yool1981 Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Dear All, I've been playing Malifaux since the beginning of M2E. The art and the miniature quality has been what pushed me into the game. The fluff and the rules kept me in it. What I felt from the M2E art was a sense of darkness in a grim, hopeless and oppressive place. This imho went hand in hand with the fluff. There was no good guys, only nuances of grey. From book 5 the art has been changing. First of all, the blue/grey of the midtones seem gone from the colouring (tones are less somber). Secondly, I feel the art is less successful at "synthesizing a character in its look". Menace and creepiness is gone. Now that we have seen some art spoilers in different media (Rasputina, the new Guild masters, Youko, Dreamer, Von Stook, Yan Lo, Hamelin...), I feel the art is becoming really vanilla, without the personality and uniqueness it used to have. This feeling may also happen because I really don't like the style of the new artist that has been chosen for Malifaux. It is not that I find the work ugly, the artist is obviously talented but I just find the art completely uninteresting. I want to like the new art because I love the game but I just can't get my head around this new art direction. Am I the only one unsettled by these changes? 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Loki- Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Art is always changing in any game that goes on as long as this. As long as the miniatures paint up the same I don’t see a problem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnomezilla Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Hamelin?! I missed Hamelin. Where’s that? Did you mean Hoffman? The M2E art was equally interesting whether human or construct or monster. The M3e/book five M2E art has better monsters than (some) humans (I love the male queller and every steamfitter in particular) (and Marlena but that goes without saying) and most of the previews have been humans. Master Dashel/Von Schtook/Basse/Youko have been constrained by design. Notice that they are all in poses already existing in Malifaux minis. Proxy time until we get the new boxes! (Same thing happened during the M2E changeover.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yool1981 Posted October 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 17 minutes ago, Gnomezilla said: Hamelin?! I missed Hamelin. Where’s that? Did you mean Hoffman? There is a Piper art in the TTB extension "Above the Law" (good stuff by the way). As it seems to be an art from the newest artist, my guess is that this is the new Hamelin. BTW the M2E Hamelin was not my cup of tea. I find the one in "Above the Law" interesting although still beneath M1E Hamelin imho. 17 minutes ago, Gnomezilla said: Master Dashel/Von Schtook/Basse/Youko have been constrained by design. Notice that they are all in poses already existing in Malifaux minis. I don't understand. These arts are the bases of new mini sculpts. Why do you think they are constrained by design? If there is a time to be creative it is this time don't you think. Switching from M1E to M2E did not seem to hinder the originality of the new arts/sculpts. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoredroids Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 20 minutes ago, yool1981 said: I don't understand. These arts are the bases of new mini sculpts. Why do you think they are constrained by design? If there is a time to be creative it is this time don't you think. Switching from M1E to M2E did not seem to hinder the originality of the new arts/sculpts. When they switched to M2E, they went from pewter to plastic, and the material change allowed them to design the sculpts in poses that were varied and interesting. This lead to needing a great number of tiny pieces that were difficult for a lot of potential players to deal with. With the new sculpts (you can see this in Wave 5 and the new encounter boxes), they're clearly attempting to keep the number of tiny pieces down while still maintaining interesting sculpts, but one of the limitations of making easier-to-build models is that the poses can't be as varied as they were in M2E. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yool1981 Posted October 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Ah OK. Interesting point. I hate assembling tiny bits with a passion BUT I hate boring sculpts even more. Malifaux M2E was way ahead of any miniature game I knew in terms of variety of poses. If we lose that and if we lose the grim dark feel about the game, it's just another steampunk skirmish game... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoredroids Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 27 minutes ago, yool1981 said: Ah OK. Interesting point. I hate assembling tiny bits with a passion BUT I hate boring sculpts even more. Malifaux M2E was way ahead of any miniature game I knew in terms of variety of poses. If we lose that and if we lose the grim dark feel about the game, it's just another steampunk skirmish game... I don't think you have anything to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yool1981 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 You're a glass half full person . When I look at below art, I picture the minis that will result from it and my mind screams "Vanilla", "Meh", "Just another stuff we have already seen a thousand of times". Imho the poses are uninspired, very static and unoriginal. Von Stook is so disappointing... we are talking about a mad man with a university of zombies and nothing transpires of it in the art. And the lack of originality has been present for a while now. Take the example of Alt Nekima (left) and compare to what PP did more than 10 years ago (right)... 