Top 10 events of 2008
December 25, 2008

  

I thought I would release the top 10 events I thought hit the Star Wars Community in 2008. We have seen a lot happen to the community this year. Some of it was good. Some of it was not so good. Here are #10-#6 this week. Next week will release #5-#1. So here is the year as I saw it:

10) Full Year of Support – This is perhaps the first year in the history of the game where we received a full year’s support. We had 3 sets released. We had a new starter set as well as a new scenario pack. Post-Universe they were not ready to keep the game going, so it took a year to get things going and even then it was only one set. I think we had two that year and that was it. It was nice to finally have a year where the game was finally cranked up to its full potential. It is a shame that the game had to take the hit that it did during that time, but regardless its at full power now!

9) Conversion to 40 Pieces – The days of having to chase down 60 figures is over. From here on we only get 40 pieces a set. Completionists are rejoicing as their wallets breathe a sigh of relief, but was this a good thing? It is fewer figures to collect, but it means every figure has to count that much more as five junk figs before meant little. Five junk figs now means a whole lot more to the success of the set. Also, Will people buy less because it will be much easier to complete? Will it drive down individual prices? Honestly, I think it is too early to tell. This will be something to watch in ’09.

8) JediCartographer’s map packs – We have gone so long without maps that when board member JC posted up some maps he had been working on, they were gobbled up gleefully by players across the states as well as some players across the pond. In fact it led to a second map pack later in the year. The quality of these maps led many to wonder what Wizards was doing. Not only were they not making maps, but the last few we received were completely unplayable in a gaming setting. Well done JC.

7) All Faction Support – For the first time ever every single faction of the game received support this year. While not all are competitive yet, at least all the factions are now playable. Mandos, Old Republic, and Vong all jumped in support. This was led by a LOT of expanded Universe support, which is something the SWM community had been wanting for quite some time.

6) Jar Jar Binks arrives! – LOL, yep, everybody’s favorite Gungan finally joined the gaming scene, and what an impact he had. Immediately, he began chalking up the self-imposed kills on figures Like Vader, Luke, etc. Rob has really hit some figures, and missed on interpretations of others, but I have to say that he hit Jar Jar right on the nail. I could not have asked for a better version. He is annoying, deadly, and the biggest nuisance the game has seen. Jar Jar to a T!

Well those are the bottom 5 events of 2008. Next week I will do events 1-5 so stay tuned! Until then everybody have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and whatever other holidays we have going on right now. Have fun and be safe this holiday season as many of us have time warped into Hoth like conditions. May the Force Be With You!