So before boosters were $8 for 4 figs ($2 a fig) and now they are $10 for 5 figs ($2 a fig). Seems fine. They also come with cards that add to the flavor of the figure but dont affect gameplay. Awesome! Whats everyone complaining about?

The Starro and Galactus events seem awesome. New sculpts with better quality cant be bad. Whats not to love about this?

4 figs at $8 On average 2-3 commons and some "other stuff". $2 per fig.

5 figs at $10. On avarage 3-4 commons and...$2 per fig.

But now we are getting more commons, on average. Ergo we are paying more for more worth less than $2. Not "worthless" mind you.

The only thing I'm worried about is the white power (and not just because of the term, "white power"). It sounds to me that this special power is going to make the cards mandatory, as opposed to optional. And if you do consider it a permanent feat card attached to the character, which is what it seems, then the card becomes very much mandatory, because if you don't have it you've payed points for a feat you're ignoring/not using.

I've been into this game off and on, this new set format will be something to check out. Whether I stick around will depend on what the rarity format will look like. Meaning I'm hoping we will see decent characters as more than rares and super rares. I don't want to see Superman as a super rare all the time.

In response to this type of thinking: You're making a lot of assumptions and comparisons between the pseudo-rarity levels of the old style with the set-in-stone rarity levels of the new.

In the 4 figure boosters of today, what are you guaranteed in each? The "rare" figure in them isn't always a "rare-rare." There are actually three versions of rare currently: Rookie, Experience, and Vet. I pulled many more Rookie "rare" figures, say, Martian Manhunter, then I did Veteran "rare" figures in my case.

You say now 1 in 4 figures is rare. I'd say you get 1 rare of each figure per case, which is 1 in 24 (8 in 192).

With the new system, you will most likely get one rare figure per booster. And you'll really be able to tell if it's rare.

Old system: 8 rares/48 boosters
New system: 1 rare/1 booster?

It's something to think about.

Just wanted to say "Thanks" for another great issue. Lots of good articles and information.

Just to contribute my opinion - I'll reserve judgement until I get more Serpent Society

Thanks Rock and everyone else who put time and effort into the new issue. It looks great.


Now onto the big news...I was worried while waiting for the pdf to download (yay dial-up ), people seemed to be going crazy. I'm all for most of the changes. I don't mind the cards(we already have them in feats, etc.). None of the changes seem to affect game play other than the lack of REV sets which can hurt theme teams. So I don't see where this "2.0" is coming from. It's more geared toward the collectablity of the game.

I have more questions than positive things to say, but I'm mostly concerned with the distribution. The problem with adding value to the pack, as they put it, is that it makes booster buying more of a gamble. Right now, the commons aren't worth much, and the rares are expensive. Raising the price of the booster by adding a common devaluates the commons, and raises the price of the rare, since it costs more to pull any one rare than it did before. Where's the benefit? Instead of spending $8 to get the rare I'm missing, I'm supposed to spend $10? Not happening.

I already have more commons than I know what to do with at 2 per booster. 3 is going to be horrendous. Will this be the set that teaches me to throw extras of extras in the garbage? I can see this causing a lot of dissatisfaction when opening packs. It doesn't matter what the rarity is, people don't want to see figs they've already got.

The lurk is officially over, baby... I've been away for a bit, but just like Michael Corleone, "Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in ..."

First things first:

* Rock & co.: The issue looks good. You've really come a long way from the first Critical Hit. And, since I'm a newspaper page designer by trade, I hope that praise carries some weight

Now as far as the announcement and the upcoming changes:

* I'm pleasantly surprised to see that most people are reacting positively to the news. Maybe it'll be great, maybe it'll suck, but for a long time griping and negativity ruled these forums. It's nice to see a lot of people aren't ready to throw these proposals under the bus until they've had a chance to see how they play out.

* The price change: I can deal with it. Figs are still going to be about $2 each. Yes, the extra spot might just mean more commons, but that's OK. It's not unusual in a Seth set for the common figs to be the ones that I really want. And if it's a bit of a money grab, well so be it. It'd be awesome if they just mailed all us good customers a free set every time they came out, but it doesn't make sense from a business standpoint. Like it or not, WizKids has to make money off of their product, or they'd go out of business. It's a collectible game, so they're going to make some pieces harder to get than others. You don't have to jump up and down for joy, but you can't really begrudge them either.

* The cards: I think this is a pretty cool idea. I've dabbled in Horrorclix, so I've got some experience with the character cards, and what WizKids has done is transfer all the cool stuff over to HC while leaving behind all the negatives.

