The Podcast News

[theconcerned]

I know this podcast has been out for a bit, and I posted this over on BGG, but for those who haven't listened yet:

I listened to the podcast which SovTech posted over here: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/436136 (good find, by the way) and thought I'd make a few notes on some of what they talked about. I know that this isn't all new info, but I do believe that some of it is new (and sounds very fun!) So, here we go:

Coming out this Fall: the "Survival of the Fittest expansions" (as they call it).

Survival of the Fittest is a "rules set" which has three decks: Grave Weapons for the zombies, Unique Items (a "super items deck") and Survival Tactics (a "super events deck"). It also has cards that expand the normal hero and zombie deck.

The Unique Items deck is full of one-of-a-kind items like an antique revolver, plus character-based items like Johnny's Jacket, Father Joseph's Bible, and Sally's Pendant, each of which give you one of the aspects of their character. For example, if you get Father Joseph's Bible, you get the chance to cancel zombie cards if you take a wound. If you give Father Joseph's Bible to Father Joseph, he no longer needs to roll: he can instantly cancel a card if he takes a wound.

The Survival Tactics deck is a super events deck. There's one card called "use the sewers" which lets you place sewer tokens on the board, which creates a tunnel between those spots. However, the zombies can also use the sewers. Also, rules for barricades. There's one called duct tape, which lets you combine any two items. For example, normally the fence post is a two-handed weapon, meaning you can only use that weapon. With duct tape, you could tape a chainsaw to the fence post, allowing you to chainsaw zombies from one square away. However, the two weapons are now linked, so if the chainsaw runs out of gas, you lose both.

The Grave Weapons deck lets you outfit your zombies with weapons. When you're about to spawn zombies (like, if you rolled to spawn four), for every two zombies that you DON'T spawn, you can draw a card from the Grave Weapons deck and give a weapon to one of your zombies. Weapons include a sickle, rusty axe, pitchfork. Others modify the body of the zombie, like bloated body, or "bloaters" which is a giant, heaving zombie which on the roll of 3+ can ignore a wound form a gun. Another is "explosive," a zombie holding a lit explosive, and when he does he explodes, effecting the spaces around him. You also roll every turn (1 in 6 chance) of exploding. As a hero, Scott once pushed back an explosive zombie (and a bunch of others) with the fire extinguisher, then shot the explosive zombie, blowing him up and taking out the other zombies. Others include "wrapped in barbed wire," "machete." The game comes with markers that look just like the Zombie Hero markers in LNOE to mark the special zombies.

However, there is a special miniatures pack coming out, which has a miniature for every character in the Grave Weapons deck. They made the set separate because they couldn't afford to combine it into one set, because miniatures are very expensive to make. They also wanted to give people the choice of whether or not they wanted them, because you don't "need" them to play the game, but they're a cool alternative to using the markers. The Grave Weapons set comes with seven separate sculpts, each in brown and green. It also comes with an exclusive zombie (not in Survival of the Fittest), "Crawling Torso." It comes with the sculpt and the cards to add to the Zombie Weapons deck. [Side note: I don't know if that means that the miniatures pack comes with seven sculpts PLUS the exclusive, or seven total.] Crawling Torso can move at twice the speed of a regular zombie, without his legs holding him back. You must roll a 4, 5 or 6 to get out of a space with him in it because he trips you up, biting at your ankles.

The third expansion, Hero Pack One, comes with new heroes, cards, and a scenario.

There are no new boards. There are also "things in the works" for the future.

Also, we have our first peek of the Martians from Invasion from Outer Space: The Martian Game . . .

[theconcerned]

I tried to be objective above, so I'll add my personal thoughts here. First, it really does seem like this is one expansion divided into three: Scott refers to the three as "the Survival of the Fittest expansions." It's easy to see how together they'd more or less equal Growing Hunger: no new boards, but new zombie sculpts, four new heroes, new rules, new cards, etc. I don't personally have a problem with this, because I think it sounds like a lot of fun (especially the least important part of all -- the Grave Weapons minis -- they sound like a blast!). However, I know that others have commented on the fact that they don't like that they've divided this into three, and are charging significantly more that GH (or even the main game, for that matter) -- $75 for the three.

I will be getting all three, but I'm interested to hear what others have to say.

Also, I was a little worried about the Martian Game -- it had the potential to be pretty cheesy, with the carnie theme and all. However, I really like the way the martians look . . . they're on the right track so far!

One other note -- there was other info in the podcast. They talked about how each Flying Frog character picture (ie, the zombie frog, the frog with wings from ATOE) each represent a new board game, so when we see a new frog, we're seeing the hint at a new game. They said that the "Icarus Frog," for "what would appear to be a Mythology Game . . . "

There's also a game with Fish Men (talked about jokingly at first, but then confirmed) coming in the future . . .

[gavindowning]

Look, I used to work closely with a small gaming company (RPG, not board, but still). Claiming Flying Frog Games is just after money and is money-grubbing and blah blah blah is, frankly, ridiculous.

If they wanted money, and if that was more important than the quality of the games? I think they'd be in a different field. Businesses like this do not run on greed, but passion for their product. And it's a passion you can see every time you hear them talk about their games, or when you listen to the music that Soundgirl has put together.

No matter what they do, someone will be unhappy. If they had bundled everything together even if they had kept it to $50, someone would have complained, "Why does everything have to come together? I don't need the miniatures/characters/cards. They're just money-grubbing, trying to get me to pay for things I don't want!"

