El Ronza |
Okay. I don't yet have the RotRL or Shattered Star cases, and I desperately want a Skull & Shackles case, but it looks like this one might be worth saving up for as a priority, since it looks like it'll have a good range of minis that will be useful outside of just one campaign. Is that the case? Can one of the higher-ups elaborate?
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
El Ronza |
We try to make sure that most of the minis even in the AP-specific sets can be useful outside of just one campaign. That's probably a little bit easier to achieve here, though.
Thanks, Vic! I didn't mean to imply the other sets are of limited use, sorry. I'm just looking for an excuse to buy a case or three, and the more 'generic' the minis are, the easier it will be to justify it! (And fingers crossed my family will make good on the "case of Runelords minis" birthday offer...)
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
Drogon Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds |
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Erik also revealed at the banquet that Wizkids hopes to release *another* full set between Legends and the end of the year....
I dunno that you should be doing that. Every six months was a pretty good schedule, so long as things like We Be Goblins and the Evolution Pack were being put out in between. Putting out a $600 purchase requirement every 3 months is a sure way to sound the death knell for this line.
Keep in mind that the average GM has a pretty finite number of creatures he needs to acquire. This is not Heroclix, where new figures change the dynamics of the game with every set. These are merely bad guys, and I only need so many skeletons/thugs/badass-bad-guys. Don't let WizKids push you into this kind of release schedule or you will alienate your fan base, along with shrinking your purchasing market relatively quickly.
Drogon Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds |
How much disposable income do YOU have? O.o
As a retailer, I'm fine with it, of course. But I know I will adjust my store's purchasing to account for it. Instead of getting 10 cases of each set I will scale back to 5 or 6. Why? Because I know there is no way my customers' budgets will match the pace of release. I can always reorder to accommodate unanticipated demand. But if Wizkids is doubling (or tripling) its production and not really seeing an increase in purchases, all they are doing is adding to the expense to produce the line.
Leo_Negri |
I have to agree with Drogon. While as a player / collector / DM I am always willing to purchase more new minis (and I buy them by the case because I am a collector and they have the collation down on this, and then buy singles to fill the gaps) 3 Full sets, 2 Builders and an encounter pack will stretch my gaming budget to the point where one is going to have to give.
Or to put it in perspective, a case of minis (from Paizo, so factoring in their discount) is equal to 1/3 of a month's rent up where I live. This is fine when you don't have other bills or if you don't plan on eating. But this many releases too close together is going to give a large percentage of players and collector's pause.
Now if there were a skirmish level Pathfinder Miniatures Wargame that made use of theses models that might be another story entirely (though troop stats would have to be provided in Warhammer style army-books at this point). Note this is also an idea that I would not be at all opposed to, especially as it would give people a gateway to miniatures wargaming without the (conservative estimate here) $300 initial outlay for Warhammer / Hordes / War Lord / insert name of paint it yourself mini's wargame here.
Alexander Augunas Contributor |
Personally, I don't think it would be as big of a deal if WizKids didn't make such limited runs of each set. I don't think I saw anyone in my area carrying Rise of the Runelords models after Shattered Star came out, and Heroes and Monsters was basically gone well before Rise of the Runelords came out.
You end up having to predict how many of each model you want right when that set comes out so you can try to gobble up as many copies of them as possible before WizKid's supply runs out.
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
I can't speak for other retailers and their ability to either predict sales or finance the right amount of inventory, but I can tell you that Paizo orders from WizKids with a goal of having stock for 1-2 years. You can still buy Rise of the Runelords from us, by the case, brick, booster, or single figure, and Heroes & Monsters by the brick, standard booster, or single figure.
Drogon Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds |
Shem |
Alexander,
Subscribing helps with all that. I do not have to worry what how many my local store has on hand or for how long. And I get what I want when they are released.
I am happy that I can subscribe and with the quality of the miniatures. And the reimaging of classic monsters in the game.
For myself, I find that two sets works and then fill in some commons that I might want more of.
I also like the AP sets that give me many unique or specific minis. Things like the forge find from Runelords.
I find that many of my old minis have been completely replaced by the superior ones from Wizkids and Paizo. Like goblins, ghouls, stone giants and ogres. I am a happy mini buyer.
