Collectible Mini Game crash

[justanobody]

ICv2 - Top Fall 2008 CMGs

Top 5 Hobby Channel CMGs
1	HeroClix			WizKids
2	Dungeons & Dragons		Wizards of the Coast
3	Monsterpocalypse		Privateer Press
4	Star Wars			Wizards of the Coast
5	Axis & Allies			Wizards of the Coast

So with the top two CMGs this fall closing down shop what does that mean for the others? How will this affect roleplaying games that rely heavily on minis?

Does it even affect your roleplaying that minis are going away fast?

Specifically to D&D, how will this affect 4th edition if there are no minis to use in the mini designed system should the new minis half-CMG model should not work?

Do you even care about minis when you play an RPG?

 

[avin]

I'm using minis for my D&D campaigns but I couldn't care less about skirmish games.

DDM is going full RPG.

As I have said in other boards this is a good move, IMO, a lot of DDM players I know buy any piece of plastic as long as it have 1337 stats. No RPGer I know thinks like that.

 

[wedgeski]

Whatever reliance roleplaying games have on mini's (which in itself is arguable) can equally be serviced by anonymous tokens, crisps, dice, bits of fluff, or whatever else you have lying around. The entire mini's market could disappear overnight and it wouldn't stop any of us playing D&D. Also, although both of the top two sellers have gone through an upheaval recently, we know DDM is coming back with a focus on direct support for the RPG, and I would be extremely surprised if HeroClix wasn't back on the shelves in the near future.

 

[dm4hire]

WotC isn't getting out of the mini business though. They are just not going to sell DDM. They are still going to make minis, but now with a focus on making them specifically for the roleplaying games they tend to be used with most, i.e. D&D.

 

[justanobody]

True, but WotC is still staying in the CMG model with random distribution for DMs rather than players. So they are still holding quite tightly to the CMG idea of randomness which still makes it a bit odd when you consider they killed off their CMG and it was the second best seller for this fall with their other CMGs at 4th and 5th place but they are still alive?

So the question is based on the similar CMG model for RPG use, and will that affect their use and availability in the long run? Also consider those minis may only have a single use under the new model while the older model was still focused on the current edition like the new model will be 4th, but there will be little else to use them with until the Guild gets going and things up and running to figure out how to manage the new minis as well the old.

Also there will be a LOT less minis in the new model to provide less for people that use them for the RPG that do not already have a plethora of them.

 

[DaveMage]

Man, I thought this thread was about Creative Mountain Games....


I'm glad they haven't crashed.

 

[Hussar]

True, but WotC is still staying in the CMG model with random distribution for DMs rather than players.

I haven't been keeping up with this at all. How is there a random distribution for DM's?

And, I'm also happy this isn't about Creative Mountain Games.

 

[justanobody]

Sorry, didn't know of such a company, is there a way to change the title to prevent further confusion?

Hero packs made for players will be totally visible, while monster packs that the DMs needs for the new WotC D&D minis line will have one visible mini and 4 random minis.

But again this isn't just about D&D, people are free to respond about other RPGs that use minis...are their any other than D&D that has a big focus on their use?

 

[doctorhook]

ICv2 - Top Fall 2008 CMGs

Top 5 Hobby Channel CMGs
1    HeroClix            WizKids
2    Dungeons & Dragons        Wizards of the Coast
3    Monsterpocalypse        Privateer Press
4    Star Wars            Wizards of the Coast
5    Axis & Allies            Wizards of the Coast

So with the top two CMGs this fall closing down shop what does that mean for the others? How will this affect roleplaying games that rely heavily on minis?

Does it even affect your roleplaying that minis are going away fast?

Specifically to D&D, how will this affect 4th edition if there are no minis to use in the mini designed system should the new minis half-CMG model should not work?

Do you even care about minis when you play an RPG?

I play 4E, and I use minis. I used minis when I played 3.5E, too.

2008 hasn't been a good year for collectible miniatures games. That said, I'm not worried about it affecting my game at all. First of all, while 4E works best with visual representations, there's nothing what says you've gotta use minis per se; lego-men, counters, coins, and candies all work just fine! Secondly, WotC alone has released about a thousand different minis through the DDM line over the past 5 years, so there's already a ton out there to use. (Lots of collectors will tell you that they really don't need any more; they've got more minis than they will ever need already.)

I'm a dedicated RPGer; I only ever played the skirmish rules a couple of times, so loss of official support for that doesn't bother me. Additionally, I had been significantly disappointed with the decline in quality of the DDM line beginning with Night Below, so the new arrangement for higher-quality minis leaves me cautiously optimistic!

 

[avin]

so the new arrangement for higher-quality minis leaves me cautiously optimistic!

Same here.

A level of quality at least as good as War Drums is what I'm expecting. While Demonweb's quality is superior than the previous couple of sets it's far behind what was in the past... btw, I'm more concerned about sculpture quality than painting job.