pawsplay
Hero
This is both speculative and unverifiable, but from my viewpoint, reasonable: I think the DDM2 was a big miss on several levels. It with with DDM2 that they started making sure each mini had a cute or distinctive way of playing, often inventing new abilities or coming up with strange stats (Orc Savage springs to mind.... 5 hp, +30 or something if it hits an opponent?). When this idea was applied to later Monster Manuals, and later to 4e encounter design in general, it was a hit, but with DDM, I think it was a flop. First, as mentioned above, whole sets were obsolesced. Second, I think the miniatures market was mostly older players, probably people more attracted to AD&D/3e/Pathfinder/etc. than to 4e, not universally, but enough that the demographic was misidentified in terms of what they wanted. Third, the direction of the line messed with the hardcore minis fans. Okay, a lot of people hated morale. Well, guess what? If you don't like morale, you're probably less likely to be a long-time minis gamer in the first place. The Miniatures Handbook introduced a lot of simpler, mid-CR monsters that marked, I think, an improvement in house design. But the more eccentric designs that came with later mini sets, and with various products that presaged 4e, probably turned off people who liked the original product, who liked some of the ideas in the Miniatures Handbook and so forth. So the minis base was split, at least twice, before 4e came along and split it further in terms of RPG buyers. Fourth, Wizards couldn't figure out how to price and sell designs. They constantly complained about "keeping costs down" but time and again we saw the secondary market was willing to pay a couple of dollars more for minis people actually wanted. Fewer sets, higher quality miniatures, more consciously designed distribution (in both the random and non-random versions) might have diminishes sales and raw profits somewhat but I think would have led to a healthier line and a more enthusiastic fanbase. In the beginning, people were excited to see what was coming down the pipe. By the end, people lined up to the first to mock the new miniatures. The quality just did not stay up, the designs were out to lunch, and the best minis were largely traded on the secondary market because it was much cheaper than trying to score one by luck.