Cat-thulhu |
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The problem with sets every 2-3 months is the cost - 2 sets is almost 1000 dollars every few months, assuming absolutely nothing in between. Now Shem you may be in a position to afford that (in which case I envy you Grrrr), and lucky enough to live in the US to reduce shipping pain, but that puts a strain on a lot of others. For most it could mean a reduction in buying, and hence sales of sets. Usually followed by a reduction in quality to improve profit margins.
Mine all mine...don't touch |
This is too many sets in too short a time frame. The quality is going to suffer, (look at heroclix if you don't believe me) and people like me are going to dump the product altogether. I will admit I am a must have a complete set or I am not happy, so if I can't get a whole set I won't buy any. Even if I did try to complete sets it will be on the secondary market which really doesn't benefit Wizkids either. I know Paizo isn't in charge of the release schedule but they need to be the voice of reason and try to reign in Wizkids, if nothing else for the fans sake.
Mine all mine...don't touch |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
If the quality doesn't suffer our wallets certainly will. 4 sets per year at 400$ plus four large figures at 10$ (counting the 75% discount) plus minimum 2 builder series at 59.76$ and 2 evolution sets at 36$ = a whopping 1831.52 a year or 152.62$ a month on top of our subscriptions for printed materials. Way too rich for me folks!
Skeld |
I mentioned int he other thread that the pace is picking up too much for me to keep up. If I'm going to be choosey, I think I'm going to dump my Skull & Shackles case in favor of this one. I mean, if I'm only going to buy 1 case, this one seems like the clear choice for me (I was very "meh" about S&S because there's only so many pirates and aquatic-themed critters I need).
-Skeld
Steve Geddes |
I'm happy with the faster releases. It was too slow for me up til now.
It certainly makes it harder to buy one or more of everything, but if sets have been consistently selling out rapidly* then increasing the rate of new releases is unlikely to damage the market (even if some individuals change their habits from "buy one of everything" to "buy every second release" or similar).
Jester David |
Erik also revealed at the banquet that Wizkids hopes to release *another* full set between Legends and the end of the year....
Ugh, too soon.
Unless the plan is to get a large number of minis available and build to a minimum number of commons then dial back.But that doesn't help those rares or desirables that might sell out (*cough* Amiri *cough*).
I can only justify a case of every other set, and then because it matches the Adventure Path. Kinda.
I bought RotRL because I was buying the book which meant I'd run it, and I bought Skull & Shackles because aquatic minis were harder to come by. I only picked-up a brick of Heroes & Monsters and Shattered Star and might only get singles from Legends of Golarion. With Christmas, I doubt very much I'll have the cash to spring for yet another set.
Four in a single year is far too many. Even WotC when DDM was at its most popular stuck to three.
I can see three a year for a while, doing two adventure paths and one misc until they've done all the APs and modules. Then slowing down to two.
Alexander Augunas Contributor |
Alexander,
Subscribing helps with all that. I do not have to worry what how many my local store has on hand or for how long. And I get what I want when they are released.
I am happy that I can subscribe and with the quality of the miniatures. And the reimaging of classic monsters in the game.
For myself, I find that two sets works and then fill in some commons that I might want more of.
I also like the AP sets that give me many unique or specific minis. Things like the forge find from Runelords.
I find that many of my old minis have been completely replaced by the superior ones from Wizkids and Paizo. Like goblins, ghouls, stone giants and ogres. I am a happy mini buyer.
Dude, if I could afford to drop $400 in one sitting, I totally would.
danielc |
How good or bad are my odds to getting Jhavrul (the Efreet Prince) in a single brick? I've not purchased any of the Pathfinder Battles before (I loathe the random factor), but I'm considering dipping my toe in to get some other minis I can use if I can get Jhavrul for my Legacy of Fire game.
I have had a full set in every case I have bought to this point. I realize they say they can not guarantee you will, but if you read the threads on here I am sure you will see that has been the experience. Now for each brick, well if we assume that the case is almost a sure thing and a case has four bricks in it then I would assume your odds are at best 1 in 4. Of course that is a less than perfect number, but it gets you an idea.
I would say that if you really just want the Efreet than you are much better off just buying him as an after market single.
