Malifaux 3rd Edition Announced

So here was something I was not expecting, Wyrd has announced that 3rd edition for Malifaux is moving to closed beta. What got me was that they were actually doing a 3rd edition.

From what they have shown so far on their website is that they are simplifying some of the rules (which always worries me when someone says they are going to do that) and that the total number of conditions will now be a straight forward set of 9 (so things like Brilliance, which is a key condition for the Jacob Lynch crew, will now use a different system it appears). Heck, Masters now have a Soulstone cost so you can have more then one in a crew (though I could only ever seeing this as an option for larger games).

Speaking of Masters, there have been some alterations to them. First off, four seem to have been killed (well, two have been confirmed? The Puppet Master is MIA and his fate unknown and the former Neverborn ruler has been imprisoned) along with some other characters (Like the Judge) and while they'll still have stat cards to use, some tournaments will not allow them cause story wise, they are dead. Likewise, each master is now more focused towards a particular play style (so Ulix who I have mentioned previously will have a much less combat focus play style and more pig breeding play style). To help with this, keywords will have a more important role for selecting models for crew. This means crews will have a more heavy focus on theme, with themed models being cheaper to hire then non-theme models. So for example, Colette has a strong focus on Showgirls, so I imagine that she would get to hire models with the keyword 'Showgirl' at a set price, but hiring non-showgirl models might cost a Soulstone more (note, I am just guessing here, there still is much they haven't shown yet). What effect this will have for the mercenaries rule I have no idea.

Some have also taken up their duel-faction role (Like Hoffman and Marcus) while others have lost theirs (most of the Ten Thunders faction). This does concern me a little as I have both the Jacob Lynch crew and the Nightmare version of Lucas McCabe crew, both who were duel faction and who's crew has a heavy focus for the faction they have now lost. How this will effect the crew hiring (and my model collection) I still have no idea and it does worry me a little. As for Nightmare crews and the Alternative models (I'm thinking of the 'Miss' series and holiday themed ones like the War Rabbit), they haven't said anything about them getting new stat cards or how crews like my Nightmare McCabe crew will work.

This news is a mixed bag for me, as on one hand I am excited to see this new rule set and to give it a go, but on the other I have concerns over what I can now use and if it's even worth getting any alternative sets as nothing has been said about if they will also get stat cards (Heck, just bring out a card box set with stat cards for all the alternative models and call it 'Twisted Reflections' or something).

Update:

So as I've been going through the forums and reading peoples personal thoughts on this over the last few days, I'm beginning to feel less excited and more concerned. While I understand that there needs to be time spent in preparation for GenCon, the lack of any real response over the last few days to concerns of players I consider an issue. Given that this is one of the better times to push the game, some have now said that they may consider leaving it, while others are cautioning people into not buying any of the range until we have more clarity and certainty to a number of important questions.

From what I understand, Wyrd hadn't intended to announce 3rd edition when they did, but leaked information forced their hand into announcing it. If that is the case then I understand not wanting to reveal too much, but I'd have assumed that they would have a list of questions they'd have expected players to ask them and an a set of appropriate responses to them. Some people seem happy with the rules, but things like stat cards, character removals, nightmare crews & alt named models along with crew hiring and theme questions have thrown confusion into all this. As such, it was a bad time for the announcement as while the company has had to turn their focus onto GenCon, the player base has been thrown into speculation with some even begun attacking one another in these threads.

Personally, I don't care for things like tournaments and such (they just don't interest me and while I love some competitive gaming, that level of it is something that I just don't enjoy), preferring to play for fun (one guy even posted how Gremlin players never use Gators, which is a wrong assumption as I love throwing them into games with my Gremlins). The problem I have is how the changes will now effect my current crews and their hiring lists. I can look past having to use two of my Masters as Ten Thunders now (any story campaigns I'll mostly just use my Gremlins as I don't like Ten Thunders story wise at all, though my Arcanist and Outcasts are mostly unchanged.....I think?), but given that most of their hiring options for both were from their other faction, will they still be able to hire up to four of them still or will some just be rendered unusable and I'll just have to retire them (mostly the McCabe one in this regard as I suspect that the ones relating to the Hungering Darkness and his Brilliance will either still be there to hire cross-faction or will have a faction switch to keep with his theme).

For the moment I will watch cautiously and keep my opinions open to possibilities, but so far I still have a number of concerns and questions that need answering before I'll feel satisfied to give a proper yes or no to the game.