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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 1162301" data-attributes="member: 151">I wouldn't even try to convince you that corporate greed isn't a serious problem...but I would say that a desire for success doesn't immediately translate into that.  It's not a game of extremes, necessarily, and while WotC is the big-man-on-campus in the RPG/CCG world, they're far from a large concern anywhere else.  Their vast empire is really quite small.  As far as the greater world is concerned, their really just a division of Hasbro, at this point.  Outside of anyone who actually played the game, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who even remembers how TSR was, let alone someone like Chaosium or SJG. And as for the bean-counters and lawyers...well, TSR had lawyers, as I'm sure you'll recall.  And they weren't nearly as nice as WotC's was and are.  Remember the infamous 'copyrighting' scandals?  How about the 'take your website down or we'll destroy you' incidents?  And it was the fundemenatal lack of bean-counters that nearly destroyed D&D as a game altogether.  Those administration folks you so readily dismiss as the great corporate evil are all that keeps WotC going.   And in case you think that the suits are responsible for the horrible business decisions that WotC has made in the past, you need only do a few quick seraches right here on these various forums about Chainmail, the OGL, and a host of other topics.  You'll find plenty of former WotC employees who mention how it was specific designers within the company who often pushed through foolish decisions.  Are the suits probably responsible for a few bad decisions?  I'm sure they are.  But I'm also sure they're responsible for many good ones.  Like the idea to create the OGL/d20 license.  Like the idea to go over TSR's books.  Like the idea to do test marketing on the D&D market and find out how gamers were, how they played and what they wanted.  Things TSR NEVER DID. I recently met with James Ernest, the head of Cheapass games, for example.  He understood how to run a business, AS WELL as design games.  Not every company is that lucky.  For those companies, those bean counters are a necessity.  And let's be honest, how many of those CCGs came from companies that were able to manage their business affairs well, and were able to come up with a good idea that didn't involve copying WotC's basic concept?  Not that many.  Feng Shui, Star Trek, Star Wars and a few others, but at the time there were literally dozens of crappy imitators.  Remember the really bad martial arts game that had pictures of some guys from a dojo doing some simple moves and some photoshop effects added?  That was one of many.   As for acquiring the minis you want, there are non-random packs coming, and virtually every store that carries them (except WotC's) will be selling individual ones, just like they do with Mage Knight, Hero Clix and others.  Will rares be more expensive?  Sure, but if you want them that badly, you'll pay the extra.  Otherwise, normal metal minis are still available, and let's be honest, the WotC minis are not going to meet all your needs...they're not designed to.   My advice?  Get D&D minis for the commons, and get metal minis or Mage Knights for the more specific minis you want.  As for me, I'll buy a few more here or there, as the mood strikes me...but I've got lots and lots of minis already.  20+ years of gaming will do that.  But for quick, easy minis that are already painted, these will do just fine.</blockquote>

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