pre-launch Bones 6 pre-hype discussion

[Olaf the Stout]

Not sure how much I’ll go in for, if any, this time around. I’ve got tonnes of Bones 1-5 minis to paint and also now have a 3D printer to print my own minis.

 

I guess I’ll wait and see if anything wows me.

[Auberon]

I'm only in for pirate ship level items.  B1-4 plus everything else I own means I don't need to mass purchase minis anymore.

[Olaf the Stout]

26 minutes ago, Auberon said:

I'm only in for pirate ship level items.  B1-4 plus everything else I own means I don't need to mass purchase minis anymore.

It’s nice when you get to that point. I have most of my options covered with WotC prepainted D&D minis, but there’s still a few holes that need patching.

[lexomatic]

I've never been a late backer but I might avoid Kickstarter if it's something direct through the Reaper pledge manager. I intend to leave KS after my last outstanding project to fulfill due to a switch to block chain, so delaying that with a new project isn't really an option. It may  be a "no back" even if there's stuff I want. Did anybody late back 5 & can comment how it worked?

[Chaoswolf]

RE: Chronoscope expansions.

 

See, the problem with Chronoscope expansions is that everyone says they want 'em, but when Reaper puts 'em in a Kickstarter, nobody buys 'em. When no one buys them, Reaper then wonders, 'Why did we waste all this time and money to create these Chronoscope figures that everyone claims they wanted?' I don't work for Reaper, so take the next line with a grain of salt. I'm not positive, but I'm fairly certain that Chronoscope expansions have been the consistently lowest sellers in every Bones campaign that has offered one.  The reasons why nobody buys them are numerous, but they mostly boil down to " I want Chronoscope stuff, but not THAT. " There will be other reasons like  "I already have all those in metal", or "I've already got a 500 figure zombie horde, I don't need any more", but mostly, it's that everyone has a different idea of what they want, and what a Chronoscope expansion should be.

 

And that is part of the problem.

 

For as 'large' a category as fantasy is with it's elves and orcs and trolls and wizards and dragons, it's absolutely tiny when the other category (Chronoscope) is literally EVERYTHING ELSE. Cowboys, aliens, scuba divers, clowns, zombie apocalypse, post apocalypse, steampunk, cyberpunk, super heroes, Wizard of Oz, WW1 doughboys, bikers, axe murderers, cyborgs and so on ALL fit into the Chronoscope category.  For simplicity's sake, let's say that a hypothetical expansion would have 50 roughly man sized figures in it, or 30-40 if there a few larger sized figures. There's no way that anyone could ever hope to make a coherent 35 to 50 figure expansion set from such a disparate range of figures. Every Kickstarter, that's what people expect Reaper to do, though. So they do it and everybody is disappointed. " Why did they put cowboys and superheroes together? That doesn't make any sense. I'm not gonna spend money on that, I can only use half of it".

 

I like Chronoscope stuff. I also hope that Reaper DOESN'T include a Chronoscope expansion this time around. Here's why:

 

Let's assume that:

Person A wants cowboys and wild west stuff

Person B wants zombie apocalypse stuff

Person C wants superheroes

Person D wants space aliens

Person E wants steampunk stuff

 

If all five of those groups of figures were thrown into a box together, not too many of those boxes are going to sell because 'there's too much stuff I can't use/don't want'. Let's say that they sell 1000 of those boxes, but they also sell 10000 each of whatever other expansions that they offer. Reaper is going to think long and hard before they bother to offer a Chronoscope expansion again.

 

Now, let's suppose that instead of putting all that stuff together in one box, they just make them available as an add on or expansion to the core set like they did with IMEF and Nova Corp stuff way back in Bones 1. So, they could put a group of 5-6 superheroes into a group for $10 or what ever. They could do the same with each of those other types of figures mentioned above. That way if you want cowboys, you can pledge extra money for them. If you don't want them, you ignore them and  you can get your Chronoscope stuff the way that you want it, without all that other stuff (that somebody else wants).

 

I'm not a marketing expert or anything, but I honestly think they'd sell more Chronoscope figures if they sold them in smaller groups that go together.

