Age of Annihilation - Backer Trend and Discussion

[chas]

There is a separate discussion thread for each AOA card revealed on BGG. If you'd like to discuss them here, feel free to join my thread on Playing The New Factions here:

https://www.heroscapers.com/communit...ad.php?t=61310

[GaryLASQ]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

TREX, you’re the best. I don’t want anyone to feel bad about thinking it won’t fund. Or thinking that the campaign has sucked.

I object to two things: first, figuring out what to do now that the campaign is dead. First, it’s not, and second, considering all of the work I’ve put into this project, I find it personally stressful that people are already plotting how to proxy the units I designed. Flattered, yes, but also hurt. It’s not time. Second, I object to anyone who dislikes bears. That’s it.

A while back on FB, Discord and here, I mentioned wanting to see only ONE army card. Not because I needed to see the stats on a unit, but because I was curious about the new look/layout of the army cards. (I even suggested taking a couple existing units and showing what it would look like.) I think we all knew that if we saw too much now, people would start doing proxies. When it comes to the army cards, I would much rather be pleasantly surprised, when my 2 boxes arrive on my front porch.

Originally Posted by UtahScott

How about y'all go start your own prediction thread in another spot? I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from dancing on the grave of the HasLab until Nov. 16.

My apologies. My original post just looked like this:

Originally Posted by GaryLASQ

At first, I thought we could all try to predict what day (date) it would be fully backed at 8000. Now it looks like we should all try to predict what the final number of backers (aka pre-orders) will be. *sigh*

I'll start with a prediction of 4,897 total.

Edit: You know, thinking back, I truly regret making the above post. Click on the little thingy above, or on the link I added to "My apologies" to see a more honest apology. Below the red line, is just me trying to deflect, to excuse myself, when I really have no excuse.
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It was just me venting my frustration about no longer looking forward to guessing which day (date) it funds. Anyhow, if FOMO crowdfunding is the marketing game companies want to play now, it's only natural people will be watching the numbers and predicting, gambling, etc. I don't mind the crowdfunding. It's the "now or never" time pressure sales tactic that irks me.

I really hope that if it doesn't succeed, Hasbro gives AH another shot at this. I was totally expecting (and hoping) to see another "Swarm of the Marro" type set. I loved that set when it came out. It was brilliant. A band of heroes battling it out against a single evil "faction" of Marros. It just annoys me that the terrain and commons weren't also sold separately.

During the AH panel, when Craig and Chris were explaining how AoA was another era... RotV, then SotM, now AoA... I was kind of scratching my head wondering why we're getting so many of these new "factions" all at once. I guess it's the JJ Abrams Effect; take an existing thing and make it bigger, louder, more spectacular!

Most of the time it's true that "less is more", even if it means paying a bit more for a bit less. It just seems like the biggest issue is same old thing that has challenged this game... trying to figure out how to balance Terrain with Uniques with Commons in a large-scale production line.

EDIT: Or is it really all about the cost of plastic? I keep hearing this but keep thinking it can't really be that bad.

[Knox]

I definitely agree that proxy discussions should be off limits for now. #1 the campaign isn't dead. #2 any designs that aren't already leaked will be going into the vault and will be covered by NDAs if the campaign fails, so it's a moot point for most of the designs. #3 it discourages people from backing, #4 it potentially misleads potential backers into thinking they can save $ compared to the campaign (proxies will be WAY more expensive than $3.84), & #5 most importantly it's disrespectful to the designers.

That's not to say anyone who discussed proxies intended any of these things (but we can at least wait another 2 weeks to see if this funds.


Also, the last thing I want to see right now is a C3V release. Why strain the budget of 'scapers who want to back the project with more heroscape to buy? Whether AoA funds or fails, VC should wait until after the campaign to announce any releases.

[Knox]

Originally Posted by Myriadite

This thing is still moving along: 3,132 backers as of November 2nd.

I believe Knox mentioned previously that a last-minute backer spike may not happen if we are still far off from 8,000, which makes sense. Looking at the original post, the embedded chart shows a prediction that gets us pretty close - somewhere around 6,750 backers.

Entertaining an extra helping of optimism, let's say that the new video and card reveals make a good impact on the backer rate. How close to the goal do you think initiates a healthy, last-minute backer spike? 7,000?

We got roughly 900 backers on the first day, if that comparison is helpful.

If we hit 6k backers with 3-5 days to go I can definitely see a major spike to close out the campaign. If we're under that I'm not sure I see it. Thats' encouraging data!

[SuperSamyon]

This is the big one! MWG studios just released their playthrough video. MWG studios is one of the largest wargamming YouTube channel with 420k subscribers! Here's hoping this brings the game over the finish line!

YouTube

[brak88]

Noice noice noice toit toit toit.

Don't have time to watch the video now, but With 420,000 followers, if 3% of his audience buys a set, that basically gets us within a few hundred sales of evil Raelin. I'll take those odds.

I don't have a clue about sales translations with his videos, but I know that Tabletop playthroughs making games sell out soon after video drops were real thing.

Does anyone know if he had like a Patreon or something that would've put the video up a day or so early for members only? They could also explain the sight uptick in sales early this week.

[nyys]

Oh damn, that's legit!

[ThrasherDarkrai]

Sure is! The Annihilation Compendium has been updated with all the units showcased in the video as well, so be sure to check that out for a clearer look of all the cards!

[caps]

What a great video! The minis look so good and I love these designs!

[nyys]

Lots of great comments on the video as well. Speak with your wallets MiniWargaming Fans! Please? Share the heck out of this thing folks.

[GaryLASQ]

Nice. Fingers crossed.

Unfortunately, we didn't see a single height-advantage attack. Oh well. It was just a quick demo.

Fortunately, they quickly showed more elaborate terrain builds. Wish they all weren't so massive. Hopefully newer players won't think a big battlefield is the best way to enjoy the game.

[Master Roshi]

I'm glad we got to see the ironclad, I was curious about them and they look cool