Age of Annihilation - Backer Trend and Discussion

[Hogg]

Originally Posted by GamerDad74

I also found the new aesthetic almost completely jarringly disjointed with the original, and simply too much derivative of other games already on the market (which do their thing better anyway). We didn't need (or want) 40K or dapper, bespectacled beavers in Heroscape. We wanted what they promised--for Heroscape to be "Baaaack!!!"

Maybe they could have avoided all of this mess by simply stating, "Hey, brand new game borrowing the mechanics and terrain of Heroscape. Come check it out."

Instead they were like, "Hey look! It's 'Heroscape!'" *wink* *wink*

I agree completely. This could have been as simple as dusting off the unreleased units from the vault and finishing development on them.

Instead the tried to reinvent the wheel and make it rounder? Because of branding?

Its like they tried to go out of their way to change things and turn people off. Plus they wasted energy doing it. Who ever thought the cards needed any kind of redesign? Someone photoshopped one of the new units into the old card style and it looks so much better.

All the new factions and new generals were unnecessary and a turn off as well. 6 was the perfect number, and was baked into HeroScapes DNA with the Hex tiles. Valkrill was already throwing off the balance. There's a wonderful thread about the color balance where the writer was able to predict the sixth general before Aquilla was announced because 6 is so fundamental to HeroScape: https://www.heroscapers.com/communit...ighlight=color

Overall AoA felt like it was developed by people who weren't really familiar with the original game and certainly didn't understand why people loved it so much.

[caps]

2004-2010 Heroscape relied on historical tropes + the tropes that were big in pop culture at the time. The Vanguard Edition dips its toes into historical stuff with parts of the Pirate faction. The rest is stuff that you can easily find in pop culture in 2022.

The complaints about the factions in this set are among the most puzzling complaints to me...

[Hogg]

Originally Posted by caps

The Vanguard Edition dips its toes into historical stuff with parts of the Pirate faction.

I'm not feeling it at all. I wouldn't have been feeling it if the Roman Legion had laser swords either.

[nyys]

Originally Posted by Hogg

Overall AoA felt like it was developed by people who weren't really familiar with the original game and certainly didn't understand why people loved it so much.

Really?!? I know you are aware that this was developed by a group that couldn’t have been closer to the original material. So, really?!?

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FWIW, everything in the offering feels like HeroScape to me. The aesthetics are definitely not the same, but other than that, to me, its definitely HeroScape. Some disagree, and that’s fine, but stating that we didn’t need beavers/gophers/or insert something you don’t like, as fact, is garbage (or maybe I’m just ‘hearing’ a tone incorrectly).

That wasn’t directed at you @Hogg , just my general sense of last couple pages of posts.

[IAmBatman]

I do think a lot of the aesthetic changes bandied about (card style, dice faces, symbols on cards, etc.) were a puzzling move to make when the campaign was overly reliant on a nostalgia market. One new General was exciting, I thought. When they kept going to that well it started to water down the impact and feel a bit overdone, IMO.

I think a lot of the leaked designs have a good deal of charm. I like Admiral Jim a lot and the Alien Queen and her bugs are a really cool mechanical implementation, IMO.

That said, I do also think that the tropes being referenced in this set were overall a lot "muddier" than most of "classic" Valhallascape, and I think the point was well made about the naming conventions to demonstrate that.

Most of the tropes here came off as a combination of things: Techno Pirates, Steampunk Woodland Creatures, Body Horror Cyborg Thingies, etc. Whereas most classic tropes were more clearly *one* thing: Dwarves, Minute Men, Knights, Cowboys, etc.

[Hogg]

George Lucas missed the mark on the prequels too.

[nyys]

Originally Posted by Hogg

George Lucas missed the mark on the prequels too.

Oh now you’ve gone too far!

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Most of the tropes here came off as a combination of things: Techno Pirates, Steampunk Woodland Creatures, Body Horror Cyborg Thingies, etc. Whereas most classic tropes were more clearly *one* thing: Dwarves, Minute Men, Knights, Cowboys, etc.

That's a good point, I hadn't really noticed that. The woodland animals are what has me most excited, in whatever form they take. After I read my first Redwall novel a couple decades ago, I've been hooked on the aesthetic ever since. Not that Redwall was anywhere close to steampunk animals, more medieval if anything, but I'll take what I can get.

[IAmBatman]

I do think the woodland creatures are the closest in the set to a "pure" trope for me.

Conversely, I think that what most people close their eyes and think of when if you say "pirates" is just very aesthetically different than the "pirates" in AoA. Whereas if you say "knights," what they think of is probably pretty darn close to the Knights of Weston and Knights Templar.

[caps]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

I do think the woodland creatures are the closest in the set to a "pure" trope for me.

Conversely, I think that what most people close their eyes and think of when if you say "pirates" is just very aesthetically different than the "pirates" in AoA. Whereas if you say "knights," what they think of is probably pretty darn close to the Knights of Weston and Knights Templar.

You're not wrong. Pointing to Killian Vane and... Well I was going to say Fia Bonny and Crimson Widow but they both have tweaks or upgrades to them. So Vane is the only one that feels like he could have just walked off a ship in the 1700s.

I love what they did with the pirates but I understand why people don't recognize them as checking the "historical" box.

[Shurrig]

everything about this set appeals to me except for the price point, and I think that’s honestly what’s driving potential newcomers away.

[CapAp]

Originally Posted by caps

Sheman is no spring chicken himself. Regardless I think you misinterpreted his post though? He is saying that the AH team is the guy in the gif, not you.

Thank you. I did misinterpret it, I thought he was saying my opinion marked me as the Buscemi character, i.e. a fake Heroscape fan. I get the intent now.

[CapAp]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

That said, I do also think that the tropes being referenced in this set were overall a lot "muddier" than most of "classic" Valhallascape, and I think the point was well made about the naming conventions to demonstrate that.

Most of the tropes here came off as a combination of things: Techno Pirates, Steampunk Woodland Creatures, Body Horror Cyborg Thingies, etc. Whereas most classic tropes were more clearly *one* thing: Dwarves, Minute Men, Knights, Cowboys, etc.

Yes! I am the guy who doesn't like my beans to touch my mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving.