I know that believing WotC is at least a venal sin around here, but here:

QuoteFirst off, I've seen people ask this question in a few places so lets get it out of the way: The D&D minis line is not going away, and while I don't have very specific details about future releases, more information wil be available in early 2010.

As to PHH3, it is not going to be out first quarter, which is why you're not seeing any information on it. Again, look for more information early next year.

On to the information I do have - In addition to several DDM releases planned for 2010, D&D Minis will be included in the Castle Ravenloft board game, and don't forget to check out the D&D Heroscape Master Set. This latest version of the build-and-battle miniatures game will have some iconic characters and monsters from the worlds of D&D that you might be interested in, and that hits stores on January 4th.

Anyway, I hope to have more information for you soon (ie, early 2010), either here or on the main website. Until then, I hope this clears up some of the confusion.

Well that's good to know. I actually like having two shoe-boxes  of full painted miniatures I can toss around and not care about. While the recent sets have been "meh" for me, it's good to see that the line isn't ending: I know many other GMs that use the D&D miniatures in their other games.

-=Grim=-

But it IS ending, don´t you see?

Quote from: Settembrini;354422But it IS ending, don´t you see?

I'm not gonna say I'm not somewhat concerned. I just like to see the body in the coffin before I write the eulogy.

Quote from: MarionPoliquin;354396My belief is that, to Hasbro, the D&D RPG is just a placeholder for the D&D brand until a way is found to successfully leverage the brand outside RPGs. Then it's sayonara roleplaying games!

I don't think RPGs are in the same boat at wargames were in the mid80s. There is too much variation and too many publishers that the RPG hobby is not likely to suffer a similar fate.

Very interesting.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Settembrini;354401Even AM must see how this is universally bad.

heh...as a miniatures guy who went off of GW some time ago I think it's wonderful.  D&D with poor support for minis and a new edition that's very miniatures oriented can be nothing but good for all the little guys.

Quote from: David Johansen;354438heh...as a miniatures guy who went off of GW some time ago I think it's wonderful.  D&D with poor support for minis and a new edition that's very miniatures oriented can be nothing but good for all the little guys.

If I were in the minis business, I would start putting out some platic minis on one inch bases right now.

Quote from: Chgowiz;354426I don't think RPGs are in the same boat at wargames were in the mid80s. There is too much variation and too many publishers that the RPG hobby is not likely to suffer a similar fate.

I did mean to say that RPGs will disappear, but that Hasbro will dump its RPGs the minute there's no more reason to keep them going.

Quote from: Thanlis;354419I know that believing WotC is at least a venal sin around here, but here:

Thanks for the info, Thanlis.

QuoteIn addition to several DDM releases planned for 2010

Then the pulling of the next expansion and the absence of any other DDM expansions for next year in the product catalog may mean that they are redesigning the product line. I notice that they're changing how they're doing things with D&D 4e in 2010, like reintroducing softcover books and setting-specific monster manuals.

I do notice the not-so-subtle nudging towards Heroscape.

Quote from: MarionPoliquin;354445I notice that they're changing how they're doing things with D&D 4e in 2010, like reintroducing softcover books and setting-specific monster manuals.

Wonder why exactly they're reintroducing softcover books, after they were phased out 7-8 years ago.  (By the time 3.5E was released, pretty much every WotC D&D splatbook was hardcover).

One possible reason, may be to test out the market at lower pricepoints.  With some upcoming 32 page softcover 4E titles hovering around the $10 to $15 range, perhaps they're attempting to aim at the "impulse buy" category.

Well, I certainly can't blame them for wanting to reuse molds for Heroscape and the Ravenloft board game.  That just makes good sense.

Quote from: ggroy;354456One possible reason, may be to test out the market at lower pricepoints.  With some upcoming 32 page softcover 4E titles hovering around the $10 to $15 range, perhaps they're attempting to aim at the "impulse buy" category.

Oh, they're just taking a leaf out of Paizo's book. I love Paizo and what they're doing with the adventure paths, but seriously, their supplement tread mill - selling Player's Guides and Companions* and Chronicles and small modules at $10-13 for 32 page offerings - really puts TSR in the shade. Basically, if Paizo has a choice of either doing a 200 page book at $30 or of doing 8 books at 30 pages a piece, they going to pick the latter route. Very, very customer friendly.

Paizo've already hit a stage where they charge you separately for the maps for a city supplement. That's right, you pay $18 dollars for a 70 page softcover on 8 cities, and then you pay another $15 for 8 flimsy medium sized maps showing those cities. So you're paying $33 for a 70 page book + 8 maps.

* One for elves, one for dwarves, one for "Gnomes of Golarion", one for... dragonborn, one for tiefling. Yep, same idea.

Quote from: VectorSigma;354460Well, I certainly can't blame them for wanting to reuse molds for Heroscape and the Ravenloft board game.  That just makes good sense.

Heroscape figures and D&D minis aren't made from the same material, so I'm pretty sure that makes it impossible to reuse the molds.

Quote from: MarionPoliquin;354519Heroscape figures and D&D minis aren't made from the same material, so I'm pretty sure that makes it impossible to reuse the molds.

You may very well be right - I thought I'd read somewhere that the minis in the D&D Heroscape box were essentially re-based D&D minis from one of the older runs.  I imagine that some kinds of molds would accommodate slightly-differing plastics, as well, but only time will tell.  I confess I've never handled either a Heroscape or a D&D mini.