We had 34 total ballots cast on approving the Season 3 cards themselves, but out of the 34 ballots, 33 users voted via Google, which included the following surveys about how IACP is going and what people want to see more or less of in the future. We already shared with all of you the results of the Season 3 cards approval vote, so now let’s take a look at the results of the other questions we asked all of you to answer for us.
To give a little context, the Season 3 community vote ran from May 20th to June 5th. The week before, the Season 3 Celebration tournament ran with 14 players, in which the top 4 contained 2 Rebel force user lists, an Imperial Tank list, and a Boba hunters list, so that was likely on the top of people’s minds. We also spoiled that Loku and Bossk would be in Season 4 during the livestream of the tournament. On May 29th, midway through the community vote, we unveiled the new format for how playtesting and approved periods would be handled, along with a complete list of dates for when future content would be released and updated for season 4 and season 5.
Probably the most important thing for us to know is that people are having fun playing Imperial Assault skirmish. It looks like that was the case for season 3. Imperial Assault skirmish is already an amazing game on its own, and the last thing the IACP wants to do is make skirmish less fun for people.
This is something the committee is always trying to remain cognizant of, as we realize that too many changes can overwhelm people that are just joining the project for the first time, and for people that are more casual players. While the vast majority of you said that the current number of changes was fine, a notable number did say that we are currently doing too much at a time.
I will say that for season 4, the committee will not be reducing the number of new cards, however we are hoping that the combination of a slightly longer season, along with a slower reveal process over 4 weeks rather than all at once, will help those who’ve felt the changes have been too many with processing all of the new content and feeling like they were able to play with it all within the time frame of the season.
Acceptable Methods of Change
| In your opinion, which of the following methods are acceptable ways to modify Imperial Assault through IACP to make the game more enjoyable for you and others? | Votes | Vote% |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment cards: Cost decreases or increases | 30 | 90.91% |
| Deployment cards: Creating new cards to replace or use as an alternative to existing cards | 29 | 87.88% |
| Deployment cards: Create new deployments not previously created by FFG | 29 | 87.88% |
| Organized Play: A once-per-year “IACP Worlds” in-person play event held at a large gaming convention (once it is safe to do so) | 27 | 81.82% |
| Deployment cards: Modifying existing card abilities and stats | 26 | 78.79% |
| Command cards: Create new cards not previously created by FFG | 26 | 78.79% |
| Organized Play: Worldwide & regional rankings for competitive play | 26 | 78.79% |
| Command cards: Cost decreases or increases | 25 | 75.76% |
| Command cards: Create new cards to replace or use as an alternative to existing cards | 25 | 75.76% |
| Organized Play: Physical kits containing IACP alt-art cards, acrylic tokens, dice trays & other prizes to facilitate in-person play | 24 | 72.73% |
| Other | 24 | 72.73% |
| Command cards: Modify existing cards | 23 | 69.70% |
| Skirmish Maps: Create new scenarios for existing skirmish maps (C and D) | 23 | 69.70% |
| Organized Play: Leagues or single-day events that charge money for participation prizes & extra prizes for top players | 23 | 69.70% |
| Organized Play: A “Competitive Season” where there are no Playtest cards that lasts at least 3 months | 22 | 66.67% |
| Skirmish Maps: Create new skirmish maps | 21 | 63.64% |
| Rules: Create new design space in existing rules (e.g. a new trait; a new Beneficial/Harmful condition) | 19 | 57.58% |
| Campaign: Create new campaign content (e.g. Imperial or Mercenary “heroes”, campaigns set in timeline shared with The Mandalorian) | 17 | 51.52% |
| Campaign: Modify existing FFG campaign content for balance (e.g. recommend “IACP Approved” changes to Core Set content to prevent power creep when Rebels or Imperials win several scenarios in a row) | 15 | 45.45% |
| Skirmish Maps: Modify existing setup & missions on roll-up maps made by FFG for competitive balance (e.g. increase cover on Nal Hutta Swamps) | 14 | 42.42% |
| Organized Play: Events that use no IACP Approved changes (“FFG Meta” only) | 13 | 39.39% |
| Rules: Modify existing FAQ rulings from FFG | 12 | 36.36% |
| Rules: Modify core ruleset and/or create new core rules (e.g. changing 40/15/15 Deployment & Command card limits; change how Focus is implemented) | 9 | 27.27% |
We asked you all to tell us which methods for modifying the game you all are okay with, and by inverse vote, which methods you’re not okay with. There’s a lot of different opinions out there about what are the best ways to improve a game like Imperial Assault, but it’s important that the methods we use stay inline with what the majority of the community wants to see.
