LEGALWATCH: Games Workshop vs Chapterhouse Verdict

[rle68]

Couldnt agree more

[Caitsidhe]

How? Far, far harder to catch them.

Being harder to catch them is irrelevant. They are the people actually costing Games Workshop lots of money. If Games Workshop wants to go after someone, they might as well go after the prey that matters. If they are reconciled to the fact they "can't" catch said prey, they better come up with a new strategy entirely. Wasting money going after vendors that don't really cost them anything (and failing miserably) is just throwing good money after bad.

My own view is it is pointless to chase the counterfeiters just as much as it is pointless to chase small fry competition. It is too late for that. The costs of trying will aways outstrip the gains made and you can never slay these foes. They are a hydra that is immune even to burning the necks after decapitation. The only way Games Workshop is going to win this battle is by out-competing them, period. They cannot do that and maintain the business modely they currently employ.

I suspect they can sustain it a little while longer, at least until 3D Printers really come of age. This gives them perhaps 2-5 years more being Little Lord Fauntleroy. After that, who knows? I'm not going to predict they are going down in flames. They will adapt. It is what companies do. They will be forced to adopt policies they find laughable currently. Most people are reactive rather than proactive. It is my opinion that if they were proactive here they could secure their hegemony through their competitive edge, but I'm realistic enough to know that this isn't going to happen. They still don't see the writing on the wall.

[Clockwork]

Being harder to catch them is irrelevant. They are the people actually costing Games Workshop lots of money. If Games Workshop wants to go after someone, they might as well go after the prey that matters. If they are reconciled to the fact they "can't" catch said prey, they better come up with a new strategy entirely. Wasting money going after vendors that don't really cost them anything (and failing miserably) is just throwing good money after bad.

My own view is it is pointless to chase the counterfeiters just as much as it is pointless to chase small fry competition. It is too late for that. The costs of trying will aways outstrip the gains made and you can never slay these foes. They are a hydra that is immune even to burning the necks after decapitation. The only way Games Workshop is going to win this battle is by out-competing them, period. They cannot do that and maintain the business modely they currently employ.

I suspect they can sustain it a little while longer, at least until 3D Printers really come of age. This gives them perhaps 2-5 years more being Little Lord Fauntleroy. After that, who knows? I'm not going to predict they are going down in flames. They will adapt. It is what companies do. They will be forced to adopt policies they find laughable currently. Most people are reactive rather than proactive. It is my opinion that if they were proactive here they could secure their hegemony through their competitive edge, but I'm realistic enough to know that this isn't going to happen. They still don't see the writing on the wall.

I don't see how 3d printers will kill GW when you can already put together an army for dirt cheap by getting a casting kit and doing it yourself.

Let's face it the things that can kill GW already exist, but they haven't. Why? Because a majority of the community doesn't care about that, they want their plastic crack from GW and that's it. They don't care about casting kits, or recasters, or 3rd party companies, they just want their armies to push about the table and that's it.

[Caitsidhe]

I don't see how 3d printers will kill GW when you can already put together an army for dirt cheap by getting a casting kit and doing it yourself.

Because most people are lazy and don't do things themselves unless most of it is done for them. You are correct that we can already go to Hobby Lobby get a casting kit and everything we need to make our own endless line of models. That is, however, a bit more work than most lazy slobs are willing to do. There are certainly ENOUGH people doing it already and some already selling their wares. Once 3D Printers allow them to just download a file and print one out ready to paint, it is gonig to be a whole new world. Cheap, 3D scanners already exist. The only thing we are waiting for is the economical printer.

Let's face it the things that can kill GW already exist, but they haven't. Why? Because a majority of the community doesn't care about that, they want their plastic crack from GW and that's it. They don't care about casting kits, or recasters, or 3rd party companies, they just want their armies to push about the table and that's it.

I disagree. Most people don't give a rat's patootie about Games Workshop and just want the toys. I'm exposed to a pretty large cross section of several META and I can tell you that the number of "recasts" are on the rise dramatically (both personal and bought off the internet). The simple truth is that many people just want MORE of their plastic crack (as you put it) and if they can buy or make it for less, it means they end up with MORE.

[Wolfshade]

Yeah but those too lazy people would also be too lazy to print their own army.

Also, alot of people are quite protective of their hobby. While we may disagree with rules and/or pricing, we recognise that if it were not for the hobby we would not wargame and we will report them. It is not because we love GW, though we certainly do, we have a fundamental thought of what is right and things which are not right we do not like and wish to amend.

[Clockwork]

Yeah but those too lazy people would also be too lazy to print their own army.

Also, alot of people are quite protective of their hobby. While we may disagree with rules and/or pricing, we recognise that if it were not for the hobby we would not wargame and we will report them. It is not because we love GW, though we certainly do, we have a fundamental thought of what is right and things which are not right we do not like and wish to amend.

Agreed. There are ways around everything, but frankly we also know if we want to keep getting new things we know we need to pay for stuff now.

[Chris Copeland]

I suspect that affordable 3d printers will dramatically change the hobby. I know MANY enthusiastic GW loyalists who trade digital files willy-nilly... they swap movie files, music, and digital books without giving it much thought..

[rle68]

Yeah but those too lazy people would also be too lazy to print their own army.

Also, alot of people are quite protective of their hobby. While we may disagree with rules and/or pricing, we recognise that if it were not for the hobby we would not wargame and we will report them. It is not because we love GW, though we certainly do, we have a fundamental thought of what is right and things which are not right we do not like and wish to amend.

your awfully self serving claiming we love GW when obviously not everyone does

[DarkLink]

Another thing to remember is that household 3D printers are right around the corner. Makerbot was just bought up for $604m. I can't think of a company that would invest that kind of change and not be thinking of ways to put one in every house.

Or at least in your local, I dunno, OfficeMax or something. They will be common, and the market will have to find a way to accommodate them, or they will undermine all the current businesses and new upstarts will take over.

[Clockwork]

your awfully self serving claiming we love GW when obviously not everyone does

You must be failing to take into consideration that anything that can kill GW can kill every company that is riding it's coattails with conversion kits, and all the other smaller wargaming companies too.

Plus if GW goes under, no more new 40k stuff anymore. No more new codexes, units, video games, novels, ect. I know a lot of people who'd miss that stuff.