PDA

View Full Version : Is White Dwarf a magazine??



mathhammer
04-30-2013, 03:14 PM
We were talking about it at the office and there is a decent argument that White Dwarf is not a magazine it is more of a limited edition supplement done in a serial format.

Would provide a different legal grounds for a take down notice.

bfmusashi
04-30-2013, 03:44 PM
Now that's an argument I find interesting and want to read.

OrksOrksOrks
04-30-2013, 04:25 PM
its a collection of written articles printed periodically, therefore, a magazine.

Power Klawz
04-30-2013, 04:31 PM
Grombrindal is a dwarf. he is a mighty warrior dwarf with a powerful thirst for ale, and a keen hatred for all things green-skinned.

He is not a magazine.

Caitsidhe
04-30-2013, 04:32 PM
<chuckles> While I agree and defer it is a magazine in format, a more accurate description would be a catalog/advertising brochure which the consumer pays for instead of the company. It is no different than any mailer magazine sent out by Walmart or a grocery store, except of course the wrong people are paying for it. The problem arises from the fact that I don't think enough people are buying it to pay for the upkeep. This in turn leads to recriminations within the company and people looking for scapegoats. Those darn faceless nitwits on the internet are causing all the problems. :) That is always the easiest answer and the one they run with. That is far more palatable than saying, "we are doing a poor job of selling the magazine because of its content in an increasingly digital era." In short, blame everyone but themselves.

White Dwarf is always a very pretty, slick looking brand of toilet paper. Most people aren't idiots, however, and realize when something is a nothing but an advertisement. If the only thing you have to offer are the new pictures of your upcoming product, I suppose it might be annoying when people get that elsewhere. They could, of course, try adding actual content to the magazine. Call me crazy but when the lowest rent men's magazine has more real content, that could be your problem. :)

Power Klawz
04-30-2013, 04:35 PM
Sadly I think I once skimmed through an issue of Cosmopolitan that I found more enriching than your average modern White Dwarf.

(it informed me that I am a complex and mysterious being with unknowable motivations that women need to try really hard to impress, which completely countermanded my assumption that I was easily swayed by food and nudity.)

Ghostofman
04-30-2013, 04:37 PM
Unfortunately looking like a duck and quacking like a duck doesn't make you a duck these days. I regularly write for a "newspaper" that legally speaking would probably be classified as a government newsletter. And I can actually get in a lot of trouble if I try and pass myself off as a journalist, even though I write news articles, and get paid to do so.

This is a really legally interesting topic, and I'm really hoping someone with a proper legal background chimes in.

OrksOrksOrks
04-30-2013, 04:37 PM
Except its had a lot of extra content articles for months, yes it has lovely big pictures of the new models, but people want to see lovely big pictures of the new models, so much so, there are people willing to steal them and put them up on the internet for everyone to see.

White dwarf is going towards a digital format, with white dwarf daily and the iPad version of the magazine, which is lovely, have you bought a white dwarf in the last year Caitsidhe?

lobster-overlord
04-30-2013, 04:39 PM
It's a propaganda pamphlet they make you pay for.

To me, a magazine has outside advertisers. Otherwise, it's just an internal publication featuring their product ( a catalog).

Caitsidhe
04-30-2013, 04:41 PM
Except its had a lot of extra content articles for months, yes it has lovely big pictures of the new models, but people want to see lovely big pictures of the new models, so much so, there are people willing to steal them and put them up on the internet for everyone to see.

White dwarf is going towards a digital format, with white dwarf daily and the iPad version of the magazine, which is lovely, have you bought a white dwarf in the last year Caitsidhe?

I don't pay for advertising, anymore than I pay for bottled water. :) I liken it to the idea of watching television and the screen goes blank asking me to pay for the new Toyota commerical along with the proviso that it is totally awesome! I've read all the White Dwarf (it doesn't take long) put out in the last year. I know people who buy them (and some who used to buy them). I was very interested in the revamp and supposed improvements. I didn't mark a noticeable difference. You must remember that I cut my teeth on such hobby magazines back when Dragon Magazine was in its first 100+ issues and there was ACTUAL content. The magazine eventually went the route that White Dwarf is all about and I stopped buying it too.

Defenestratus
04-30-2013, 07:26 PM
I don't pay for advertising, anymore than I pay for bottled water. :) I liken it to the idea of watching television and the screen goes blank asking me to pay for the new Toyota commerical along with the proviso that it is totally awesome! I've read all the White Dwarf (it doesn't take long) put out in the last year. I know people who buy them (and some who used to buy them). I was very interested in the revamp and supposed improvements. I didn't mark a noticeable difference. You must remember that I cut my teeth on such hobby magazines back when Dragon Magazine was in its first 100+ issues and there was ACTUAL content. The magazine eventually went the route that White Dwarf is all about and I stopped buying it too.

