Popularity

Inari7 · Post by **Inari7** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:24 pm

Federation Commander has been out for more then three years so what game system is more popular now.

Is FC more popular, becoming less popular or leveling out?

Is SFB loosing popularity, staying the same, or becoming more popular?

If FC becomes much more popular what happens to SFB?

Discuss!

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:24 pm

Inari7 wrote:Federation Commander has been out for more then three years so what game system is more popular now.

That will ultimately be one for SVC and Co. to answer, but at our not-so-FLGS, Fed Comm out sells SFB 10 to 1... but there is still a massive fan base of SFB players out there.
I know of 20 SFB players within 25 miles of my house, but only 10 or 12 Fed Comm players in the same radius. Over half of the SFB players purchase everything for SFB that is released, whether they are currently active SFB players or not... Fed Comm on the other hand has not developed such an active purchasing base around here. Many of the one's that play Fed Comm only play with someone else's stuff - they have not purchased a set of their own.

Inari7 wrote:Is FC more popular, becoming less popular or leveling out?

Hard to say, but again - I can only provid you with apochryphal data from our area. I speak to the owners of both of our local gaming addiction enablers on a regular basis. They currently order 6 copies of each new FC product that comes out. 5 sell immediately, 1 stays on the shelf and is eventualy sold and replaced / sold and replaced / etc. According to them, the market is still growing, albeit at a much slower rate than last year or the year before. How much of this is related to market saturation and how much is related to economic uncertainty is anyone's guess. I know that I have reigned in my gaming spending, although not to the extent my better half would like... (

)

Inari7 wrote:Is SFB loosing popularity, staying the same, or becoming more popular?

That's a really good question, and it's one I do not know the answer to. I just called the owner of one of the local game stoires and asked his opinion. He has sold three; and only three! copies of every SFB product released since the Interrognum. And they've all gone to the same three people.
He keeps one copy of SFB Basic Set and one copy of Advanced Missions in the store... but both copies have a price tag on them printer with a pricing gun he got rid of over 4 years ago. Take that for what it's worth...

Inari7 wrote:If FC becomes much more popular what happens to SFB?

Steve has said there will always be a SFB. I'd love to see Fed Comm continue to increase in popularity, but Star Fleet Battles will always be here. Think of it as a proving grounds for Federation Commander. Nothing will every appear in Fed Comm w/o hitting SFB first.

wedge_hammersteel · Post by **wedge_hammersteel** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:02 pm

We talked about this in our gaming group. I would think that only a very portion of the SFB/FC gaming group are registered on this forum.

Post by **Steve Cole** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:14 pm

FC sales continue to climb.

SFB says, which had been flat for several years, have climbed steadily since FC was released. Some of that is old SFBers who saw FC, got back into the habit, and bought all of the SFB stuff they missed (whether they play it or not). Some of that is FC players moving up into SFB.

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 6:26 pm

I'm glad to hear that both product lines are benefiting.

pinecone · Post by **pinecone** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:45 pm

Hopefully ST0 will get people motivated...

Requete · Post by **Requete** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:14 pm

Not quite on topic, but I've noticed that here in the Austin area, nobody seems to stock FC. I think Dragon's Lair sometimes has a copy of Klingon Border (but their stocking/replenishing has gone drastically downhill in recent years in general).

Obviously it would be a huge help if FC could be more visible.

terryoc · Post by **terryoc** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:10 am

Requete, you can always do two things to make FC more visible.

1. Run demo games using First Missions, if the store has a play area. Say, 1/month or six weeks. Take a while but you'll get results.

2. Harass the retailer to keep it in stock.

Kang · Post by **Kang** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:37 pm

Steve Cole wrote:FC sales continue to climb.

SFB says, which had been flat for several years, have climbed steadily since FC was released. Some of that is old SFBers who saw FC, got back into the habit, and bought all of the SFB stuff they missed (whether they play it or not). Some of that is FC players moving up into SFB.

Now that latter really is interesting. And I am pleased too

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