It is important to have these conversations.
The reality is that things rarely get changed by the balance committee.
It really has to have overwhelming community outrage. Although I have been present at several regionals this year where there were many discussions based on this figure, almost universally negative, but many of the people involved in those conversations won't be as candid in these forums. I however, have no such reservations.
Regardless, being realistic - here's a few things that will most likely hold back any action by the balance committee
A- Designer intent. If the designers of a piece express that it does not function as intended, it has MUCH greater odds of being amended. This does not appear to be the case. It seems that the designers wanted it to function this way.
B- Overwhelming community outrage. There is significant dislike of this piece, but it is clearly polarizing. I think one major factor is that it is in a faction most people generally like, and a main movie character. If these same stats were put on a random no name piece in a lesser faction, I think there would be more outrage (I'll comment on this more later).
C- Competitive game dominance. This one is virtually impossible to pin with any piece anymore. The last piece it really happened with was Daala, and really that was the catalyst to form the balance committee, since it fractured our community and let to many people leaving the game. These days the community is so small, events are so few, and the number of participants in each event is so small, it really means nothing if a piece does well or if it doesn't do well. It would take a power 20 piece to assert itself in such a position these days. Even if See Threepio is a power 12, it won't be confirmed by all as such through tournament wins, or lack thereof. The sample portion is simply too small.
That said - it is an important excersice to have these conversations, so that designers can see some pitfalls and avoid them in the future.
One simple example is that it seems that most everyone agrees that 3720 to 1 should not trigger off of an adjacent attack. Was this intentional, or simply overlooked by these designers? I don't know the answer to that - but I would be willing to bet that anytime a designer thinks about an ability anywhere near this vein in the future - they will more carefully consider it.
There is a huge chasm in design philosophy on a few different issues. One is game mechanics versus theme. Another is faction balance.
Virtually any designer will tell you they want to achieve a perfect blend of game mechanics and theme. Hard to do with any given piece, impossible to do for a whole set. But there is clear bias and leaning in one direction or another by all designers. Neither one is wrong, and that's why we work in teams. Clearly with abilities such as Shut Them All Down and 3720 to 1 - they are theme focused, and then applied to game mechanics. They are taken straight from the movies, and while I'm sure there was intent to apply a mechanic that the designers thought the game needed, the mechanics were overshot and too many abilities were all jammed together on the card.
The other issue is faction balance. There is a clear polarization here as well. Most designers will tell you that they want options from every faction to be competitive. But some don't design that way. There are valid reasons not to design that way. People want new stuff. People want known characters. People want figs from the movies and TV. The issue is that we are only getting consistent new material from 3 factions at the moment. You can pop one into another faction here and there, but with Rebels TV show and Rogue one - it's virtually only 2 factions. Rebels and Imperials. Here's the tricky part. They are 2 of the 3 top factions. And have been for virtually the whole existence of the game. Not to say other factions can't compete - but they don't have the depth of options. So - to some people - they want the new TV/Movie stuff to be awesome. They want their classic movie characters to be better than other stuff. Well - that is in stark contrast to giving any kind of semblance to faction balance. Now don't get me wrong - total faction balance is impossible, and not really the goal. But in order to have competitive options in every faction, you HAVE to take the Robyn Hood approach to designing. You have to take from the rich and give to the poor. Since in many factions we are scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of characters - it's hard to make really groundbreaking helpful pieces from characters nobody gives a crap about, and making the new awesome lead characters in the movies and TV just flavor fluff pieces. That is what you SHOULD do if you want faction balance, but that would disappoint some people. Seriously - who cared about Kelborn before SWM, and who thought he should be a power piece? I LOVE that piece. But I could give a hoot about the character.
You can never please everyone. One of the things that disapoints me about this piece is that I am unabashedly in favor of striving toward faction balance. See Threepio gives a major power piece to a faction THAT DIDN'T NEED A MAJOR POWER PIECE. But that is just my opinion. And to be honest not a factor that really carries much weight in a balance committee decision to errata a piece. It's simply a difference in design philosophy.
