This is a Limited Edition Game

If it is a limited edition, then I suggest to everyone reading from this message board to go out and buy a copy of this game now.  Trust me, within 5 years this game will be selling for $200-$300 dollars on ebay.

@Cmdr:

Limited Edition means the game will die out.  It will have too since boards will break, people will lose interest, and there won’t be new buyers or new boards. (By boards I include pieces, organizers, boxes, etc).

Seems to me a rather stupid idea to make it limited edition.

I agree.  I can’t understand why they would do this??  What does AH/WOTC have to benefit from making this L.E.?

well I guess there won’t be an “interest” in the game if sales are down when the shelves are empty.  Seems to be they put a self-distruct system in place for the marketing department.

LT

Yea, that’s what I was thinking.  Stopping the printing of AA:50 is like suddenly deciding not to make any more chess boards. (which would also mean no more checker boards since they have the same board but different pieces.)

It’s also like the Catholics suddenly deciding that they don’t need to buy Bibles anymore.  Or fish committing suicide en mass by jumping out of the water and into the boats of fishermen the world wide!

“Hey, buddy, you catch all them fish?”

“Nope, talked them into giving up!”

1: Is this sure?…I mean Kreig, are you sure about that?

2: Does i have to wait for selling my other copy of the game…i just received my copy from coolstuff:P

Yeah but…do you think that this information is ok?..Is Larry informed?

Well that’s a little discouraging, though considering that the Chinese manufacturing sector just took a nose dive, I can’t say its all that surprising.

If we want this franchise to have a real future they need to make a serious investment in a console/PC translation. Not a one trick pony like the Hasbro CD, or an unrelated game like the RTS one, but a for real game engine that has some staying power. This latest rendition really is too complicated to expect a lot of new players to show out for it (people who never played the other boards), so we need some sort of new introduction to hook the youngblood.

A decent computer/console game is easily 10 times as important for our longevity, as any amount of Anniversary Editions, or new tactical games like Guadalcanal, D-Day and the like. Either that or you need to re-release classic as some sort of Nostalgia deal (like they’re always doing for Monopoly and Risk), and push it really hard. Otherwise we’re going to wake up one day and the only people playing will be the older timers. Recommend Age 25-40? Not really what we need you know :)

I vote we go digital. Its easier to playtest, modify, and market than the plastic and cardboard variety. And we could still put out the boards once we know that they’re going to be successful (eg once they’ve been tested and well received by our digital crowd.) We need to bring this thing into the Futurama.

Recommend Age 25-40? Not really what we need you know :)

Hahaha good one Black  :mrgreen:

It would not surprise me if it was limited edition. But Larry, if you are reading, great work! Best edition yet, all shortcomings aside! :-D

I do not believe that making this game a computer/console game may increase the number of person that would play A&A.
The principal problem of making A&A a computer game is the AI, having a good AI is difficult. So we should rely on human players.

Personally I think that the best solution would be a browser game with more flexibility than GameTable Online to exploit online communities an forums that are one ofthe great interest in A&A.

I agree.  I can’t understand why they would do this??  What does AH/WOTC have to benefit from making this L.E.?

Easy.  By making A&A:50 limited edition, WOTC is expecting the game will appeal to a select, core audience.  And they’re right.  A&A:50 is aimed towards people who have played A&A, who own it, and who enjoy playing on a semi-regular basis.  We all agreed on it in a recent poll we had: Who does A&A:50 cater to, Veterans or Newbies?

I would not expect players who have never played A&A to run out and buy the game.  A&A:50 cost $100, and for many gamers that investment is too much.  Chances are they rather have the Classic or Revised edition.  It’s cheaper, the rules are easier to learn, and it’s more easy to find.

Wizards, like all companies, does what makes sense to them from an economics standpoint.  Sure they could print more copies of A&A:50 and sell them for less, but they could also print less copies and sell them at a higher price.  It all comes down to what makes them the most overall profit.

Secondly, calling something “Limited Edition” is really a great marketing ploy.  The truth is, we want what we can’t have.  And we love to horde what’s no longer readily available.  By making the game “Limited Edition,” it pushes the customer’s impulses to buy the game now, rather than losing out on it later.  Having something called “Limited Edition” makes us feel special, part of the elite.  I know it’s a selfish way of looking at it, but it’s true.  Also collectors, who may not play A&A too often, can’t afford to pass this deal up.  Isn’t that the same basic premise that they use on Home Shopping Networks?

Finally, from a manufacturing standpoint, it costs far less to print the game all once rather than have a continuous printing where the same number of copies are printed over time.

Moses, and then what about the quality of the miniatures? A serious way of doing a limited edition, celebrative, and high price game in my IMHO is to do it almost perfect, with high quality components and maybe also making a great marketing.
Wizard would like to have the advantage of the limited edition while accepting low quality level.

I was told at the comicbook store where I bought my copy that is was limited edition. She said she heard that from her vendor. That Revised would come back as the main AA.

Romulus,

What about the miniatures?  What you suggested is what should’ve been done, but do you think Wizards/Hasbro/Avalon really cares?  Here’s exactly what they’re thinking,

Dear Gullible Customers,

"Starting this year we will be releasing installments of Axis and Allies by theater of conflict.  We will start with the China-Burma theater, followed by Western Europe and the South Pacific… We will conclude with the North African Front, sometime in 2015.  The cost per installment will be $59.99.  The total print run is set at 10,000, so buy now before our inventories are gone.  All marketing will be handled by the chomps at Axis&Allies.org gratis.