As IACP has already been using a lot of these methods to change the game, I think especially important to look at are the methods we haven’t tried yet, though we also wanted to make sure people had a chance to tell us about the methods we’ve already been using.
Some of these methods have already been deployed, and thankfully a majority of the community, over 65%, already approved of us introducing a longer 3 month period of approved play, and 78% percent approved of worldwide rankings, which was introduced as the Squad Commander Series. 69% of voters approved of paid entry single-day online tournaments with participation and top cut prizes, and Isaac has been doing an amazing job on the Vassal Seasonal tournament series, working with independent artists and photoshop to create awesome looking alt-arts and prizes for these types of premiere level tournaments.
It seems less of you are interested in us adding new traits or conditions to the game, though there is still a majority there. Thankfully only about half of you want us to change or create new content for campaign. And it seems the majority of you are not okay with us messing with the core rules of the game, or FFG’s established FAQs, or interested in ever going back to a pre-IACP format of the game in Organized Play.
What type of Content do you want to see or not see in future Seasons?
| Most Popular Potential Changes | Wanted for Next or Later Season (combined) | Avoid as Season Content Votes |
|---|---|---|
| [Improve Trandoshans & Bossk] | 29 | 0 |
| [Create new Deployments from Rogue One] | 26 | 2 |
| [Create new Deployments from The Mandalorian] | 25 | 2 |
| [Improve Troopers released before Jabba’s Realm] | 23 | 1 |
| [Create “C & D” Scenarios for Existing Maps] | 23 | 4 |
| [Make E-Webs playable in competitive Skirmish] | 22 | 1 |
| [Improve Heavy Weapons with modified and/or new Command cards] | 22 | 1 |
| [Create new Deployments from the Original Trilogy (e.g. Governor Tarkin, Admiral Akbar, Garindan)] | 22 | 1 |
| [Create new Skirmish Maps] | 21 | 5 |
| [Create new Deployments from Episodes 7-9] | 19 | 7 |
| [New Deployments for Ewoks] | 19 | 5 |
| [Improve melee characters] | 18 | 2 |
| [Improve Rebel Campaign Heroes] | 18 | 0 |
| [Create Skirmish Upgrades to improve specific groups of Deployment cards (e.g. a “Spectre Cell”-like card for Rebel heroes that appeared in A New Hope)] | 17 | 8 |
| [Improve Tusken Raiders & Bantha Rider] | 17 | 3 |
| [Modify existing or create new Command cards to increase movement for melee figures] | 17 | 3 |
| [Improve Massive Vehicles] | 17 | 5 |
| [Improve Guardians] | 16 | 5 |
| [Create new Clone Wars Deployments (using existing factions)] | 15 | 8 |
| [Create new Clone Wars Deployments (with new factions)] | 15 | 8 |
| [Create new Deployments from Legends materials (e.g. Mara Jade, Kyle Katarn) ] | 15 | 7 |
| [Improve Spies] | 15 | 5 |
These were the most popular options with people, ranked starting with the most popular at the top. We asked people about 35 different options. These were the most popular, along with the number of votes from people that didn’t want to see these as future season content. Many of the most popular options from this list will be appearing in Season 4 as we poll the community about what they want to see in future seasons often. A couple of options that I was surprised were so popular were people wanting us to create new skirmish maps, and that people still thought that Guardians still needed more help after the cards they got in Season 3. Luckily there were a couple of cards in season 4 that just sort of happened to become Guardian cards naturally based on their lore, though this time they are faction restricted.
Also, ewoks? Huh? (Apparently I do not speak for the rest of the committee on this issue).
| Least Popular Potential Changes | Avoid as Season Content votes | Wanted for Next or Later Season (combined) |
|---|---|---|
| [Remove Smuggler trait from Weequay Pirate (Elite) card] | 17 | 5 |
| [Ban Temporary Alliance] | 17 | 4 |
| [Reduce the power of Focus and Zillo Technique] | 15 | 9 |
| [Ban cards for a 6-12 month period to shake up competative meta] | 15 | 5 |
| [Improve FFG’s nerfed Spectre Cell] | 14 | 6 |
| [Reduce power of Hunters released since Jabba’s Realm] | 12 | 8 |
| [Change the Command card Celebration to be more restrictive or give less VPs] | 12 | 5 |
| [Reduce the power of Jyn Odan (Elite)] | 11 | 8 |
These were the options that were least popular with all of you, though all of them had some number of votes in favor. Unsurprisingly, the common thread among these unpopular ideas is nerfs (weakening a card) and bans.
