FIRST LIGHT discussion

[Kurgan]

Zargon the narrator has power to re-forge the writing that once was broken!

You'll notice a huge difference between say Stephen Baker's touch in Prophecy of Telor, to Joe Manganiello's suddenly casual, wall-breaking style in Crypt of Perpetual Darkness. One feels like it was drawn from the archives of HeroQuest history, the other feels like a kid from 1991 stepped out of the time vortex to sit behind the GM screen. Just sayin'

But yes, First Light gives little character moments (some perhaps a little less formal than the past) on the cards, which may or may not get read aloud over and over again...

Edit: Target is saying January 12 release date... so nearly a month earlier than Europe. I got a small warning about Target cancelling pre-orders if you don't keep confirming them though, so that just further reinforces that I'd rather "order" (or buy in store) than pre-order, but that's me. I hope it doesn't remain an exclusive for long...


Missed the Pictures? Click HERE and scroll!

[Kurgan]

Despite the pre-order date of January 12th on Target.com (which hasn't changed as of this morning), this article (thanks seekhashem for posting in HeroQuestFans discord!) gives an "in-store" purchase date of January 1st.

[Kurgan]

The App update (4.0 on iOS/4.1 on Android OS) on Sept 27th added all 10 "First Light" quests.

The update on Oct 3rd (4.2) removes 9 of the quests, so you can ONLY play the first one. It also removed the graphic of the "Caverns" (used in half the quests, starting with #2!).

In doing this, Avalon Hill has hidden the rest of the adventure, as Quest 1 was also shown (and played) at GenCon. However, some have seen images of all of the quests...

Target.com now says:

Coming January 12, 2025
Preorders have sold out
Check back on release date

[Kurgan]

Posted on my youtube community section:

News Update: HeroQuest "First Light" is listed as "pre-order" on Hasbro Pulse Europe
https://www.hasbropulse.com/eu/en/produ ... /G0978UU00 for Feb 1st,
Hasbro UK https://www.hasbropulse.com/uk/product/ ... /G0978UU00 for May 2nd;
and on Target.com US https://www.target.com/p/heroquest-firs ... nk=sametab for Jan 12th.

Techraptor did an article https://techraptor.net/tabletop/news/av ... r-talisman claiming an "in-store" date for Target of Jan 1st. Jungles of Delthrak dice are "in stock" and available for purchase on Pulse US and "sold out" for EU and UK.

[LucaRocks]

Is it weird that I now want a copy of FL with the AI cover? I bet if any got out there, they would become collectors items.

[Kurgan]

You could always print one. Maybe get some Les Edwards in there... or some Frank Frazetta and really go old school!

I think at this point they will avoid that old cover at all costs.


As if there weren't enough rants about it already, here's another one as a side dish:

That's the funny thing about the Clark Mitchell cover... if a fan had whipped that up in their spare time and it was the best they could do, I'd say "sure, fine, not too shabby." Most of us are simply NOT at the skill level of professional artists or graphic designers!

So somebody shows me that cover I'd say maybe fix the bolts on the Dwarf's shield.. tweak that Wizard's leg a little bit, and good enough!

But it's when Avalon Hill (a subsidiary of one of the biggest game & toy companies in the world) is expecting we'll buy that... and for $50... just... NO. Even more so because this is supposed to be people's introduction to the series so you have to get it right!

So kudos to them for giving us a much better cover (via YellowFly) that at the very least isn't a copy & paste job that looks suspiciously like it was "made with A.I." (from an artist with a reputation for using it in finished products at least once, see the Villainous Monopoly cover displayed on his own artist's blog!).

If you actually liked it, more power to ya, just don't ask me to buy it! I'll admit at first, I didn't mind the style, but the more closely I looked, the angrier I got, as if someone was trying to pull a fast one. Like, that can't be the final thing! Anyway, I think the interview I did with Patrick O'Rourke summed it up just fine. They admitted their mistake and resolved to do better, and now we see the results!

[LucaRocks]

Oh I don't like it at all. Just thought it would be fun to have an unopened extra copy with the lousy cover. Sort of like that one boba Fett with the missile.

[Jelsabob]

Why do these companies give so many exclusives to Target? Hasn’t their shopping numbers gone down since the tuck underwear for kids (among other similarly targeted) fiasco? & the optics of that & them continuing to get toy exclusives after what they were pushing is off.

As for the value here. I guess most people don’t do calculations like I do, but Hero Quest as mostly been one of the most affordable ways to get miniatures. Take the price of any miniature product & divide by the number of minis for the roughest estimate & HQ has been the best value. But again, I suppose most people just eyeball the initial price & say, “that’s too much.” It’s basically like I shop for this stuff the way I buy groceries, I focus more on the per ounce price not the main tag.
I had tried commenting on another site reviewing HQ which acted as if it was sub par or too complicated etc & 1 of their main complaints was the price tag (also only caring about the price of the base set, not the affordability of the expansions). Some screamed at me that other products were cheaper & I pointed out my calculations & compared Warhammer & D&D. Plus the app is really cool. Anyway, I guess my point here is yes casuals who don’t really care about value but are just looking at the price tag for a random Christmas gift may care about this.

[LucaRocks]

To Hasbro, Target is guaranteed money. They pay upfront for the exclusive product and must be making their money back because they keep doing it. So it's mutually beneficial to both parties.

Plus for Hasbro, it means they get seen by more normies who may become hardcore fans after that initial contact through a big box retailer.

[cornixt]

Why do these companies give so many exclusives to Target? Hasn’t their shopping numbers gone down since the tuck underwear for kids (among other similarly targeted) fiasco? & the optics of that & them continuing to get toy exclusives after what they were pushing is off.

No, because it was swimwear for adults, and smarter people in charge of selling games recognise when stuff is made up for political reasons and they can still make more money on a cutdown version of the game - even more when they get a exclusive deal with one of the biggest toy sellers in the country. Regular people don't buy games based on the number of miniatures, a decent price is more important to them.