but they are optional. While I might miss the free color cards, I will not grieve- it is not logical.
ADB gives me a new scenario, 3-5 new ships, and a product update on the tenth of every month... in fact, that's how I know that the bills will be coming in soon.
WotC has NEVER given me anything like that, even after several years on the Saga boards. Heck, when the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide was released, they were angry that many of us players called them out on not having the promised campaign included in the book. They fought us for weeks before reluctantly publishing one online... and then specified that it wasn't because they felt we were owed anything, but rather that they were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.
Catalyst doesn't give out the free stuff very much either. Granted, I only got into Battletech while I was deployed to Iraq in '03... but I only occasionally see Catalyst put out free game material. FWIW, Catalyst has exactly 5 Battletech 'freebies' out in the Battlestore ATM- a campaign, 2 counter packs, a product summary and a 'command cards'-like play aid. They have a lot of $0.95 counter packs as well- but those aren't free. They also have a page with a lot of free play aids and a single (and 2 editions old) sourcebook as well... but not nearly as much as what ADB has done in Communique.
ADB is the ONLY game company that I have seen in my 31 years that hands out any appreciable amount of free material for their product. So, Color or B&W isn't an issue.
Customer Service, however, IS.
ADB lives up to the 'service after the sale' promise better than any other company. That is why they get my money, and why I hope my wife will one day decide she likes FedCom enough to serve as more than just a counter-mover.
B&W cards are cheaper for me to print and are just as good to play on as color cards once laminated. Color cards are awesome, but they are optional. While I might miss the free color cards, I will not grieve- it is not logical.
ADB gives me a new scenario, 3-5 new ships, and a product update on the tenth of every month... in fact, that's how I know that the bills will be coming in soon.
WotC has NEVER given me anything like that, even after several years on the Saga boards. Heck, when the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide was released, they were angry that many of us players called them out on not having the promised campaign included in the book. They fought us for weeks before reluctantly publishing one online... and then specified that it wasn't because they felt we were owed anything, but rather that they were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.
Catalyst doesn't give out the free stuff very much either. Granted, I only got into Battletech while I was deployed to Iraq in '03... but I only occasionally see Catalyst put out free game material. FWIW, Catalyst has exactly 5 Battletech 'freebies' out in the Battlestore ATM- a campaign, 2 counter packs, a product summary and a 'command cards'-like play aid. They have a lot of $0.95 counter packs as well- but those aren't free. They also have a page with a lot of free play aids and a single (and 2 editions old) sourcebook as well... but not nearly as much as what ADB has done in Communique.
ADB is the ONLY game company that I have seen in my 31 years that hands out any appreciable amount of free material for their product. So, Color or B&W isn't an issue.
Customer Service, however, IS.
ADB lives up to the 'service after the sale' promise better than any other company. That is why they get my money, and why I hope my wife will one day decide she likes FedCom enough to serve as more than just a counter-mover.
Well, it doesn't really matter if you put your left leg into your pants first or your right leg. What matters is that you end up wearing your pants on the lower part of your body.What this probably means for me is that SVC won't include the color cards in Communique for me to check and that means I will have trouble finding my BTTYs which seem to always stray away from the flock of power boxes.
By the way, the older Ship Cards take a good chunk of time to be "Jeaned". PH1s become PH-1s; 360 gets its degree sign, the weapons track gets arranged to make me happy (A B C 1 2 3 X Y Z), titles get italicized, notes get changed to the current standard, "windshields" on the shuttles get turned gold, and bunches more. (SVC is so well trained now that he tries to catch most of what I always want changed before I even get the cards.) There is a reason that one of my nicknames at ADB is "She Who Gets What She Wants" and I want the Ship Cards to meet current standards.
And don't forget the counters are new. Those are mostly SVC and Mike West magic with me sometimes saying "How come they are numbered 5, 7, 8?"
I used to think that these things were just whipped out in a few minutes, but I've come to realize while working with SVC and Petrick how time-consuming they are.
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
-
Steve Cole
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3846
- Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:24 pm
All of the windshields on both color and B&W are green lines, and the color cards have gold inside the green lines.
The internal decision process was probably about 80% "players say they want the LTs" and then remainder was 50-50 between...
