@purplebaron:
Nothing about this image is an error. There’s a reason (as has been discussed elsewhere in this thread) that every single box back image has a not-even-remotely correct setup. It’s because they don’t want to let that information out yet. If they posted a high-resolution picture of the map with the correct setup, there are enough super-excited anal-retentive people on this board (I know, I’m one of them) that we would already have broken down the unit setup to within an infantry or two, and drawn accurate maps of the board. We would already have games in progress on AABattlemaps and tripleA, and people would be stealing their work resources to print out high-res maps on their large format plotters. Some people, having gone to the effort of making bootleg copies would not be inclined to buy the real product. Others who are super excited to see what’s been made will have seen it all, and be less willing to run out and get it right away. They’ll plan to buy it eventually, but in some cases eventually will turn into never. Both of these effects will directly affect their sales. On the other hand, if they build up enthusiasm to a fever pitch with properly timed spoilers, then die hard fans will rush out to buy, and people who are on the fence will get swept up by their friends and the excitement and will make a purchase that they may not otherwise.
Remember, Wizards is selling four things inside the box that you buy:
- The board
- The other physical components (pieces, markers, charts, etc.)
- The rules
- The starting setup
Now, anyone who bought AAP40 will already have the rules, minus some political rules, national objectives, and technology. Those additional rules have been spoiled or can be easily deduced in most cases. Certainly close enough to get a 90% solution
Anybody who has several copies of earlier games (as I’m sure just about everybody on this board does) has enough of the pieces (minus a few Mech Infantry and Tac Bombers that I’m sure they can jury rig out of other parts or painted parts) to provision all powers.
That leaves the board and the starting setup, and a single high-resolution picture of the starting setup would leak that information completely in a matter of hours.
Nothing about this picture is an accident. They showed us exactly what they wanted us to see.
I’m sure they had a professional photographer take ultra-high resolution photographs, and then spent time figuring exactly how much they needed to down-rez it to show what they wanted. Similarly, upon consideration, I think that they had someone familiar with the game set it up deliberately so that 1) all countries (particularly the US and France, since they’re one of the new hooks) are represented, 2) the board is “evocative” of what the board will look like in play without 3) looking anything like the actual setup.
This is a movie trailer. It shows a few big explosions, a couple great one-liners and catchphrases, and makes you want to see the movie/play the game without giving away the farm.
Now, I agree with just about everything here… All I was saying is that to a trained or even mildly educated eye, the board looks kind of ridiculous at times (as promo shots). Like Imperious Leader said though… they probably just don’t care… No… they OBVIOUSLY don’t care. I guess that we need to consider the fact that they don’t really have to care. I mean, they are still selling games. And does it matter to all of us in the long run: NO. We take the game 99.5% for what is inside. That other .4 % is probably the box Art, as we have seen (ha, ha) and the remaining .1% is the back of the box. So all this jabbering really doesn’t matter in practice. It only matters in that it lessens our belief in the company that puts it out there.
I would agree that they do not want to give too much away… that is good marketing. They want to draw interest, as they have with all of us here. And I do believe there are people out there who are already trying to develop strategy, unit placement, map features etc… (many of the people here) and bootlegging is a legitimate problem. They have to protect against that. I don’t think they should give us everything now… In fact I don’t even want it, nor would I take it if it were offered. Unfortunately, not everyone is patient enough to wait. Don’t get me wrong… like everyone else here, I will look for what I can get now, because I know they won’t give us too much.
But for those who are trying to figure every little thing out now… I think you can over analyze a bit too much. For me, most of the fun and excitement is taken away when you see and know too much before the game is in your hands. I don’t know why some people cannot delay their gratification… I for one enjoy doing it. It makes the final experience so much more enjoyable.
I would not totally agree with the statement that, “They have shown us exactly what they want us to see.”, because for my 2-cents I think part of it is ignorance on the part of some dopey chimps at WOTC or Avalon Hill or wherever. But I would say that probably more than 60% is for marketing purposes. My main message was that they coould have at least had someone take an intelligent picture of a plausible setup… it would just show that htey are thourough and interested in details.
However, we have seen in the past that those at WOTC are not totally thourough…