Unhallowed Previews

[KB9JMQ]

Not too thrilled with the Thrall myself but I like the werewolf lord.

Yes the stirge should have been a common. Who runs into one strige?

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Yes the stirge should have been a common. Who runs into one strige?

Only one person.

After that the Stirge is dead. Some creatures really only make sense in packs.

Considering you only get 1-2 of each Uncommon per set, Wizards obviously expected people to buy 5 cases to get the Stirges that they needed. Either that or pay $5 per Stirge on the secondary market. There isn't even a figure that I can substitute for them. The tiny bat familiar in Unhallowed might work but if they make that an Uncommon then you will have the exact same problem with them as you did with the Stirges.

Olaf the Stout

 

[DaveMage]

This was the lamest preview in DDM history, IMO.

One human figure????

I don't play skirmish, so maybe I'd appreciate it more if I did, but man....

Suckiest bunch of suck that ever sucked.

More monsters, please.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Only one person.

After that the Stirge is dead. Some creatures really only make sense in packs.

Considering you only get 1-2 of each Uncommon per set, Wizards obviously expected people to buy 5 cases to get the Stirges that they needed. Either that or pay $5 per Stirge on the secondary market. There isn't even a figure that I can substitute for them. The tiny bat familiar in Unhallowed might work but if they make that an Uncommon then you will have the exact same problem with them as you did with the Stirges.

Olaf the Stout

Yeah that bat better be a common so I can have some stirge substitutes.

 

[kaomera]

They can't all be monsters. That would mean that they had to put some critters they originally intended as uncommons to be made rare. I' much prefer to have half a dozen Vampire Dire Wolves and one Thrall of Blackrazor than the other way around!

And note that making small rares is generally considered a very bad thing. Wizards have said so themselves (which didn't keep them from making "Meepo, Dragonlord" a rare, which was ridiculous).

But I doubt it will happen again.

Actually, they could all be monsters, but I doubt that will happen, either. An all-monster set (especially one released with / for a module (or adventure path, or some other product) would please me very much, and I think it would sell as well as any other DDM set...

But I like your thoughts on the distribution of the figures. If WotC just stops making any decent rares, I won't worry so much about what I get in that slot. (And, personally, I don't think it would even reduce my spending on DDM...)

 

[megamania]

It would be nice if they made some more of the "pack" type monsters (i.e. monsters that you need a lot of for RPG) Common rather than Uncommon. Stirges are only tiny yet they are one of the most sought after Uncommons going around. In my opinion they should have been made common since you need quite a few of them per encounter.

At least the Troll Slasher was made uncommon after they made the first one a rare.

Olaf the Stout

But due to size, they are hard to produce thus more expensive to produce. I work in a plastics factory. I have some idea costs and smaller is not always cheaper.

 

[Nightfall]

So is bigger better then?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Actually, they could all be monsters, but I doubt that will happen, either.

Exactly. There has to be a bit of variety in there, so you'll get both monsters and characters (and not only soldier type characters, either)

An all-monster set (especially one released with / for a module (or adventure path, or some other product) would please me very much, and I think it would sell as well as any other DDM set...

I guess this ties into the flamewar discussion we had on distribution not so long ago.

They won't be doing specific monster packs, and it's not even mainly a question of money (although that would figure into it), it's about distribution.

It would be nice if they made some more of the "pack" type monsters (i.e. monsters that you need a lot of for RPG) Common rather than Uncommon.

They are doing that to some. Not to all, because not all would be possible.

Stirges are only tiny yet they are one of the most sought after Uncommons going around.

The big error they made was putting them into WotDQ, where the distribution isn't nearly as smooth as in your average set (because cases only contain 6 boosters, and you're not guaranteed a full set of uncommons). A set later would have been fine.

I also only got two out of my 4 cases (heard of people who got 2 per case in each case). I bought another on eBay (wasn't cheap) and now I can't find it. I think that thing's gone for good. Dammit.

In my opinion they should have been made common since you need quite a few of them per encounter.

They couldn't. It's too complex to be made common. It's quite small, it's got 4 wings and the its support is made of clear plastic. That wouldn't have worked out as a common, and I'd rather have a pretty uncommon than a shaggy common.

At least the Troll Slasher was made uncommon after they made the first one a rare.

Same for the new dire wolf. Those figures couldn't be made common, though, as they're too large.

 

[kaomera]

Exactly. There has to be a bit of variety in there, so you'll get both monsters and characters (and not only soldier type characters, either)

I guess this ties into the flamewar discussion we had on distribution not so long ago.

They won't be doing specific monster packs, and it's not even mainly a question of money (although that would figure into it), it's about distribution.

I'm not talking about distribution or money or anything like that. Non-random packs would be great and I'd buy the heck out of them if done correctly, but that wouldn't be DDM anymore. IMHO, WotC could do an all-monsters DDM set, and they could work the theme of the set into other products such as adventures, etc. Right now the sets' themes aren't really that big of a deal, and therefore you get all sorts of extra random stuff in a set. Many of the "characters" are at best ugly proxies for me.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I'm not talking about distribution or money or anything like that.

Those are the reasons why Wizards will not release non-random sets of miniatures, though.

IMHO, WotC could do an all-monsters DDM set

That would mean those who want humanoid enemies - not to mention representations for their own characters - would be screwed.

Right now the sets' themes aren't really that big of a deal, and therefore you get all sorts of extra random stuff in a set.

I doubt that they would want that any other way.

The problem is that if you do specific set themes, and tie most of the figures into that theme, you'll lose a lot of customers who aren't interested in that theme.

"I don't play that eye of the lich queen adventure, why should I get boosters that only contain figures that appear there?"

Wizards has to run with high protuction runs to be able the minis as cheaply as they're selling them now: Apparently, there's a lot of fixed costs involved, which they have to pay in full even when they only sell a portion of the boosters they used to sell. So they'd sell fewer boosters than before, and because of the higher costs per booster, would get less probit for each booster to boot. They would have to raise the price dramatically in order to keep them profitable. And that, of course, will drive away the customers in masses.