If we convert to low toner, we can sell the color ones on e23
and
Players want the LTs but we can make the color ones available via e23.
For what it's worth, I got five email complaints that the ones in Comm 60 were color not LT (I'll fix that when I can) and not a single comment that "oh boy, they're in color this time". The only BBS post I saw was "uh, Steve, you screwed up and uploaded the wrong file" without comment on which way he preferred.
We will press on with both types. I have converted cards 1-80 to LT and will proceed with the next set probably after Jean's visit, and I will proceed with getting one or two color packs put on e23 per week. The Tholian and Orion packs were 90% done when I had to focus 100% on CL42 and I will try to wrap them up this week.
The internal decision process was probably about 80% "players say they want the LTs" and then remainder was 50-50 between...
If we convert to low toner, we can sell the color ones on e23
and
Players want the LTs but we can make the color ones available via e23.
For what it's worth, I got five email complaints that the ones in Comm 60 were color not LT (I'll fix that when I can) and not a single comment that "oh boy, they're in color this time". The only BBS post I saw was "uh, Steve, you screwed up and uploaded the wrong file" without comment on which way he preferred.
We will press on with both types. I have converted cards 1-80 to LT and will proceed with the next set probably after Jean's visit, and I will proceed with getting one or two color packs put on e23 per week. The Tholian and Orion packs were 90% done when I had to focus 100% on CL42 and I will try to wrap them up this week.
The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander
-
Steve Cole
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3846
- Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:24 pm
And Communique #61 is available here: http://www.federationcommander.com/Comm ... ue-61R.pdf
We have included several new items in this issue.
New Scenario: 8CM49 Shifting Sands
New Ship Card: Large Troop Transport
Revised Ship Card: Base Station
Omega Ship Card: Trobrin Frigate
Large Format Ship Card: Low-Toner Fed BCF
Requested Ship Card: Fleet Scale Small Armed Freighter
Enjoy!
We have included several new items in this issue.
New Scenario: 8CM49 Shifting Sands
New Ship Card: Large Troop Transport
Revised Ship Card: Base Station
Omega Ship Card: Trobrin Frigate
Large Format Ship Card: Low-Toner Fed BCF
Requested Ship Card: Fleet Scale Small Armed Freighter
Enjoy!
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
Hailing Frequencies for January is now out. This covers all of the SFU games. You can read it here: http://www.federationcommander.com/News ... index.html
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
Hailing Frequencies for February is now out. This covers all of the SFU games. You can read it here: http://www.federationcommander.com/News ... index.html
Communique #62 is also out. http://www.starfleetgames.com/federatio ... que-62.pdf
We have included several new items in this issue.
New Scenario: 8CM50 Blockade of Gamma Epsilon III
New Ship Card: Small Troop Transport
Revised Ship Card: Gorn Strike Cruiser
Special Feature: RRB6 Update List
Large Format Ship Card: Low-Toner Romulan K9R
Communique #62 is also out. http://www.starfleetgames.com/federatio ... que-62.pdf
We have included several new items in this issue.
New Scenario: 8CM50 Blockade of Gamma Epsilon III
New Ship Card: Small Troop Transport
Revised Ship Card: Gorn Strike Cruiser
Special Feature: RRB6 Update List
Large Format Ship Card: Low-Toner Romulan K9R
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
The March Hailing Frequencies is now available. It covers the entire Star Fleet Universe: http://www.federationcommander.com/News ... index.html
Communique #63 is also out: http://www.starfleetgames.com/federatio ... que-63.pdf
NEW IN THIS ISSUE
We have included several new items in this issue.
New Scenario: 8CM51 Mis-Match
New Ship Card: Gorn BDL
Revised Ship Card: Kzinti Light Cruiser
New Ship Card: Prime Corvette
Large Format Ship Card: Low-Toner Kzinti BCH
Communique #63 is also out: http://www.starfleetgames.com/federatio ... que-63.pdf
NEW IN THIS ISSUE
We have included several new items in this issue.
New Scenario: 8CM51 Mis-Match
New Ship Card: Gorn BDL
Revised Ship Card: Kzinti Light Cruiser
New Ship Card: Prime Corvette
Large Format Ship Card: Low-Toner Kzinti BCH
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.