[MidnightLich]

Welcome to today's First Edition Friday Question, where you get a chance to answer questions that will help shape the future of First Edition. If you'd like to catch up on previous entries, here's a list of all of my previous Friday Questions:

27 DEC 2019: How can we help you recruit new players?
20 DEC 2019: Where do you want the game to be in five years?
13 DEC 2019: Which concepts should 1E "import" from other games?
6 DEC 2019: Which couples should get a dual personnel card?
29 NOV 2019: Which old, unused 1E cards deserve some love?
22 NOV 2019: Which upcoming milestones need celebration?
15 NOV 2019: What's your favorite card image?
11 NOV 2019: What was your first 1E experience?
1 NOV 2019 What is your opinion of the "full page" policy?
25 OCT 2019: What do you want to see in a Halloween set?
18 OCT 2019: What is your favorite expansion?
11 OCT 2019: Which TNG main character needs a new card?
4 OCT 2019: Which Star Trek story needs more cards?
27 SEP 2019: How many points should [SPOILER] be worth?
20 SEP 2019: Which rules always confuse you?
13 SEP 2019: What do you think of [SPOILER]?
6 SEP 2019: Which card needs an alternate image (AI)?
30 AUG 2019: Which characteristic needs love?

Welcome to 2020! How has your year been so far? It's about to get really busy for 1E fans, we're launching {REDACTED} (formerly known as Project Na'Toth) and will soon after be releasing The Neutral Zone. This expansion, the second in the block, will focus on Romulans and play around with the Neutral Zone Region. Since this is the first full-size expansion in quite awhile, it's the focus of today's question:

What are you looking forward to in the The Neutral Zone?

Obviously, you haven't seen the expansion yet, so you won't be able to comment on the actual content. But I'm eager to see what you'r expecting, hoping for, or wishing for in regards to this expansion. Do you want to see new versions of existing characters? What types of decks do you want to see? What mechanics about Regions are you hoping for? Any story beats? It doesn't matter what or why, we're eager to hear what you're looking forward to in The Neutral Zone?

If you didn't see it, I posted a project status update article with more information about upcoming projects, including Na'Toth and The Neutral Zone. I'll be returning to my weekly column this coming Wednesday as well, and Monday will bring newly printable cards to the table.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.

-crp

[JeBuS]

The missions should be dangerous to cross. That was always the case in the show. In our game, we can simply flyby them without any sort of repercussions. This should change. If it was an old map, it should be marked with "thar be monsters here".

[Ensign Q]

the name suggests, it takes place in the neutral zone, which is currently ruled out by The Wake of the Borg.

In order to get rid of the pesky Refcards, I look forward to a better solution to balance Patrol Neutral Zone

[AllenGould]

The missions should be dangerous to cross.

Wake of the Borg sends a pretty clear signal that you shouldn't linger in the Neutral Zone.

[JeBuS]

The missions should be dangerous to cross.

Wake of the Borg sends a pretty clear signal that you shouldn't linger in the Neutral Zone.

That plays on your opponent's mission. I'm saying, entering the NZ should be dangerous for everyone. (Plus, Wake should be changed anyway. It's a great way to make sure nobody plays NZ at all.)

[Armus]

I'm just looking forward to the possibility of playing something that doesn't involve

Hopefully it's at least marginally competitive...

[KazonPADD]

Man, that’s weird. All throughout playtesting, Wake of the Borg didn’t even get a mention....

[AllenGould]

That plays on your opponent's mission. I'm saying, entering the NZ should be dangerous for everyone. (Plus, Wake should be changed anyway. It's a great way to make sure nobody plays NZ at all.)

If I recall, the NZ isn't inherently dangerous - it's not like the Badlands, say. Heck, it's only really dangerous in-show to the Federation, because the Romulans say "you cross this line I'ma gonna shoot you". (Yeah, technically the Feds should be saying the same thing, but they're weenies and the Romulans have cloaks so nyaah. )

You're right on Wake - checked with the spouse (who used to play PNZ all the time), and Isabella is the fun card they used to keep people out of their NZ. (Also violence, but Isabella works too. Wake was there to chase out any opponent's who had Ideas about having a permanent presence.)

For my money, Commander Charvanek is the reason the NZ stays empty.

[JeBuS]

That plays on your opponent's mission. I'm saying, entering the NZ should be dangerous for everyone. (Plus, Wake should be changed anyway. It's a great way to make sure nobody plays NZ at all.)

If I recall, the NZ isn't inherently dangerous - it's not like the Badlands, say. Heck, it's only really dangerous in-show to the Federation, because the Romulans say "you cross this line I'ma gonna shoot you". (Yeah, technically the Feds should be saying the same thing, but they're weenies and the Romulans have cloaks so nyaah. )

You're right on Wake - checked with the spouse (who used to play PNZ all the time), and Isabella is the fun card they used to keep people out of their NZ. (Also violence, but Isabella works too. Wake was there to chase out any opponent's who had Ideas about having a permanent presence.)

For my money, Commander Charvanek is the reason the NZ stays empty.

I just want to clarify that I'm not conflating the Neutral Zone region with PNZ the mission. I'm talking about the whole region.

[Armus]

Man, that’s weird. All throughout playtesting, Wake of the Borg didn’t even get a mention....

Neither did Crew Reassignment and we see how that turned out.

[JeBuS]

Man, that’s weird. All throughout playtesting, Wake of the Borg didn’t even get a mention....

Hopefully sarcasm?

[sexecutioner]

I'm just looking forward to the possibility of playing something that doesn't involve

Hopefully it's at least marginally competitive...

Play your cards right Sykes, and thou shall be rewarded bigly...

[Discovery rox]

Neither did Crew Reassignment and we see how that turned out.

oh snap

[Takket]

Balance of Terror was one of the most famous TOS episodes. I think something (a mission/objective/incident) needs to reflect the cat and mouse game played in that episode between Kirk and the Romulan ship.

[Tosk]

I'm hoping for a new version of Charvanek that does something different; using such a memorable character to fix the Patrol Neutral Zone card was an insult. If PNZ is a problem, release an errata or a Ref card, don't waste the skill box of one of TOS-Romulan's only two memorable characters.

Aside from that, I'm hoping for some anti-Vulcan cards, and some new uses for the cloaking device.