Dwarven Forge Now Wants To Build Cities!

Dwarven Forge is no stranger to enormously successful Kickstarters. Previous projects have raised in the region of $2,000,000, and the latest looks like it's on track to do much the same. This time, it's a beautiful city builder system - and in my opinion, it's the prettiest yet. Dwarven Forge is, admittedly, not for those on a limited budget - I've never owned any myself, sadly. In case you're not familair, Dwarven Forge produces 3D modular terrain for use with miniatures. They've been around for nearly 20 years, and have consistently produced some of the bst -looking - and best-known - 3D terrain around.

This Kickstarter camapign just launched a couple of days ago, and has hit $300,000 already. At lower pledge levels of $35 or so, you get a handfull of tiles - enough to make one building. For $165, you'll get enough to buid a hamlet, for $230 you can build a village, and at the rarified heights of $360 you're looking at enough stuff to construct towns and cities.

There are even pledge levels of $920, and over 150 people have pledged that amount!

Click on the images below and check out the Kickstarter. Hold on to your wallet first, though!

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[moldyderp]

For those interested in Sewers, they just released some great pictures of what you can get with a Monster Sewer set, at $125 unpainted / $165 painted:

I have to admit, for $165 those pictures are pretty underwhelming to me. I would have expected something at least 2x as big.

 

[SigmaOne]

Are there comparable hand-painted modular and virtually-indestructible products at a lower price?

 

[moldyderp]

Are there comparable hand-painted modular and virtually-indestructible products at a lower price?

Probably not. But that doesn't necessarily make them a good buy....

I'm around $3,300 into dwarvenite after the last two kickstarters (addons, and post purchases included). I like the product a lot. But even this one has me pulling at my collar a bit. The city pieces may demand a premium, but the sewer pieces I expected to cost about 30% less, or come with more pieces. The size of the layout you can build for $165 just doesn't merit the purchase for me.

I have money to spend on this kickstarter, but not money to throw away.

$165 for this seems a tad excessive:
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[Jan van Leyden]

Probably not. But that doesn't necessarily make them a good buy....

I have money to spend on this kickstarter, but not money to throw away.

$165 for this seems a tad excessive:

Looking at the image I see an extremely cool looking setting for one sewers encounter. For a sewers adventure I'd either need to re-build the scenery after each encounter essentially taking away the exploration theme or plunk down even more money. And then I'm prepared to run adventures in sewers.

While I drool at the pretty images, my hand stay far away from my wallet - and it's not even twitching. But I still get envious when I know of someone who has the stuff.

 

[SigmaOne]

If you can't get the same quality at a lower cost, I think that is the definition of a good buy. Whether it's the right buy for you is a different question.

For what it's worth, they just released the Streets Packs, which at $0.30 per square inch (unpainted "basic" add-on packs) are half the price per unit area of the Sewer tiles and about $0.10 per square inch cheaper than the basic dungeon Game Tiles, and they include free shipping in the U.S. The "Imperial" pack is an additional 10% discount on that.


View attachment 67506
This KS may not be for everyone, and it certainly is not inexpensive, but I defy anyone who likes minis to look at their Photo Gallery and not be inspired.

 

[moldyderp]

If you can't get the same quality at a lower cost, I think that is the definition of a good buy.

By that reasoning, they could charge whatever they want and it would be deemed "a good buy". I don't think anyone offers anything on par concerning quality, but that doesn't mean $20 for a 2"x2" piece is "a good buy". I think a good buy is going to be subjective based on many criteria, but most of all perceived value, and that's where I'm struggling with this one. I have $800 set aside for this Kickstarter but that likely won't come out as that only pays for a fraction of what I was hoping to get. $165 for what? 16" square playing area? That's pretty rich. I'd like to see the real math here, maybe it's better than what I'm suggesting, but the pictures you posted don't do it any favors other than curb appeal.

Anyway, I think we mostly agree, we just call it different things. They do look real nice though. I'd love to get my hands on some, but not have to give up a body part to do so.

 

[SigmaOne]

Fair enough, a "good buy" is inherently subjective and depends on perceived value versus available discretionary wealth, which are highly individualized factors.

One could do a market comparison based on similar kinds of products and other products in the miniatures/rpg/wargaming market (in fact people have), consider factors like product lifespan and resale value, etc, and complete an objective cost-benefit analysis. I think one would find these are not really outliers, relative to other products in the market.

But as you say, ultimately that can't decide whether they're right for you.

 

[moldyderp]

The Kickstarter is wildly popular so far, as much or more than previous ones if I remember right. So good for them. Tell them to revisit sewers and add some more love, and I have $800 ready to pledge which would probably bloat like it did the last two campaigns.

At $1,000, I need to be able to build a good sized city, and a good sized sewer. At that point, I'm a buyer.

 

[pogre]

I have tons of this stuff, but this kickstarter is really hitting the spot for me. I'm going to be a couple Gs poorer when it is all said and done!

 

[Jhaelen]

By that reasoning, they could charge whatever they want and it would be deemed "a good buy".

Yup, and that reasoning is correct: If you cannot get a particular product anywhere else, they get to define the price. It's a 'good' price by definition because there isn't any price you could compare it with. It's a decision between buying it for that price or not having it. If they charged a million bucks for it, it would still be the best price available - such is the beauty of having a monopoly on something.