Age of Annihilation - Backer Trend and Discussion

[IAmBatman]

So what I'm reading there (correct me if this seems wrong) is they're marketing this with the intent of it being successful based on 8,000 actual individual purchasers. With the hopes of a few repeat purchasers or up to 8,000 other individual purchasers getting them to the stretchgoals.

Seems like that's more or less saying: If there aren't 8,000+ people who want this, we don't want to make it.

They're also pitching it to the existing community rather than really outreaching to new users (there's so little information for a new user that if you don't know what this game already is, you're probably not going to be sold on it in the Haslab).

So that means the operating theory seems to be that there are 8,000+ existing Heroscape fans eager and willing to buy $250 of this in one chunk.

Does that seem like an accurate expectation on their part? I guess we'll see.

[rudyvalentine]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

So that means the operating theory seems to be that there are 8,000+ existing Heroscape fans eager and willing to buy $250 of this in one chunk.

Does that seem like an accurate expectation on their part? I guess we'll see.

Part of this makes a lot of sense. The campaign wouldn’t exist without the Heroscape community continuing to be so strong and active.

But the part I don’t get is why they don’t seem to care about attracting backers outside the community with this campaign. It’s definitely aimed at those who already know and love it and not friendly to those looking to check it out (at launch anyway, there’s still lots of time).

Which is strange for another reason. This seems really solid as a brand new start to a collection.

[chas]

Hasbro works in mysterious ways.

[Shurrig]

I’m only slightly tempted to back a second set, if only to get more TJ terrain. Once this backs I hope they make another Thaelenk Tundra!

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by Shurrig

I’m only slightly tempted to back a second set, if only to get more TJ terrain. Once this backs I hope they make another Thaelenk Tundra!

This set includes Thaelenk Tundra, it's just unpainted.

[rudyvalentine]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

This set includes Thaelenk Tundra, it's just unpainted.

Good one. Some real John Cena energy here.

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by rudyvalentine

Good one. Some real John Cena energy here.

Not sure how to take that, but I did love him in Peacemaker.

[rudyvalentine]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Not sure how to take that, but I did love him in Peacemaker.

I was just referencing back to his WWE days and the many “you can’t see me” memes.

[Sheep]

Originally Posted by rudyvalentine

Which is strange for another reason. This seems really solid as a brand new start to a collection.

And quite boring for someone who already has a decent collection. At least for me, I understand the reason for unpainted minis but I still don't love it (I will probably never paint them). At least at home, I will mostly treat the new stuff as a new game and not mix painted/unpainted figures.

There's no commons and I'm not particularly interested in another TJ, castle set, and more abundance of grass tiles so there are very few reasons to buy more than one. At least if this set swapped the grass and sand portions then I'd have more interest from that stand point, and I think it would fit an annihilation-beach-shores-bugs theme that has jungle and ruins.

So I'm pretty much only excited to see new glyphs in which hopefully some of them are competitively balanced and I'm backing my one so that we can continue to see the future of HeroScape.

All that to say I see the disconnect between the content in the box and the marketing (or lack thereof) towards new and old players.

[chas]

C'mon! Its so easy to meld them without painting...

AHEM!

After many years of conflict, with so many beings coming to gather their energies, the differently colored waters of the Wellsprings, partially consumed by the constant wars, grew weaker, and could only transmit their powers by passing on their growing impurities to those who bathed in them. Thus the younger beings of the Age of Annihilation were tinged with their colors, as the price of gaining their magic powers of inspiration for magic, craft, or other abilities. And so it was that while the immortal Elder Characters lived on in eternal resurrection after every battle in which they were defeated, those who came years later to the magical waters were stained by their original plunges into the sources of their power. And the younger races and younger members of older ones lost their original coloration, which was replaced by the colors of their patron Archkyrie's particular spring. And even a few of the greatest of the Elder Races born in or summoned to Valhalla, who gained wholly new power levels, also became tainted in this fashion...

See? Done!

[Finrod]

Originally Posted by Hogg

I posted a link to the Haslab in the main HeroQuest FB group and got a pretty negative response. I would have thought that would be a goldmine of sales, that game is how I got here and it had its own Haslab not that long ago.

The main complaints were paint, and price.

Yep. Same experience I had on a prominent FB board game group. It got nasty enough that the admin had to step in and tell people to back off.

I just don't understand the mindset of angrily attacking things so much, but it's become a central part of our culture, it seems.

[chas]

Many people I know won't visit sites anymore due to this nonsense.