Bones 6 Enthusiasm and Commentary

[lexomatic]

18 hours ago, Piata said:

One reason why this kickstarter may not be doing as well as those in the past: every Canadian backer from Bones V got hit with import fees. This may also apply to European backers as well.

 

 

That's not it. You get dinged TAX you would have paid. And a small processing fee. It was reasonable this time, but can be larger with a courier company than post on indovidual items. it's also a huge hassle if you don't catch it to pay duty in advance.  But if it's import fees there's a form to fill to appeal incorrectly applied duty.if you make a HUGE order it might be different.

Edited April 5, 2022 by lexomatic

[lexomatic]

So I'm definitely looking for encounters.

At the moment there's there's few highlights, but no full sets. Current circumstances make re-selling unwanted extras really too much hassle. 

*sigh*

Hope enough people are liking things to reveal something that I can't resist.

[Chaoswolf]

10 hours ago, Walkingbass said:

I’m very new to the hobby, and this is my first Reaper kickstarter. I’m really excited for the core set, especially the larger monsters like the bog shambler. I always need more paints, and the just-revealed dragon looks great. 
I’m not sure about the expansions, because I’m not sure how many terrain pieces I need yet. If we get a good collection of monsters, the dungeon one may be good. 
All up I’m happy with what they’ve shown so far, and am excited to see what they have planned next. 

Welcome to the fun!

[Goddesstio]

11 hours ago, DragonWyrm said:

Looking cat the core set. We need Skeletal Hounds for the Skeletal Houndmaster! He only has one! Can hardly call himself a master!

 

I know. I have been looking at wolves for a while now and they either are either bloody expensive (Mierce, Otherworld Miniatures, thunderbolt mountain, warlord),  limited amount of sculpts, stylised or are just plain bad. Reaper, Iron Wind Metals and frost grave are probably what I want in the end.

 

You stay away from my dogos! Gliterwolf! Chaoswolf! A heretic is here. Sic'em!

 

It was in the first couple minutes of the latest Twitch stream. Someone mentioned they showed the next couple stretch goals (without posting an image here!).

Please no! I'm too young to be glittered! 😄

 

In all honesty I like the wolves and think they're not a bad garnish to the core set, but the leak had them scheduled for the 1.090 mil mark, and I don't think that's the right place to release them. That would be during the 1-unlock-a-day slow period, and those new unlocks need to be exciting to drive interest; not three wolves that are functionally interchangeable with a 3 pack of wolves on Reaper's site right now that you can have in your hands in a few days. I think they need to be kicked to after 2 mil at least, so they pop up during the 48 hour end rush when everyone gets their orders in. But they already changed the original map leak as the Dragon took the place of the hellborn, so my hope is the hellborn add on replaces the wolf pack and the wolves come later.

[Adrift]

I definitely think of storm giants as more ‘fist-crushing’ and ‘spell-slinging’ as opposed to armed and armored to the teeth. 
 

I read that they won’t, but I’d love to see Reaper break ‘extra’ sets of the core pledge out in the pledge manager because there’s stuff in there I’d like. Having attended 8 ReaperCons I have a ton of the figures that are in the core set and don’t want a duplicate in plastic. But the mongrelfolk and those ants I’d def like to get. 
 

I def like the Fey set and will be in on that. I’ve been hoping for a fey expansion for some time. I’m always down for fiends and would love to see some Egyptian stuff. 

[Chaoswolf]

And dont forget the werebear!!

[kristof65]

I'm currently in for $10. I'd pledge more, but I have to wait for this #$%^$@#$% mortgage refinance to close before I can commit more funds. it was supposed to close on Mar 30th, now we're not even sure it's going to close before mid April. 

I also wonder how many people in the US are waiting to finish up their taxes before pledging?   It will be interesting to see if there is a bump in the daily numbers around  the15th-20th. 

 

1 hour ago, Chris Palmer said:

And I really feel at this point that revealing so many stretch goals up front took a lot of steam out of the excitement of constantly checking in to see what's next.  Yes, it took care of the whiners who constantly bemoan "show me all of it", but it certainly also dampened a lot of the excitement.  Why get up early Christmas morning, if your parents show you everything you're getting the night before?

