Sadly they ruined the final season. Wasn't necessarily bad but just sucked compared to the rest of the series which I love. Waaaaay too many subplots and side characters all uninteresting Basically everyone betrays everyone and everyone is mad at everyone, but then they make up randomly then back to threats and shady behavior, there's never any legitimacy to the relationships between characters. They kill off everyone in this season in the most boring and generic ways. Wendy btches curses and screams as always while contributing nothing to anything, Marty tries to settle everyone down but nobody gives a crap, the detective was stupid and redundant, the kids are just there as plot leverage to build conflict between the Birds and everyone else, Omar's sister is annoying and basic, not intimidating or remotely a good villian and they decide to use her to kill Ruth who's arguably the best character in the entire show, what a turdsandwich that was. Omar does nothing all season then just gets killed. The Birds suffer 0 consequences for their actions, and the final scene had me laughing my AZZZZZ off it was literally the dumbest ending in modern tv show history, 0 depth, shock or any impactful emotion to the conclusion of this great premise of a story.

Hi guys, I'd like to introduce you to a little project I've been working on. I've played HOTAC a few times now, and it's always a blast, but while Josh and Sean and many other people in the community have developed a great system, there are a couple of things that I feel have some room for development.
The main issue I wanted to address is the ship upgrades. You start in an X-Wing or Y-Wing and at I3 you can pay a few points to upgrade to an A-Wing, B-Wing or HWK-290. The most obvious issue there is that there are a few more ships available in the Rebel faction that could reasonably be added. And less obviously, the B-Wing seems more like a cross-grade than an upgrade, the A-Wing seems like a downgrade, and the HWK is in a totally different class altogether.
While I have heard other people in the community commonly allow just about any other ship to be flown, it feels a little odd to have ships like the T-70 (a strictly better X-Wing), E-Wing (a way better X-Wing) and so-on. Why would you fly an X-wing when strictly better options are available?

The goal

So my goal was to increase the variety of ships that can be flown, filling diverse roles, and being at a similar power level. Something like different character classes and subclasses in an RPG. I hope you enjoy them and consider using them in a campaign!
Fortunately for me, Jim Bob over at infinitearenas.com has made an excellent resource to make custom cards at https://infinitearenas.com/homebrew.php which I used to make these cards.
Let's start with a quick one that's not a ship configuration:
https://preview.redd.it/eqcksoxaij5d1.png?width=1018&format=png&auto=webp&s=34829c646b805eb5e5b556c310dc3143ef9eb8f5
One of the issues I've noted with my HOTAC plays is that the squad leader almost never uses the coordinate action granted by the Squad Leader card because player actions are so valuable that it's rarely worth sacrificing your own action to give one to another player. This updated version effectively turns it into a linked action which is much more likely to get used. This could have additional limitations placed on it, but the simplicity is nice and making it red limits abuse a little.

The default configurations

Now let's take a look at the new configuration for the default X-Wing T-65:
https://preview.redd.it/3iyyyslcij5d1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=4f341d053f30fce01bbb0581fe0a348a02c0887f
This card is a representation of the standard T-65 X-Wing in the new configuration format. One of the things I realised while working on this project is that since the card designer allows the action bar to be customised, it gives us the opportunity to bake in standard configurations and titles into the card, allowing you to do away with additional cards. Servomotor S-Foils is a flippable card that represents the S-Foil wings being open or closed, and when closed grants you a boost action and focus to red boost linked action at the cost of reducing your primary attack.
So this card allows us to effectively incorporate the results into a single rule and action bar on one card. It's not 100% exactly the same, but it's close enough, and is in the spirit of the simplifications made in the official Standard Loadout cards.
https://preview.redd.it/vvpoxgxdij5d1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=1559030e62c70e102c9154425646dd8c6b446ba0
There is nothing special to note about the default BTL-A4 Y-Wing card, except to notice the upgrade bar at the bottom. This is a handy way to show what upgrades can be added to each ship. I intend to colour them in groupings by Initiative/Level, but these are mostly following the HOTAC standard of all the upgrades to the left of the first Talent being always available; the first Talent at I3, the next slot at I4, another Talent at I5 and a Talent and Modification slot at I6.

