June 14 Q&A with Marcin

Highlights include: Update coming this week, delays with the production timeline, 14+ yrs old, standees, the journey in the story of the game, and more!

And as usual (for me and this website), after the Q&A is finished, I will watch it a second time and add a summary of highlights and info about ISS Vanguard that was part of the Q&A. You can click below to watch. Look below the video window for the time stamped highlights relating to ISS Vanguard:

ISS Vanguard Summary and Highlights with time stamps will be added here shortly after the LiveStream ends:

1. 1:35 – Cool news about GameFound is planned for tomorrow (Tuesday June 15)
2. 2:45 – An ISS Vanguard update is planned to go out this week. This will include new timelines as well as views of the new prototype.
3. 3:00 – There will be some delays with ISS Vanguard due to the extensive added development and the second round of prototypes going out. However, the end result will be a much much better game going out in the end! Things are going smooth right now.
4. 11:20 – Q: Will you be doing another video overview with ON TABLE Asia (or Joanna) (also in Poland)? A: Maybe. Marcin is waiting to see what other reviewers will be posting first.

5. 12:40 – Q: What other game would be comparable to ISS Vanguard? A: Mass Effects would be close in terms of game play. It actually is hard to compare because ISS Vanguard is a hybrid of various things and is kind of unique in that regard. It also has a story element similar to Tainted Grail. So, there will definitely be some very good story telling involved. But, also, the dice gameplay is very solid as well as other areas of interest have been developed.
6. 15:00 – Q: Is delivery still slated for August? A: There will be a delay. They will do a full update on this. They did much more development into the game as well as going through another full prototype test. Watch for the update by the end of the week.
7. 16:50 – Q: Super excited to see ISS Vanguard playthrough materials. I’m all in on this amazing story and gameplay. A: We are putting a lot of work into ISS Vanguard, so hopefully it will be pretty awesome.
8. 17:00 – Q: Assuming Nemesis Lockdown, ISS Vanguard and Etherfields 2nd wave coming at the same time around Christmas, which one should we play first? A: They likely will not all come at the same time due to factory capacities and things like that. But I would start with ISS Vanguard personally for it’s space exploration theme.
9. 18:50 – Q: Does a delay in wave 1 shipping affect wave 2? A: Generally, yes. Delays in wave 1 typically carry over into wave 2 because their time was spent working on wave 1.
10. 19:05 – Q: Hearing a lot lately about cargo shipping costs and such. Do u see this being long term, and how do you see it affecting projects in the future? Big deal or no? A: There is something in this for sure. When Awaken Realms does their projects, they cautiously plan things and they have a reserve budget in case something goes wrong. If nothing goes wrong, they give out a nice surprise box. But if something goes wrong they are able to cover it. They are proud of this and have kept on delivering their games in spite of the pandemic and issues in China with production and shipping. But there are a few problems. A lot of smaller things over the past four years have built up into the current logistics and supply chain mess which applies everywhere, not just with board games. Example: in Poland right now you cannot buy a bike due to production, supply and such. But Marcin is not sure how long term this will be.
11. 22:10 – Q: I know that ISS Vanguard is (declared) for at least 14 year old players, but is it due to the complexity of the mechanics or to narrative aspects? A: It is a mature game but there is no vast brutality or anything like that. It is a complex and mature story, but they are not aiming at doing anything that would be PG, 18+ or things like that.
12. 23:00 – Q: I’m really excited for the ISS Vanguard story. A: Marcin knows the end of the stories but he still likes to play it! He compares it to the Biowar games where the journey is just as important as the destination. ISS Vanguard has both – the journey will be awesome and the destination will be mind blowing!
13. 25:10 – Q: Which one will come first? ISS Vanguard, Etherfields 2nd wave or lockdown? A: It looks like Nemesis Lockdown, but we’ll see.
14. 27:10 – Q: Will the standees of aliens, ships for ISS Vanguard be pictures of the models from close encounters or color drawings? A: This has not been decided yet. They will see which will look better. Perhaps the color drawing may be better. Not sure yet.

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