I feel the same way. 

I've been checking fairly frequently during the work day, but I've had little motivation to check in the evenings and weekend days. 

[Adrift]

I’m sure the ‘number of stretch goals revealed in advance’ number varies by personality type. I’ve seen it done both ways in multiple campaigns.

 

Reaper has done one at a time reveals in the past, and if it’s a stinker, the enthusiasm gets hit really hard and it slows to a standstill.

 

I think the best approach would be…show the two that are upcoming in all their glory, then tease 3&4 with the shadow outlines as they’ve done in the past. Let people speculate and toss around ideas. That kind of stuff keeps the audience engaged, wondering, and everyone wants to be ‘the one’ who got it right. Plus, then people know which sets are going to get more added at specific intervals, but they’re so busy guessing what stuff is that they don’t care. 

[Chaoswolf]

I couldn't put it any better.

[Goddesstio]

Yeah, I really like the shadow outlines idea. Like the stuff Jon was posting to social media - still some mystery, but also shows how much you could really get!

 

I wonder if the core had been posted as a huge graphics with a bunch of shadow outlines for still locked stuff, people wouldn't have felt like it was so boring or not a great value or whatever. A huge graphic even that's not unlocked just makes it feel... fuller?

[SamuraiJack]

As someone who has only gotten the Core twice, this isn't far from what I expected, is it slower, well yes, but the Core mainly appeals to newer people and to fill in blanks in Reaper's catalogue..

 

lets face it, Reaper is running out of holes in their general offerings that long time supporters of the company need.. and that is okay.. I struggle any time I have to order something from Reaper to get to the free shipping level now.. 

 

The rush to grab waves was missing so we miss that initial influx of cash as people jockey for shipping position.. people aren't inclined to just toss $200 in and wait for the KS to unfold for the value to be there when there's no impetus to get in an early wave.. I am sure we had a lot of people adjusting their pledges before, but it was less noticeable because the starting pool of money was bigger and we got to the more exciting stretch goals sooner..

 

The miniature world is different now too.. not just 3D printing which has it's own plusses and minuses to use, but SioRes has changed the need for HIPS steel molds that cost a lot of up front investment and production in China..  Reaper can simply pay a sculptor, mold a master and start making models like they could with metal for anything that can fit within the size restrictions of the material and if they have the proper number of machines.. We may have just reached the point where Reaper doesn't need to do big kickstarters anymore or if at all.. it's a faster way to grow their catalog in one fast blast, but maybe it's too generic now..

 

People wanted more Bones terrain and the Brinewind Extras was a popular set.. so they decided on a tavern this time.. good for some, not for others.. perfectly fine.. the terrain one person wants is not the terrain someone else wants.. 

 

We're spoiled.. bones 5 was a crazy amount of good stuff.. the ship, the dragons, the expansions.. it's going to be hard to top it in Bones 6..  

 

I'm still in for $200.. chibis, fae, Hakir, undead.. they will find more ways to surprise us I'm sure... 

53 minutes ago, kristof65 said:

I'm currently in for $10. I'd pledge more, but I have to wait for this #$%^$@#$% mortgage refinance to close before I can commit more funds. it was supposed to close on Mar 30th, now we're not even sure it's going to close before mid April. 

I also wonder how many people in the US are waiting to finish up their taxes before pledging?   It will be interesting to see if there is a bump in the daily numbers around  the15th-20th. 

 

I'm in the same boat.. hoping my refi goes through before I have to pay my tax bill... and April is a busy month for kickstarters with 75mm resin I want..

[TaleSpinner]

54 minutes ago, Goddesstio said:

Yeah, I really like the shadow outlines idea. Like the stuff Jon was posting to social media - still some mystery, but also shows how much you could really get!

 

I wonder if the core had been posted as a huge graphics with a bunch of shadow outlines for still locked stuff, people wouldn't have felt like it was so boring or not a great value or whatever. A huge graphic even that's not unlocked just makes it feel... fuller?

Reaper walks a tight rope line on this issue.  If they show or even hint at too much, and the KS doesn't monetarily go that far, people get mad that they don't get what was hinted at; if they don't show enough, backing slows.  It is really a balancing act.