You have to remember, when all you've been fed is gruel, cardboard is downright gourmet.

Lunar Camel
04-30-2013, 07:27 PM
WD used to be a great magazine. Around 2005 is when it changed. Before, the articles focused on other people's armies, tournaments, how to paint, and how to make your own scenery. They even had articles about their specialist lines.

Now that you buy everything instead of making it yourself (scenery, boards, etc) which is still too expensive, the mag has become a huge catalogue.

This shows that GW has gone from an innovative company to a cookie-cutter factory. I admit, the models are great, highly detailed, well made, and flexible. But the ideology behind it is now just a box. No one wants to think outside of it.

The days of the fan articles are long gone. :(

Dorsai
04-30-2013, 09:00 PM
I would say compare WD to any other hobby magazine. Does it talk about other manufactures? Does it tell you how to convert or improve your models? Do it give you advice on how to play the game? Or is it just used to talk about the upcoming release of their own products without giving away any information about them? Does it have a method of feed back from the customers? Does ever even talk about the company policies at all?

Psychosplodge
05-01-2013, 02:52 AM
(it informed me that I am a complex and mysterious being with unknowable motivations that women need to try really hard to impress, which completely countermanded my assumption that I was easily swayed by food and nudity.)

Really? I found that their idea of kinky barely registers, I mean feathers and furry handcuffs? B!tch please.

White Tiger88
05-01-2013, 03:29 AM
Really? I found that their idea of kinky barely registers, I mean feathers and furry handcuffs? B!tch please.

You really need to play a slaanesh army........ (I am also still trying to figure out if your a guy or not........)

*Cough* Anyhow White Dwarf is now useless as anything even to burn! (The smell is terrible....)

Psychosplodge
05-01-2013, 03:35 AM
You really need to play a slaanesh army........ (I am also still trying to figure out if your a guy or not........)


Maybe when they re-do SOB, file the flys-de-le off and make a counts as slaaneshi marines army? hmm...
Also it's no secret, it's definitely on here somewhere.

Power Klawz
05-01-2013, 07:10 AM
Really? I found that their idea of kinky barely registers, I mean feathers and furry handcuffs? B!tch please.

"If you really want to get him going, slap him around and make deleterious comments about his lineage."

Psychosplodge
05-01-2013, 07:13 AM
If it doesn't draw blood you're doing it wrong...

phoenix01
05-01-2013, 07:46 AM
its a collection of written articles printed periodically, therefore, a magazine.

It's not a high capacity magazine: I can't put thirty rounds into it.

bfmusashi
05-01-2013, 08:55 AM
It's not a high capacity magazine: I can't put thirty rounds into it.

I only made it five with mine before the bindings broke and the ref stepped in.

DeadPanda
05-01-2013, 09:33 AM
Some argue that WD is little more than an advertisement tool, I don't "entirely" agree with that but I do see the point. However do any of you guys remember going though a shopping catalogue as a kid, thumbing though until you got to the toy section and pawing over those pages a good 3 months until Christmas. That's WD for me now :). Yep I enjoy the articles and modelling articles but I enjoy the sales part of the magazine too. The painting parts are a bit cack though.

Mr Mystery
05-01-2013, 09:45 AM
You know what else isn't as good as it used to be?

Everything.

Caitsidhe
05-01-2013, 09:51 AM
You know what else isn't as good as it used to be?

Everything.

I disagree. The Doctor's female companions just keep getting hotter. Pretty soon they will be able to do their own annual swimsuit and lingerie shows.

Dave Mcturk
05-01-2013, 10:21 AM
i stopped buying WD about 1995.... rest my case...

bfmusashi
05-01-2013, 10:27 AM
Back in my day releasing an entire army list in WD wasn't viewed as a bad thing. It was an event!

Psychosplodge
05-01-2013, 11:05 AM
You know what else isn't as good as it used to be?

Everything.

Listen we used to be down t'pit 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, got up an hour before we went t'bed, out ta work int' dark, 'ome int' dark, an' it were up hill both way.

Also it has increasingly declined post "fat bloke".

Power Klawz
05-01-2013, 11:16 AM
Fat Bloke made beastmen look cool, and inspired in me an ardent love for bacon sandwiches.

Mr Mystery
05-01-2013, 01:55 PM
I disagree. The Doctor's female companions just keep getting hotter. Pretty soon they will be able to do their own annual swimsuit and lingerie shows.

I dunno man. I still have a massive crush on Ace.....

Psychosplodge
05-01-2013, 02:51 PM
I dunno man. I still have a massive crush on Ace.....

And you worry about me? pffft