1 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Loki- Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Eh, I like the new art more than that old Nekima art. But hey, art is subjective. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Dave Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Unfortunately I have to agree, I've disliked the new art direction for a while now. I find it just a tad goofier than the M2e art. Granted I don't like the M1e art either, so maybe I'll just have to stick with the M2e minis 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primate Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Maybe some of it just new poses. I think we've had some great raspy sculpts, and the last marcus one was amazing too. Really anything that comes after them is going to be a step backwards just on the law of averages. I'd like to see the images for some of the models that had more boring sculpts in the last edition. EDIT: To clarify i really liked most of the wave 5 art. I thought it had a lot of character. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnomezilla Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 On 10/18/2018 at 10:33 AM, yool1981 said: I don't understand. These arts are the bases of new mini sculpts. Why do you think they are constrained by design? If there is a time to be creative it is this time don't you think. Switching from M1E to M2E did not seem to hinder the originality of the new arts/sculpts. It was an idea only a proper miniatures hobbyist would have thought of—to make the new art its own thing, but still something you could make (with a lot of green stuff and time) from models already in the line. I don’t think it was an accident that Trixiebelle in second edition was very similar to Ophelia in the first, but with much better* posing that metal could not support, or that [I wish I could remember what model this is...Firestarter???] had the same strangely bent arms of the first edition Malifaux Child. I see that same idea repeating itself in third edition Dashel being achievable with either his first or second edition sculpt and a lot of green stuff uniform decorations and weaponry, or Basse being easy to make if you convert a desperate mercenary. I don’t work well with green stuff no matter how much time, and am not in a hurry to play the new masters yet, so I’ll wait for proper releases. But the option to play early, with Wyrd products, is there. *knowing that Trixiebelle is based on an actual pin-up, gremlinified, makes it ridiculous 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yool1981 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Models are computer designed and prototypes are 3D prints. I doubt green stuffing and using old sculpts is the cause of the currently lack of pose variation. Mould cost and model assembly considerations seem more likely causes. Or lack of inspiration. But my thing is painting not sculpting so I could be wrong. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnomezilla Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 15 minutes ago, yool1981 said: Models are computer designed and prototypes are 3D prints. I doubt green stuffing and using old sculpts is the cause of the currently lack of pose variation. Mould cost and model assembly considerations seem more likely causes. Or lack of inspiration. But my thing is painting not sculpting so I could be wrong. You misunderstood—it’s not for Wyrd’s convenience that the sculpts are like this, I believe, it’s for our greenstuff and hobbying. Last time around the similar sculpts were done for new henchmen in box sets, though, not masters. (Which reminds me that Vasilisa was another, easily converted from a Zoraida. I know of no old sculpts quite like Philip and the Nanny, and the new Outcast henchman turned out to be Hannah in her own box[es].) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yool1981 Posted October 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2018 I doubt this is a consideration but I may be wrong. Wyrd’s business is to sell new minis not help convert old ones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solkan Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 On 10/19/2018 at 3:40 AM, yool1981 said: You're a glass half full person . When I look at below art, I picture the minis that will result from it and my mind screams "Vanilla", "Meh", "Just another stuff we have already seen a thousand of times". And I’d like to offer a simple counter example. In second edition Wyrd releases “backflipping” Misaki. Then they release an alt figure standing upright in a “boring” pose. Which model do you think has been better received? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yool1981 Posted October 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 Are you speaking about these 2 sculpts? I wouldn't call either of them boring but it is just my opinion. Personally I prefer the first one because I do not picture Misaki as freely showing boobs and legs but that's my personal opinion. On the M3E arts that we've sene so far, the only dynamic part is the cape and the faces are without any expression (except for Marcus & Myranda). 