 

So, yeah, I'm hoping they don't do a Chronoscope expansion.

It'd be pretty cool if they made a bunch of smaller groups of Chronoscope figures available, though.

 

 

[Lidless Eye]

10 minutes ago, Chaoswolf said:

RE: Chronoscope expansions.

 

See, the problem with Chronoscope expansions is that everyone says they want 'em, but when Reaper puts 'em in a Kickstarter, nobody buys 'em. When no one buys them, Reaper then wonders, 'Why did we waste all this time and money to create these Chronoscope figures that everyone claims they wanted?' I don't work for Reaper, so take the next line with a grain of salt. I'm not positive, but I'm fairly certain that Chronoscope expansions have been the consistently lowest sellers in every Bones campaign that has offered one.  The reasons why nobody buys them are numerous, but they mostly boil down to " I want Chronoscope stuff, but not THAT. " There will be other reasons like  "I already have all those in metal", or "I've already got a 500 figure zombie horde, I don't need any more", but mostly, it's that everyone has a different idea of what they want, and what a Chronoscope expansion should be.

 

And that is part of the problem.

 

For as 'large' a category as fantasy is with it's elves and orcs and trolls and wizards and dragons, it's absolutely tiny when the other category (Chronoscope) is literally EVERYTHING ELSE. Cowboys, aliens, scuba divers, clowns, zombie apocalypse, post apocalypse, steampunk, cyberpunk, super heroes, Wizard of Oz, WW1 doughboys, bikers, axe murderers, cyborgs and so on ALL fit into the Chronoscope category.  For simplicity's sake, let's say that a hypothetical expansion would have 50 roughly man sized figures in it, or 30-40 if there a few larger sized figures. There's no way that anyone could ever hope to make a coherent 35 to 50 figure expansion set from such a disparate range of figures. Every Kickstarter, that's what people expect Reaper to do, though. So they do it and everybody is disappointed. " Why did they put cowboys and superheroes together? That doesn't make any sense. I'm not gonna spend money on that, I can only use half of it".

 

I like Chronoscope stuff. I also hope that Reaper DOESN'T include a Chronoscope expansion this time around. Here's why:

 

Let's assume that:

Person A wants cowboys and wild west stuff

Person B wants zombie apocalypse stuff

Person C wants superheroes

Person D wants space aliens

Person E wants steampunk stuff

 

If all five of those groups of figures were thrown into a box together, not too many of those boxes are going to sell because 'there's too much stuff I can't use/don't want'. Let's say that they sell 1000 of those boxes, but they also sell 10000 each of whatever other expansions that they offer. Reaper is going to think long and hard before they bother to offer a Chronoscope expansion again.

 

Now, let's suppose that instead of putting all that stuff together in one box, they just make them available as an add on or expansion to the core set like they did with IMEF and Nova Corp stuff way back in Bones 1. So, they could put a group of 5-6 superheroes into a group for $10 or what ever. They could do the same with each of those other types of figures mentioned above. That way if you want cowboys, you can pledge extra money for them. If you don't want them, you ignore them and  you can get your Chronoscope stuff the way that you want it, without all that other stuff (that somebody else wants).

 

I'm not a marketing expert or anything, but I honestly think they'd sell more Chronoscope figures if they sold them in smaller groups that go together.

 

So, yeah, I'm hoping they don't do a Chronoscope expansion.

It'd be pretty cool if they made a bunch of smaller groups of Chronoscope figures available, though.

 

 

I know they said the stretch goal of the...what was it, Blackstar Heavy Corsairs?...early on as a smaller set in one Kickstarter was to test if they should even bother doing a Chronoscope expansion that time.  Even as a single themed set, they said it was one of the lowest sellers.

[Sylverthorne]

I'd just like the option of no heckin' zombies. >.<

[nearsightedgiraffe]

Re: Chaoswolf- exactly my earlier thoughts! I would probably buy a steampunk set or two (and would have bought the first 3rd of the Bones 5 Chronoscope) if they had sold it as a standalone set. I imagine there are people who would do the same with the trailer park/ modern horror set and with the sci-fi sets. Or, based on what they have brought out into the store, they could try going for a full sci-fi expansion and just keep it a little more tightly themed than the usual chronoscope. 
 

