Greetings HeroClix fans!

After extensive behind-the-scenes work, it’s finally time to start showing everyone what we’ve been working on in terms of updating the HeroClix rules. What we are sharing is still going through final playtesting so while nearing completion there may still be some tweaks that occur before being finalized. We do not have an official date for when these rules will be locked down, but until that date is determined the current rules stand and all rules we talk about in these articles are not official. We do know that any official rollout will be after the 2017 HeroClix World Championships at Origins Game Fair. We’ll be sharing many articles (with no set schedule or quantity) talking about where we are and where we’re going, but with this first article we wanted to discuss the process of making the rules better.

We’ve been spending a lot of time talking to retailers, players, and judges on how to approach this undertaking. We learned that most shared the same common goals and these became our goals:

Make it easier for new and existing players to understand what is intended by rules language and how rules interact.

Keep the depth of strategic complexity the same.

Remove corner cases that added very little to the game but caused confusion, irritation, and unintended effects.

Don’t make unnecessary fundamental changes or so many tweaks that it feels like a new game.

Keep the gameplay firmly focused on fun heroic combat and less focused on finding rules “loopholes” to exploit.

Some results of the goals above will include:

Creating new language for HeroClix that is succinct and reusable. If it reads the same way, it will play the same way.

Clarifying timing so it’s obvious when you can and when you can’t activate effects.

When you first see what we are working on, you may be worried about new formatting and language. At first it will appear that more has changed than actually has. Most effects are identical to what they were before this initiative but have a new format to help communicate exactly how and when they can be used.

Some specific interactions and corner cases are different and a few power level changes will be implemented as part of normal rule revisions. We want to stress that our changes will be careful and deliberate, and the first few articles may elicit concern that it’s just the “tip of the iceberg,” when instead you should know that we are planning on sharing most of the big changes early on in this process.

HeroClix can be difficult to teach to new players, and though our community is very strong right now, we need to continue to grow it for the future so that HeroClix can be around forever and fulfill its rightful place as one of the all-time “classic” games. Cleaning up the rules is a first step on the path of making HeroClix easier to teach and more engaging to play right from the start.

The 2017 rules will not be the “final” HeroClix rules. We’ll continue to evolve them in a way that serves the game and its players best. For those who will think we didn’t go far enough, for this iteration we focused on the goals above, and not:

Rebalancing all standard powers.

Nerfing existing powerful builds or characters.

Restoring characters, teams, or play styles to previous power levels.

When looking at a large and passionate player base like we have, there will be players wanting no changes and those wanting major changes and everything in-between. Throughout all of this, we kept in mind that we want everyone to realize that this is the same game they have grown to love. The new formatting and language, though clearer in many ways, may be tough for some players and we don’t want to lose any, and this is where you come in.

We want to hear your feedback! You can contact us directly at gamefeedback@wizkids.com. We will try to read everything, but we won’t have time to respond to feedback except via articles we may write addressing shared concerns. Any off-topic email will be ignored. Please use other resources for concerns not relating to this topic as listed on our support page.

Now a note to You. Yes You; reading this. You are an ambassador for the game, which we very much appreciate! If you can help us introduce these plans to the wider player base in your local store, or online, we’d really appreciate it! Get to know and understand why we are making changes and help us teach the other players how this will be better for the game. Help get other players over their initial concerns and show them the benefits that you see to help make this transition as smooth as possible. Thank you, we really mean it!

Now sit back and prepare to join us on a journey deep into the HeroClix rules and rules language!