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Sarx posted:I don't mean to be a jerk, but if he was really good at running a game store, wouldn't the store just be profitable enough to expand on its own? If I'm starting a game store, do I want the advice from the person who needs to crowdfund to expand? Or do I want the person who's business model is successful enough that they didn't need to ask for community support? Independent (non-chain) retail is a gruelingly hard business, and even moreso when you're pushing a niche product like boardgames. Anybody who can keep a game store open for more than 5 years is probably a genius.
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May 20, 2014 13:00
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Crackbone posted:Independent (non-chain) retail is a gruelingly hard business, and even moreso when you're pushing a niche product like boardgames. Anybody who can keep a game store open for more than 5 years is probably a genius. Highlander Games in Dundee has been open for going on 20 years and recently expanded the premises without recourse to crowdfunding; the owner has even considered opening a second branch in Aberdeen. Orcs Nest in the centre of London has been open for more like thirty years in an area with exorbitant business rates. It takes talent to keep any store open, but genius is an exaggeration.
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May 20, 2014 13:22
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I'd be surprised if Orcs Nest is still around because of any kind of genius. The place is basically a closet that stocks some of the more popular boardgames/RPGs and a pretty small selection of miniatures, but it's the only LGS in central London.
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May 20, 2014 13:44
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Lemon Curdistan posted:I'd be surprised if Orcs Nest is still around because of any kind of genius. The place is basically a closet that stocks some of the more popular boardgames/RPGs and a pretty small selection of miniatures, but it's the only LGS in central London.
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May 20, 2014 13:57
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I know I went to Orc's Nest the last time I was in London to pick up things that would have been prohibitively expensive at home. It was a bit of a dinky hole though. Also, this seems like something for the Industry thread.
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May 20, 2014 14:17
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Also even if he could fund it on his own, why not get free angel investor money from nerds on the Internet? Free money is good business sense no matter where you can get it, non profits and municipalities do it all the time.
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May 20, 2014 16:26
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If I read the latest Rise to Power update correctly, they decided to just give out the 17k stretch goal as soon as the KS reaches 15k, which means in addition to the CEO mini-expansion they'll also raise the quality of the cards and box.
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May 20, 2014 17:17
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So I missed this earlier, but if anyone wants some classic 80's game design, Fantasy HERO is up and ... frankly not doing so well. I think it will likely succeed, barely? But the main PDF is $10, which is reasonable. e: Rad music on the video, gotta say.
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May 21, 2014 02:38
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Fantasy Hero: the most unnovative product of the year? Hm.
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May 21, 2014 03:16
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Is that the same as the Fantasy Hero system stuff? I remember liking that simply because your gear was a stat you took and so if you had a "sword" it didn't have to be a specific one, it could be everything from a random iron bar your character picked up to an actual sword. It gave it a very dynamic Conan/Grey Mouser/Elric feel to it (actually the whole thing had a very British Fantasy/Comics vibe). Haven't played it since it came out so it could be totally different now but that sort of focus less on crunchy stats and arrow counting and more on dynamic "fantasy characters are superheroes with swords" thing totally blew my mind as a youth.
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May 21, 2014 04:34
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It says it's going to be compatible with HERO 6e, and the twenty dollar pledge gets you the game and a data file for the character generator they sell. That doesn't speak well for low-crunch, given how much the system's inflated since those early days. On the other hand, the whole thing's supposed to be under 250 pages, so they're obviously going to be trimming a lot of fat.
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May 21, 2014 06:29
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Last Saga Kickstarter Last Saga is a new sci-fi miniatures skirmish game. The free .pdf rules aren't blowing me away, and it seems very Infinity-ish, but the concept art and prototype minis look really gorgeous. It got funded within a few hours of going up, and has hit half a dozen stretch goals already. Some people out there are bitching about the chainmail bikini models in the alien faction, but the human models shown so far are power armored girls with big guns. So I'd say the jury is out on what kind of art style we're in for, but I like at least 75% of what I see.
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May 21, 2014 17:49
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Christ, again? Another sci-fi miniatures skirmish game, another set of bikini models and girls heading into combat with naked exposed bellies and halter tops. I give them a single prop for providing the rules as a free download at the top of the page. Also, 18 quid ($30) for 6 miniatures is not exactly a bargain. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 18:06 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 18:03
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There's always the next version of Dust, Battlefield: Operation Babylon, a kickstarter which features a few new sculpts and otherwise minor modifications of existing ones, and a new set of rules, all for no discount over the final retail price. Less a project, more a pre-order.
NTRabbit fucked around with this message at 18:08 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 18:06
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Leperflesh posted:Christ, again? Another sci-fi miniatures skirmish game, another set of bikini models and girls heading into combat with naked exposed bellies and halter tops. If the game itself is any good, I'd consider it a bonus.
