Post by beardmonk on Sept 2, 2019 8:20:15 GMT
I can only say on Neo Mechanica what I have said before. We haven’t seen enough to draw any solid conclusions however my fears/worries about it are:
• I don’t see the gaming having an appeal outside of a subsection of the existing WM/H community. People who like the PP products are already involved in WM/H in some capacity, I dont see many people switching games to a PP system just because we now have WM/H style game in space.
• Also, IF this is aimed at the small skirmish level gameplay, I would argue that the market is so saturated with skirmish games that I will be hard to make a dent. Plus they will be competing with a number of the top products on the market, GW skirmish level games, Infinity, Malifaux etc. It’s going to be a hard sell to anyone playing those games to pick up a PP product, unless they already play PP games.
• Obviously we have not seen anything related to prices. But basing it on the cost of the PP products, im not certain that it will be at a price point that enticing to help overcome the above 2 points. There is a reason I continue to buy 95% of my WM/H models from ebay, flash sales and discounts at conventions. Nobody in our group really buys WM/H models direct from stores.
• Again, while we haven’t seen the product/rules/models yet, the idea of this game has been met with quite a lot of derision in the wider gaming community (from what I have seen). That’s based on responses to articles and posts on other major wargaming forums, websites, reddit etc and talking to people I know who are into wargaming. There just does seem to be any goodwill or interest in PP products except form those already playing their games. And you need that to help overcome the above points.
• Finally in the UK, while I can’t comment on the overall community strength, getting hold of product at FLGS is very very difficult. You can get varying levels of products from one of the 4 big B&M/Online suppliers but outside of that it is very rare to find a FLGS that has any WM/H in stock. And if they do it an old box or two that they have been trying to shift for ages. I travel the UK a lot for work and often make a point of looking for games stores to go to just to kill time in the evening and while of course I have not been to every games store in the UK iv been to a lot in the major cities and towns (and many of the small ones…..) and it’s the same all over. However its quite normal for me to be able to pick up Malifaux (my other game) in a FLGS. I have had quite a lot of conversations with store owners where it’s clear their opinion is “sod PP, it doesn’t sell, dead game to us”. The point is that I just don’t see it getting on the shelves at FLGS when it comes out. Apart from some of the big boys, the willingness to stock PP product is gone from most local stores.
That being said, PP could use this new game as an opportunity:
• New game, new testing. This game needs to be extensively and properly testing prior to release. However PP is a big fan of community testing. But rather than CID the game, they should take a leaf out of Wyrds books by running a closed community beta maybe followed by an open beta. Taking the experience of Malifaux M3e, the reason why the new edition is so good is because it had 6-8 months of closed and then open beta prior to a update and final release. If the rules are shaky and or unbalanced on launch, it will be DOA
• New setting, new mechanics. They can use this as a clean break from WM/H and aggressively market it as such. So rather than relying on the old community, do everything possible to advertise to the rest of the wargaming community, thus increasing their reach. They can use this also as an opportunity to try and overcome and address some of the preconceptions about PPs other games and their communities.
• New models, new materials. There are no legacy models for this games as obviously it is new. There is currently no release schedule apart from the launch next year to meet. With a small number of models and a new range PP could FINALLY get some models out in hard plastic, easier to assemble etc bringing them up to the same standard of material as GW, Wyrd and almost every other modern games company. An this will then help with…..
• New product, new price point. To make this game sell it needs to be a great game and be CHEAP.
• New game, new focus. Make the game about narrative play from the start rather than tournament play.
That’s my thoughts. I remain fully open minded about the game. It’s unlikely that I will be picking up another wargame in the future as I have WM/H and Malifaux. But I do want Neo Mechanica to do well. I hope PP has the stones to make the bold moves that they need to make this work and not be a glorious waste of time.
• I don’t see the gaming having an appeal outside of a subsection of the existing WM/H community. People who like the PP products are already involved in WM/H in some capacity, I dont see many people switching games to a PP system just because we now have WM/H style game in space.
• Also, IF this is aimed at the small skirmish level gameplay, I would argue that the market is so saturated with skirmish games that I will be hard to make a dent. Plus they will be competing with a number of the top products on the market, GW skirmish level games, Infinity, Malifaux etc. It’s going to be a hard sell to anyone playing those games to pick up a PP product, unless they already play PP games.
• Obviously we have not seen anything related to prices. But basing it on the cost of the PP products, im not certain that it will be at a price point that enticing to help overcome the above 2 points. There is a reason I continue to buy 95% of my WM/H models from ebay, flash sales and discounts at conventions. Nobody in our group really buys WM/H models direct from stores.
• Again, while we haven’t seen the product/rules/models yet, the idea of this game has been met with quite a lot of derision in the wider gaming community (from what I have seen). That’s based on responses to articles and posts on other major wargaming forums, websites, reddit etc and talking to people I know who are into wargaming. There just does seem to be any goodwill or interest in PP products except form those already playing their games. And you need that to help overcome the above points.
• Finally in the UK, while I can’t comment on the overall community strength, getting hold of product at FLGS is very very difficult. You can get varying levels of products from one of the 4 big B&M/Online suppliers but outside of that it is very rare to find a FLGS that has any WM/H in stock. And if they do it an old box or two that they have been trying to shift for ages. I travel the UK a lot for work and often make a point of looking for games stores to go to just to kill time in the evening and while of course I have not been to every games store in the UK iv been to a lot in the major cities and towns (and many of the small ones…..) and it’s the same all over. However its quite normal for me to be able to pick up Malifaux (my other game) in a FLGS. I have had quite a lot of conversations with store owners where it’s clear their opinion is “sod PP, it doesn’t sell, dead game to us”. The point is that I just don’t see it getting on the shelves at FLGS when it comes out. Apart from some of the big boys, the willingness to stock PP product is gone from most local stores.
That being said, PP could use this new game as an opportunity:
• New game, new testing. This game needs to be extensively and properly testing prior to release. However PP is a big fan of community testing. But rather than CID the game, they should take a leaf out of Wyrds books by running a closed community beta maybe followed by an open beta. Taking the experience of Malifaux M3e, the reason why the new edition is so good is because it had 6-8 months of closed and then open beta prior to a update and final release. If the rules are shaky and or unbalanced on launch, it will be DOA
• New setting, new mechanics. They can use this as a clean break from WM/H and aggressively market it as such. So rather than relying on the old community, do everything possible to advertise to the rest of the wargaming community, thus increasing their reach. They can use this also as an opportunity to try and overcome and address some of the preconceptions about PPs other games and their communities.
• New models, new materials. There are no legacy models for this games as obviously it is new. There is currently no release schedule apart from the launch next year to meet. With a small number of models and a new range PP could FINALLY get some models out in hard plastic, easier to assemble etc bringing them up to the same standard of material as GW, Wyrd and almost every other modern games company. An this will then help with…..
• New product, new price point. To make this game sell it needs to be a great game and be CHEAP.
• New game, new focus. Make the game about narrative play from the start rather than tournament play.
That’s my thoughts. I remain fully open minded about the game. It’s unlikely that I will be picking up another wargame in the future as I have WM/H and Malifaux. But I do want Neo Mechanica to do well. I hope PP has the stones to make the bold moves that they need to make this work and not be a glorious waste of time.