As for putting stuff out, actually, Ryuk, if they want their games to continually be successful, pacing themselves is important. The occasional supplements are good ideas. It keeps interest in the game, and it keeps people playing the game. Blowing the whole wad at once isn't a smart idea, honestly, if you're looking to keep the game active and popular for an extended time. And putting out supplements cost money. They likely can't afford to put out everything all at once, and even if they could, asking their fans to buy everything all at once is a foolish request, particularly in this economy. Now, splitting an expansion into three smaller, more affordable expansions that are still affordable if purchased together is one thing. Putting out all the products they have already developed rather than spreading them out over 10 years? Foolish.

Now, this is just my 2 cents, but it does have some experience behind it.

[Old Dwarf]

I saw this on BGG & haven't seen it noted here yet
so just in case :Here's The LNoE Hero Pack

OD

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J B
(jcb231)

I hadn't seen this on the Geek, so I thought I'd post this info, passed on to me from friends that attended Gencon '09.


Stacy
Investigative Reporter
Strange, Female
"This could be my big break, the story of a lifetime!"
Start: Random Building
Daring: May move through and Search in buildings that have been Taken Over.
Reckless: If she ends her Move on a Zombie Spawning Pit, may immediately draw a Hero Card.
Three Wounds


Mr. Goddard
Chemistry Teacher
Teacher, Science, Male
"Now that's what I call Science!"
Start: High School
Fire: Always counts as having a [insert fire symbol here] and may ignore Lights Out.
Quick Thinking: May discard 2 Items at any time to immediately draw a Hero Card or to take any Event (except Play Immediately or Townsfolk) out of the Hero Cards discard pile.
Three Wounds


Jade
High School Outcast
Student, Strange, Female
"Drop dead, creep!"
Start: Random Building
Rebelious: May not be wounded in a Fight as long as she has doubles on any of her Fight Dice. Also, gains an extra Fight Dice while in the same space as another Strange Hero.
Youth: May give up a Move Action to Fully Heal.
Two Wounds


Viktor
Escaped Prisoner
Criminal, Strange, Male
"Freedom ain't worth nothin' if yer dead!"
Start: Police Station
Convict: Starts the game with the Zombie Card, I Don't Trust 'em.
Lock Pick: May ignore Locked Door.
Rage: Rolls an extra Fight Dice for each Hand Weapon he has.
Three Wounds


Photos of the new heroes are used liberally in the Survival of the Fittest material and on the box for that expansion, in much the same way that the new Growing Hunger characters were used in the cards for that expansion.

I like 'em all except Stacy....she doesn't seem quite as useful as the others. The rest more than make up for her though....awesome characters.

One other bit of info (that was already stated around here) is that the Grave Weapons miniatures give you seven different sculpts in green and in brown.

[supervike]

So, what is inherently wrong with FFP having both passion and WANTING to make money?

I've no issues with the marketing at all. I'm still a big boy who can think for myself and decide whether or not I want to buy something. If I decide it's not worth my scratch, and other gamers think that same thing, the company will need to rethink the pricing and packaging solutions. Keeping a stream of supporting products is exactly what I want to see in a gaming company. Much better than the print it and forget it attitude some have.

[gavindowning]

Honestly, I'm not shocked by the "completed long ago" phrase. It means they've got ideas coming. The well won't run dry for a while.

Plus, when they say "completed," it may not mean, "fully ready to go," as much as it means, "the ideas are all done, but we need to playtest it externally, and hammer out specifics, write the rules down, etc." Hard to say specifically what was meant, and I'm not going to hazard a guess.

[mqstout]

"Completed long ago" is good. I'd rather they space out their releases rather than get it all out at once and be evaporated. Plus, it probably allows for more playtesting to fine tune it to perfection.

[Canadian Pittbull]

Spacing out the releases is better than shitting it all out at once. I mean come on. ATOE has some expansions released so give us some time to play and enjoy the new stuff before the next LNOE release and It would make sense to hold off on that until at least Halloween. Then see the Martian game release in the spring/summer.

Flying Frog are doing well and thus far I think they have made smart decisions. I think folks should get off their nuts and give them some slack. Not everyone can shit out product like FFG or Wizards.

Sometimes patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait. So I think there are a lot of people who need to just zip it and enjoy the game releases that are out now.

The rest will come when the Frog is good and ready to release them.

[SPARTAN VI]

If the expansions cost $18 a pop, would you guys be any more inclined to buy them? I ordered all three from ThoughtHammer.com, who has a pre-order special on each "expansion." You're looking at around $55 + tax/shipping instead of $75 + tax/shipping. Still a bit pricey..

After applying my contest coupon, my total came out to about $40 shipped.

Quote:1 x Last Night on Earth: Survival of the Fittest Not yet available $18.71
1 x Last Night on Earth: Hero Pack 1 Not yet available $18.71
1 x Last Night on Earth: Zombies with Grave Weapons Not yet available $18.71

Sub-Total: $56.13
Flat Rate Shipping (continental US only) (3 to 7 business days *): $9.00
Gift Certificates: $25.00
Total: $40.13

Of course, no coupon would mean your total would be over $60+ USD.

[SovTech]

You know what... Ill get em all. Without coupons, and probably through my local gaming store

Its not cheap, but some of the other games I have been looking at are 120 dollars.

I play LNoE often, and the diversity each expansion have given have been worth the price.

Nope it aint cheap, but I dont think its that expensive.

A pizza in Denmark is about 10 dollars. So... for 6 - 7 pizzas Ill get hours upon hours of entertainment, and socialising with my friends. Thats ok.

Cheerio,
ST