Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26411770-20160819020034/@comment-454133-20161005034945

I fear insisting the model have posable/movable wings represents a sizeable barrier to completion; if FFG thinks enough players share the sentiment, then the s-foil x-wing will probably never happen.

When FFG releases an updated ship, it's a playtested title or other upgrade(s), plus sometimes a different paint job. This is a lot of work, but it's still financially viable. Having to design a new model and modify their manufacturing process to produce it (especially a model with motion) is a substantial effort, one better saved for releasing new ships, not updating old ones.

Particularly if FFG suspects players will be put off by just receiving a new paint job and not a new posable model, they'll simply not provide the s-foil dual card at all, and instead pursue some different upgrade for the ship. As they see it, there's no upside: they get opposition if they don't do it, and opposition if they do it within budget, so they must pass.

Iconic though the x-wing may be, they can expect to generate much more excitement with a new ship from the movies or series, instead of sinking money into updating an old one. The new movie may change that for the X-Wing by resparking interest, but they still must stick to a budget. Unless they estimate the mobile wings would pay off well enough (in actual sales), then there's no sense in pursuing it.

Such are the compromises and considerations we all must deal with in game development, particularly in board and tabletop games where you can't just slap a new 3D model into the next server update. Physical stuff if expensive to produce at every step of the process. From the frivilous to imperative, everything has to be carefully thought out and eventually lead to practical results -- sales. The flaming tower of TF2 hats is so much harder with plastic models. :)