Starting with the South Pacific we will no longer include pieces or dice with the game.  You may order additional copies of the first two installments if you so wish to replace missing/broken pieces.  Your years of support and goodwill mean little to us; we only want your dollars.  Don’t complain, we ARE Axis and Allies.  You are addicted to us."

I do not believe that making this game a computer/console game may increase the number of person that would play A&A.

I don’t know man, I have to question your belief on that one then. :D

AI is not the issue for a computer game. A “decent” AI is a given for the game to be successful with neophytes, but its the solid support for multiplayer online gaming that’s really important. The AI doesn’t need to be awesome, it just needs to be good enough to introduce players to the system.

Gametable and TripleA style games are not going to cut it if we’re serious about attracting new players, and want to really wow the players we already have. What we need is a real computer game, and a real game engine designed for the long haul. Once you have an online community established, and good game for people to organize around, then you can use them to gather feedback and test design concepts for the actual board. This is the main benefit of going digital, because you don’t have to order 1000 molds of unit X, or print an edition of board design Y before you know if the idea is even going to be popular among the core fans. With the computer you can do all this and playbalance the set up with a large group of testers, before committing to the final changes. You just can’t do that anywhere near as effectively with Face to Face tournaments, which take longer and require more overhead to set up. The way they do it right now makes no sense at all to me, given what’s possible.

Sometimes I wonder how many people are even shown the rules and the set up, before it gets sent off to the printers. 10 or 20 people in a room brainstorming? Maybe if you’re lucky you can get a couple hundred to show up and give decent feedback. With a computer game we could increase those numbers by an order of ten over night, and make it a lot easier involve veteran players in the feedback process. Frankly I’ll be annoyed if we see another tactical board game like a “Stalingrad” or “A Battle of Britain” take precedence over a PC/Console/Online Community game. We need to start laying the foundations for tomorrow already. Putting out a computer game will increase sales of the board games, its just that simple. If your market research isn’t showing this, then you need to hire a better research team.

Seriously 1997 was eleven years ago, when are we going to get a new CD already? Like why didn’t AAPacific and AAEurope come out as expansions to the Hasbro CD? The whole point of going digital in the first place, is so that you can easily update and build on what you’ve already started.

@Black_Elk:

Well that’s a little discouraging, though considering that the Chinese manufacturing sector just took a nose dive, I can’t say its all that surprising

:?  Is that really a possible cause?  I didn’t hear about that happening, so either I’m living under a rock or there are so many things going on right now that it’s hard to remember what’s what.

About the game, I think Wizards just doesn’t want to invest in this game… they spent nothing advertising and are shipping just enough so that the first run will sell out.  Looks like they don’t want to be taking any risks.

I am thinking about buying a spare now, since I would be able to make massive profit 5 years from now… unless of course, they release the Axis and Allies Deluxe Edition which makes this obsolete, or something.

I agree that Axis and Allies needs to be turned into a good PC game with a nice engine

It should have a nice map editor too, one where you can make your own maps, set IPC values, program events
If that existed, it would not matter whetehr A&A was a great board game, becasue it would be such a hit PC game,
I consider myself a harcore PC gamer, and I could easly see something like this becoming a competive game among people who have never even heard of A&A

@Emperor_Taiki:

I agree that Axis and Allies needs to be turned into a good PC game with a nice engine

It should have a nice map editor too, one where you can make your own maps, set IPC values, program events
If that existed, it would not matter whetehr A&A was a great board game, becasue it would be such a hit PC game,
I consider myself a harcore PC gamer, and I could easly see something like this becoming a competive game among people who have never even heard of A&A

I dunno, it’s all about flashy graphics and short attention span friendly gameplay.  Even most strategy games, RTS games, are more going through hand motions than actually doing strategy.  Then again, there is a market for that type of game.  I’m just not sure it would be a hit, especially a computer game with virtual dice  :-( They could hide the dice off-screen though.

I dunno, it’s all about flashy graphics and short attention span friendly gameplay.  Even most strategy games, RTS games, are more going through hand motions than actually doing strategy.  Then again, there is a market for that type of game.  I’m just not sure it would be a hit, especially a computer game with virtual dice   They could hide the dice off-screen though.

Why on earth would they hide the dice?  :-D

The whole point is to recreate the Face to Face experience, with a computer. Complete with chatting and dice rolling and cards and such. It should look like the ultimate war room that we all have in our heads, but it should play exactly like the board games. Yes, with all the flashy graphics, cool looking units, medals, historical photos, and jazz like that. A classy and intuitive user interface, with a way to link up with other players online. Hold tournaments, encourage player guilds and online accounts… things that they do for computer games all the time these days.

It has to be the board games though. A computer translation of the board games experience. Not some RTS click fest, that bares no resemblance to the game we all play. You have to do what they did for Monopoly and Risk and Trivial Pursuit. I don’t see why it should be so difficult. The games are already designed, they just needs to be polished up and given the digital flare they deserve. :-)