What makes a good master set? By request from WotC

[gamjuven]

wotcpbarclay
Wizards Staff Member

"I imagine we'll be looking at a potential new master set later this year. Maybe it's time for (yet another) new thread about what makes a good master set..."

Well I like the sound of that! I love master sets. And I want to show the people at WotC that if they say, even jokingly, that a new thread should be started to give them ideas about a new master set that we should take them up on it and try to help out as much as we can. I want this website and its occupants to be a main motivator for new expansions and advancements in the world of Heroscape.

So let's start talking (again), about what makes a great master set!

Edit
Alright, after reading through the thread it seems that herosapers has spoken: They like the 1st master set. This has to do with mainly a nice variety of terrian. We liked SotM, but look at it as another expansion, and not a master set. RotV supplied us with an entire game, no a universe, at our disposal. It had tons of different terrain and units that were all different so that anybody could pick what they wanted. SotM had basically one type of terrain and was occupied by Marro in the vast majority.

RotV gave you the big picture of Heroscape: A ton of warriors from all around the universe, gathered at one place to fight. SotM seemed to tell the buyer that a ton of wierd skeleton Marro occupied all of the world, and a small band of heroes was sent to destroy them. Not that that's not cool, it just doesn't tell the new budding 'scaper a lot about the world of Heroscape.

Everyone likes large figures so it seems like they should stay

Commons vs Uniques seem to still be debated but I would say that most people want a mix. No matter what, you're gonna have a bunch of people wanting to buy mulitple master sets, so why not have something in there that anyone would want multiple copies of. Having more terrain was the driving force behind getting more RotV master sets, and getting more of the common squads was the driving force of the SotM master set. We all liked both, just RotV more.

-

So perhaps we want a master set that has both uniques and commons (as long as there is still a variety, and not just a bunch of commons from the same general), and most importantly a variety of terrain (with some of it being new terrain we haven't seen before). We want a master set that is a complete game in a box that anybody can pick up and play and get the whole world of Heroscape right there, and not have to get anything else if they don't want to, but we also want a master set that will make us want to buy multiple copies of it. Do I have it summed up well enough?

Edit 2
I'm putting Revdyer's comment on here because I think it's genius and states exactly what a lot of people want (I know I want it personally)

(1) a good selection of the basic hexes
(2) water
(3) ten or more hexes of road
(4) LOS blockers, such as the ruins (better if a new design)
(5) four or more plants, either trees or jungle bushes
(6) One Unique Hero from each general (six)
(7) Two sets of two common squads
( Markers, glyphs, rules, cards, dice, etc.

Edit 3
After reading more of the posts and talking to a couple other people I have decided to talk about the opinion of having only unique figures coming in a master set. There are a lot of people that want this and this thread would be a bad if it included only my opinion (and others who agree with me) in the first post. The argument is to have only uniques in the master set, but have terrain packs that include the terrain from the master set. This would appease the players who buy tons of master sets for the terrain, and the unique-only people. This would also possibly appease WotC who think they lose money on master sets.

[HS ~ KNT]

... There was a thread not too long ago about this... where'd it go... hmmm...

[gamjuven]

Originally Posted by HS ~ KNT

... There was a thread not too long ago about this... where'd it go... hmmm...

This one perhaps? http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=15482

I'm more starting this so that the WotC people can see this thread as a direct response to their request. A title that they will see and recognize. If this thread needs to be closed in favor of resurrecting an old thread I don't care at all, I just want to let WotC know that we're here to help in any way we can

[HS ~ KNT]

Nah, I just went looking for it, and couldn't find it...

It talked about dessert(damn, I can't spell) master sets, forest master sets, pirates, reverse 24 hexers, 24 hex sand, multi-hex water, los blockers (such as cacti for the dessert) etc, etc. It was more of a 'what do you want to see in the future' thread, than a 'compare what we have' thread.

Anyways, the bolded ones are things I'd like to see. I like RotV better, mainly because of the larger amount of terrrain. I'd like to see a terrain expansion set the size of the master set box some day, with little to no figures...

