emr131 wrote:
I will make a prediction, based on historical data: The person who wins GenCon '08 will use a majority of points on newer pieces. Last year, it was B&B, pretty new... this past year, Boba BH, wicket and JWMs, also pretty new. I am almost sure enough to open this to all the players in the top 8.
Eh....again...that's mostly marketing strategy. Honestly though, it's not like most of the top 8 at GenCon this year had squads that were that difficult to obtain. Only a couple of the top 8 had Boba BH. JWMs, Han Scoudrel, Obi-FS, Princess Leia, Wicket, San Hill....all super easy pieces to buy as singles, and all for pretty much less than $5-$7 apiece. Besides the fact that many of those squads still contained pieces from older sets: R2-Astromech, Weequay Leader, Twi-lek BGs, Quarren Assassins, Ewoks, etc. Heck, even the B&B army from GenCon '06...the only 'new' piece it had at the time was Mas Amedda! Everything else was from Universe or Rebel Storm!
Yes, there are always going to be new pieces that rise to the top. Honestly, if new sets don't contain pieces that shift the meta, then the game will die. It HAS to happen. Whether that happens by power-creep or not is really an individual opinion....
emr131 wrote:
Whatever, I am through with these discussions, as I said repeatedly, neither side will convince the other that they are right. Neither side will ever feel wrong. All that will happen is a bunch of defensive maneuvering and eventually lead to personal attacks.
...and here's where I definitely agree with you. Like I said, a lot of it comes down to an individual opinion. What one person thinks is power creep, another person things is just a natural shift in the game. Heck, when Lord Vader came out in BH, most of us put JH back on the shelf. But once most of us started learning how to beat the JWMs, and A&E came along with some powerful force users....Here comes JH back again. He was never 'power-creeped' by Lord Vader. It was just that, for a time, JH's specific set of Special Abilities didn't seem to be the best choice.
It's just that some of us see that trend in past sets where pieces move in and out of the playable arena, and everything seems to point toward that continuing in the future. So far, I've not seen one single thing that makes me think "Oh my goodness, the game will never, ever be the same again." But, like you said, I guess it's just a personal preference.
I for one, am really looking forward to all the new Force Powers. I think it really mixes things up a bit, and should be a ton of fun!