[Nunae]

So, taking some time to come down from that High of seeing my Fey expansion and going through the rest of the offerings as someone who backed Bones IV and V and collected a lot of Wizkids and other in the meantime:

 

- Core Set: Pretty much what I expected. I'm not super into adventurers, I've never been. My players tend to stick to a character more long term and we can buy one miniature specifically for that. And by now I own so many adventurers that just accumulate that I'm pretty sure they'll never be painted. Same fate as the ones from Bones IV and V. I like the bigger beasties, the Shambler, the Golem, Glitter and the Nightmare as well as the groups of Ants, Mudmen and City Guards (I think there were city guards in Bones IV with a similar aesthetic). Looking forward to more familiars and more thematic groups to use as a DM. Ah, and some of the Reapercon miniatures are great, since I never made it there.

 

- Green Griffin: That's something I would have been all over a few years ago. But I got quite a few Barrels, Crates, Tables and Chairs by now. Bought the Brinewind Extras 2x for example. Also, simpler terrain like this is easily printable, even with a FDM printer and limited printing skills. The bar looks quite ... bare bones  compared to the two I already own or the very fun Mermaid one from last kickstarter.

 

- Sullenhall: I think I own a variety of everything in this set, but the Giant skeleton, already. Super useful since a lot of those creatures come up rather often and some of the older Bones skeletons are meh. It's nice that they'll update their catalogue with newer undead, but I'm not sure I need any.

 

- Briarwood Vale: Love, happiness, eternal gratitude. Fey are rare, and while there isn't everything Fey I ever wanted in there, it's a great start. Will probably need two.

 

- Denizens of the Dungeon/Lost Tombs: Looking forward to both of those. I have quite a few monsters already, but it's a good idea for an expansion and again, probably useful for a newer DM. My backing will depend on how many of those I already own. I also went with a desert kickstarter a while back so I have a lot of Egyptian inspired monsters. Still interested in Lost Tombs, maybe they'll complement each other. And I really need to run a desert campaign.

 

- Options: The colors are nice and added, Chibis aren't my thing (but might get added anyway since my bf loves them), Gnolls are a maybe, Orcs are probable no. Looking forward to the dragon and bigger stuff.

 

A lot of nice, useful things in there. But a lot of nice, useful things that I already own more of than I'll ever paint. Not Reaper's fault, and I'm sure someone newer to the hobby will be happy about this. I felt kinda similar last kickstarter, but there was more newer stuff in the end. Also, with the Encounters, I felt better about buying yet-another-skeleton, since the packaging was more exciting.

 

- Wishlist: Return of the Encounters. Any encounter, I'm sure they're coming, but we need them. Great way to make smaller miniatures they want for their retail catalogue more exciting for Kickstarter. Titania (Summer Queen), Winter Queen, or similar. Seeing another Fungal Queen just makes me yearn for very, avangarde, extravagantly styled Fey Queens. Sylphs are nice but clearly more playful/soft. Puck/male Fairies because balance in all things and a meddling male sprite is also quite the common trope. Traveller Wagon and Carnival Stuff. And maybe butterfly wings big enough to glue to that wagon 😁

[MoonglowMinis]

13 minutes ago, Nunae said:

Titania (Summer Queen), Winter Queen

Would LOVE to see these.  Could be a good add-on in the style of the Lord and Lady of Hell, or the Elemental Scions from KS past.

With all the excitement over the Fey Expansion, I really hope we get some additional Add-Ons in that style.

---

Been thinking a lot about seeing repeated ideas this go around and it got me thinking.  Besides just improved quality of sculpting, material, casting etc, does Reaper eventually have to phase out molds?  I imagine they might get worn down after several castings.  But do they save the master to make a new mold?

I feel like we might be hitting a point in the Bones lifetime where more things are becoming permanently OOP and maybe that's why we're seeing a lot more repeats?

[SamuraiJack]

1 minute ago, MoonglowMinis said:

I imagine they might get worn down after several castings.  But do they save the master to make a new mold?

Bones and Bones Black molds will last a really long time, as do metal mini molds.. Bones USA molds will need to be replaced eventually using either a master they have saved or a newly printed one from a 3D sculpt..