Wow, sounds like a Kickstarter Project is in order. I totally forgot about those pieces. Seems like WK had the idea and just dropped it like a hot potato.

But, in line with the topic on this thread, WK had made many announcements of products/offerings in the past on its site or otherwise that never came out. Makes the website kinda unreliable therefor on WK info.

I want to respond to a few comments at once in this thread. I have never understood Wizkids's lack of community engagement and utter failure to promote their own product effectively. I think there are a number of great potential product design ideas, but those are not my chief concern as I am reasonably happy with the product itself and we already get a lot of new sets and licences in any given year.

No, what I am referring to instead is WK's inexplicable opacity regarding events and released products. I say inexplicable, because while designing a new set or organizing a major tournament are costly in terms of labor and materials, emails and community engagement can be handled effectively by a small, dedicated contingent of PR staff.

Immediately, three communications practices strike me as woefully underdeveloped: 1) Communicating rules changes and errata 2) Customer Service 3) Advertising and broadcasting tournaments.

1) The WIN forums are absolutely a commendable effort to make clear changes to game mechanics and figures. However, the simple "Rules Recap" thread on this site is my preferred way of taking in this information as it is both a time-saver and conveniently formatted. Besides, I have very little reason to visit any of the official WK sites, especially over visiting this site, which offers vastly more in terms of community, resources, and content.

2) In terms of customer service, I can only speak from my experience. Each time that I have attempted to use the figure replacement feature for factory errors or missing game pieces, I have been met with radio silence. No automated confirmation email, no message to my WIN account, and certainly no replacement. Again, the rules forum is to be lauded for their relatively quick turn around and the community engagement it does provide. However, I have heard cases where individuals had their posts declined for unclear reasons. I have had my questions answered in the past, but I can imagine the frustration of those refused is similar to my experience with the figure replacement program.

3) Failure to properly advertise and broadcast official tournaments is a problem. In fact, I would say this alone is the biggest shortcoming of the WK's communications and PR efforts. As anybody who has ever ran a tournament knows, the cost of hosting and coordinating a tournament is significant: product, advertising, judging, and site specific troubleshooting take time and know-how to manage effectively. In light of all this work, it both is and is not ridiculous to ask for more. It is, because it is further burdening a heavy workload, but it is not because these events represent the opportunity for major visibility and, ultimately, return on the efforts. As stated, I follow the game and Wizkids as a company. I know many people who compete in major tournaments. That said, finding out about tournaments in advance and getting up-to-date information on tournaments as they are progressing is nothing short of a disappointing nightmare.

Right now, on the "Official Wizkids Tournaments" page, under Regional Championships, there is a link to "Pax Unplugged 2017." This may not be fair to hold under the light, but honestly, at least I don't need to click on the link to know it is outdated. This lack of site maintenance buries upcoming events. Indeed, you have to dig pretty deep from this page to find the proper event schedule for Worlds and it is a paltry schedule in terms of details even once you find it. Furthermore, there is no readily apparent info on how to view these events if you cannot attend.

To follow an event live, I dip into threads on this site, sometimes strewn with hearsay and misinformation and rules debates. I try to see if there is a Twitch broadcast, to be met with oddly-segmented Heroclix games intermixed with Dicemasters. If there is commentary, it is rarely done by professional commentators, leading to distraction and "I am not sure what the result of that dice roll was, looks like there's some disagreement, and he's taking two clicks, so it must have been successful." In the case of Worlds, this is supposed to be the crowning glory of the competitive environment: top players from around the world competing with the best conceivable teams.

Often, a broadcast fails to adequately capture the excitement. Lesser tournaments are almost completely forsaken. I seem to remember, vaguely, one year when a Faust/Spiral team was going against a Sentinel that stands as the only game I recall keeping pace and maybe even providing character card info on screen. The decision to print dials on cards, makes it easier than ever to follow along with the action. However, I know the game is fundamentally complex and often moves and a sporadic pace. Again, I refer to the Spiral/Faust v. Sentinel game (maybe it was a different game) to illustrate that it CAN be done reasonably well. All the better if the commentators are given 10 minutes before the match to talk about the teams that will face off (since they can have this info) and talk general strategies and more complex abilities. In addition, it would be tremendously interesting to me to watch a heavily edited selection of matches weeks, or even months, after the fact.

Beyond missing opportunities to attract and retain new players, as an experienced player (with expendable income), I feel underwhelmed by Wizkids relative to what I would be willing to invest. I have less time to play nowadays. I have less time to search out information regarding this game. I still collect and I still care about the game. I am no business guru, but when your customers are asking for more opportunities to invest (money and time) in a business, that should be an incentive to create new products and services. When I see a team that would cost me hundreds (are we at thousands yet, between IDs, srs, equipment, chases, and colossals?) of dollars to assemble, I need and want to be sold on the investment. I can think of no better way of doing this than by properly documenting the tournament scene and showing what the figures can do in capable hands.

I'd be sincerely interested in hearing whether people care about the tournament scene or if anybody has had any experiences with customer service that earn WK a glowing review. Again, these are my experiences culled from years of exposure to the game and various play groups.