[Inarah]

44 minutes ago, Chaoswolf said:

 

Now, let's suppose that instead of putting all that stuff together in one box, they just make them available as an add on or expansion to the core set like they did with IMEF and Nova Corp stuff way back in Bones 1. So, they could put a group of 5-6 superheroes into a group for $10 or what ever. They could do the same with each of those other types of figures mentioned above. That way if you want cowboys, you can pledge extra money for them. If you don't want them, you ignore them and  you can get your Chronoscope stuff the way that you want it, without all that other stuff (that somebody else wants).

 

I'm not a marketing expert or anything, but I honestly think they'd sell more Chronoscope figures if they sold them in smaller groups that go together.

 

 

 

You said it.  What I've seen from people who want Chronoscope is that they want a very specific subset of it, aliens, or troopers, guys on motorcycles or historic figures.  In groups that can be used for tabletop gaming.  They want a leader, a second, a couple specialists, and a bunch of different grunts that make a unit.  Not a clown, a dinosaur, two frog ballerinas and some zombies.   The best of the previous kickstarters have been the figures that make up good sets for gaming, like the IMEF, the greys, the reavers, and bathalians.  No that the other stuff isn't fun, but if you're trying to sell to thousands then a cohesive set is going to find targets better than a handful of random themed figures. 

 

[Cyradis]

1 hour ago, Chaoswolf said:

RE: Chronoscope expansions.

 

See, the problem with Chronoscope expansions is that everyone says they want 'em, but when Reaper puts 'em in a Kickstarter, nobody buys 'em. When no one buys them, Reaper then wonders, 'Why did we waste all this time and money to create these Chronoscope figures that everyone claims they wanted?' I don't work for Reaper, so take the next line with a grain of salt. I'm not positive, but I'm fairly certain that Chronoscope expansions have been the consistently lowest sellers in every Bones campaign that has offered one.  The reasons why nobody buys them are numerous, but they mostly boil down to " I want Chronoscope stuff, but not THAT. " There will be other reasons like  "I already have all those in metal", or "I've already got a 500 figure zombie horde, I don't need any more", but mostly, it's that everyone has a different idea of what they want, and what a Chronoscope expansion should be.

 

And that is part of the problem.

 

For as 'large' a category as fantasy is with it's elves and orcs and trolls and wizards and dragons, it's absolutely tiny when the other category (Chronoscope) is literally EVERYTHING ELSE. Cowboys, aliens, scuba divers, clowns, zombie apocalypse, post apocalypse, steampunk, cyberpunk, super heroes, Wizard of Oz, WW1 doughboys, bikers, axe murderers, cyborgs and so on ALL fit into the Chronoscope category.  For simplicity's sake, let's say that a hypothetical expansion would have 50 roughly man sized figures in it, or 30-40 if there a few larger sized figures. There's no way that anyone could ever hope to make a coherent 35 to 50 figure expansion set from such a disparate range of figures. Every Kickstarter, that's what people expect Reaper to do, though. So they do it and everybody is disappointed. " Why did they put cowboys and superheroes together? That doesn't make any sense. I'm not gonna spend money on that, I can only use half of it".

 

I like Chronoscope stuff. I also hope that Reaper DOESN'T include a Chronoscope expansion this time around. Here's why:

 

Let's assume that:

Person A wants cowboys and wild west stuff

Person B wants zombie apocalypse stuff

Person C wants superheroes

Person D wants space aliens

Person E wants steampunk stuff

 

If all five of those groups of figures were thrown into a box together, not too many of those boxes are going to sell because 'there's too much stuff I can't use/don't want'. Let's say that they sell 1000 of those boxes, but they also sell 10000 each of whatever other expansions that they offer. Reaper is going to think long and hard before they bother to offer a Chronoscope expansion again.

 

Now, let's suppose that instead of putting all that stuff together in one box, they just make them available as an add on or expansion to the core set like they did with IMEF and Nova Corp stuff way back in Bones 1. So, they could put a group of 5-6 superheroes into a group for $10 or what ever. They could do the same with each of those other types of figures mentioned above. That way if you want cowboys, you can pledge extra money for them. If you don't want them, you ignore them and  you can get your Chronoscope stuff the way that you want it, without all that other stuff (that somebody else wants).

