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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eyebeams" data-source="post: 4603788" data-attributes="member: 9225">Keep in mind that this is an economic climate where *Wizkids* has ceased operations until someone with more modest expectations can take over their properties. The fact that DDM ended at the same time does not mean it bombed anymore than the Clix games. CMGs are aimed at a young demographic with heavy disposable income that is earned by their parents. The miniatures do not have the same margins as other collectibles due to manufacturing complexity. If you were a game company, would you bet on something that requires Mom and Dad to shell out extra money? Would you do it for something that makes less money per unit and requires decent economies of scale to work properly?I doubt this is a triumph for people who want RPG miniatures first. For one thing, WotC has a fairly rotten record of trying to convince people to consistently play with them. Remember the Miniatures Handbook? That was marketed as a virtual 4th corebook for 3.5. I think it's more probable that this was the result of some rapid restructuring based on market research in response to the credit crunch. WotC will push its existing minis designs into nonrandom packs to make a tiny bit of money and offer brand support until it can find a new way to get a kick at the minis can. It is, after all, one of the few things that can't really be duplicated by MMOs.(This has interesting implications for DDI. Will gamers pay for WoW style graphics in their minis when they can just play WoW? I think a high-rez character creator would be a big draw, even if it can't render that on the game table.)Their next big try is probably not going to rely on the RPG alone, because that's an insufficiently large market. WotC knows it can't win in GW's niche because it tried that with Chainmail. It won't come back for CMGs until market conditions change. What's next? Maybe expandable board games or wargames with board game features. I do know that every game designer around salivated at the introduction of BattleLore.</blockquote>

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