The upgrade configurations

All of these configurations are considered more or less equivalent in power level, so they all cost the same. They are worth more than 5 points, but 5 points is what HOTAC uses, so that's what I'm going with for now.
Let's look a the Y-Wings:
Y-Wing Corsair configuration card
Y-Wings are already start strong and really don't need much of a boost if any. You can play the whole campaign in a default Y-Wing and not feel like you're missing out. But the Rebel Alliance has many shady connections and scoundrels in its rogues gallery, so as you'll see there is a lot of Scummy representation in the fleet.
This is a very simple config that allows Scum faction upgrades and adds an Illicit slot.
Y-Wing Heavy Bomber configuration
While the Y-Wing is most often depicted as a slow heavy dogfighter, its main role is as a bomber and torpedo carrier capable of posing a threat to capital ships. This config makes the painful choice to lose that staple turret slot to load up on ordinance, adding an extra bomb and Torpedo slot.
Those torpedo slots can also be used as Missile slots, giving you access to any ordinance available. The now useless Rotate Turret action has been removed, and the Reload action is now white, and red Reloads are now linked actions.
Finally, if you're like me and do more damage to yourself with bombs than to the enemy, you've got 2 charges to spend to prevent damage from your own bomb or flying over an obstacle.
That's it for the Y-Wings. Let's take a look at the X-Wings!
X-Wing Partisan Renegade configuration
OK you probably saw this one coming from what I said about the Corsair Y-Wing. Like the Corsair, this simply adds an Illicit slot and the ability to equip Scum upgrades. Moving on!
X-Wing Endor Refit configuration
This one is inspired by the standard loadout X-Wings from the Battle over Endor scenario pack. The action bar and abilities come straight off those cards. The action bar is slightly better (gaining a Roll to red Focus linked action).
The Locked S-Foils does more or less the same thing as what I did with my reinterpretation of Servomotor S-Foils, even simpler in wording, but more of a nerf in practice since the deplete token affects ordinance, not just a primary attack, and will trigger after performing any boost, not just one performed in your action phase.
But it gains It's a Trap!, giving re-rolls for running with the pack. It also gains a Missile slot which is very nice.
X-Wing Prototype T-70 configuration
How do add a ship that is a strict upgrade of an existing ship without making the other versions redundant? In this case the answer is both to improve the other ships (as above) while lowering the new ship a little to the same level.
But not by much. This is a T-70 without the free shield and Tech slot. It gets the integrated config treatment, the T-70 dial, and Cannon slot. And because it's a "prototype", you can be justified using a T-65 or T-70 model as you prefer.
X-Wing Prototype E-Wing configuration
This one needed more of a compromise to balance. It gains the E-Wing dial and action bar, but keeps the X-Wing stat line. It gains the System slot, but not the Tech slot. Most importantly it loses the I3 Talent slot, making a long term ability sacrifice for that sweet dial and full action bar.
I didn't think the E-Wing's version of Experimental Scanners made sense in this prototype craft as printed, so I made it a 2-time use ability - which is actually better than the original's limitation of being unable to acquire locks at range 1 which is something you are likely to want to do with a linked lock off a reposition.
So it's kind of its own thing, not just a watered down E-Wing. And again, being a prototype, you are justified in using whatever model you prefer. In my case I'm not a fan of the E-Wing model, and prefer to use a 3D printed BSG Raptor that I've painted in various liveries.
B-Wing Endor Refit configuration card
This is another config pretty much lifted from the Battle over Endor pack. It only has a single Cannon slot, but gains a Missile and Device slot. It has the action bar from the Endor standard loadout B-WIngs, and the It's a Trap! ability that promotes running in packs.
B-Wing B6 Blade Wing Prototype
This is basically the default HOTAC B-Wing with the integrated configuration treatment for the ability and action bar. B6 Blade Wing Prototype is a title that in the standard game is currently only available to Hera in the B-WIng, and it adds a Gunner slot. So you get one with this configuration too!
A-Wing RZ-2 Prototype
The A-wing was the toughest configuration to develop. A-Wings are fast and agile, and get an extra Talent slot compared to other ships. By the time you get them to a fully upgraded I6 you can have 5 shields and a number of defensive abilities that makes up for their initial fragility. But the problem is keeping them alive until you get there. Talents, shields and levelling up are all very expensive, and if you get shot down those expensive upgrades can be lost.
In addition to the inherent fragility, the A-Wing doesn't have much firepower aside from a single missile slot, and not much in the way of slot variety aside from the Talents. All of which makes A-Wings a tough sell compared to some of the other ships.
