How successful was HeroQuest?

[torilen]

Realize my comments here are from a North American point of view.

First off - one thing to remember is that Games Workshop was a part of HQ, and they moved on to Warcraft, which uses a lot
of the same kind of miniatures, combat techniques, etc. I would take a guess that this move had a good deal to do with the
shut down of HQ.

Second - I have to agree with the whole market thing. We all have to remember that HQ was geared toward 8-15 year olds
(or somewhere around those ages). Yes, that age group is fickle, but aside from this, fantasy games just aren't going to be
that big for long. If my memory serves me correct, I would guess that they were running off the steam from several movies
that were geared to the younger crowd: Labyrinth, Troll, Dark Crystal, and even Legend to some extent. They also had the
Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, as well as Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears. You also had some other fantasy-oriented
games then - crossbows and catapults comes to mind.
Once the popularity of those movies and shows wore off, something new came out and would have been picked up (most likely
the beginning of the super-hero cartoons and such).

Third - even if that age group wasn't so fickle, they would still need their parents to buy the game for them. Parents might tend
to buy games that they can play with their children, and their is an even smaller percentage of adults who would want to play HQ
than the percentage of children.

You can't compare HQ to D&D - they are entirely different games with a largely different fan base...and D&D was out nearly 15-20
years before HQ was produced.

With all that said, you can't necessarily say HQ was not a hit and a success. The number of fan forums online is evidence of that.
I know a lot of people feel that the whole point of business is to make money, and yes that is why people go into business. But take
a piece of knowledge away from an-almost-semi-professional game designer and publisher (soon I hope) - if you don't make money
on a game, then yes it is a failure. But one of the points of a game/game system is to build the industry and fan base as much as
possible. TSR had a problem with this point when publishing D&D, because they constantly tried to sue people with internet fan
pages. Aside from the fact that they had no legal basis to begin with, this killed the fan outlook on the game. When wizards of the
coast took over, they redid the game and allowed other companies/individuals to put out their own stuff under the open gaming license.
The industry exploded. And because of that, D&D and similar roleplaying games will live on for a LONG LONG LONG LONG TIME.

That's not to say that should someone with a lot of money attempt to re-publish a game almost exactly like HQ that it would be a
success. I am not sure the market is there...I honestly believe the only reason the D&D board games do so well is because those
fans of D&D are seeking something that is as close to the rpg as possible (let's face it - D&D 4th ed was a near failure, and its still
going down hill for wizards and D&D). And I really don't even know the statistics for the sales of their board games...it could be they
are attempting to revive the fantasy board game market, while supplementing those productions with money from magic the gathering.

There are quite a few people on the HQ fan websites - but...really...is there enough for an entire market to sell games? How many people
are on this forum? 600-700 maybe? And that is spread around a HUGE area (i.e. north america and the european continent).

[Ethica]

Nice analysis guys.

I reckon in the UK Heroquest marked the height of popularity of table top fantasy gaming. Just after heroquest there were all sorts of rubbishy immitations put out by companies trying to get a slice. You could buy it everywhere when I was about 10 years old and they were still selling it when I was 17 (which is when I bought my second copy). Yeah D&D is proper fantasy gaming, but Heroquest is effin cool!

[sadkitchen]

You would think with the number of fans on the internet GW or FFG would make a limited release of HeroQuest similar to what GW did with Space Hulk 3rd edition. But if I were them I would leave it open for a second or third printing (unlike they did with SH3 where they burned the contract with the board maker the second the boards were delivered.)

Also, I have read that different people own the rights to the HQ name in different countries (this could be rumor as I have not personally looked into it and can't remember where I gained this bit of information), while GW definitively owns the rights to the Fimir, so no matter who (GW, FFG, some guy with a truckload of money) tried to make it again would have to pay (or negotiate out of paying) someone unless they just didn't release it in some countries (bad Idea) or not use the Fimir (even worse idea).

(I guess GW could release a Warhammer Quest remake that is way overdue, not HQ but close...)

(Out of curiosity) do you think I used enough parentheses?

-SadKitchen

[torilen]

(never) (enough) (parentheses)
( )

It would not be so hard to someone to release a game nearly exactly as HQ in style and rules, only
with a different name, so as to avoid any copyright issues.
And as far as the firmir goes...keep the stats, change the name and the description slightly...make it
into a slightly different type of creature, keeping it lizard-like, perhaps...solution done.

To be honest...I never did like the design of the firmir, myself. You all might notice...almost none of
my homemade quests involve them at all. There is a reason for that.

[sadkitchen]

Do you all think that there would be enough interest to KickStarter remaking HeroQuest

It could be called "A Quest for Heroes" or something that makes it obvious that the are remaking HQ.
And the fimirs could be replaced with bugbears. (Or hobgoblins, or Orgs, or Lizardmen, or bog raiders (I think it was Reaper that released a 'fimir' set called bog raiders and you can find pictures of them somewhere in the forms.), or trolls, or something along those lines) (note the parentheses within the parentheses )

I would gladly contribute at least $50 to a HQ remake kickstarter (unless they have an awesome perk at the $100 mark...)

-SadKitchen

[knightkrawler]

BloodMoon miniatures released the Bog Raiders, not Reaper.
That would have been beautiful, as they'd be still available.

[Goblin-King]

To be honest I wouldn't be interested at all in an "almost-Hero Quest" game.
I would want either an official remake or something completely new and different (like Super Dungeon Explore for instance).

But what I would like most of all is simply a reprint of all the existing stuff + for someone to go IP hunting and finally release the unreleased quests (wiz & Dwarf)!
We know the scale figures already exists - We know the packs are pretty much finished - Just DO IT!!!

[knightkrawler]

That's exactly what I want, too.
First the unreleased stuff.
Then see how the money cow works and re-release the old stuff officially, with old-school looking, but different minis.
Like the Masters of the Universe re-published in old designs but new versions by the Four Horsemen.

[Goblin-King]

But they would kinda have to start by releasing the base set too...
Get a few new players hooked too - Or old players whose moms threw their game away when they got "too old". XD

[knightkrawler]

Evil hags!