| Most Disagreed Upon Potential Changes | Wanted for Next or Later Season (combined) | Avoid as Season Content votes |
|---|---|---|
| [Change Gideon to Focus Rebels only] | 12 | 11 |
| [Change the Command card Rebel Graffiti to be more restrictive or give less VPs] | 11 | 11 |
| [Improve Regular deployments to enable more swarm play] | 15 | 10 |
These were the options that were seemingly the most controversial, with 10 or more votes either for or against. A long-standing complaint about the game is that the Rebel care package (Gideon and C-3PO) is too ubiquitous, and an idea that people have put forth is limiting Gideon to Rebel figures only. It seems that Gideon in Scum lists and Sabine’s command card are the 2 things in which just as many people would like to seem them nerfed as would like them to remain untouched.
Before IACP, Gideon and Sabine were ubiquitous figures in both Rebel and Scum lists, but currently we have substantial preliminary data (which I will be sharing soon) which indicates that Gideon is no longer ubiquitous in Scum lists, being played in just 1 out of 4 Scum lists and less often than Jabba, R2D2 and elite Jawa, and Sabine is both unpopular and struggling to win games when she has appeared in lists. We are keen to avoid nerfing cards if we can, as players that enjoy those cards tend to get turned off when their favorite cards get nerfed. As competitive season 3 games continue to play out in tournaments, leagues and casual play, we will continue to monitor these cards, but would only consider these types of nerfs if the metagame data showed these cards were having an overwhelmingly negative impact on the metagame and a nerf was needed, and currently that is not the case.
The other controversial change that people asked for was more improvement to regular (non-unique gray bordered) deployment cards and swarm strategies. Currently the IACP doesn’t include regular deployments in our toolbox of changes mainly because we find having all new cards be restricted to 1 copy for uniques or 2 copies per list for generic elite cards is a helpful safety valve in case we accidentally make something too strong so that it can’t be spammed the way regular Royal Guards, elite and regular ugnaughts and elite and regular riot troopers have been in past formats. Personally I think that people are more interested in seeing swarm lists supported and that if we separated this question into two options, swarms and regular deployments, swarms would be getting the same number of votes and regular deployments would get significantly less. I will say that if you are interested in swarm strategies more than regular deployment cards, we have a couple of cards in Season 4 you’ll be interested in.
There were a lot of written comments, too many to show all of them in an article, that elaborated on people’s thoughts about the IACP in general, on our organization, and what people think about the current state of the game and the future directions it should go in. There were positive comments, negative comments, grateful comments, and critical comments. I want to mention that the steering committee carefully reads and considers every comment that was written. The project will grow and maintain by carefully considering all viewpoints brought to the table and measuring them against the data we collect and the collective experience we bring.
I thought it was great. I did have more fun when I played a less experienced player, felt like I was in it. Maybe a tiered league for competitive play and then all together for casual play.
This single comment from the community vote is what led to the creation of the Jedi Trials Beginners League. One of IA’s greatest strengths is it’s strategic depth, but that is also one of it’s greatest barriers to entry, as a new or intermediate player can rarely put up a challenge against the community’s battle-hardened experts that tend to populate its tournaments and the vassal servers, which can be sometimes demoralizing for novice players. A big challenge for the IACP has been trying to figure out how to get more people into the game and into online play. A novice league where players who are still learning the game and can feel like they have a fighting chance against other players at a similar skill level seems to be exactly what was needed, as we now have 17 players registered for the Jedi Trials, 14 of whom are completely new to the game. Chris Emmick has been doing an amazing job offering live vassal tutorials and list-building advice to these new players, and now that we know there is all this interest that was just being held back by people not knowing how to use the client or feeling overwhelmed, we are planning to create more content and skirmish guides aimed purely at beginners and newcomers to the game.
While there were other specific comments that have sparked discussion and conversation within the committee, those discussions are still playing out and will likely impact future seasons after season 4. I do want to thank the many people that took time to give positive feedback on the work we’ve been doing, and I also thank those of you who provided constructive critical feedback on what we’ve been doing and on what you’d like to see. Both types of feedback are important for keeping the committee motivated and mindful.