Course that is just my opinion. ;-)
Alephtau |
This works out pretty good for me. Was already pretty much set on skipping over skull & shackles minis, just not too interested in the set and did not like the AP at all.
But these will be a must for me to buy, especially if there are more Kingmaker minis in this set! Cant wait to start seeing previews on this set.
NOG the Demoralizer |
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I would instantly subscribe to a one-of-everything price adjusted plan, but at the current cost to get a good chance of one of everything in a 55 mini set I need to buy over 70 duplicates which is unfortunately for me too much money to waste.
I hear the arguments of needing the commons in larger numbers (though repaints sort of take care of that), and that the randomness allows for lower price per figure to offset the bigger ones, but if there are going to be 150+ different minis a year, something has to give... this just seems unsustainable for what I imagine is the bulk of miniatures purchasers.
As an aside, based on the number of singles sellers around the net, is there any credibility to the theory that people like randomness in their purchases any more? Instead of driving me to buy more (I assume the main reason behind the scheme) it causes complete disinterest in buying anything.
Deanoth |
If the quality doesn't suffer our wallets certainly will. 4 sets per year at 400$ plus four large figures at 10$ (counting the 75% discount) plus minimum 2 builder series at 59.76$ and 2 evolution sets at 36$ = a whopping 1831.52 a year or 152.62$ a month on top of our subscriptions for printed materials. Way too rich for me folks!
No one has o SKIP sets per se. There is nothing wrong with buying boosters and the like as well. I have the first three sets. I am not planning on buying the Skull and Shackles set outright but I plan on buying boosters to get some of the ones I DO want from the set and some more besides. I do not want to buy the singles as that is not as much fun for me unless I absolutely need to.
It is a tough thing to not buy sets... but money does get tight. :)
Enlight_Bystand |
How good or bad are my odds to getting Jhavrul (the Efreet Prince) in a single brick? I've not purchased any of the Pathfinder Battles before (I loathe the random factor), but I'm considering dipping my toe in to get some other minis I can use if I can get Jhavrul for my Legacy of Fire game.
Presuming the same distribution as Shattered Star (1rare per case), your odds of getting a specific rare from a blind booster are pretty much 1 in 32. It's probably best to pick it up from the singles market - here at Paizo rare Larges go for 14 - 18 dollars, elsewhere they'll be cheaper. Look to get on it shortly after release though, as it may well sell out.
Drakli |
This... is kind of a bit much.
I'm already spending between $70 and $100 per month on all of my subscriptions.
I can afford to collect one or two sets of Pathfinder Minis a year. Trying to chase after a set every two months with twelve piece builder sets inbetween?
I'm not sure I can sustain it.
And yes, I know nothing is forcing me to try. But I sure would try if it was spaced apart to be manageable.
Shadar Aman |
I would instantly subscribe to a one-of-everything price adjusted plan, but at the current cost to get a good chance of one of everything in a 55 mini set I need to buy over 70 duplicates which is unfortunately for me too much money to waste.
I hear the arguments of needing the commons in larger numbers (though repaints sort of take care of that), and that the randomness allows for lower price per figure to offset the bigger ones, but if there are going to be 150+ different minis a year, something has to give... this just seems unsustainable for what I imagine is the bulk of miniatures purchasers.
As an aside, based on the number of singles sellers around the net, is there any credibility to the theory that people like randomness in their purchases any more? Instead of driving me to buy more (I assume the main reason behind the scheme) it causes complete disinterest in buying anything.
Are you suggesting a subscription where you essentially just get one of each mini for something similar to the singles price? Or are you looking for something cheaper than that? Taking shattered star as an example (and using Paizo prices, since I assume subscription costs would be similar), it looks like buying one of each mini as singles would cost around $375. For $25 more, you could get that extra 70 duplicates to fill out your combats.
The purpose of randomness is not to make you buy more, it is (as you point out yourself) to reduce the per-figure cost to something more reasonable. It's fine to pick up a few specific minis that you need at singles prices, but when you're talking about getting a large number, the random cases make a lot more sense. I wouldn't say that I "like" the randomness, but I would say that I appreciate what it allows as far as cost.
Erik Mona Publisher, Chief Creative Officer |