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May 21, 2014 18:40
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Leperflesh posted:Christ, again? Another sci-fi miniatures skirmish game, another set of bikini models and girls heading into combat with naked exposed bellies and halter tops. Hah, I read your post and thought "how bad can it be?", and clicked the link. Yeah. It's pretty bad. Some of the armoured humans look good, but really, they had to go with practically nude female models for one of the factions?
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May 21, 2014 18:42
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If I ever make a miniatures game I'm going to have tons of chainmail bikinis. The only races that wear them would be giant insectoid races with horrifying exoskeletons .
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May 21, 2014 18:51
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Infinite Karma posted:I'm not going to say that this is a must-buy game, but I plan on using the human minis for count-as Assassins in 40K, and depending on how the alien ones end up, I'll get a box to use as Slaanesh Daemons. Compared to GW prices (and even Infinity prices), $30 for 6 minis is a steal. For basic troops? Nah, not really. Examples: 4 eldar guardians is $10. 8 guardians plus a heavy weapons platform is $36.25. 10 Ork Boyz is $29. A 10-man Space Marine Tactical Squad is $40. $30 for 6 models is a price similar to or slightly better than what GW charges for elite troops (5-man space marine assault squad is $33). Infinity models are horribly expensive for what you get, but they're doing mostly (entirely?) metal still, so that's why. I would expect a kickstarter to do a little better. This is a new game, which raises big questions of longevity, so backers have to take on the risk that the game could be a flash in the pan and they'll be stuck with an unsupported ruleset and models that nobody wants. It's fine if you see something you want to sub in for your 40k Assassins, of course (I see the death cult assassins are finecast, two for $16, which is obviously way too loving expensive - but that's finecast for ya), but there are much cheaper options out there; this is not "a steal." Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 18:58 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 18:52
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Leperflesh posted:For basic troops? Nah, not really. Examples: 4 eldar guardians is $10. 8 guardians plus a heavy weapons platform is $36.25. 10 Ork Boyz is $29. A 10-man Space Marine Tactical Squad is $40. You're seriously going to use the Games Workshop pricing model to explain why $18 for 6 minis isn't overcosted?
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May 21, 2014 19:09
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Jedit posted:You're seriously going to use the Games Workshop pricing model to explain why $18 for 6 minis isn't overcosted? What? I'm specifically saying $18 for 6 minis is overcosted, because it's right at the same level of GW retail.
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May 21, 2014 19:20
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What? None of those things are overcosted. The issue with GW costs has never been the price of the individual figures (well except for the loving characters and tanks and poo poo, I just mean the regular infantry dudes for your armies), but the fact that you have to buy the same figure a hojillion times to have enough for your army. Reaper just came out with a super loving cheap method for making decently detailed miniatures and the cheapest figs there are about 2 bucks per dude for the really small stuff that has almost no detail, 4 bucks a pop for a Space Marine or 3 bucks for an Ork isn't far out there at all.
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May 21, 2014 19:34
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Someone never played Sisters of Battle.
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May 21, 2014 19:45
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S.J. posted:What? None of those things are overcosted. The issue with GW costs has never been the price of the individual figures (well except for the loving characters and tanks and poo poo, I just mean the regular infantry dudes for your armies), but the fact that you have to buy the same figure a hojillion times to have enough for your army. Reaper just came out with a super loving cheap method for making decently detailed miniatures and the cheapest figs there are about 2 bucks per dude for the really small stuff that has almost no detail, 4 bucks a pop for a Space Marine or 3 bucks for an Ork isn't far out there at all. Sure... at retail. This is a kickstarter. You're taking a gamble. They might disappear with all your money. Reaper Bones cost something less than fifty cents each in their KS, depending on how much you pledged for. My point was that, for a kickstarter, they're not offering much of a discount; their price is on par with the price asked for by GW for their minis, at retail, with no risk involved and you get them shipped to you immediately or can just walk into a store and have them today. So what's to recommend this kickstarter? They've got the same titwank figures as every other space tactical squad game we've seen, they're asking retail prices for those figures, and they're trying to compete in a highly saturated market (of generic sci fi skirmish mini tabletop games). Why would you take the risk on this, instead of just finding any other similarly-priced could-be-an-assassin/space-marine stand in available from plenty of other mini companies, right now, for the same price?
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May 21, 2014 19:59
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Oh I'm not even remotely trying to defend the KS. I guess the minis might have way better quality than bones? I dunno man. e: actually nevermind those models and concepts look like barf S.J. fucked around with this message at 20:04 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 20:01
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Holy crap. Those Uruhvel women are almost straight up naked. Wow.
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May 21, 2014 20:56
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Never use "Last" or "Final" in the title of your game. Stop that.
