I never thought I would feel this way – because I loved using minis in games. I am a pretty good painter, too. But I have come to the sad conclusion that miniatures just do not work for how I – and many other gamers – play games today, or for the types of games I play. There are other, mainly logistical, drawbacks as well.
The big part of my disillusionment with minis is that it doesn’t suit my current play styles and favorites. For the last 8 years, the vast majority of my gaming has been online, mostly Skype and Play-by-Post. Live online RPGs are big now that people have the tech to play with farflung college pals or their forum-friends! Minis are really superfluous for these formats, even in more tactical games, like the many d20 titles. If there’s need to know exactly where everyone is, how far apart, and facings, there are simpler, better ways than a webcam and minis. From “Sketch a quick map/scan it/Skype or Dropbox” to the online gaming sites with elaborate map functions.
My favorite games the last several years are also more narrative in nature – FATE, Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars – and many more GMs and players are embracing this style. These games don’t worry about facings, and distances are handled very loosely. Thus the primary use of minis isn’t there, even when playing tabletop. Minis can also lessen the enjoyment of narrative games, whether they are played on a table or in the ether. You see, players who are debating, say, whether the Yakuza minions are closer to the Samurai With Katana or the Samurai With Naginata are not asking questions, listening to answers or coming up with cool actions. And if there’s no exciting details that the players can take advantage of, or cool ideas to remove that pesky Evil Wizard that she won’t see coming – where’s the fun? Not to mention, it wastes time.
There are other problems, alas, with minis, besides not fitting in a lot of games. They can be a logistical nightmare. You need to have space for them, when you are not gaming. And if you think finding storage space is easy, try getting them to your games. Smaller cars – or trucks without large cabs – can’t hold the big minis totes that today’s minis players must have. Plus books, laptop and a gaming buddy or 2. And what if you are travelling to a con? The vehicle that barely holds the minis (and other items) for one session of a local game certainly won’t be able to hold both game stuff and your luggage for several days. Heaven forbid you’re flying to that con – it is hard to find an airline that gives you more than 1 carry-on, if that, without fees.
Finally, they are expensive, two or three dollars each on the low end. And like the old snack jingle, you can’t have just one. A lot of gamers only have so much money (never enough!) to spend on gaming. So budgeting must be done and choices made, however painful. Many hardcover core- and sourcebooks cost $30 – 60 and up, and some PDF versions of core books cost $25 – 40 or so. I would rather have the books/PDFs – more new games! more goodies for favorites! – than the miniatures, and I am not alone in this.
Linda Whitson
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