In Horrorclix, the cool thing about the cards was that it allowed for endless variety -- whatever power you thought apiece should have, it could have it. The downside was that the colors were almost meaningless, because there was no uniformity. In HC, the colors are constant, and the powers won't be changing. For most pieces, the card will be nothing more with a cheat sheet, with some fluff text to explain why the power fits the character (Spider-sense = Super senses). However, for certain pieces, the White power will allow for unprecedented customization, sine you'll be able to give that piece (and only that piece) a cool funky ability.

Some are freaked out by the idea of the White power slot; I think those worries will be mostly unjustified. I don't foresee too many pieces getting the White power -- it inherently limits dial design. If someone has a White power in a slot, then they're going to have a Power there on every slot. That just doesn't fit a lot of characters, so I don't expect to see a ton of "unique" powers.

The rest of the card benefits are nice. Having a cheat sheet handy is great for new players to learn the general power effects, and to explain why some characters have them. The background text might seem like fluff, but actually is a nice touch. Horrorclix (which is comprised predominantly of generic figures) uses it to give pieces personality. While Heroclix figs aren't as generic, it's a welcome edition, especially since Seth has a penchant for using lesser-known characters. Sure, Swordsman might be a familiar character to some people, but he's equally baffling to others. I myself can't tell you who half the guys in Sinister are. I'll still play them if they have nice dials and/or a fun sculpt, but it's a benefit to players like me if we have at least an inkling of who the characters are and who they would be working with/against.

* The new rarity status I'll wait and see on this, but overall, it sounds really cool. Ditching the REV concept is an excellent idea. Sure, there are characters that demand it, but there are also characters that don't. Breaking the strict adherence to it frees up the ability to adapt to what works best. Case in point: The Young Avengers. They're the figures that have me really hyped up about the Avengers set. I love the comic and the characters in it. But none of them can really justify a full-blown REV treatment. Before, my only hope to get them was a collector’s Set; Now, I can get them as part of a regular set, and not have to worry about collecting three versions of a of a character that really aren't all that different.

And let's make note of the fact that they haven't ditched the REV concept entirely. They're still marking experience level on the cards, so it's still a part of the game. But now, they're not trapped into making an REV set unless they feel that the character justifies it. If they want three versions of a char in, they'll have it; if they don't they can still put that character in the set without wasting a Unique slot on it. Seems like a good deal to me. Plus it'll also help them get prominent characters into a set more easily. Every set might contain a Captain America or Iron Man, but they won't have to take up three slots. And, while that might be frustrating that you'll have to wait for multiple sets to complete the REV, it also means they're won't have to be a situation where you have to wait a couple of years to get a new REV of favored characters (Thor, anyone?)


Ok, plenty more to come on this, but this post is getting long. Feel free to rebut, retaliate or ignore. I'll be back soon enough to answer the cynics ...

One more thing... anyone else concerned that variations of character cards will take the place of LE's in tournament prize support?

Variations? If you mean misprints, then no.

Heroclix 2.0?

Well, I don't really know what to think of it. Instead of hypothesizing, I'll simply wait for the release and see how it all goes. However...

I've been waiting for an Age of Apocalypse set. I knew a full set would be hard, and quite frankly, a collector's set would only have pissed me off. I'm thinking the possibility of it getting it's own set release is a lot more possible with this new layout.

Hopefully the Indy set will get a new release. Oddly enough the REV set really didn't apply to a lot of those characters.

Whooooohhhaaaaaaaa
*singing* ... that's the way ... a-ha a-ha ... I like it ... a-ha a-ha ...

Everything I ever wanted for heroclix finally comes true.

Last days I told a friend, that I liked HorrorClix better for the Character Cards, because figures may have unique abillities. Finally they are able to represent HeroClix Characters correctly (now the just have to do so). Now I like HeroClix better, again!

And I collect sculpts ... so I really looove the idea, that every figure will have a unique sculpt!!!

And the thing 'bout the color rings ... truly, I just don't care.


Now if they finally start playtesting new figures and cards, so they don't have to make further rule adjustments, I will be happy as possible!!!!!!


*still singing*... that's the way ... a-ha a-ha ... I like it ... a-ha a-ha ...

You should probably try to actually read before commenting.

Ok, over 2000 emails sent out in less than 10 hours. Please check bulk mail just in case as this is a LARGE document. To those who got it twice I apologize. I hope everyone enjoys the mag. If you did not get the issue, just PM me and we can figure it out.