completed Reaper Bones 4: Enthusiasm and Commentary Thread

[dwarvenranger]

So does anyone else see that two headed troll with the pig and hear it yelling "We've got BACON!"?

[Inarah]

9 minutes ago, hungerfan said:

So I keep seeing people mention things about the comic in the KS.  Has there been more to it than that first bit on the main page?  I keep looking for updates but see nothing in each KS update I check and no link to a comic.

 

5 minutes ago, hungerfan said:

So is there more to the comic than just the start of the game they are playing?

 

I hope so.  It will be nice to fill in the time between stretch goals as the gaps get longer....

[TaleSpinner]

56 minutes ago, Thes Hunter said:

 

That was my thought as well!!!!

 

*fan girl squeels*!!! 

 

Don't get to speculating too hard.  There are actually several sculptors who could fit Ron's tease:

 

- Werner Klocke

- Sandra Garrity

- Patrick Keith

- Bob Olley

- And others

 

Of course, only one of them was recently added to the ReaperCon instructor list.

 

(Remember, I'm not official and I don't know any more than you do.)

[Kangaroorex]

Garuth is very anthropomorphic than the usual run of Reaper dragons.  I think its why there is so much difference of opinion on whether people like him or not.  most of the reaper dragons are definite quadrupeds and the only time you see them rearing is when they are striking.  Garuth is very much a bipedal dragon and his shape implies that he normally walks around on 2 legs. 

 

Whatever your thoughts, having one of the classic pewter dragon recasts in the core set is pretty cool.   

[Jessie]

3 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

As Bryan stated only 20% are returning backers ( that's us folks) so that means 80% are new to Bones KS.

In that perspective I can see the value of a core set filled with pretty generic creatures and characters.

Gauth may not be to everyone's taste, but at $1,35 a piece now, this is an awesome deal for a Dragon.

I kinda like him, but may pick him up later.

 

We returning backers, collectors and such already have many things, so yes, we should be looking at the expansions and options.

I know I will buy the big and odd stuff that will come along as well as a few things from the Core Set that will be available seperately later.

I'm not that interested in the core set either, but statistically it is not meant for me ...

It is meant for the newcomers to the hobby / Bones.

 

I will be waiting for the rest.

I think there is something in this KS for everybody.

Like the Chronoscope, I only have a handful of such minis, but I'm happy for the Scifi fans that they can join in now.

And later I will buy those Space Dinos.

 

I'm sure there will be great stuff for all of us!

 

 

 

 

 

I keep thinking Reaper should do a "Best of Bones" or "Bones Classics" Kickstarter. Basius did something similar. Sell existing Bones minis in packs that are slightly cheaper than retail but probably more expensive than the original KS price was.

 

For every repeat backer who already has enough goblins and kobolds (me) there's always someone brand new to Reaper who seems to want to use the KS to obtain things Reaper already has at retail. So why not cater it to those people?

 

I'm not trying to be whiny (it comes naturally I don't have to try) but I already have 3 iterations of Goblins in Bones and plenty of them. Plenty of kobolds. Lots of trolls. Lots of heroes holding swords already. Lots of dragons. Lots of generic helmeted bad guys. Lots of minis that can be used for wraiths. Lots of bearded wizards.

 

I need more storm giants, cloud giants, female hill, stone, and fire giants (we have zero female hill or stone, do fire only have one female in their clan and no fighting females?). I need lots more farm animals; cows, pigs, sheep, horses, llamas. Small fencing, carts, wagons, siege weapons, dungeon dressing and items that can be used to dress up my bases (columns, broken columns, fallen tree trunks). Metallic dragons. Properly sized aboleths, cockatrices, and eye beasts. Cloakers, stirges, couatls, cyclops, dinosaurs, displacer beasts, missing elementals, more mindflayers in dynamic poses, nagas, more "filth beasts", rakshasa, a few male and female cat people, roc, shark dudes, more fish things, shambling mound, treants, more plant monsters, slaads, incubus, umber hulk, wyverns, more than 1 yuan-ti, dogs, snakes, elephants, sea creatures.

