Attack Of The Miniature Clickies

Thanks to GamerDad for its 'Unplugged' column discussing the phenomenon of 'clickies', miniature collectible RPG figurines with stats included in the figure's base. The article argues of traditional tabletop wargaming: "With the high entrance cost in time and money, it is difficult to bring new people into the hobby. Younger gamers suffer from a lack of cash, while older gamers suffer from a lack of time." These easier, supposedly cheaper alternatives are then evaluated, including lines such as Mage Knight ("As the first 'clicky' game released, it has grown into the largest"), Heroclix ("a decent game with a great theme"), and Lord Of The Rings (praised "for its 'large, messy battle' feel.") But the article ends with a caveat: "My gut instinct is to warn any kid away from all collectible games. Children (and adults) are too easily sucked into a cycle of buying 'just one more' booster pack and hoping they find something great inside."

Comments

Ah, WizKids...

[Anonymous Coward]

The incredibly high prices of a miniatures game with the endless buying spree of a collectible card game. Either branch of gaming is a money sink, but when you combine the two...

After selling off my Magic collection 10 years ago I swore never to buy another collectible game ever again, no matter how good it was. It's amazing how many games you can afford to get when you're only buying them once.

Oddly enough, the same philosophy fits computer games (MMPORGS) perfectly as well.

Re:Ah, WizKids...

[AuMatar]

On the other hand, I compare it to a movie.

A movie is $7-$9 US for 2 hours of entertainment. So $3.50 to $4.50 an hour.

An MMO is easily played 10 hours a week for a casual gamer, so 40 a month. $15/40= $.375/hr. Not a bad deal.

Re:Ah, WizKids...

[Kirby]

I've actually found it to be the opposite effect, with MMORPGs. While collectible games are a definite money sink (which, like many, I've successfully sworn off of by now), MMORPGs are much more of a time sink.

It costs me between $10 and $15/month for a typical MMORPG. As someone with a Real Job, this isn't terribly much. And, if you're playing one seriously, you're putting 20-40 hours/week into it.

When you're doing that, I find that you spend a lot less time playing other games. And noticing that, at least for me, I stop buying other games entirely.

I have tons of jewel cases for games I've played for less than 10 hours. They looked fun, and some of them were, but I never got around to really getting involved in them. Maybe this is a personal flaw, but I don't think it's that rare.

When I'm in MMORPG time-sink mode, I don't get the itch for a new game, knowing my video game time is spoken for, and I don't buy them. So, instead of buying a new $50 game each month (not unusual), I'm spending $15 or less each month to play the game I've already got.

The same logic is why Netflix saves me (the actual me, not the hypothetical reader) real money - for some reason, I used to buy a lot of DVDs of things I liked, knowing I'm unlikely to watch them more than once or twice again ever. Now, I just drop them in my rental queue, and know I can re-rent them anytime I feel the urge to watch, say, Adventures in Babysitting again. It's a nice little movie, but doesn't need to be taking up my shelf-space.

Maybe this is more about breaking worse habits with better ones, but I find the process fascinating.

Collectability is nothing new...

[DLWormwood]

I've blown hundreds of dollars on collectable dice, so I've been "taken in" by these kinds of games too. But, judging from the tenor of the posts to this article, it seems to me that the parents here seem to think of the games as some kind of "new" evil. Before Magic, Bionicle, Mage Knight, etc., kids collected and played with baseball cards, marbles, dress-up dolls and vending machine capsules.

I personally think the current crop of "collectable toys" is a better deal since you get much more play time and, get this, social interaction than the older games. I was never aware of marble tourneys or Barbie fashion shows when I was a kid, but now kids can get college scholarships and impressive social networks set up from playing these "trading" games. And most of these games now have a college-friendly sensibility to them that encourage continued play into adulthood.

Online RPGs are a service, not just a game.

[Psychochild]

Oddly enough, the same philosophy fits computer games (MMPORGS) perfectly as well.

As an administrator of an online RPG and a former M:tG player, I think this is a bit of an unfair comparison.

The most obvious thing is price. My own game, Meridian 59 costs $10.95 per month with no boxes or expansions to buy. That's the equivalent of, what, 3-4 boosters? Who do you know that only bought 3-4 boosters per month while playing Magic?

Further, consider what you get for your payment. In M:tG, I'm getting printed pieces of cardboard that I hope will improve my deck or be worth enough for me to sell at a profit. I still have to find people to play with.

In an online RPG, on the other hand, you are getting a lot more. You get a dynamic world that is expanded on a regular basis. You get a group of ready players interested in the same game that you can interact with. You get a service that maintains the game and polices it for undesirable behavior, such as cheating.

If I could have remained competitive at M:tG by only buying 3-4 booster packs per month, and I would have had a guaranteed group of honest players from the publisher to play with, then I'd probably still be playing M:tG today. Admittedly, not all online games are as good a deal as Meridian, but that doesn't mean they're not worth the monthly fee if you appreciate the service.

My view on things,

Additive clicks!!

[pi man3.14957]

The main reason that the "clicky" games are soo additive isn't the random nature of them,its that just when you get somthing realy good, a new set comes out with peices that make the old ones useless. So then you go and buy the next dose..