its a fair compromise, though I feel they are wasting a lot of space on the cards this way, and still curious on how they are going to handle larger character cards.

still not a good with it but its a way better idea then it was.

It's a compromise, sure. And Kudos to WK for caring what we think. But I STILL don't want the dial on the card. I know WK thinks they have good reasons, but I disagree.

It's going to be one more thing for judges to have to keep an eye out for: Stealing glances at the back of an opponent's card. It would be so easy to hand back a card with the back facing you. Just a glimpse could make a huge difference in a game.

If Wizkids truly "listened" they would have dropped the dial off the cards completely. They are still going ahead with an idea that has now been shown to be completely against the desires of their fanbase, with tremendous evidence provided that their reasoning is unsound. It's nice that they acknowledged us at all, really. But their new proposal is not "listening" -- it's placating.

Help Wizkids Get Better

After the recent turmoil stirred up over the proposed character card changes it seems like Wizkids could use a hand in understanding what makes their product appealing and perhaps pick up a few tips on how they might expand their market.

I’m a former comic shop owner, a dad, comic geek, and a lot of other things, but for today’s purposes, I’m an educated fan of the game that would like to see the people who make it get better at what they do. So, to that end, here are a few tips I’d like to share:

1) Expand the Heroclix customer base by improvng product availability.

For years nearly every set made has sold out within weeks of release. This means that even regular fans of the game occasionally miss out on purchases they might have made – new customers therefore have very little chance to pick up new product.

To make sure that new product is available you cannot put the burden on retailers. Most comic shops need to turn a profit every week to stay afloat. If you believe in your product, you need to show faith in your outlets and make it available when your outlets ask for it.

2) Keep pushing for Fast Forces sets and Gravity Feeds on the mass market; leave the random boosters in brick-and-mortar shops.

Random figures are collectible in a way that blister packed product will never be. The model you’ve created for Gravity Feeds will never make collectible fans get excited, but it’s perfect for the impulse buys found in Walmart, Target, Gamestop, and so many other major stores. Go right ahead and try new ways to get your product into stores (I doubt they’ll do much), but don’t change a model that works.

3) Take advantage of your play-testers.

I’m not a play-tester, but I’ve got friends and acquaintances that are. From what I’ve observed, these people are dedicated and professional, with nothing more or less than the betterment of their favorite pastime at heart. In fact, they take their job so seriously that I rarely gleam even the slightest bit of information about upcoming sets from them. What I have learned about, however, is all the input they’ve offered that has not been implemented. Listen to these people; they play the game, they’ve got good ideas, and if they think something will work, there’s a good chance a lot of other buying customers will, too.

4) Take charge of your tournaments.

It’s no secret that Wizkids would love to have the worldwide tournament following that Magic: The Gathering does. But I’ve got to be honest, you’re not operating at a third of the professionalism that Wizards of the Coast does. If you truly want to make the Heroclix tournament scene bigger, you need to take the helm. At the local level this means empowering your judges more, providing prize support at no cost to the retailer, and offering marquee boosters no differently than any other booster (i.e., allow stores to purchase them without restriction based on previous purchases). On the grander scheme, this means choosing formats that don’t just promote product sales, but inspire and excite players, so that not just the most competitive metagamers might enjoy entering them.

5) Last point: clean up the rules. Maintain consistency.

Your playtesters have said this. My old customers said this. When I teach kids how to play the game, I say this. The rules just need to be gone over with an eye towards simplifying and clarifying the language (hey, I’d put my Literary degree towards it for free – and I’m not the only one). As for consistency, you can’t reinvent the game every six months and expect new players (or old ones) to just roll with it. Entities should have never been anything but Relics or Resources (take your pick). And how is “Shifting Focus” anything but “Morph” with the slightest change in wording? The game needs to evolve, but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel for the sake of it. Go with what works. Take a look a the way MtG is designed, if you like – yes, that game constantly invents new mechanics, but they also revisit old favorites on a regular basis. You’ll find your fans get just as excited when an old mechanic gets a new spin, and there won’t be any headaches for judges or players over how things work!

Wow. Kudos to Wizkids for such a quick and smooth compromise. Frankly, I didn't really expect them to be willing or able to do anything about this once the decision was made. I am quite impressed.

I agree. They should have left the dial off the Card. So you now have to keep your Card face up during the game, and now they have to make the print even smaller on the front of the Card, to fit all the Powers on the front, and it is already too small. The Relic Cards are even worse. I have to use a magnifying glass for them.

I also do not like the full size photo of the character on the Card, and that ugly black background and bordering. I would rather they kept it the same design on the front. Now nothing is going to match. It is all about consistency Wizkids.

this all day. LISTEN TO YOUR PLAYTESTERS!! let them help guide the game since they actually play it. they have great ideas that won't be a flash in the pan, they'll be actually great for the game. don't scold them/ignore them when they demand comic accuracy and a proper point vale. trust me, it'll help the game more than you know!

Wow, way to make it super easy to know too much and ruin the otherwise cool grandmaster.

My only qualm with the new design is the lack of a point cost on the front of the card. I do like that sleeving cards can hide the dial preview in-game and prevents opposing players from potentially mishandling/breaking a figure during a pre-game examination by looking at the card instead of the dial.

Misprints and doctored dials can easily be detected.

I obviously need to catch up on my reading, but how were the original proposed changes worse?

How does this "fix" not unscrew the new Grand Master LE that we JUST GOT this past year???

How about, instead of this compromise, we just...

*ahem*

GO BACK TO THE PERFECTLY GOOD OLD CARDS

Kudos on the ridiculously quick response, though. They must be watching the Realms.

I still think its just a bad idea. They need to work on fixing other problems with the game like actually play testing figures, fixing the packing errors, maybe doing actual spoilers again to get people excited, and all the other stuff we have all complained about for years. But instead we get this a fix to a non exsistant problem.

the fact that people are complaining about the grandmaster piece we didn't need in the first place is funny to me!

They are still going to list powers on the back of the card too lol, they specifically said that special powers would be moved to the front though.

I'm still against it, but much less fervently so.