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May 21, 2014 21:02
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Leperflesh posted:So what's to recommend this kickstarter? They've got the same titwank figures as every other space tactical squad game we've seen, they're asking retail prices for those figures, and they're trying to compete in a highly saturated market (of generic sci fi skirmish mini tabletop games). Why would you take the risk on this, instead of just finding any other similarly-priced could-be-an-assassin/space-marine stand in available from plenty of other mini companies, right now, for the same price?
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May 21, 2014 21:05
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On that note, I would totally play a Mass Effect wargame. I am still aghast at those Uruhvel. It'd probably be less terrible if they were just straight up naked!
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May 21, 2014 21:06
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Never use "Last" or "Final" in the title of your game. Let me tell you about my upcoming game, Last Final: Ragnarök Apocalypse. For content, there's this which is totally adorable. Knitted dice bags!
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May 21, 2014 21:07
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 how the gently caress is it possible to get so much right with the armour design on the dudes and get so much utterly wrong on the women?
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May 21, 2014 21:10
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At the start I was like 'okay, well, this isn't too bad'. After I continued scrolling down: 
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May 21, 2014 21:19
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Rulebook Heavily posted:For content, there's this which is totally adorable. Knitted dice bags! OH MY GOD THEY HAVE A BOB-OMB 
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May 21, 2014 21:23
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Infinite Karma posted:I thought the art style was fairly unique, actually. Infinity is the only other major independent sci-fi franchise I can name off the top of my head, and I like this style better. It reminds me of Mass Effect. Mantic has Deadzone, a successfully-kickstarted sci fi skirmisher game with 28-32mm scale minis, plus terrain. Warmachine is a little larger scale than what I'd call "skirmish", but smaller scale than warhammer 40k (in terms of number of minis on the table, not their size: warmachine/hordes is 32mm) Malifaux is more steampunkish than hard SF, but it's a skirmish minis game. Of course, GW used to have Inquisitor and Necromunda (and Gorkamorka), which are no longer supported, but you can still play them since the rules are widely available and you can sub in pretty much anyone's minis for your dudes. There's rumors GW may be planning to release a new boardgame called "Inquisition" which would presumably hearken back to Inquisitor. Those are what I'd call the "major" ones. There have been several more that have run through this KS thread and the previous one, but I'm not gonna go back and dig them all up. Rulebook Heavily posted:Let me tell you about my upcoming game, Last Final: Ragnarök Apocalypse. drat, I looked and I was all excited for a second because she has a (very cheap) reward tier that includes all the patterns. And then I saw they're crocheted, not knitted! False labeling! (My wife knits but she doesn't crochet.) Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 21:28 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 21:26
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Tekopo posted:At the start I was like 'okay, well, this isn't too bad'. You know what's worse than Boob Armor? Powered Boob Armor.
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May 21, 2014 21:26
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Esser-Z posted:On that note, I would totally play a Mass Effect wargame. Would back the hell out of this. Species for factions is pretty obvious, but throw in mercenary contracts and Spectre groups and it could be fun. A group of blood pack Krogan vs. an Alliance strike team or a Salarian Special Task Group vs. a human Spectre and his retinue. Set it during the First Contact war, or include a ship to ship naval element that leads to a skirmish game. I just need more Mass Effect in my life.
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May 21, 2014 21:27
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Hubis posted:You know what's worse than Boob Armor? Powered Boob Armor.
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May 21, 2014 21:33
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Haha I just noticed that if you missed the early bird deals (and you have), all of the Last Saga starter pack reward tiers are charging you the same amount for a starter pack: 18 pounds. E.g., there's no discount for buying two, three, or four starter packs compared to buying one. If you did get in on an early bird deal, they're throwing in one of the exclusive figures. Which you can otherwise get at a seven pound additional cost tier. Seven pounds regardless of your backer level, so if you buy four starter packs it's still seven pounds for that mini. The entire KS could have exactly four reward tiers and still have all the exact same things available to everyone: 1 pound for the standard "nothing but the privilege of buying add ons" 7 pounds for just the exclusive figure 18 pounds for one starter pack 18 pounds for the early bird starter pack + exclusive figure. All of the rest of the reward tiers are completely redundant. e. Oh, at the three packs and four packs level you get the exclusive mini without having to pay the seven pounds extra. I guess that's... something. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 21:39 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 21:36
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Never use "Last" or "Final" in the title of your game. Maybe they just mean "The Most Recent Saga" 
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May 21, 2014 21:41
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parabolic posted:Would back the hell out of this. Species for factions is pretty obvious, but throw in mercenary contracts and Spectre groups and it could be fun. A group of blood pack Krogan vs. an Alliance strike team or a Salarian Special Task Group vs. a human Spectre and his retinue. Set it during the First Contact war, or include a ship to ship naval element that leads to a skirmish game. I just need more Mass Effect in my life. I'm not completely versed in Infinity, but from what I've seen it's pretty close.
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May 22, 2014 08:11
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Yeah it's actually pretty drat close, and it's a fantastic game.
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May 22, 2014 08:15
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