tired of waiting for things we KNOW are coming

[the jeske]

I was at Privateer Press' Lock 'n' Load convention this past weekend & they were showing off sketches of models that are coming out NEXT YEAR. And no one was pissing or moaning about having to wait a year

because warmahordes gives new stuff for the same faction every few months and not every few years [decades in case of some armies] ? it is different that you know that unit X is going to be there next year . then play let us say chaos and get 0 new models for your new dex and the first actual model updated years after the codex becomes legal[the demon prince] and even then its still 1 unit .

Imagine you play khador and you get updated in mk1 and then you get 2 new units in 2 edition later . People would touch khador with a stick .

[Denzark]

I can't imagine playing Khador, or Cygnar, or any other ripped off dreadnought-a-likes, kill the warcaster to win crap.

But back to GW, if your yearly budget is x, how does that change just because of knowing or not knowing the release schedules?

The OP said tired of waiting for things we KNOW are coming. If it is a first wave release, such as 6th Ed, and you KNOW (OP's words not mine) it is coming, you can save for it.

If it is a second wave release such as Thunderwolves or some of the emo-space elves, I don't think anyone KNEW for a fact they were coming until GW told you they were coming. Cos if you did have an inside line and thus KNEW, you could have saved for it.

[Mr Mystery]

Armies wot I play, and have played for a while now.

Tomb Kings
Ogre Kingdoms
Necrons
Vampire Counts.

All of these have been released within the past 12 months. All of these are highly attractive purchases for me. I found out about them roughly a week before they were released. Guess who has updated all 4 armies?

Now, someone earlier demanded a 6 month release calendar. What would that change? Well, last year when I went nutty on Fantasy, I'd have known about Tomb Kings, Ogres and Storm of Magic around about the same time. This could indeed mean I save up more. But like most of GW's customer, one way or another I have a healthy(ish) disposable income, so saving up doesn't achieve anything, when I know I can have it right now. GW competes for my cash with film studios, cinemas, pubs, clubs, restaurants and kitchen device manufacturers. The impulse buy is how they corner me. Now, give me 6 months notice, and stuff does very quickly become blase. Any money I may have put aside is in constant danger of being spent on something else, and me losing interest.

Yes. I am fickle. So is a consumer based market. PP have to big up their new stuff because they have far less frequent releases. Not having their own stores, they don't have their own propaganda machine anywhere near the scale of GW. And being a pretty small company, it's perfectly feasible two or three duff releases could put them into financial troubles (cash flow people, it's a *****!). Plus, PP are fighting over a different market, that of the skirmish gamer. That's more systems, more releases, more companies all scrapping it out. GW ultimately don't have to. They're the Daddy of Fantasy and SciFi Wargaming, period. Biggest player base, biggest universe, biggest infrastructure. GW essentially don't HAVE to try as hard as PP. They're coming from a completely different standpoint.

Plus, GW have those vile little parasites like CH desperately trying to avoid any kind of personal creativity by leeching off the hard work of others. Release concept sketches etc 6 months before release, and you'll have parasite companies churning out ropey knock offs within 1. Will that impact sales? Will it impact sales more than the minority of your customers who don't have disposable income?

[Denzark]

Succinctly put Mr Mystery I agree.

[the jeske]

I can't imagine playing Khador, or Cygnar, or any other ripped off dreadnought-a-likes, kill the warcaster to win crap.

first dont insult other system dude , specialy not ones who have a large and dedicted following + the policy to update all armies at a steady pace has nothing to do warmahorde game play. As the rip of thing goes . steam punk model wise goes back to at least late 70s . If anyone riped of anyone it was GW .

But back to GW, if your yearly budget is x, how does that change just because of knowing or not knowing the release schedules?

the problem is most new gamers dont play longer then a year . If they dont buy stuff for their army durning that time there is a good chance they will never buy the stuff they want . now from GW perspetive that doesnt matter . because A they actualy do believe that they are the best in the world and that they will always have a steady flow of new comers B if a dude starts he has to buy something as long as he is buying GW doesnt care what he buys . The real problem is for the player . Now lets say he wants to start nids [his friends started meq] , he doesnt care about the power level of the army[happens] but nids are tervigon . he waits , waits , waits ,[in the mean time his friends are not using an up turned box as a model] and the tervi isnt there . the chance that he is both getting a NPE and is more prone to quit is larger then for his friends who have dex with almost full or full model lines . I mean even GW understood that when they made DE. they knew that if people didnt have stuff to make armies will they just wouldnt be able to resurect the DE.

If it is a second wave release such as Thunderwolves or some of the emo-space elves, I don't think anyone KNEW for a fact they were coming until GW told you they were coming. Cos if you did have an inside line and thus KNEW, you could have saved for it.

but this only means that people start mostly meq armies because those have full model lines [what is actualy happening] no one wants to start an army which core units maybe there in a year or two when his game group maybe playing something totaly different.

[Mr Mystery]

the problem is most new gamers dont play longer then a year.

Source?

[Morgan Darkstar]

Pfft...... PP cant even provide some models at a steady rate, nevermind whole armies.

Perhaps they should look to solving their production problems before releasing new stuff?

[Morgan Darkstar]

Source?

his backside.

[Diagnosis Ninja]

Lets hope GeeDubs change their opinions once The Hobbit is released, and get into gear with a Month for Advance Orders, with Models, story and rules previews a couple of weeks beforehand. One can dream...

[Mr Mystery]

I don't think they will. Largely anecdotal, but relatively reliable point coming!!

I used to work for GW retail, and I'm still friendly with my old manager. As it's of interest, and without going into facts and figures, I'm told locally, and seemingly company wide, one week pre-orders are generating more sales than the previous month long window. If it works it works. To quote Vic and Bob 'How does it work? I dunno, but it does!'