Another point is that it is not simply a power piece for a subfaction. It is for an ENTIRE faction. There have been several power pieces made lately that are fenced in by subfactions. This is a smart way to design that really needs to happen more often from here on out. The factions have far too many options, and without being cognizant of keeping them reeled in, it's far too easy to get broken combos. Subfaction restrictions is really the best way to go about this. ESPECIALLY in the stronger factions. The thing about See Threepio is that he helps virtually every subfaction within the Rebels. It was mentioned that he's very good in Ghost Crew. Yes he is. He's also good in virtually every other competitive rebel squad.
As to the community outrage - unless a total dominance in the competitive game happens (which I already explained why it won't), the mass outrage won't follow. In part because it is a beloved character in a favored faction. I really think that the three Vong pieces that got errata'd needed to be. That said, I think a factor that fueled the mass community outrage is that they were Vong. Why should VONG be so powerful? That should be the JEDI. It's a bias ingrained in most Star Wars fans, and frankly understandable. We are virtually all Star Wars fans. Some approach this game almost as a roll playing game, or at least a scenario game, wanting it to feel like the movies and TV when they play. Others, enjoy the strategy aspect more, and though most clearly like the star wars feel, if a character named Bob provided a needed mechanic to the game - they would appreciate it and play it. Again - you see the design philosophy fissure play out within the players as well.
It is fun and informative to "re-design" the figures in the way we see fit. We all had many ideas on the Vong pieces that desperately needed changed. The only one that anything other than cost was changed on was a piece that the Designer expressed intent was not met, and it was changed to match intent. Unfortunately most think the balance committee did not go far enough, and an undefeated player in the Vassal regional playing those pieces post-nerf is pretty solid evidence that the nerf was not big enough. It's clear that in general, the balance committee operates conservatively, and probably should in all honesty. We want to make as few changes as possible, and not be overly harsh in the changes made.
Perhaps more realistic exercise is to simply recost. By in large that is what the balance committee does. At what point level would you see this character as reasonable?
For me, a litmus test is -
A. At what (low) cost would I consider using the piece in virtually every squad in the faction, and prioritize it?
B. At what (high) point cost would I no longer consider using it at all?
Then you have your range. Once you have your range, it clearly should be somewhere in the middle. Closer to the lower cost end if it is meant to be a "power piece", closer to the middle otherwise. Closer to the higher end is probably not realistic, because we still want pieces playable.
With See Threepio, in my opinion it is already at level A at 12 points. When I build a rebel squad, it starts with dodonna and then next is now See Threepio. This figure has eclipsed Reeikan, 3 viable versions of Luke (and at least one is always considered) 3/4 viable versions of Leia (again at least one is always considered), etc.
It would have to be a pretty high cost to not consider him at all. Maybe 30 points?
I mentioned earlier in this thread that he should cost around 24 points. I do believe that, but it does factor in that I don't think he should have been a power piece. Accepting that he is still supposed to be a powerful piece, I think 17/18 is a reasonable cost.
It's unfortunate, because it is a rough cost for pure tech. A better approach would have been to shave down the abilities and keep him around 12 cost.
I want to emphasize that we all have different opinions. Designers and players. It's impossible to make everyone happy. I have my very strong opinions that I am vocal about. I also acknowledge that there are reasons to do things other ways that I disagree with. It doesn't make them wrong.
What is most important in our game and our community right now is to keep showing up. Engage in these conversations on the boards. Put the work in. Playtest, if at all possible. But the reality is that the most games played by competitive players is at tournaments. That is where we see these pieces in action. It's the only real way anybody can get a sense of a piece. Playtesting is essential, but you never really know for sure how a piece plays until the community gets ahold of it, builds with it and plays it.
GOING TO TOURNAMENTS AND PLAYING is the biggest thing anyone can do for our community right now. It's all meaningless design if nobody is playing. I know there are not tournaments nearby for everyone - but really nobody has a good excuse for not playing in Vassal Tournaments. ESPECIALLY ones with the format used now - that you have a week to get a game in. If you can't find an hour to play in a week, then you can't find time to post on the boards either.
PLAY THE GAME!
