Promo figures -- like 'em or hate 'em?

The new Runebound/Descent promo figure, I haz it:



Being local to FFG rocks!!! There are more coming. I will get them too. Probably.

Okay, okay, before Skeletor kills me -- in order to get my Runebound promos, of course! -- what do you guys think about promo figures for AT games? AT is usually heavy on the minis anyway, but do you want more, more, more? Or do you hate that they tend to be limited to Cons and special events?

If you were a manufacturer, how would you handle distributing promotional figurines for your games? Would ordering them through F:AT similar to what Rio Grande Games is doing with the Dominion card promos available through BGG be a desirable thing?

BTW, I'm not in any position to influence this one way or the other -- I'm just throwing out a discussion idea.

I got that promo guy too because my brother picked up the Descent: Tomb of Ice expansion for me at Gen Con.

Personally, I'm not the "gotta-collect-em-all" personality type so I don't care if I don't get a promo or not. I can still enjoy Descent just fine if I don't have the promo, but apparently some people can't.

I think promos are a cool way for a company to show appreciation for the people who make the trip to GenCon or eat 30 boxes of Cap'n Crunch or fill out a survey or whatever.

I think the best way to give out promos is through magazine distribution. Like you used to get CCG promo cards with InQuest and Scrye. Anybody who wants to buy one can. But magazines are quickly going the way of the dodo.

Add another one to the "indifferent" column.

If you're so into Descent or Runebound that the truckloads of expansions for either game aren't enough for you, having to pick one of these minis up on eBay shouldn't be that big of a deal.

Hate 'em, and everyone who ownes them.

Mr Skeletor wrote:

Hate 'em, and everyone who ownes them.

Oh too bad.......



I got an extra one for you.

I couldn't care less about promo figures. It's not like they change the game or anything. It is irritating to not be able to get a piece because you didn't spend $1000 to go to an out-of-state game convention or you're not nestled up with a publisher.

Promo anything is dumb...as awesome as BLACK OPS was, it should really have been made available to anybody who wants it.

Fanatically indifferent.

Promos are just for dick waving. "Oh, look what I got..."



Unfortunatly I like waving my dick around.

I like the promo stuff (cards, figs, etc), but it's usually not up to par with the regular game stuff. Meaning, unbalanced, rejected during play-testing, or just plain poorly worded.

Mr Skeletor wrote:

Promos are just for dick waving. "Oh, look what I got..."



Unfortunatly I like waving my dick around.

Replace "promo" with all kinds of things and I think you just summed up a lot of my life.

Hate them. This is why:

Michael Barnes wrote:

It is irritating to not be able to get a piece because you didn't spend $1000 to go to an out-of-state game convention or you're not nestled up with a publisher.

Seriously, what's the point of this? And while some players--maybe even the majority of players--are indifferent to promo figures, it still seems dumb to annoy a significant number of your customers who would like them but have no chance of getting them.

I'm learning to hate the concept, mainly because it's usually impossible to get them all. If it is possible to get a complete set and it adds to the game, then I'll probably go for it unless it's grossly expensive. Or I'll just buy the occasional one that's cheap and ignore the rest.

Same with games that're obviously going down the tons of expansions route. Heroscape and Dreamblade I bought in quantity a couple of years ago, but the latest releases I haven't even looked at; Admittedly that's partly due to the ridiculous transatlantic shipping costs these days.

As Francis would put it: I hate promos. I hate random boosters. I hate CCGs. I hate rip-off expansions.

Mr Skeletor wrote:

Promos are just for dick waving. "Oh, look what I got..."



Unfortunatly I like waving my dick around.

Promo, not porno.

Who cares?

metalface13 wrote:

I think the best way to give out promos is through magazine distribution. Like you used to get CCG promo cards with InQuest and Scrye. Anybody who wants to buy one can. But magazines are quickly going the way of the dodo.

Yeah, I completely forgot about the magazine distribution route, even though that's how I get most of my promos these days. I either just knuckle down and order Spielbox, or track down the appropriate American magazine at my local FLGS. That's how I got a couple Memoir: '44 airplanes (unpainted), and an extra SOC Sir Bedivere for the neighbor kid.

I like the magazine distribution route too, as it seems more equitable. I'm not sure if it actually is, but whether you buy a magazine or travel to a Con, it's a cash layout either way. But like you said, it's a dying breed.

I agree that many, if not most, promos just seem like fluff and don't add much to the game. There are exceptions (I think the Guardhouse tile for Ghost Stories adds a lot, and I really liked Knizia's Blue Moon City additional tiles). But I agree that most promos seem unplaytested and end up being either over- or under-powered.

That said, I'm torn. I like having the choice to add little extra bits, as I see fit, to a game, but I don't like how hard they are to get. I'm not sure what publishers gain by keeping them so exclusive? Buzz, maybe? I don't know; I'm thinking out loud here...