 

I know there might be some existing minis that "might work" for some of these. Just pointing out I'd rather have the gaps in my gaming needs collection filled before we get round 3 of Goblins because people don't want to buy the existing ones from Reaper for some reason.

[Harrek]

Just now, Jessie said:

 

I keep thinking Reaper should do a "Best of Bones" or "Bones Classics" Kickstarter. Basius did something similar. Sell existing Bones minis in packs that are slightly cheaper than retail but probably more expensive than the original KS price was.

 

I can't ever imagine them doing this.  Once the Bones make it to retail they really don't want to undercut the retailers by offering Bones at a much lower price.  You get the occasional additions from old (like the goblins), but these are normally things people need in bulk also quite often.  But a KS devoted to released figures I can't imagine happening.

[Nunae]

1 minute ago, Jessie said:

I keep thinking Reaper should do a "Best of Bones" or "Bones Classics" Kickstarter. Basius did something similar. Sell existing Bones minis in packs that are slightly cheaper than retail but probably more expensive than the original KS price was.

This was requested multiple times in the comments and answered as well. Reaper doesn't want to do this, since it would kinda suck for their third party retailers as well as for their own webstore.

 

I'm actually a little surprised about the goblins, even though I can use them. I think it's less about "new backers always want new goblins and wont buy them in retail" and more Reaper trying to figure out what will actually sell well. And super-rare dorky are probably more of a risk.

[NecroMancer]

Looks like it is going to be a long wait for the next unlock 

[JDizzO]

Yup there are definitely still holes in my monster list (5eMM)  Mind Flayers and Yuan-Ti are at the top of my needs and looking online these are probably some of the most expensive minis to try and find(even prepainted!).  So I can't imagine people wouldn't flock to Reaper for these minis in bones if they are 1/3 of the price(and that is an understatement).  I realize Reaper does have so mind flayer esk minis in bones already, but not enough variety.  I would think they would want to fill in these holes as well rather than offering more of a monster type that is already well represented.  Of course they probably just ordered too many of those goblins with B3 or something and needed to find a way to offload them .

[Reaperbryan]

12 minutes ago, Jessie said:

 

I keep thinking Reaper should do a "Best of Bones" or "Bones Classics" Kickstarter. Basius did something similar. Sell existing Bones minis in packs that are slightly cheaper than retail but probably more expensive than the original KS price was.

 

For every repeat backer who already has enough goblins and kobolds (me) there's always someone brand new to Reaper who seems to want to use the KS to obtain things Reaper already has at retail. So why not cater it to those people?

 

I'm not trying to be whiny (it comes naturally I don't have to try) but I already have 3 iterations of Goblins in Bones and plenty of them. Plenty of kobolds. Lots of trolls. Lots of heroes holding swords already. Lots of dragons. Lots of generic helmeted bad guys. Lots of minis that can be used for wraiths. Lots of bearded wizards.

 

I need more storm giants, cloud giants, female hill, stone, and fire giants (we have zero female hill or stone, do fire only have one female in their clan and no fighting females?). I need lots more farm animals; cows, pigs, sheep, horses, llamas. Small fencing, carts, wagons, siege weapons, dungeon dressing and items that can be used to dress up my bases (columns, broken columns, fallen tree trunks). Metallic dragons. Properly sized aboleths, cockatrices, and eye beasts. Cloakers, stirges, couatls, cyclops, dinosaurs, displacer beasts, missing elementals, more mindflayers in dynamic poses, nagas, more "filth beasts", rakshasa, a few male and female cat people, roc, shark dudes, more fish things, shambling mound, treants, more plant monsters, slaads, incubus, umber hulk, wyverns, more than 1 yuan-ti, dogs, snakes, elephants, sea creatures.

 

I know there might be some existing minis that "might work" for some of these. Just pointing out I'd rather have the gaps in my gaming needs collection filled before we get round 3 of Goblins because people don't want to buy the existing ones from Reaper for some reason.

