The Le: how did the invention of HeroClix CARDS come into play (Feats, BFCs, Bystanders)? (I always assumed that Topps pushed for them since they do lots of baseball cards). Were there any challenges you faced with pre or post implementation?

Jason Mical: Believe it or not the cards were something that WizKids added and pushed for, not Topps. We wanted a way to easily add game mechanics without either expanding the Powers and Abilities Card to another sheet or creating a 100-page rulebook. Cards were our solution to that question. Apart from keeping the ideas new and fresh the challenge with the cards was a physical one: the first time they were included in the boxes the factory workers seemed to bend them to cram them in, so a good 50% or so of cards out of the first batch were screwed up. Not the kind of first impression you want to make with a product debut!

The Le: Wow... surely there must have been some successes at Wizkids?

Jason Mical: Believe it or not there were more than a few! I'd break success down into two categories, my own personal successes and the company's overall successes. The first list is shorter so I'll start there.

I pushed hard for more IndyClix stuff; there was a real hesitation against it because IndyClix didn't sell nearly as well compared to Marvel and DC, so doing another expansion was not an option. When we started moving towards the collector's set model I lobbied to explore IndyClix releases in that form. I know Seth pushed for this too so it's not 100% my doing, but I feel pretty good about having done it. And I did personally arrange for the BPRD set to be made, so yeah, I'll take credit for its existence (not so much the production errors on it!)

There were other little things too. Sometimes cost-cutting measures or the 'easy way out' were presented and I would then turn around and say 'look, if we do that we're going to completely alienate our fan base.' And I'd often use the WizKids forums or HCRealms as proof points when I needed to. I would often use myself as a litmus test, because underneath my suave, Mad Men-style PR exterior I'm basically a huge geek and invested in HeroClix as much as anyone. If I thought 'jeeze, I would think WisKids are D.B.s if they did that,' then I would recommend against it. I can't go into details here about everything but to address a question from the HCRealms thread, most certainly we took feedback online seriously. The trouble with online feedback is that you have to sort through the extreme cases and find things that really are trends that should concern you, and there were more than a few people at WizKids who couldn't make that differentiation, which is a shame.

Oh yeah: before Crimson Skies was discontinued they released a set of collector's cards, similar in style to baseball cards, with pieces of fiction and scenarios and such. I designed some of those myself. I think maybe 10 people including my mother saw them, but it was pretty neat that they let me do it.

In terms of overall successes, the biggest one for HeroClix was Seth's approach to character design. There was a bit of 'conventional wisdom' from the early marketing department that you had to do only Tier 1 characters, and Seth lobbied hard to buck that trend. He also changed the game from a first strike and/or turtling game to something far more nuanced and strategic.

Pirates was a success in every definition of the term; the game was an experiment designed to attract a certain Disney license, and we didn't know it would sell nearly as well as it did.

Overall WizKids had some very elegantly-designed games. Race Day played very well and even MLB SportsClix in both its iterations was a hell of a game Regardless of some of the other decisions made at the company the game design was always incredibly sound, and it was a real pleasure to work with people like Seth, Jon, Matt, Mike, Kelly, Scott and Ethan, to see the kinds of things they could do. It was a great learning experience for me too from a general 'creative' point of view, because they taught me to see a game or a narrative from a completely different angle, as an interaction between various components.

This is probably as good a place as any to say that one of my favorite aspects of the job was the interaction I got to have with the community, both online and at conventions. I'm not going to be so arrogant as to say it was a 'success,' as there are things I realize could have been done differently, but it was extremely fulfilling as a part of my career. The things I learned at WizKids I put into practice today, and I hope to do again at some point in the future.