To try and address the survivability issue, I added the Fast target ability which allows you to take a strain token to gain an evade token after executing a speed 3-5 manoeuvre. So you trade a defence dice for one attack for a guaranteed evade. If you don't need to spend it on the first defence roll you have it for later, and you or a teammate might have an ability to remove the strain token before you get attacked. You can use the ability while stressed, and still get your action.
It's not as good as the TIE Defender's Full throttle ability, but maybe it's good enough. Maybe I should just add that ability instead. Either way Jukeing A-Wings will likely be a thing.
As for Vectored Thrusters vs Vectored Cannons I say why not both? At first I was thinking to make them a double-sided config that you can flip in the system phase like S-Foils. Then I remembered I did away with those, and rewrote it so both abilities are always active and you can choose which to use by flipping a recurring charge.
I also gave them the Tech slot I took off the E-Wing. Is it enough? I don't know. Nobody wants to fly A-Wings around here. If you try it out, let me know!
HWK-290 Mouldy Crow configuration card
Talk about an embarrassment of riches. The HWK-290 has all the things. With the Mouldy Crow title it's basically an X-Wing that has an additional turret, an interesting action bar, a stop manoeuvre, and all the fun slots, including Crew. It's kind of a lot, and a bit too good comparatively.
So I figured since there should only be one Mouldy Crow, there really should be 2 viable HWK builds, one of which is Mouldy Crow which is more attack focussed, and another more support oriented one.
So Mouldy Crow first. The only tweaks here really are to remove one Modification slot, and replacing the System slot with a Gunner. Yes, I added a gunner. Since you're already taking Perceptive Copilot you might as well combo that with Bistan for a double tap.
OK as a nerf, that's a fail, but for fun, it's a win. Nobody is making you take the combo. You have options.
Moving on!
HWK-290 Smuggler's Refit config card
It's a Scummy HWK. Compared to Mouldy Crow, your Jam action becomes white, you lose the Gunner and gain a second Crew along with two Illicit slots. Not much else to say about this.
Here's another quick one:
https://preview.redd.it/26i36pypjj5d1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=40dd9da3a3f81d72999966429ef1c5365bd5c566
Seems fine to add more or less as-is. Compared to the Y-Wing, it exchanges the turret for an extra attack die and rear arc. It gains a shield, but is a slightly bigger target. It has no Device or Illicit slots, but can equip Republic upgrades and pilot abilities. It's the only ship here that has access to Republic upgrades.
Sheathipede Support Shuttle configuration card
This is the ship I felt least confident about, next to the A-Wing. The HWK-290s are pretty great, but I wanted to add one more support option. The problem is that the U-Wing is a bit too much, and the Sheathipede and Attack Shuttle don't have much to offer with their standard slots and action bars.
The only way I could raise the ship to a similar level was to just keep the stat line and just make stuff up. It's intended to be a dedicated support ship, and because of it's smooth modern looking body I decided to give it a high-tech sub-theme.
The base concept I basically lifted from the Resistance Y-Wing in that it has a bunch of slots that can add actions to the action bar, and if you perform an action granted by an upgrade, you also get a linked white calculate. And the default action bar comes with Focus, Coordinate into Calculate, Jam into Calculate, and red Barrel Roll and Boost.
The upgrade slots include an Astromech, 2 Crew, 2 Tech and the standard 3 Mods and 3 Talents.
It seems decent enough, and not overpowered. It's certainly unique enough to make it a real consideration for players drawn to support ships. But I wonder if it will be looked down upon for being so far away from the standard version of the ship.
And now last, but certainly not least is maybe my crazy A-Wing alternative:
https://preview.redd.it/108q0lhyaj5d1.png?width=918&format=png&auto=webp&s=073f5574f0d828b3e4a3f2b07645dc4354eb8a0d
What's a harder sell than an A-Wing? How about an A-Wing with no shields that wants to joust?
Apart from the ability to equip Scum upgrades and pilot abilities this is pretty much just a vanilla Fang fighter with upgrade slots similar to the A-Wing. What really sets it apart though is the approach to survivability. Instead of adding in defensive abilities to help keep it alive, instead the focus is on making the consequences to being destroyed less costly, encouraging fearless engagement with the enemy like a true Mandalorian.
At first I was thinking to add an ability along the lines of "When you make an ejection roll, you may change one result to a blank". To thematically justify this, I was thinking that the pilot could be wearing a Mandalorian armoured flight suit, able to weather the vacuum of space until rescued.
And then I remembered the Mandalorian Super Commandos upgrade, which placed a little cardboard chit representing a team of Mandalorians that could move around the board and shoot things and generally get in the way. And I had my answer.
https://preview.redd.it/kddiznjnjj5d1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=35a1b75d91ec0249cb6a5abc4a4a6ab04edc873a
Here are the associated rules:

