Age of Annihilation - Backer Trend and Discussion

[rudyvalentine]

Originally Posted by Mr Migraine

In my mind, any growth in awareness will be a net positive for this campaign. Even though Tom's review/commentary was very mixed, merely making people aware of the campaign probably had a net positive effect on our progress toward 8,000 units pledged.

And here’s hoping Tom Vassal and company raising nearly all the same concerns as many of us here have will actually reach ears that can make changes while there is still time.

[Shurrig]

Just processed that KV3 has range 4 attack 5, might be stating the obvious but... potentially the strongest confirmed ranged hero?

[caps]

Originally Posted by Shurrig

Just processed that KV3 has range 4 attack 5, might be stating the obvious but... potentially the strongest confirmed ranged hero?

Definitely the strongest. To the point I'm skeptical he will have those stats at release. He almost certainly won't have that point value if he does.

[chas]

Although Tom V. wasn't crazy about the handling of the campaign, he loves Heroscape and said he'd fund a set for himself. He loves the minis. He also said he'd like to see some cards and how they work. And that we might fund successfully. Those are positive take aways for sure.

Mr. V. also said he got a thousand emails requesting that he comment on the AOA offering! Some cheerleading is having its effect.

[Good Pig]

Originally Posted by chas

Although Tom V. wasn't crazy about the handling of the campaign, he loves Heroscape and said he'd fund a set for himself. He loves the minis. He also said he'd like to see some cards and how they work. And that we might fund successfully. Those are positive take aways for sure.

Mr. V. also said he got a thousand emails requesting that he comment on the AOA offering! Some cheerleading is having its effect.

While it wasn't a glowing recommendation it seemed like a reasonable and fair assessment to me. I'd think based on the plug, if miniatures games piqued their interest, a viewer would still be willing to look into the game and learn more. Now here's hoping that new gameplay video will drop soon!

[brak88]

Originally Posted by caps

Definitely the strongest. To the point I'm skeptical he will have those stats at release. He almost certainly won't have that point value if he does.

Maybe you could try testing him at the current stats but with just 1 range, besides the special attack. That would reflect the use of his sword and give him a unit feeling mix of agent carr and Johnny shotgun.

[FrankensteinsMonster]

Looking at the photo with everything in the campaign, I’d LOVE to see the possibility of add on options

1. Engraved dice with a matching color 20 sided. Maybe a couple different color options for an additional $15 or so per set. That would be a quick and easy add on that could significantly increase funds. Maybe the new dice colors for Revna and Volarak (but not so bright)?

2. The Fire and Ice terrain tile set. We have Polar bears and another $20+ add on of some fire and snow, lava and ice tiles. Already creating the terrain shapes - change up the colors. No special packaging required

3. Jungle tree add on. An additional 3 trees and 6 bushes for another $____. Again, already being produced/offered in the set. No special packaging required

Just looking for quick and enjoyable options to increase the $ raised that would add so much to this game on delivery day.

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by Shurrig

Just processed that KV3 has range 4 attack 5, might be stating the obvious but... potentially the strongest confirmed ranged hero?

Technically I believe it's Silver Surfer or Thanos, both official Hasbro figures.

[Good Pig]

Originally Posted by FrankensteinsMonster

Looking at the photo with everything in the campaign, I’d LOVE to see the possibility of add on options

1. Engraved dice with a matching color 20 sided. Maybe a couple different color options for an additional $15 or so per set. That would be a quick and easy add on that could significantly increase funds. Maybe the new dice colors for Revna and Volarak (but not so bright)?

2. The Fire and Ice terrain tile set. We have Polar bears and another $20+ add on of some fire and snow, lava and ice tiles. Already creating the terrain shapes - change up the colors. No special packaging required

3. Jungle tree add on. An additional 3 trees and 6 bushes for another $____. Again, already being produced/offered in the set. No special packaging required

Just looking for quick and enjoyable options to increase the $ raised that would add so much to this game on delivery day.

Yes, yes, and yes.

[IAmBatman]

I think a lot of confusion and frustration comes from a lot of us being used to the Kickstarter sales model most companies run with a lot of options, additional buy-ins, low initial backing point, and lots of unlocked stretch goals as you go to keep things exciting.

This is clearly a very different beast and they want to do it this very different way. I think most of us lack experience to know if this way is likely to be successful or not. One thing we can probably reliably state, though, is that it's not as fun from the consumer side of things. Having fewer options, having less momentum and excitement of surprise drops and unlock after unlock is just .... less exciting.

I guess being able to vote on card shape is cool, though (I'm saying this unironically, it's cool that people get to do that).

[rudyvalentine]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

I think a lot of confusion and frustration comes from a lot of us being used to the Kickstarter sales model most companies run with a lot of options, additional buy-ins, low initial backing point, and lots of unlocked stretch goals as you go to keep things exciting.

This is clearly a very different beast and they want to do it this very different way. I think most of us lack experience to know if this way is likely to be successful or not. One thing we can probably reliably state, though, is that it's not as fun from the consumer side of things. Having fewer options, having less momentum and excitement of surprise drops and unlock after unlock is just .... less exciting.

I guess being able to vote on card shape is cool, though (I'm saying this unironically, it's cool that people get to do that).

This is a good point. It’s very, very different from a CMON campaign which starts out showing much less with a lower buy-in and as the campaign reaches the end there are a dozen boxes worth of stuff with an all-in price of close to $400.

My personal expectation for this campaign was not for it to resemble that type of campaign but for it to look more like AH’s own Heroquest campaign. I figured there would be limited options but a retail tier at maybe $100-150 and an all-in tier that’s pretty much exactly what we got at $200-250.

Managing thousands of backers with multiple add on options would be a lot to fulfill. I’m sure more than what Hasbro / AH wants to have to manage with this relaunch.

Maybe it would generate more money from fewer backers that way but probably not enough to offset the logistical nightmare of building out all the orders when you can have a one size fits all offering.

But it would have been nice to try to capture some more interest with just one lower tier option even if it wasn’t customizable or al a carte style.

[IAmBatman]

Eh, I don't want to delve too much into how or why they made the decisions they made (we don't know what they don't know). I can really only speak from the consumer perspective. That said, we've covered that plenty and it's *fairly* unlikely they're going to change their model. We really just have to wait and see if it's successful at this point.

And if it's not, it's not. Heroscape never "died," it just moved fully into the hands of the community. And that community isn't going away.