DnD miniatures line

[Painfully]

I think too many people are assuming that stores will sell the individual figures. I happily admit that if I am able to pick and choose figures at my store, I am MUCH more likely to buy what I like and NEVER buy a random pack.

 

[Ranes]

I voted "no way" but what I meant was "probably not". Probably. The thing is, I currently use sheets of paper, acetate and semi-permenant markers. As PCs explore, I draw newly covered areas of the map on a sheet of acetate laid over a photocopy of the master map (I commandeer other peoples' maps; I cannot draw anything original). Then I swap out the photocopy for a sheet with a grid marked in the same scale. Map features are are drawn in black (or blue, if there's water involved), character placement is indicated by the appropriate initial marked in green and hostiles are similarly indicated in red. A damp piece of tissue easily wipes away old positions as characters and monsters move. It's quick, cheap and allows the player whose initiative it is to examine the scene by glancing at a sheet of A4.

Appropriately painted miniatures would be more appealing but not without their own problems. Our group's central table is completely decked out with munchies. On the other hand...

DM: Stalagmites and rock pillars break up the expanse of the enormous cavern before you. Fifty feet to your left is a twenty foot high bowl of peanuts.

Hmm. Maybe.

 

[Li Shenron]

I never bought minis before, because I thought they were too expensive, and I don't want to paint them by myself.

Although those 2 problems will be no more, I won't buy them still.

I really don't need them: we use someone's old Hero Quests figurines, and nobody cares if the dragons look like mummies. Plus, our opponents last only a few rounds before being defeated, so the "right" mini would be useful for half an hour. Sure, it would be nice to have minis for every monster, as much as a 3d color map (remember the old terrains used for train models?), but they would just last too short. So I prefer to have none at all, and live in peace.

Anyway, to have a decent useful set (8-10 PCs + 20-30 monsters) it would cost me as much as a couple of good manuals, which I would really like to have.

Randomization sounds too much like Magic, a game I carefully suceeded to stay away from even if I liked it. I think long ago in Italy there was a law which prohibited selling stickers (soccer players stickers were immensely popular) with different rates - common, rare, very rare... - because the kids went mad for the rare ones and spent a lot. I think it's not a good idea to have randomized minis and different rates, it's only going to collect money from teenagers players who'll spend hundreds of bucks until there's a new trend to focus on.

Add that I am also a sick greedy who doesn't easily take out money from his wallet, and that's it

 

[Gargoyle]

I've been getting into the bad habit lately of buying a lot of supplements that I'm never going to use, so I'm going to attempt to stop doing that and put that money into these minis instead, since I use minis a lot. I like painting my own, and I think I'm pretty good at it, but it takes too long.

The random aspect is the part I don't care for, but if it helps WOTC sell minis, then I guess it's better than seeing them come out with something like Chainmail that's doomed to failure.

 

[Bagpuss]

Looking at this poll they could have got nearly twice as many customers buy not being random.

Saying that the people buying them will probably have to buy more than twice as many figures just to get the ones they need so perhaps it will help the sales figures.

 

[Thaumaturge]

A poll on this board also isn't indicative of the market as a whole either. I know a few people who are interested in the game/minis who don't frequent these boards. Hopefully WotC has done a bit more market research.

Thaumaturge.

 

[KnowTheToe]

I think the poll shows a rather positive result. If half of all gamers bought these it would be hugely successful. I love to paint and I am really looking forward to these.

 

[Arnwyn]

Nope, not interested. For the love of pete, I've been gaming for more than 11 years, so of course I have enough minis by now.

And besides, I only like minis for PCs. I use numbered counters for monsters.

 

[AuraSeer]

I think the poll shows a rather positive result. If half of all gamers bought these it would be hugely successful.

The poll doesn't indicate "half of all gamers." It indicates half the people who read this part of the ENWorld boards, which is a small subset of gamers as a whole. Blah blah non-representative sample blah.

Me, I won't be buying any random packs, because IMHO it's just throwing money in the trash. If I want an ogre, I'll go buy an ogre, instead of buying two hundred packs and hoping to get lucky. Who wants ten thousand useless "blind kobold" figures cluttering up their shelves?

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

Me, I won't be buying any random packs, because IMHO it's just throwing money in the trash. If I want an ogre, I'll go buy an ogre, instead of buying two hundred packs and hoping to get lucky. Who wants ten thousand useless "blind kobold" figures cluttering up their shelves?

But how often do you just go buy an ogre now? I've never gone into a store thinking "okay, I need an ogre for this week's game, let's see what ogres are available." I just tend to buy a few minis at a time, based on what looks good or what I think I might like to paint. Then they sit on my shelf, waiting for me to get enough motivation to paint them

When it comes time to use them in game, I just look around at what I have and if I have something I need, I use it. If not, I use skittles or something. Basically, it's not all that different from buying a random pack.