Never going to happen. We would never undercut our retailers by discounting something that they are trying to sell. Just as we pay our bills by selling existing models, so do the thousands of women and men that run FLGSs across the world, and that relationship means a lot to us.

[Gargs]

5 minutes ago, hungerfan said:

So there is no new comic pages to read?  I saw people mention things like they had read something new and all I have been seeing is that first page so was confused.

 

Nothing new yet. I think some have commented on the progress of the adventurers on KS map, but no new comic strips.

 

As for the Core Set/Gauth, here's my take: Obviously neither the Core Set nor Gauth will appeal to everyone. Of course, you're almost never going to get that, especially with the Core Set. When I look at the Core Set, I see a lot of minis that probably would not be bought right away by me if I saw them in the store.  HOWEVA! As a GM, there are a lot of minis in the Core Set that I find absolutely great for my gaming needs. In many cases, these are the same ones that would not be purchased right away by me because of my limited budget for "frivolous" things. In other words, I would tend to rather spend the money on a dragon, or a couple of cool minis that I would see use for in the near future rather than the generic mobs that could be used more often. The fact that I can now get these minis for around a buck a piece (depending on where we end up overall) makes it a great deal and has me excited (as I missed the first three Bones Kickstarters). Personally, I think that the Core Set is a great place for a lot of the standard mooks, monsters, etc. and would not mind seeing more orcs, skeletons, undead, etc. These are the kinds of minis that don't necessarily excite you, but which are really nice to have as a GM, and even a beginning painter as lots of minis for cheap is great for us newbie painters.

 

All that said, I totally get why there are a number of people who are unimpressed. I probably would be too if I had backed the previous kickstarters. I do think though that it is a very fine line for Reaper to draw where they can appeal to a lot of customers (particularly new ones) and still be profitable. I mean sure, a Core Set that featured 100 dragons would be super cool. But then, how much would Reaper have to charge in order to be profitable (and yes, I know that is an extreme). My guess is that Reaper fully expects a lot of people to skip the Core Set and instead spend their money on add ons. For many of us though, we are in a position where spending $100 on a Core Set with roughly 100 minis (depending on how much gets unlocked) is a better deal than spending $100 on add ons.

 

As for the baby dragons/chibi dragons: Not my thing, but I'm glad others like them.

[Reaperbryan]

4 minutes ago, NecroMancer said:

Looks like it is going to be a long wait for the next unlock 

After the first 2 days, 1 unlock per day becomes pretty normal throughout the intervening weeks. Check out the funding curves (on kicktraq) for Bones 2 & 3 for instance 

[lazylich]

I presume a large part of Reaper's selection criteria is what they want in their product lineup in 2 years for retail buyers, including those than are looking for that perfect mini for their game that they buy only a handful of a year. They are making a deal with the devil (that's all of us) to pay for their molds. It's probably inevitable that the core and expansions have minis that aren't terribly appealing to a lot of 4-time backers but which Reaper really wants in their line.

[Reaperbryan]

1 minute ago, lazylich said:

I presume a large part of Reaper's selection criteria is what they want in their product lineup in 2 years for retail buyers, including those than are looking for that perfect mini for their game that they buy only a handful of a year. They are making a deal with the devil (that's all of us) to pay for their molds. It's probably inevitable that the core and expansions have minis that aren't terribly appealing to a lot of 4-time backers but which Reaper really wants in their line.

this is actually extremely accurate. The needs of the retail line are first and foremost in our minds - and while backer expectations *can* be a strong indicator of future retail success, we have many more variables to consider than pure individual motivation. 

[terminalmancer]

9 minutes ago, NecroMancer said:

Looks like it is going to be a long wait for the next unlock 

 

Bones kickstarters are awesome, but it's not 30+ days of party party party. Instead, every day (or a couple of times a day) something new and awesome gets unlocked and everyone gets to be excited over it! And then the last few days of the KS things ramp up again. The last day is maybe the most exciting of them all.

Edited August 3, 2017 by terminalmancer