MWG Closing

[juliusb]

GW needs to stop acting like a defense contractor and more like a games company. They need to focus a little less on profits and controlling everything and more on making a fun, ACCESSIBLE GAME.

[Mr Mystery]

Key word there is company.

They are there to make as much profit as possible. Like every other company out there. Not sure why some seem to struggle with that concept.

As for accessibility, that is the point of this move. Internet sales do not grow the hobby. Bricks and mortar stores do, through intro gaming, running events and generally encouraging play.

[ElectricPaladin]

It's really not a valuable exercise to turn this into a PP vs GW Debate. PP has their own numerous issues. Their plastics are vastly insuperior in detail, they have models which become impossible to stock for months on end (Gatormen?), blah blah blah.

I don't want to get into a competition, either. I'm just trying to point out that GW's behavior seems predicated on the idea that they have no competition, so they can charge as much as they want and act however they want... but that's not true anymore.

[Deadlift]

I would like to see a poll on here to see if GWs recent decision in regards to sales will effect personal brand loyalty.

I know there are many forum contributors that are far more wordy than me and could put an interesting poll together

[Tynskel]

I don't think those words mean what you think they mean.

Sure, overcharging for tiny plastic spacemen is hardly "abuse" but I don't think their products are cheaper or better than anything on the market, let alone everything.

Let us not argue the relative quality and value of GW's product, however. Certainly, they have a right to sell their product as though it were the bee's knees. Confidence is good for you. At the very least, I think, you should acknowledge that there are a lot of options out there and GW is not categorically the top of the heap for everyone.

No, Games Workshop product is cheaper that equivalent in most cases: For example: Find a model airplane that has the same level of detail, quality of plastic, and is cheaper than GW. This does not exist. Oh, by the way, there's a game that you can use with your model airplane from GW...

[juliusb]

Key word there is company.

They are there to make as much profit as possible. Like every other company out there. Not sure why some seem to struggle with that concept.

As for accessibility, that is the point of this move. Internet sales do not grow the hobby. Bricks and mortar stores do, through intro gaming, running events and generally encouraging play.

I half agree with you about the word company and profit motive. But short term profit shouldn't hurt your long-term brand; that's bad for profits in the long run. Their obsession with secrecy is why I compared them to a defense contractor; it's just a little over the top for a toy company.

Another annoying example is their hard street dates and White Dwarf deliveries. Around here my FLGS gets new releases on Fridays but has to wait until Saturday to sell them. There are often excited customers there on Friday wanting to buy stuff and wouldn't it just be better to let fans have a one-day bonus? Wouldn't it be good for the brand to have excited customers posting on forums about how lucky they are because they got their toys a day early?

Wouldn't it help the brand to have enthusiastic resellers instead of annoyed shop owners who complain about GW to customers?

Wouldn't it be nice if, to guarantee subscribers got their magazine on time, GW sent it out a little early at the risk of some people seeing the "grand unveiling" a couple of days early?

The perceived "coolness" of a company effects profits long-term. I love this game and I worry that GW is hurting themselves too much to survive. I just wish GW would focus on fun and lighten up a little bit for their own good.

[ElectricPaladin]

No, Games Workshop product is cheaper that equivalent in most cases: For example: Find a model airplane that has the same level of detail, quality of plastic, and is cheaper than GW. This does not exist. Oh, by the way, there's a game that you can use with your model airplane from GW...

I don't compare Games Workshop to other models - I compare it to other minis games. I've heard GW's claim that they are primarily a minis company, but I don't buy it. It's not how they market themselves. It's not how they make money.

[Deadlift]

I don't compare Games Workshop to other models - I compare it to other minis games. I've heard GW's claim that they are primarily a minis company, but I don't buy it. It's not how they market themselves. It's not how they make money.

Maybe they mean in terms of sales ? I am sure model sales outstrip rule book sales by a massive margin, even if you include army books etc.

[Caitsidhe]

Key word there is company. They are there to make as much profit as possible. Like every other company out there. Not sure why some seem to struggle with that concept.

I think we are all clear on the concept. Some of us are making the argument that these are very short-sighted methods that have been tried by others and didn't work out to well. Nobody begrudges anyone wanting to make profit. There is a point at which, however, you are not serving the customers enough to where they will keep paying you.

As for accessibility, that is the point of this move. Internet sales do not grow the hobby. Bricks and mortar stores do, through intro gaming, running events and generally encouraging play.

This is patently FALSE. Sales grow the hobby. The more models, books, and so on which get sold, the more players which correspond to those models/books/etc. are out there. While I agree that brick and mortar stores are helpful in providing access, it is rather silly to say sales (which will be more diverse as prices are lower) isn't growing the hobby. The more expensive they make it by cutting back access points, sales, and so on the fewer people can get their foot in the door. In short "that dog won't hunt."

*To summarize, lower prices result in a lower barrier to get into the hobby and thus more people are likely to get in the door. Removing those options which allow lower prices by DEFAULT cannot grow the hobby more.

[Lockark]

Most game shops rely on GW to stay open as they tend to be the best sellers and have good margin for the sellers.

Most game shops I've knowen actully rely on Magic the Gathering. Well GW makes them a tidy profit, it's MTG that is their "bread and butter".

They try to diversafiy to not rely to much on one product, but the truth is if MTG was to die tomorrow, alot of gaming shops would go out of business.

Mini wargameing was the exception to this. Despite having a brick and mortor store, they relied more on their web sales of GW product.

They did try diversifying by trying and push games like Warmachine and started carrying MTG in their defence. But being a canadian online retailer they had a uphill battle ageist US based stores.