WotC April survey

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

FYI, the next mini set is going back to completely blind packaging, because boosters with visible minis didn't sell well (I'm blaming that on the choice of certain visible minis, such as the unicorn).

I blame it on a slavish devotion to the CCG style booster pack. Wizards has it in their heads that the common/uncommon/rare random booster pack is the correct model for both the miniature's game and those wishing to use them for tabletop DnD games. I don't need to purchase random packs of books hoping to the get the Martial Power 2. I shouldn't have to do that to get 10 goblins for tonight's DnD session.

I understand the desire for this method in the minis game. Limited Magic is an absolute blast and having every booster pack in magic being non-random would hurt this format.

That said, I am a member of the DnD community that loves the idea of pre-painted minis for the sole purpose of tabletop RPGs. Magic cards don't have a use outside of their game, DDMinis do. There has to be room for another style of distribution that wouldn't hurt the integrity of the minis game but would allow those not interested to have access to the units.

My idea is theme packs. Heck, they could be random if I just knew they'd all be goblins (or whatever the theme is). The beholders, I guess, is a step in the right direction.

DDM annoys me to no end. I love the concept (as I can't paint and like minis), I loath the random distribution.

 

[jasonbostwick]

DDM hasn't had a miniatures game associated with it since Demonweb in 2008, or at least one officially supported by WotC.

The randomized model was never strongly tied to utility for the skirmish game. The rarity levels tend to coincide with production costs of the minis, with small one-piece minis with simple paint jobs being common and large, complicated minis with detailed paint jobs being rare. (Although the 'chase value' of someone hoping to get a dragon or beholder certainly factors in as well).

According to Merric's Laws of Miniatures, you can pick two of Non-Random Packaging, Cheap Prices, and a Large Assortment. The random packaging of DDM has always been a positive for me, as the secondary singles market lets me benefit from the latter two.
I have a lot of fun, unique minis from DDM that I can't imagine would have ever been produced if they had to be sold in their own SKU - Living Statues, Kruthiks, three types of Bully Wug, Myconids.

It isn't hard to get a collection of DDM that you actually want through the secondary market. I think that the randomized booster model is a bit of a 'trap' for uninformed buyers or people who aren't interested in buying things online.

Through the secondary market you can buy as many goblins for $0.60 a pop. The only company making non-randomized prepainted plastic at D&D scale is Reaper, and their cheapest minis cost $1.20 each, with a selection nowhere near comparable to DDM.

Although I've already pretty much got all of the minis I need (and I think that market saturation is a major factor in the DDM line slowing down) I'll be a bit sad if random distribution goes away entirely. While it might be nice to be able to pick up a pack of 4 beholders or an encounter set of orcs if you are starting a collection, people with established collections don't really need more orcs.

I'll miss the 'weird' minis that a randomized line lets them throw in - a quick look at the Reaper Legendary Encounters line show how basic a non-randomized line might be.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

Although I've already pretty much got all of the minis I need (and I think that market saturation is a major factor in the DDM line slowing down) I'll be a bit sad if random distribution goes away entirely. While it might be nice to be able to pick up a pack of 4 beholders or an encounter set of orcs if you are starting a collection, people with established collections don't really need more orcs.

I'll miss the 'weird' minis that a randomized line lets them throw in - a quick look at the Reaper Legendary Encounters line show how basic a non-randomized line might be.

I'm not advocating doing away with the randomized packs, your post makes several good points for continuing that practice. I am in favor of non-random theme packs alongside the traditional model.

I've purchased some Legendary Encounters stuff (they form the small back-bone of my miniature collection ) and I'm very happy with the product. I'm eagerly awaiting more from reaper

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Honestly, I'd be surprised if they didn't ignore me. I'm not their target demographic anymore, based on the direction they've taken the game.

Ditto

 

[Wik]

My big comments on the game were as follows:

1) More fluff is better - I specifically said that Primal Power is MUCH better than the earlier "power" books, for just that reason.

2) I would love to see a 4e version of the 3e Unearthed Arcana. Something along those lines, even in the pages of DRAGON, would be amazing. Official recognition of unofficial works makes me giddy (but then, I was the guy in the 2e years who bought DRAGON simply for all the house rule variants out there).

 

[Wik]

Oh, yeah. DMG 2? Great book, at times, but there were some kind of lame parts. But the advice is great, even if you're not running 4e or if you've been running D&D for two decades. For me, the parts that fell flat were the skill challenge chapter (since I use Stalker0s Obsidian variant, which is MUCH better), and that paragon chapter (Don't get me wrong, I love sigil, but the DMG 2 version seemed to suck the soul out of the place, and the advice on paragon characters just seems a little bland and generic).

 

[airwalkrr]

I took the survey just so I could tell WotC how upset I am that they pulled all their digital downloads of old edition material. I don't play 4e, but that doesn't mean they have to lose me as a customer completely, even if they don't make as much money from a digital download as they would from me buying a 4e book. Restricting my access to old editions is NOT going to make me play 4e.