This remote can only be deployed when the pilot's ship is destroyed. An ejection roll is only performed if this remote is destroyed, or it is docked with another ship that gets destroyed.
To deploy, place using the 1 bank template out the front or rear guides of the destroyed ship.
When docked with another ship you may make this remote's attack from that ship's rear arc as a bonus attack.

So if the Fang gets destroyed, the pilot will deploy, and can slowly fly around the board making small attacks until it can grapple on to a friendly ship and escape.
And that's it so far. All of these cards are freshly designed and un-tested (we are going to use them in the campaign we just started). I'm sure there will be some tweaks here and there.
If you try them out let me know what you think. I'm interested in your thoughts and opinions regardless. It's been a ton of work, I hope you enjoy it.
Cheers, Scott

https://preview.redd.it/d2lfwdyd6j5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c970e08f7e2547584436f09e5ac19a559c983d4
So I want to talk about this MMO as I've sunk a lot of time into it and have been a fan of it for some time. The game can be fun but for the most part has been woefully incomplete, deaf to the playerbase and overall aggressively mediocre in terms of it's handling.
New World is missing a few key things and has been from the start that doom it to being a minor success and nothing more than that.

1. New World's aesthetics have zero cohesion. It has no visual identity outside of 'cool moustache guy helmet'. People who never played New World couldn't point to a screenshot and identify the game where you could identify games like WoW, ESO or even Guild Wars. This does not mean the game should look like the industry darlings, but right now the game's advertising aesthetics speak more to things like RTS/Grand Strategy with the historically-grounded art direction.
   
2. New World only very recently answered to the problem of travel but none of the mounts are really appealing aesthetically. I don't mean to say they don't appeal to me, but in terms of mass appeal to market. That goes for a lot of the costumes/cosmetics as well. A lot of the designs look very random, a very small percentage appeals to the faction aesthetic choices and they can borderline resemble the overly busy nonsense you find in korean MMOs.
   
3. Dungeons needing to have a requirement to enter is stupid and shouldve never been a thing. For a game that bled out it's players you really should consider the optics of preventing access to the most simple areas that players expect to engage with. Dungeons should never be limited, ever.
   
4. Crafting lacks impact in early and mid game. For all the fun it is to engage in the bottomless well that is lifeskilling in this game, there isnt much impact it brings outside of consumables and generating other crafting components to be used in higher tier crafts. The lower rung of supplies exists solely to support the end game materials and it's boring. I can make a bunch of weapons and armor and then just pop off to any location with chests to find something better with reliable consistency.
   
5. Annoying combat decisions such as hyper armor tech on basic mobs does nothing to enrich the game. If the enemy serves a more difficult role they should present something of value as a tradeoff for engaging with them, otherwise youre just wasting our time. Fifty thousand pirates doing grit skills and ignoring crowd control later it tends to get old. When basic mobs can put you in an annoying stagger lock chain but you have to 'wait your turn' it gets old. Make more specialty enemies in each mob family that present awesome and dynamic challenges.
   
6. Rewards in this game are lackluster and boring. When youve used one weapon you know what to expect from it no matter what tier it is and what modifiers it may have. Sure, number DOES go up but it has no real mechanical impact outside of managing your numbers. Make gear have unique effects that interact with combat or the world that we cant get anywhere else. Spice up the game, because it's sad when games like WoW and Everquest thought to break up standard gear categories by adding weird effects to them once in awhile.
   
7. PvP is not good in this game and never has been. When less than a fifth of active pvpers are running lightweight kits and it's mostly casters in the back with heavy weapons users up front and it's just boring. Stealth is poorly implemented and plays a weak role and ranged weapons suffer to the point of being glorified set up debuffs and deterrents just to soften things up for your frontline carries.
   
8. Enemy variety is poor and reskins are boring. When your only expectations of new encounters is sectioned off into expeditions it's just frustrating to expect anything more than repurposed movesets and skeletons. New modifiers to fight new enemy types also doesn't do anything other than give me yet another set of gear to craft. Please commit to diversifying the encounters.
   
9. Points of interest are boring and rarely exist outside of the settlements. Outside of teleport locations and quest points there's nothing impactful that I can recall. Why not put some special NPCs out in the wild that perform services that we can't get anywhere else? Why not some interactive locations that people can sit and roleplay in just to hang out? Life has to be injected in places outside of forts.
   
10. Special spawns basically don't exist outside of bosses. I don't see anything in the game like unique roaming bosses or rare spawns. I could be wrong here, but there's no elite experiences outside of special enemy camps and dungeons.
    

No amount of network fixes, cosmetic adjustments and additional content will fix it's core issues. There's more that people could add but I feel like these are the ones I've heard discussed the most. Server corrections such as sharding or whatever could be helpful but who wants to come back to a game that lacks an identity beyond some features it does slightly better than other games? What's your opinion on the game now and what fixes/revisions they're proposing?