So as you might remember, the relationship between the various Australian gaming communities and FFG / FFG’s Australian Organised Play Distributor (a company called Let’s Play Games) has been increasingly strained of late.

This tension has now boiled over once more as it’s been revealed that some of the already limited X-Wing kits had gone missing. Western Australia’s only Store Champs kit was one of those affected, and unsurprisingly people were fairly pissed off.

The response from the community has been a Change.org Petition asking FFG to ‘please fix OP in Australia’ (which at the time of writing has 276 signatures).

In an unprecedented, and admittedly pretty bold, move the head of Let’s Play Games, Nicholas Rappo, commented on one of the Facebook posts sharing the petition and began an impromptu Q&A with parts of the community in an effort to ‘clear up’ some of the statements that LPG disagreed with.

I’ve included screenshots of all of this Q&A at the bottom of this article, so if you want to read them in full you can, but here are summarised forms of the questions and answers.

Responding to claims made in the petition that LPG ‘forgot’ to order the Store Champs kits:

LPG did submit their order late to FFG. Argues that in previous years FFG had always solicited LPG for orders. FFG did not solicit any orders this year. It is fair to say that LPG could have followed up earlier but it is also fair to say that FFG should have noticed this issue as well. Notes that 4 stores applied for IA kits (3 received kits), 21 stores applied for X-Wing kits (13 received kits), in all other systems every store that applied received a kit.

Responding to the claim that stores receive kits based on the amount of product they buy:

This is definitively not the case. The most important factor for allocation of regionals or nationals is selecting a store location that will best grow that game system in Australia.

Responding to lack of communication about Nationals:

Some systems already have kits on the way. Nationals for those systems will be held in November / December. LPG still in discussions with FFG about who will fund National champion flights and accommodations; LPG delayed announcing until this was finalised.

Responding to request by some community members for others to ask questions while LPG was answering:

Best way to ask questions or give feedback is through your FLGS. All FLGS owners can contact Nick directly if they have to.

Responding to suggestions that LPG favours Good Games (a retail store chain in Australia that LPG was once the distribution arm of):

LPG has been separate from Good Games since 2016. Good Games is in no way favoured by LPG, and is in fact more likely to be under allocated (if needed) as the head of LPG is still personally good friends with the head of Good Games.

Further answer following follow-up questions in same vein:

LPG does not refuse orders from anyone. If Good Games has stock and your FLGS doesn’t then ask your FLGS to order. Repeats that Good Games does not receive special treatment.

Responding to frustrations at having to wait weeks for product to be stocked at FLGS, and query on what are LPG’s plans for handling this issue in future:

Best way for FLGS to have stock is to preorder. No comment on LPG’s plans for handling this in future as that is an internal business process (though notes that it is in LPG’s best interest to have adequate stock for stores).

Responding to criticism that having Nationals in November / December is difficult for those with family and children (this was presented as a choice between Christmas presents and Nationals):

Choice as presented is extreme. LPG is sympathetic to parents trying to schedule limited time and funds, but the window doesn’t or shouldn’t force a choice like the one described. Several months notice will be given on these events to allow people to plan.

Further answer following follow-up questions in same vein:

Does not believe LPG is out of line scheduling events in the 8 week period of November to December, but apologises if it doesn’t work for certain customers and will take that feedback on board.

Responding to claim that stores do not know why they haven’t received kits that they have ordered:

Direct the FLGS to get into contact with LPG. They have all the relevant contact details.

Responding to suggestion that more open communication with the community would allow for bigger and better events in Australia:



LPG is going to trial letting the community know when they are soliciting stores to order kits so that the community can encourage their store to apply.

Responding to suggestion that directing the community to talk to LPG through their FLGS is difficult because of the business relationship between the two:

If community needs answers directly, contact LPG at organisedplay@letsplaygames.com.au

Responding to frustrations that Australian communities are consistently left behind compared to the international scene, and query as to what LPG is doing to improve that issue:

Australian market is definitely left out a lot, and this stems from the fact that we are a small market. Does note, however, that game supply in Australia has improved dramatically in the last decade. LPG’s plan is to become a large enough customer that international publishers cannot simply forget about them and Australia. Notes that relationships with publishers has significantly improved, and that LPG’s capabilities and capacity have likewise grown (and that hopefully this will continue to be the case).

Responding to question asking why the Australian community should put their faith back into LPG as a OP representative and why OP responsibilities shouldn’t be handed off to other companies:

Ultimately LPG’s actions and the success of OP will determine that. LPG can’t speak about any specific business but argues that allowing an ‘online discounter’ to be responsible for OP would be catastrophic. In particular, notes that online retailers are built around undercutting brick and mortar stores and that those very stores are integral to the ongoing growth of Australian gaming communities.

At this time Nick has headed home for the day and ended his Q&A session. If any more questions are answered moving forward I will update the article to reflect that.

The community at large is still reacting to this sudden influx of information. I’ll reserve my own thoughts for a separate article lest I muddy the waters here.

Let me know what you think.

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Intel Officer Luke