~Neko, always a fan of more terrain.

[johnny139]

Variety.

THAT is what makes a good Master Set. SotM was great, but I hope the next one has more than four different races.

[Jexik]

I went with Rise of the Valkyrie.

Why?

1. It has a good mix of terrain, and a lot of it. Plenty of water, grass, rock, and a little bit of sand to spice things up.

2. I love the eclectic mix of units. There's something for everyone and lots of great counter-drafts.

3. I like that the units are all Unique.* I can do just fine buying one set like this. (In fact, it might be interesting to avoid putting unique figures in smaller packs altogether, and leave uniques to the MS's and big hero packs- that might alleviate some of the packaging problems that we currently face with waves.)

4. The ruins make great Line of Sight blockers, and are more versatile than the big Marro Hive in that regard.

5. It has an Orc riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Need I say more?

*A master set that has 1 set each of a number of Uncommon squads, which you'd be limited to 2 squads of in any given army would be neat as well. (I mentioned this idea in the other thread.) That way, if my friend and I both picked up a set of MS3, we'd have a full complement when we pool our units, and I could later get a second MS3 so I could finish it on my own. And heck, a bunch of their points could end in 5 and not annoy too many people . A new master set would be the perfect time to add a new rule like this without totally disrupting the existing balance of the game.

Other things I'd like to see in a future MS?

1. Different colored Order Markers. We've already got Green from SotM which match well with Ullar, Blue from Marvel for Jandar, and Gray from RotV for Vydar. Purple or Yellow for Einar would be nice, as well as Black or Red for Utgar.

2. Really cool glyphs. I leave it up to you guys to figure out something cool, but we've still got 6 letters of the alphabet left!

That's all I've got right now. Looking forward to see what you guys come up with!

[gamjuven]

Obviously it needs to be "a game in a box" that anybody, no matter how experienced they are with Heroscape, can jsut open and play. A variety of terrain is a must, as are the figures. Commons vs Uniques is a legitimate debate, but I believe they all msut contain some large and huge figures. New terrain components I think are a must as well as new rules for that terrain. A bunch of new scenarios and new fiction to further promote the story.

I would like to see an Aquilla master set filled with a large amount of jungle terrain, some ziggurats, and a bunch of bugs, and perhaps some of those native americans WotC says they'll be making. Sort of a Central/South American theme. Sand and Jungle. I dunno, I'm just rambling

[Dryden]

What makes a good Master Set?

Blue and red dice and sparkly water!

[ArgosCap]

I think ROTV had much more wide appeal because of the variety of characters. SOTM was trying to tell a story that only hardcore Heroscapers follow. ROTV allowed kids to more easily make up their own stories. I love the swamp tiles in SOTM, but they could have been introduced in a terrain pack. So, the key is variety.

[djsmith]

what I like about RotV: variety of terrain.
what I didn't like: all unique figures

what I did like about SotM: the theme and common figures. Oh yeah, and the 12 buck clearance on Amazon
what I didn't like: no terrain variety

I would love a mix of common and unique figures. Terrain mix is so important as well.
TREES!

[allskulls]

Originally Posted by Jexik

3. I like that the units are all Unique.* I can do just fine buying one set like this. (In fact, it might be interesting to avoid putting unique figures in smaller packs altogether, and leave uniques to the MS's and big hero packs- that might alleviate some of the packaging problems that we currently face with waves.)

Or combine the 2. That's where the Einar dragan and other big figs can go. A master set a year with all uniques and huge figs. That would leave the small expansions to the commons (quarterly) and could open up varied packing. 6 packs with 4 different units: Pack 1=units A&B, Pack 2=units C&D, Pack 3=units A&C, Pack 4=units B&D, Pack 5= units A&D, pack 6=units B&C. Or something like that.

[Metaknight]

I got to say Swarm for the inclusion of my favorite Drake, Soulborg and Marro.