My question wasn't so much about expansions, but rather the general view of the European market from AW.
Even if I agree with your thoughts iNano my concerns with Europe is that "nothing" happens in Eu like it does in the States where AW participates in fairs, arrange tournaments, or just show its presents except for there product via retailers.
As ambassador in Sweden I would really like to hear the future plan AW has for EU since time is running short to turn the tide if you listen to what people in here has to say in the matter.
I ask the same question in here as I did in the Battleground topic:
Speaking of what Koz just have mentioned, what has been said in the other topic "Is MW losing popularity", and that both you Scott and Aaron have replied to the subject in here I would really like to hear what plan AW has to get the EU market going again. Please say you have nice plan here and that you are not just going to leave it as is. I have the same feeling out of Sweden as my other follow European buddies that MW really need you commitment over here to survive / turn the trend.
If this isn't the right topic I'm sorry, but please reply in new one then. Thanks!
Hi everyone! As VP of sales, marketing, distributor and partner relations I wanted to chime in here.
First, yes, we want to grow in the European market and no, we don't ever want to leave a market "as is". We love our fans in Europe and I've had the pleasure of working with several of the ambassadors there who are all excellent.
Regarding fairs, shows, and events, we are a US based company and are small, we are only 5 people. It is much more affordable to make it to local shows in the US like Origins and Gen Con than it is to get someone from our company to Essen or the UK Games Expo for example. To give you a rough idea, for the cost of getting one person to and back from Essen, I can get an entire 20 x 20 booth and marketing at Origins. As a fan of board gaming, there are many European small companies our size who I would love to see come to Gen Con, but simply can't do it, for very similar reasons. I can never fault a small company for trying to spend it's money wisely this way and hope no one faults us in the same fashion.
In that light, it's why we focus so much on Ambassador relations. Like many other competitive card games, our game thrives when supported by the community. Last year we had several events hosted by European Ambassadors. Jannis Grimm held gameplay events at Essen with our partner Pegasus, and this year we plan on having Chris Brett, another ambassador, at the UK Games Expo playing and teaching Mage Wars. Just because none of us from the States make it there doesn't mean we're not trying to take advantage of opportunities in the region.
The biggest challenge I see us facing is local store organized play. Many retailers we speak to tell us they have no one in their communities willing to step up to manage it. This is where we need ambassador help. If you want to see Mage Wars thrive, there is no better way than offering you FLGS some of your time to organize play groups, generate and build a community and build to organized play.
As a great example, here is a video that Jan Kriz, an ambassador of ours overseas, put together about events he's had an impact with:
https://youtu.be/AptRPtTyL9Y?t=5m30sDo we need to release more product to keep the game from becoming stale? Yes. Bryan is keenly aware of the delay from a design and business standpoint. He is a perfectionist and I don't think anyone of us wants a product that's not fun to play. Paladin vs Siren has taken an eternity, to be as transparent as possible, and I for one think the company announced it way too soon in it's development cycle. We're working to solve three main problems right now:
1.) Introduce more players to the game and community: We are confident new sets and the release of Academy later this year will accomplish this.
2.) Bring out more spells to keep the spellbook options fresh: We are planning on Battlegrounds, Core Spell Tome 3 and Paladin vs Siren, all this year, to accomplish this. Battlegrounds Domination has already been announced and we are still planning the others this year.
3.) Bring out more Mages: As mentioned, Bryan and Aaron are working on the design of Paladin vs Siren, and we have the next set after PvS planned in mind already for 2016.
Regarding marketing, we have a modest budget and we use that for print and web advertising, in an effort to hit all markets. We work to advertise in trade magazines that are seen world wide and web sites, like BGG, that have a global impact.
In addition, we have several language translations out, in motion, or coming. We have a few partners interested in beginning with Academy, since they see it as an opportune product to launch in their markets with. Also, our European distributors all regularly acquire Mage Wars, in English, for sales to retailers in region.
While I understand the frustrations and I greatly appreciate the support form our overseas friends and fans, we look to our communities to help us grow and thrive in areas we don't have official Arcane Wonders staff located in. Caracas, Venezuela, while yes, not in Europe, is a great example. There is a local store there who doesn't have a local distributor. We have worked to not only get them games, but get them set up with an Ambassador and OP and now they are regularly hosting Mage Wars events there, growing their local community.
I will simply ask this, apart form the obvious of no new sets since Forged in Fire, what is stopping anyone from playing the game and introducing it to new players to help generate interest at the community level?
We have made the game readily available to our distributors. We have marketed the game with retailers and fans in the region. We have put the systems in place for volunteer supporters to promote organized play. We've supported ambassadors at events in regions where and when we can, and as mentioned previously, we're working for 3 sets this year to help bolster the line up.
If anyone has retailers struggling to get the game moving in their community, please have them contact us. We are more than happy to work with anyone, and in out of the box ways to make things a success. Ask them what you can do to help locally. Recommend Organized Play to be held at their store.
Above all else, we hope everyone knows we want the game to grow and are doing our best to no only deliver a great experience, but also engage and make this a true community. Games are nothing without players, and our players, unarguably, are the best I've ever met. We love you, and want to see more success world wide, and more fun in your hands and on your table tops.
As most of you know, I'm a passionate and transparent guy. Feel free to ask me anything, anytime.
That's my 2 cents... or as we say internally around here... "my 2 mana"
