The Other Side

[Primarch]

Hmm. So if I were to (still hypothetically, at this point) make a decision between backing the Other Side kickstarter or just giving Malifaux proper another shot, you'd suggest the latter? A diverse 8 or 10 model skirmish force is pretty much what I think 28mm does best, and is also something that I can manage to paint.

It's up to you really. If TOS looks like something that floats your boat, then go for it.
You should still consider Malifaux, whether or not you back the KS. Firstly, you already have a crew (and I think I have the 2nd ed cards for Criid). There is already a Malifaux community in place, Pikey, M_i_J, Underdweller, Kojibear and I all play. Komura is lining up for his first game and I believe Lovejoy has a crew as well. Mechanically, it's similar to TOS, (Cards instead of dice, cheating in cards from your hand etc), so if there is something you don't like about Malifaux, you may well encounter the same in TOS. Finally, the M2E edition is pretty streamlined and balanced compared to the 1st Edition.
Personally, I don't really see much of a reason (beyond appeal of the minis) to back TOS if you don't like Malifaux. They aren't identical by any means, but they do seem to have a lot in common.

[The Other Dave]

Hmm. So if I were to (still hypothetically, at this point) make a decision between backing the Other Side kickstarter or just giving Malifaux proper another shot, you'd suggest the latter? A diverse 8 or 10 model skirmish force is pretty much what I think 28mm does best, and is also something that I can manage to paint.

It's up to you really. If TOS looks like something that floats your boat, then go for it.
You should still consider Malifaux, whether or not you back the KS. Firstly, you already have a crew (and I think I have the 2nd ed cards for Criid). There is already a Malifaux community in place, Pikey, M_i_J, Underdweller, Kojibear and I all play. Komura is lining up for his first game and I believe Lovejoy has a crew as well. Mechanically, it's similar to TOS, (Cards instead of dice, cheating in cards from your hand etc), so if there is something you don't like about Malifaux, you may well encounter the same in TOS. Finally, the M2E edition is pretty streamlined and balanced compared to the 1st Edition.
Personally, I don't really see much of a reason (beyond appeal of the minis) to back TOS if you don't like Malifaux. They aren't identical by any means, but they do seem to have a lot in common.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I really should give Malifaux another chance, I think - I certainly don't dislike it. I sort of think, looking back on my games, that I might just not have liked Sonia's playstyle much. Anyway, maybe I'll bring this mulling-over topic over to the Malifaux thread.

[me_in_japan]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've been giving this KS some serious thought. It looks great - I love the minis. The price is quite reasonable, especially now there's a free unit being added. The gameplay looks pretty smooth and fun, and the company obviously wants to support the game long term. I want this game to do well.

but...

I can't shake the nagging feeling that I'm just getting swept up with a bad case of the Shinies. I mean, I already don't play enough Malifaux, and it's great to see folks talking about it on the forums. I should play more Mali this year. I'm also still very enamoured with Dropfleet. Reasonably priced, easy models to paint, fun rules, schnazzy looking play area. I should play more Dropfleet this year. Frostgrave is a great game, with a new spin-off game coming in the summer. I should play more of them, too (the spin-off is supposed to be similar-but-different. Critically, I can use minis I already own to play.) X-wing is also fantastic. I have some new ships coming soon in the mail. I should play more X-wing this year...and Infinity..., and Warmachine... and so on...and so on...

When, exactly, will I play The Other Side? I appreciate the KS won't ship till December at the earliest, but even then, I have way more games to play than I have time to play them, this year or any year to come.

What say the rest of you? Am I over thinking it, or should I listen to myself, knuckle down and focus on what I've got instead of the latest shiny?

[The Other Dave]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've been giving this KS some serious thought. It looks great - I love the minis. The price is quite reasonable, especially now there's a free unit being added. The gameplay looks pretty smooth and fun, and the company obviously wants to support the game long term. I want this game to do well.

but...

I can't shake the nagging feeling that I'm just getting swept up with a bad case of the Shinies. I mean, I already don't play enough Malifaux, and it's great to see folks talking about it on the forums. I should play more Mali this year. I'm also still very enamoured with Dropfleet. Reasonably priced, easy models to paint, fun rules, schnazzy looking play area. I should play more Dropfleet this year. Frostgrave is a great game, with a new spin-off game coming in the summer. I should play more of them, too (the spin-off is supposed to be similar-but-different. Critically, I can use minis I already own to play.) X-wing is also fantastic. I have some new ships coming soon in the mail. I should play more X-wing this year...and Infinity..., and Warmachine... and so on...and so on...

When, exactly, will I play The Other Side? I appreciate the KS won't ship till December at the earliest, but even then, I have way more games to play than I have time to play them, this year or any year to come.

What say the rest of you? Am I over thinking it, or should I listen to myself, knuckle down and focus on what I've got instead of the latest shiny?

I think I've pretty much decided to take that money and give Malifaux another shot, since I'm guaranteed games of that and (TBH) I think low-model-count skirmishes are where 28/32mm really shines. If TOS gets popular here after launch, I may get into it though!

[Primarch]

I've been looking at the minis with a critical eye and while they are nice, I'm not 100% sold on any one faction. Even the Empire models, which I was initially pretty keen on just seem a little off. (Blunderbuss style guns on the riflemen, very modern looking grenade launchers on the grenadiers etc). So aesthetically speaking, I'm not convinced.
In terms of the game crunch, it looks ok. A slightly simpler set of rules than Malifaux, presumably because there will be more stuff on the table. There is still a Malifaux-esque feel to the rules, but they are there own thing I guess.
For a starting buy-in, $150 seems ok, but when have I ever gone for just the starting buy-in? Being realistic, I'm looking at $300 with shipping. That's for the starting set and a couple of extra units. Of course, I don't need to buy that much, but I am hardly famous for being frugal about my hobby. Even at $150 + shipping, I can think of other places to spend that much cash and other games I'd like to try with a lower cost.
So that brings me round to M_i_J's point. Do I have space for another game? I love Malifaux and everyone commenting in this thread plays it (or potentially plays it in ToD's case). So if I play with one of you guys, Malifaux is already on the list of possible games. M_i_J and Koji are two of the three people I can possibly get in a game of Infinity with, which I want to play. Komura san is my only opponent for Pike & Shot and Ronin, both of which I want to play more. ToD and myself don't seem to have many games in common, mainly due to irreconcilable differences in our choice of scales. If I'm not mistaken, the Dropfleet Commander player pool is currently M_i_J and ToD, so if you two get together, surely that should be a high priority. So while this game might have 5 potential players, I'm not sure that it would actually see that much tabletop time due to conflicts with other games. That's not to say that I won't play/buy games where the community is small. Heck, I have games where I am the only player and I have to cajole people into having a game with me.
As I said further up the thread, it's not usually hard to sell me on a new game. That I am wavering so much on this one is not a good sign and I think I am going to have to pass this one up. It's funded, so it will be available through retail eventually. But for the time being, I'm not going to invest in The Other Side.