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Dave Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 1 hour ago, solkan said: And I’d like to offer a simple counter example. In second edition Wyrd releases “backflipping” Misaki. Then they release an alt figure standing upright in a “boring” pose. Which model do you think has been better received? I'd like to point out that the "alt figure" that you say came out after 2e Misaki is just a recreation of the 1e Misaki. And I don't know which you think is better received but personally I've only seen people say nice things about the 2e Misaki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saduhem Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 I have to agree with the new art direction being a bit "vanilla". I'm glad someone described it as such because I couldn't point my finger on what was bothering me. There are some exceptions though. The Lampads are fairly recent and they're really cool, but the freikorps engineers are, to me, just goofy and not very freikorps-y. Something about the prospectors is off too. Marketing maybe? Wider audience? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalezzz Posted November 25, 2018 Report Share Posted November 25, 2018 Yeah not a massive fan of the new art myself ( the last book of 2nd edition wasn’t great either imo) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yool1981 Posted December 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2018 I finally understand one of the issues I have with the new art. Besides the abovementioned problems, I always found the characters disproportionate (small heads, big limbs, especially at the bottom). It is as if one was looking at the drawn character from below (child or small person view). Do you think this is intended? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dope_danny Posted December 12, 2018 Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 Tinfoil but i felt like it was trying to stay more unique. I forget who, it may have been privateer press, but there have been a couple of companies that started putting out art under a new direction that had their fans going "are you just ripping off malifaux now?" and nothings worse for a minatures game than having people not recognising your models and art are even from your game. Personally i got into Malifaux for the juxtaposition of the wierd western imagery of supernatural judges riding past sunbleached boardwalks on the magical frontier and a top hatted serial killer luring victims down foggy cobbled backalleys where his tools are waiting for a necromantic ritual or two. Its deadwood meets bloodborne meets steampunk meets lovecraft with a general blend of wierd westerns and victorian horror over it all and sure theres games like Wild West Exodus but they dont get the creepy aspect done in nearly as competent a way as malifaux that feels like the only skirmish game that took up the moody mantle from the death of Mordheim. But thats just catering to my tastes really 😛 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yool1981 Posted December 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 8 hours ago, dope_danny said: I forget who, it may have been privateer press, but there have been a couple of companies that started putting out art under a new direction that had their fans going "are you just ripping off malifaux now?" PP has indeed released the Grymkin faction that at times looks heavily inspired by Malifaux. http://privateerpress.com/hordes/gallery/grymkin-the-wicked-harvest Fortunately for Wyrd, PP's miniatures are a hundred miles below Wyrd's miniature quality imho. However, PP's artworks usually feature humans with correct proportions between their limbs... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnin' Coal Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 First up this only my opinion and whilst it is something I feel strongly enough to comment on I have no wish to upset anyone..it's a game... When I first came across Malifaux it was during the changeover from 1e to 2e...because the new plastics were coming into my LFGS a few at a time it gave me the chance to compare old with new and I much preferred both the new plastic sculpts as well as the artwork that went with them...I was hooked and over the last years bought many models that were outside either mine or my partners factions purely for the aesthetic alone....my partner was equally enthusiastic as it was her who had first seen Rasputina when she was still in stripey stockings 1e version....then something happened around the time of Broken Promises when the artwork seemed to start veering towards being overtly cartoonish...I could ignore the artwork if the sculpts don't follow suit... @yool1981 posted the 3e version of Dashael...case in point...Captain Vanilla...total cartoon...not dark...not anything except comic book proportions and comic book colors ...rules wise I can understand that Malifaux perhaps needed streamlining, but visually ? Visually nothing was broken ...it didn't need fixing...Cult Of Burning Man in TOS has all the weirdness and horror of Malifaux so Wyrd have definitely still got it all going on in the design and art department... ...end of the day I am only one customer and if the new direction brings in a load of new players then I am cool that my opinion will be of zero consequence...having invested so much time and money to date I don't want to diss what I haven't yet seen in full but from the previews of what is to come at a visual level unfortunately I find myself high scoring on the "meh" scale 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saduhem Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 6 hours ago, Burnin' Coal said: Cult Of Burning Man in TOS has all the weirdness and horror of Malifaux so Wyrd have definitely still got it all going on in the design and art department... As I paint them, I can't stop thinking of Beginning M2e ressers art and I just want more of it. Definitely prefer it to the Malifaux trend over the past year or so. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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