 

I'm not a marketing expert or anything, but I honestly think they'd sell more Chronoscope figures if they sold them in smaller groups that go together.

 

So, yeah, I'm hoping they don't do a Chronoscope expansion.

It'd be pretty cool if they made a bunch of smaller groups of Chronoscope figures available, though.

 

 

 

I absolutely agree. Chronoscope is cool as a general line for Reaper to have. It makes for poor expansion boxes. Small themed sets would do much better. $10 for the cowboys, $10 for the steampunks, $10 for the aliens, $10 for the modern zombie apocalypse (hey it is different than the fantasy zombie apocalypse!), $10 for the science lab.... etc. They already do add-ons like this, such as the Beast folk, the Townsfolk, breaking the core set into add-on bits. This should fall in line with those.

[Fnordlover]

As one of the people clamoring for more Chronoscope I agree !00% that the smaller, coherent sets ($10-$25 depending on contents) are the best way to Kickstart Chronoscope going forward. I feel like the Chronoscope set in B5 was their best attempt so far, three mostly coherent lumps of figure types, and it was much better than a shotgun approach. They should also consider breaking Chronoscope down into subsections. Making it an "everything non-fantasy catch-all is what's keeping it from gaining traction. A steampunk/weird west category, a sci-fi category, a bust category, a Mythos/pulp category, and a one-off category to include things like Santa/Krampus, chibi figures, and anything super specialized they want to make but can't find a category for.

[Cyradis]

Honestly, kinda surprising Reaper hasn't caught on with this already. If they're twiddling their thumbs on "why didn't Chronoscope expansions sell?" and every time the answer is "because we all only want the different bits separate, and have no interest in the rest".... kinda a DUH sort of solution. People do want Chronoscope: in different packages.

 

At least if you don't like a few figures in say... Dark Depths B5 expansion, you probably are still have use for generic Under the Sea theme figures, and can fling a useful lump of gray on the table that wasn't the favorite, and paint the ones you really wanted. Not really the same with Chronoscope.

 

I am hoping to not go for as much on Bones 6 in general to be honest. The longer I'm in the hobby the more I'm moving away from tabletop type figures. Bones are awesome for tabletop, and for learning to paint. I like display painting more, and have tons of Bones for sharing as needed. I'd be interested a lot in Bones terrain material, however. Give me more easy to work with material to build on. Maybe I can be swayed by some good monsters, but eh, again, even if I like the sculpts, some just aren't calling to me stylistically anymore.

[ksbsnowowl]

Agreed with all the above about how Chronoscope is packaged/bundled. I liked a fair bit of Bones 5 Chronoscope, and I had intended to get it, but it got turned off at the end just before I was able to afford purchasing it. 🤷🏼‍♂️
So I bought another copy of Greek Odyssey instead. 
 

If Bones 5 Chronoscope had been three different $15-$20 add-ons, I definitely would have added some of those sooner. 

[ksbsnowowl]

More previews from tonight’s Reaper Live:

 

It sounds like the “dungeon monster” expansion is being built around the idea of the old school wandering monster tables. Thus all the gnomes that were posted on the previous page, as they often appeared on such wandering monster tables. 
 

The previewed or alluded to creatures that might likely fit into this “Wandering Monsters” expansion include:

• Gnolls
• Bugbears
• Minotaur
• Gnomes
• Skeletons(?)

Speaking of bugbears...

 

 

They also showed off a ‘Shambling Peat Bog’ monster that looks great. It had a peat bog skeleton stuck in its back. 
 

 

It seems we may have a new ‘Sir Forscale,’ the Dreadmere tortoise drayman holding a ‘ruler.’

The previewed goblin with the horned helm may be part of that wandering monster expansion, or it might have been mentioned it was to be part of an encounter add-on. The salamanders were mentioned as being part of an encounter set, IIRC. 

[ksbsnowowl]

The Deep One on an underwater throne (see page 1 of thread, green Z-brush sculpt) was mentioned as being in an encounter set.