I still remember the first game of Dice Masters I ever played. It was Origins 2014 and a friend of mine named Chad strongly recommended we check out this new game from WizKids. I had heard about it, had some mild interest but it definitely was not high on my radar. We eventually found ourselves at their booth and fought through the crowds of mostly Clix players to demo out this new game. Someone from the company (I want to believe it was Jimmy) guided the two of us through a game. They asked us who some of our favorite Marvel heroes and villains were, and I ended
up with Beast, The Human Torch and 2 others I don’t recall. My buddy had Angel, The Hulk and some others. We followed their step-by-step instructions-grab 4 dice, roll and reroll, buy and field, repeat the process. Attack, block, resolve, KO, damage. And we did this for a few turns through and they left us to do it ourselves. The airline sickness bags, the tiny little dice, the paper playmats-it all felt so new and fresh and different than the board games I was there to play. So as we finished up, I had some thoughts and discussion and I even remember those questions that I asked:
“Can I buy this from you now?” (“No, we don’t have the product available currently.”)
“When will I be able to buy it?” (“Not sure, we are having issues with getting it from overseas.”)
“How much is it?” followed by “Really, that’s it?”
And most importantly:
“This is a CCG right? I don’t know if I want to go down that road…”
2014 was the year of increased boardgaming and ultimately was the year of Munchkin for me-I was crazy into that game. Got to meet the creator and artist, had dinner with John Kovalic and really immersed myself in that world. It also was a year when some games became staples for me. I bought games, I bought expansions and I loved them all. And I allowed Dice Masters to just kind of sit in the corner of my mind-something I might look at someday…
When my friend Gene finally caved and bought a starter about 3-4 months later, I had to match it and do the same. And after that, things changed. Dice Masters started very casually for me and ramped up hard around Origins 2015 is where I for the first time dipped my toes into the pool of competitive CCG play. My team was a joke. Like legit awful. But I learned a lot, I tired hard and made the effort. And then TRP came along and competitive play and brewing was all I thought about for quite a while.
And here we are today-2018 with news that Dice Masters may not be the game we think it will be moving forward. I have been trying to process how I feel about it and what it means for the future of the game. I’ve got some thoughts.
What We Know So Far:
The speculation and questions really seemed to kick off here recently with the introduction of this article on the WizKids news page:
https://wizkids.com/dicemasters/campaign-boxes/
With the announcement that Warhammer and Avengers Infinity would both be released as campaign boxes similar to what we have seen from the Turtles sets, it became apparent that there is no blind product releases coming in the near future. And the additional announcements of more team packs and campaign boxes led most to believe that the end of the random CCG model for Dice Masters is upon us.
Justin Ziran, President WizKids said this about the current state of the game:
Long story short, we have not ruled out blind/random/draft packs. However, collectible games across the industry are under tremendous pressure from boxed games and we believe the best way to ensure our wonderful game has a wider audience is to move to product configuration that is a bit more accessible (collectible games come with a very high barrier to entry – cost to play).
The game is still vibrant, profitable and a joy to work on. That being said, many of you have observed the play style of the game has moved from the store to the home. Our sales are still strong but event turnout is pocketed.
As with any change, we expect some people we be upset and others will be overjoyed and some new folks will join the community. We hope those of you that love blind purchase, collectible games will stick with us. As I said above, nothing has been taken off the table but we also haven’t addressed how to mix the models in a way that isn’t confusing or alienating. As a gamer myself, I know how scary it is when the game you love undergoes some changes. Just know we’re trying to minimize the impact to most players while maximizing the opportunity to bring in new folks.
…Don’t let speculation rule the day. If we were sun setting Dice Masters we would not have put our biggest, new initiative (Games Workshop) on the platform.
So What Does it All Mean?
Moving forward, what does it mean? Well first off-these things happen. Other games have changed from a collectible nature to a living game like Legends of the 5 Rings, Doomtown, Netrunner and others- so why not this one?
The positives:
Less variability. Moving from a collectible blind pack format to a campaign box/team pack format means you won’t have to chase any cards and dice. You will have to buy a box or pack and everything you need is there. So that’s great if you have not liked chasing rares, super rares or other hard to find cards.
It is also a lower entry point. The idea of buying a “box” is less intimidating for someone looking to get into the game-you have it all in one fail swoop and you can build from there.
It speaks to boardgamers much more. CCG’s are a bane for most tabletop gamers. They have been there, done that and gotten burned. Buying it all in a box allows them to play it with their friends and family and put it all back on the shelf when they are done.
WizKids still loves Dice Masters. You can see that in the words from Justin Ziran above, you can see that in support and the way they are willing to listen to and talk to the community. They are going to support the game and it isn’t going anywhere. It may not be the same, but you will still have the dice to roll.
The game isn’t changing. Think about the other games that have switched from a CCG to LCG format. What I have learned about all of them is that they shut down and hit the restart button on the game. Dice Masters isn’t doing that-they are switching midstream, changing up the collectible nature to a format that keeps gameplay literally identical.
The things that are less-than-positive:
Drafting. So many of us love to draft this game and have grown to love it more as new sets have seemed to really focus on rainbow drafts and the interactions. We even love the draft packs we were so scared of initially, right? So losing this aspect takes a big toll on people who love to draft the most and the places where weekly events still go on.
Local scenes. This will definitely change local scenes. Look, I love this game. I really do. But if the competitive level of it changes and drafting becomes less and less as we lose blind product I see this being a “few times a month” type of thing instead of weekly or perhaps more of a focus on monthly/quarterly events at the FLGS.
Competitive play will never be the same. It hasn’t been the same for a few years. In 2015 we had over 100 people playing in the Worlds Qual and Nats all at the same time at Origins. 2016 seemed to have even more. Last year didn’t look like that anymore. This year probably won’t either. I have seen WKO play go from 60+ people to less than half on a good day. Will competitive play still exist? Of course it will. But it won’t be the same. And that’s ok, but it is different for those of you who have been around this long and seen it at its apex.
Final Thoughts:
When I say “competitive play will never be the same” I think it is important to note that I see things changing, not necessarily getting better or worse. We will lose some players and probably gain more. Many of the ones we gain you will probably never see in a game store or weekly event, but you may see for “special events” that are promoted through the brand.
If you love this game, be a champion for it. Be the awesome community we all know we have been, and we hopefully can continue to be. Introduce new people to it. Just this last week we had a father and daughter learn the game for the first time in the store-I don’t know if they will ever come to weekly events, but even if they don’t-I hope we showed them a love for a game that has brought so much to all of us. Be ok with the change, and embrace opportunities to showcase it whenever you can. Keep rolling those dice friends.