by Aaron Cantu
Wizkids’ Need to Learn and Grow
In the past couple of years, there has been a major shift in the game of Heroclix. It has come on a variety of levels and in many forms. Some of these changes are welcomed and exciting and some of them are hated and lamented. The most recent change of this type comes in Wizkids’ decision to move their World Championship event from Origins Game Fair to an unnamed “East Coast Fall Convention”. While I did not like this move, it did get me thinking a lot about what it means for the game and how I feel about the game. The following are just my personal opinions and kind of an open view at my thoughts. I hope you find them interesting, whether you agree with them or not.
The Feedback Loop
At the 2016 Game Developers Conference, EVO Co-Founder, Seth Killian, gave a speech in which he talked about why he is so excited about the future of eSports. In the speech, Killian describes what he believes is the key component in the growth of game development and why single games are becoming more long-term sustainable. He called this, “The eSports’ Hyperdrive Feedback Loop”. Here is his basic model.
You can find his full 5 minute speech here, but I will go ahead and paraphrase it for you.
My major takeaway is that, it is in a game developers’ best interest to do right by its players. If it does, the players will become passionate about the game. When they do, they will find more ways to make the game long-term sustainable. They will advertise and grow your game for you. They will push your game to new heights. All this requires is that you stay closely aligned with what they want and find new ways to support them as they grow your game for you.
How does this apply to Heroclix? Well, we have already seen some of these things come to fruition.
In 2013, a group of passionate players began what is now a very successful circuit called the Realms Open Championship. This circuit provides an avenue for competitive players and casual players alike to grow their skills and travel and play a game they love. They advertise the game of Heroclix (at no cost to Wizkids) by simply pushing their events. The larger these events grow; the more people will hear about Heroclix and be drawn to it.
In 2014, my friend Brandon and I started our own podcast completely devoted to Heroclix, we called it Two Clicks from KO. While it is true that a few podcasts existed for the game already (Married with Clix, Starting Over Podcast most notable), there was not really a big call for people to do this. Since then, we have seen an explosion of podcasts from all kinds of different regions of the world, each one promoting the game of Heroclix (again, at no cost to Wizkids), but offering different perspectives on the game based on where these people are in their Heroclix “careers” and what their core values are.
In 2016, Wizkids announced a new format for the cards that accompany each individual figure. On these cards, they would do something they never had before; allow your opponent access to your dial information. This caused a huge uproar in the community and for the first time that I can recall, the players pushed back and got Wizkids to compromise. While there was still a change in the card format, it was more suitable for competitive play, as it only granted access to the player controlling the piece.
In 2017, Wizkids announced (finally) new rules would be released and a lot of changes to be made. Some of these were released in advance to the public, and they welcomed feedback. Based on this feedback some changes were made (the power Poison most notably). This would be the first time Wizkids did something like this and marked a positive change in the way the players thought that the company viewed them.
There are more examples that go both positive and negative, but I think you get what I am trying to say. I think there is a lot to learn from the community of eSports and this is just one small thing. I hope Wizkids continues to build this type of open-floor format. While there most recent move has been mostly negatively received by the player base, I think it is also important for the players to know that Wizkids will always do what it feels is best for its game.
How Does This Affect Me on a Personal Level?
Now that I have given the base for my thought process, I want to give some personal opinions on the matter at hand.
Wizkids announced its plans to move their World Championship event only 2 months in advance. This is unacceptable from a consumer standpoint. People like me require months in advance to plan a trip like this. Personally, I can only afford one big trip per year (maybe), and it takes notice to get time off work, find childcare, gather money, book flights/hotels, etc. When Wizkids announced it would move to Origins Game Fair, the announcement came in August 2014 for a June 2015 move. That is nine months’ notice. That is much more reasonable. When they didn’t make an announcement that far out, many people made their travel arrangements already so that they can attend the company’s flagship event. This really is a slap in the face to those players.
While I do not like the timing of Wizkids most recent announcement, I don’t necessarily think the decision was a bad thing. One major criticism of the last couple years is that whoever wins the U.S. National Championship is quickly forgotten as the World Champion is usually crowned in the next day. I would like to see every National Champion celebrated and talked about. Give these players the chance to shape and mold the competitive scene and other players time to adapt and challenge the current landscape of the competitive game.
Further, moving the event to an unnamed event in the East Coast lacks a lot of transparency that I think players deserve to have. Why can’t there be a major event on the West Coast? Why did we have to move to the East Coast? What is the name of the con? Should I make travel plans? It leaves a lot more questions than answers. The major question I asked myself is, “Do I really want to continue to play a game, that treats its player base like this?” For now, I will, but this is a question I have been asking myself more often than I like in the last couple of years. I really hope Wizkids can come to a long-term solution to make their players happy.
