Jaded Gamer Diary - Wizkids the Cheapening

Well at work it's become very noticeable that Wizkids is really going cheap on the packaging for their miniatures now. I noticed, the customers have noticed, it's very jarring it really does look pretty crappy. We first saw it on their absolutely abysmally shitty DnD 50th anniversary figures. But now it's on the regular lines. Here's a shot of one of the old packaged miniatures next to one of the new ones. Front and back. 

First off we'll start with the contents. The miniature is still in there but there is zero attempt at assembly now. They also got rid of the extra little clear base you could mount the figure on. Plus with no back blister bubble it all just rattles around in there package and you can't even get a good view of what the figure looks like. Hell at least back in the day when we had lead mini's in multiple pieces they put a piece of foam in there to hold it all in place. This just looks like a pile of shit in a plastic bubble.

Second is the backing board. The textured blue is gone. The while line at the top so they can make bulk cardboard prints and then add the item name, code and UPC on when they need to. Also the back is completely devoid of any color. You can really tell they are bulk printed now since there is no longer a picture of the painted figure and name on the back. They are all the same now. 

Now the kicker is they did all this to reduce the cost of the production of said miniature. They cut back A LOT on costs with this. The almost complete elimination of color on the cardboard probably saved them a pretty penny. So what does the customer get in return? They raised the prices as well. 

Now I know the prices are going up because of tariffs and there isn't a whole lot they can do about it. But damn. For all the corners they cut you could think they would be able to keep them the same price as before. Ah well. I will say one thing, this cheap ass packaging is hurting sales more than anything. Even more than the price hike. Folks are looking at the jumbled mess and just choosing not to buy it. 

So it's backfired on them in a few ways. 

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New Stranger Things/DnD tie in content on Roll20

 

Well over on DrivethruRPG they have a preorder for a new tie in between Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons. Building on the Hellfire Club from last season they are giving us Eddie Munsun's lost adventure. You can preorder for Roll20 over on Drivethru here: "Welcome to the Hellfire Club". It will also be getting a physical release as a boxed set (hell yes, love boxed sets) and you can preorder over on Amazon or talk to you FLGS about getting a copy when the time comes. 

Now I'm not a DnD fan or a user of VTT's (I've tried, I really have) but I do love Stranger Things so I'm always happy to point out cool stuff for that IP. 

A Brief History of Kult, and the controvercy debate.

A nice little video about the history of Kult from over on the other side of the pond from me. I'm in the USA, this guy is talking about Europe and such. So a few differences for what he saw versus what we saw over here when concerning releases. 

Counterfeit Collector booster? One of these things is not like the other

They are now producing the fake collector boosters complete in a fake box and shrinkwrap. This video shows the differences to look for. Forewarned is forearmed. 

DnD Starter Set not an RPG

Well according to the WPN page over on the Wizards site the Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set is no longer an introductory set to the roleplaying game. In that short little description they refer to it as a board game twice. Even calling it the "ultimate Dungeons and Dragons-inspired board game". 

This really says all you need to know about the direction that Hasbro is wanting the game to go. But I guess they don't know that Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying went this direction for a while as well. All pieces and parts with the least amount of roleplay as possible. That version was ultimately scrapped and they went back to a standard ttrpg design.

So with this being the new Starter Set and it not being a RPG I'm not sure what to recommend to folks who want to dip their toes into the DnD hobby. Guess some other starter for another game line. 

Scam Alert - They are changing up tactics now

 SCAM ALERT 

Well the scammers are now calling claiming to be the department of homeland security and immigration. Saying you're on a recorded line and asking if you know why they are calling you.

I played along for a moment and said no. 

Then they said they needed to verify who they were talking to and asked for my first and last name and address and all that. I told them no they can tell me who they think they are calling and I'll tell them if they got the right number.

They didn't like that. Tried the old we can't divulge personal information if they can verify it's the right person or not. So I said just give me a last name. She paused for a bit and spit out a random last name "Mr Collins". Nope, not me, nobody here by that name.

They hung up. 

Number they called me from was 325 600 6763 and shows up as from Texas. I tried calling the number back but it couldn't be completed as dialed.

 

Watch out for this new trick that is trying to get our personal information by preying on fear now.

Review: Labyrinths and Secret Chambers for Kult

 

Kult: Labyrinths and Secret Chambers

This is a sourcebook and map pack for Kult: Divinity Lost from Modiphius Games.

As I don’t run or play the latest edition of Kult I was hesitant to pick this one up. However the pictures I had seen of the product really spiked my interest. There are 100 different maps in this thing. Each printed on it’s own sheet with a basic black and white line version on one side and a shaded and more detailed version (furniture and stuff like that added in) on the other side. Then a booklet on how to use the maps and ideas for what they could be used for.

First lets talk about the 100 maps. They are not bound in a book, but loose and shrink wrapped with the book. The cartography is great but they aren’t done with squares for movement or anything since Kult doesn’t use mapped out tactical combat. Done in standard paper quality and very clean each one is numbered for reference. Now I tossed my into page sleeves and put them in a three ring binder for easier access and use. But I found out something I wasn’t aware of.

I had bought 100 page sleeves for 100 maps. Three of the maps aren’t one page. So they have the map number followed by a letter to keep them in order. You will need an additional 5 sleeves or, as I did, simply packed the ones with multiple pages into one sleeve. Honestly I don’t see this as a negative at all since I got even more than I thought I was getting.

Variety is the word of the day here. Maps for all kinds of stuff. Apartments, buildings, subway stations, railways, streets, a submarine, all sorts of larger locations and places that really feel like something out of Metropolis (from Kult not Superman). You have got a LOT to work with and you won’t be burning through all of these anytime soon. Plus many could be used multiple times for multiple things, but more about that when I talk about the book.

Second thing is the booklet. Plenty packed into this 64 pages. Starting with a list of the maps. We get a little mini picture, four to a page, of each map and three different things that particular map could be used for. Ranging from normal and everyday to more horror themed. Plenty of inspiration just by reading these.

After that we get a few pages on how the various Death Angels and Archons can have affects on locations. While very Kult lore themed there are still an abundance of ideas here. With several pages after that just covering inspiration names, locations, objects found, etc. So they just try to hand you as much material to get your imagination going as they possibly can.

So two thumbs up, very much worth it for me. Will be using a lot of these maps in my upcoming horror games. But just the resource of maps alone is well worth the price.

You can pick this up at your FLGS and, if they are part of the Bits-and-Mortar program, you can get the pdf for free. If not you can grab a hardcopy over on Amazon easily and the pdf on DrivethruRPG.

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