HEROCLIX -- Ooooh...the marketability
I'm bringing this up only because many of my friends have been entranced by the onslaught of tiny plastic clicking people. These same friends have made many attempts to draw me into their bizarre occult, but the question in my mind still remains:
Why?
This so called "gaming system" ironically takes the "gaming" out of the picture completely and relies solely on a "simple" combat system that grows more complicated each and every day. How can these poor souls be content playing a game where there is in fact NO role-playing whatsoever? Does it only appeal to power-gamers whose sole enjoyment of a game is the battles? I see HEROCLIX as nothing more than another hole in the ground for us to throw money. The makers of this system issue figures to the public (overpriced) then after a span of months, many of these figures are "retired" and are no longer permitted in the tournaments. Avid participants have no choice but to invest MORE money in newer figures if they wish to continue playing.
In their defense many of the players love the game because of the "strategy" that is involved. Being a long time chess-player, I can understand the how this would attract people. But how long will it last? All the strategy-based games have come and gone: Magic, Pokemon (cough), Yu-Gi-Oh! (will probably be gone in the Fall). I do understand that the many comic-book universes incorporated into HEROCLIX makes the game appealing to both casual and dedicated readers alike. But does this game have the substance to hold the attention of the comic-book and gaming population for years to come? Will this percentage of gamers be forever content with a "combat-only" gaming system?
I fear the epidemic of ADD is spreading into the gaming community:
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Wait, I thought Heroclix was an attempt at "My First Warhammer", not an RPG.
My approach to HEROCLIX was how it takes away time that would normally be spent with ACTUAL RPGs...
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The Good Cap'n
Heroclix and all of the other Wizkids games are pretty well HORRID. the constant rule changes make me SICK, the retiring of minis is one of the worst things they can do. I'll never buy another of their products again (I got suckered into Pirates, thankfully only bought a few packs).
Note: It's not intended to be an RPG. More of a wargame, or Freedom Force on a tabletop...neither of which it really does.
I can remember my first Origins con, and the really big Warhammer table. I thought then, "Is this what it's coming to?" At the time, it seemed so. Now... I can only sit here like the geezer on the porch who complains that the kids these days are driving too fast down his street.
Perhaps RPGs are passing me by?
hey, I LOVE heroclix. I just don't play the game. I use them as miniatures for my Super Heroes role-playing game set in Gotham City. Before D&D Minis came out, I used the fantasy ones for characters in my D&D game because they were cheap and pre-painted. Metal minies are neither. (Althouth I do like painting them, I don't have the time)
BASH! Basic Action Super Heroes!
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=4657&
Magic hasn't gone anywhere. I just played in a tournament the other day, it was loads of fun. That's assuming you mean Magic: the gathering and not some other Magic I've never heard of...
being a huge rpg lover for over 20 years, and a owner of over 500 hero-clix and a player of this game for over a year, i wonder why you even place a game like this near the rpg genre in any sentence.
the game is a miniture's game, a mini-war game in effect. the same type of game that D&D was made from. Mini-war games have been around alot longer then D&D, and Gary used these games to aquire his idea for role-playing at a table.
so...its not that your jaded or old, its simply that you forget, RPG is a twisted for of mini-war games, not visa versa.
id also add, that heroclix lost all its glitter and gold for me months ago. it was fun, it was great opening new boxes of heros , hoping to get the one you always wanted (nightcrawler, mojo, etc etc) but like every war game with minitures, it soon lost its fun factor due to the fact that you play over and over and start to see the same battle over and over. how many times am i gunna see your firestorm hit my cyclops with your dumb red-square cuasing damage that splits between targets, compounding to deliver 6 points of clicking damage to all within a 4 squar radius?
anyway...alls im trying to say is this. war-game-minitures are not a bland rip-off of D&D or role-playing games...D&D is a mutated form of these games. Rpg's are direct desendants of these types of games, not visa versa.
and yes...rpgs kick the crap outta every miniture's game out there. and we all know it
Pirates rules for one reason. I can use the boats for D&D sea battles. thats it. great props...crappy game
i agree fully. stay away from the clix line. its just a waste of time and money. fun for about 5 months, then just dust collection
Disclaimer: I'm a 2nd level HeroClix Judge and the owner of the primary WizKids Venue in town and am therefore biased (i'm also an avid roleplayer so i can see both sides).
I find equal enjoyment from both RPing and minis/card games. RPing lets me be someone else for a while but i must stay tightly focused on the character i'm trying to play and it's very time-consuming for the Gamemasters and players.
Minis/card games on the other hand take less time to prep and less than an hour to play (usually) so it's much easier to have spontaneous pickup games than it is with RPing games.
When i want chess on crack i play HeroClix or Navia Dratp. If i'm itching for some squad-level fantasy warfare i play Mage Knight. If i'm looking for a quick space battle i play Rocketmen. When i want a quick wizard's duel i play Magic or the Harry Potter TCG (yeah, you heard me). When i want to escape into someone else's mind for a few hours i Roleplay. What i play depends on what i want to get out of it at the moment (and what the people around me play).