On the BGN preview page, there's a pic of the "Alien Monolith". Is the red circle between the planet's cost and VP value new in this expansion, or have I just not noticed it on the older cards? Anyone wanna drop a hint as to what it means?

This is probably rebel world symbol, like here:



(I don't have account at BGN)

Jon, I've talked with Tom Lehmann about running a preview of RftG: Rebel vs Imperium on Boardgame News, and he seems amenable. Expect all the little details to be revealed in good time.

(Translation: I don't know either and am also waiting for Tom to fill us in.)

Eric
Editor, http://www.BoardgameNews.com

Does BGN not have forums?

Nope. It's a new one...at the upper-left of the VP hex.

I just don't get Rio's marketing decisions here. What's gained by releasing images exclusively to a subscription site? Isn't more money to be made by getting EVERYONE hyped about it, and not just those who are paying BGN's bills?


Memo to RGG marketing: MORE VIEWERS IS BETTER, I ASSURE YOU.

They probably get some promotional consideration from the site, and they'll release the images (or other ones) to other sites as the release date gets closer.

Yes more viewers is betters. And different viewers tend towards different communication channels. Providing different information to different communication channels helps support different sources that reach different customers. It's just like movie companies providing exclusive pictures and/or interviews to different magazines or television shows. Of course, there is some overlap. However, each source has some unique viewers too. The exclusive information helps maximize the number of information channels and reach the widest possible audience. It's a symbiotic relationship. If anything, having more potential channels leads to more information being released if the producer wants to provide something exclusive to each source.

Increased hype should lead to increased sales. However, maximizing hype isn't just about maximizing the amount of information released. It's about maximizing the impact of the information. Small amounts of information over a period of time --- often through different channels --- can easily provide more hype that simply dumping all the information in one place at once. Just,take a look at what DOW is doing with Small World. I'm not a marketing person and I don't think there is a magic formula, but it certainly makes sense to hype the users of two different sites rather than just one. The best way to do that is a marketing decision for the producer and is more complex than just posting everything on BGG and requires long term considerations about supporting sources for the future as well as the short term goal of promoting the current product.

Is there special font to go with that card? Special fonts like "Uplift", "Rebel", and "Alien" have their distinct fonts that so far have been paired with such weird symbols.




I am KINDA thinking that too, but keep in mind, according to BGN, exp #2 is slated for a Q2 '09 release. I'm going to be skeptical and say that means June of this year at the EARLIEST. Probably get delayed up to 6 months, so it's still quite a far ways away. Personally, looking at previews now doesn't provide any solid gratification.

I disagree with you. EVERY tidbit of information about the expansion provides gratification second only to... well, let's not go there.

No publicity package has been prepared and sent to anyone by either RGG or me. RGG is a one person company; I'm a freelance designer. There is no "marketing department" making "marketing decisions" according to some "strategy". You're not dealing with a Fortune 500 company.

RGG's stated marketing strategy is, primarily, to put out good products, demo them at conventions, and rely on the word-of-mouth advertising generated by doing so. This is why Jay travels to so many conventions and works so hard demoing his games.

Eric Martin of Boardgame News gets his information the hard way, by building up contacts (years of effort), going to trade events, button-holing publishers, establishing email contact, tracking projected release dates, bugging them for information snippets, etc. Any of you are welcome to do this (the hard boring slog of trade journalism). Eric does this for very little financial reward and chooses to release the fruits of his hard labor in two stages, a members-only preview before major industry events, and a public release afterwards.

The major publicity I do for RFTG is to write a designer preview, which I release on BGN. Since this is information I am providing which I intend to be public, I have asked Eric not to make it a members-only item on BGN. He agreed, which is why the Gathering Storm designer BGN preview did not exclusively appear in the BGN Essen preview last fall.

I answer rules questions on BGG and put up designer previews on BGN because I consider them two very different sites: BGG is a wonderful site, full of user-contributed content about published games; BGN is a wonderful site, full of news about upcoming games, as well as commentary on published games and the industry.

A preview is in that awkward space, publicity, which lies between advertising and news. I try to write my designer previews so that they are interesting and news-worthy, not just a thinly designed ad. However, I am obviously not the most objective person to judge this. I want to submit my previews to a site with an editor, not just a moderator, who goes over a submitted preview with an eye towards whether it is news-worthy, not just a "puff piece", and who will call me on it if I do cross that line. Eric is a trained journalist and editor, which is why I submit my previews to BGN.

This is not intended to slam the BGG moderators, who work very, very hard for essentially nothing. It's just a fact that moderation is different from editing and that the standards for acceptable user submitted content are different from the standards of where a publicity article falls with respect to news.

Nor is this to say I don't appreciate BGG. I do. I spend a lot of my time on BGG answering questions. I have already posted information about the general shape of the upcoming expansion, as well as specific information on the number of cards and a few other details. The rest can wait until the designer preview appears, closer to the publication date (which RGG will announce when the game is actually at the printer).

If you believe that BGG should be a true news source as well as a database of user created information about published games, then tell Aldie this and convince him to hire a (part-time) trade journalist and an editor. It's your site and your money. Aldie and Derk certainly have a vision of where they are going with BGG, but they are pretty open to user feedback... If BGG does hire an actual editor, then I will happily submit my designer previews to both BGN and BGG.

Finally, a tidbit for those who waded through this long post -- the new symbol is a preview of something that will appear in the third expansion. I know that's just postponing your question further... sorry about that.

Thanks for your interest and enthusiasm for RFTG and Rebel vs Imperium. I appreciate that very much. Take care.

What a well-thought out and reasoned response.
Thank you for giving us some insight into your thought process.