An Open Letter to GW

[rikkumon]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read my post and replying – I tried to have people’s replies in spoiler code… but couldn’t get it to work. So instead the original message is hyperlinked with the username.

Warning, like my original post this one is long – it appears that brevity escapes me.

Just FYI – any comments that come across as snarky or short is just my sense of humour failing to come across in text.

@KaiZie, FallenTalon, Gungagreg, Olberon: Thanks!

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426628&viewfull=1#post426628"]Erik Setzer[/URL]: How can anyone take offence to a well-reasoned and detailed response? Thanks for taking the time to do so. Do you want to start a miniatures company? Seems like we have some good ideas ^_^

I understand that GW resources are limited, it’s why I tried to use a system that fits their current output, i.e. regular book and model releases, just changing the content about a bit – I wouldn’t suggest these campaigns alongside the current releases, but instead replace them. It would mean less copy paste on their behalf and more content, however…

The issue I see for GW releasing any dedicated rule book goes against their stance of ‘We are a model company not a rule company’. They currently get to hide behind ‘The rules come with fluff’ or ‘the rules come with models’ which allows the rules to not be the primary focus, or even very good. More options when buying is generally better (too many can actually increase the barrier for purchase) so if GW want to keep selling the rules I like the idea of splitting the book into its parts, or even releasing a small paper book like the 6th ed one in Dark Vengeance.

Your idea is similar to a ‘Micro Transaction’ system, the type that most MMOs use (I will talk a bit about this in response to Thaldin’s post.

White Dwarf should definitely start having more game related content, it’s just good business ^_^

I generally don’t like talking about price because I don’t know the fixed and variable costs for GW, when I talk about ‘barrier for entry’ it is more about time and perception.

Yes GW would need to make new sculpts if they went snap fit, however I think the benefits outweigh the costs (although I would need more information to know for sure). Snap fit, or even single sculpt, block figures that can be put in their base and trotted off to war make it easy to start as I mentioned. It is the first step in making an army – without the difficulty of holding arms, legs, gun or claws in place as the glue dries. It also has a lower perceived cost which won’t act as a barrier when making the next purchase.

To illustrate: The Dark Angel starter kit comes with two tactical squads, a land speeder and a librarian. If the kit is exactly the same as the boxes you could buy, in terms of content and price, there is no incentive to purchase. If it has the same content but a lower price, people may not buy the third tactical squad because it feels more expensive than their first purchase. Using snap fit GW can get around these issues – if the sculpts aren’t as dynamic or variable as the individual kits then the second purchase can be more expensive and not be affected by the perception of the buyer.

If you made your pamphlet a ‘White Dwarf’ branded pamphlet you could sell new people on multiple products at once ^_^ I would also like to see an official online 'What army are you?' quiz that helps people pick a faction.

Yes, it amazes me that in this day and age, when information flows so freely and every big company is exploring ways to communicate directly with their consumers, GW is so backward in their digital footprint.

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426629&viewfull=1#post426629"]Denzark[/URL]: There are two times when a company changes – when they can afford to and when they need to. Time will tell how things play out, but the amount of changes that have taken place over the last few years indicate someone, somewhere within GW is trying new things. I love GW and the products they put out, this is just my way of saying ‘I’m not too happy with how things are beginning to play out.’ Will it make a difference? Probably not… but that isn’t a reason to not try… I will remain hopeful ^_^

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426632&viewfull=1#post426632"]Anggul[/URL]: Yes, models for models sake aren’t great. With my idea there would be four primary factions per year – which is less than the current GW release schedule. There would also be focus on the individual character models involved in the narrative. There are also quite a few models in the GW back catalogue that could do with an update – some of the new models are incredible and make them a little embarrass at the company parties.

GW could also get you dusting off your unused (and unsold for them) models by weaving them into the narrative campaigns.

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426638&viewfull=1#post426638"]Harley[/URL]: Maybe it’s time someone opened a Kickstarter to raise enough money to buy controlling interest in GW? ^_^

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426646&viewfull=1#post426646"]Crandall87[/URL]: There are a few reasons why a company would give away their rules for free. Say x people will buy the rules and the models (and therefore those x people would buy the models if the rules are free) and y people would only buy the models (there would also be people that only buy the rules – but collectors editions and fluff books would cover that ). So naming the profit, P, for Rules is R, and Models M we have:
P₁ = x(R+M) and P₂= (x+y)M
If y(M) is greater than x(R) then you give the rules away! If not, then you sell them. Considering the profit on books is generally quite small then I would assume the p₂ is more desirable… but without seeing the costs I wouldn’t know for certain.
Another thing to consider is making the game more accessible to 'giving a go' - at the moment one needs a Rulebook, Codex and Battlebox/ Army +time. Removing the need to pay for a Rulebook or Codex means more people may 'give it a go', as long as GW have systems in place to convert those 'give it a go' new customers into long term heavily enfranchised consumers then they will recap their lost revenue from giving the rules away.
(I agree they probably won’t do this, but there are reasons why a company would)

I wouldn’t have an edition based released. The change in system from 3rd to 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons had a significant, negative effect on their sales and community reaction (despite 4th being a great system). I see it being closer to the Magic: The Gathering rules, always evolving to fit the needs of the sets (campaigns) they release.

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426651&viewfull=1#post426651"]Clively[/URL]: … this response may be getting too long also… Thanks for the tip!

@-[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426658&viewfull=1#post426658"]Tom[/URL]- Great idea!

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426671&viewfull=1#post426671"]Ghostofman[/URL]: Whilst I don’t share your pessimistic view – that did make me laugh ^_^

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426687&viewfull=1#post426687"]JoseA.Fabian[/URL]: I personally prefer the books for reading, especially on the loo, and the Digital releases for in game rules. I would love to be able to buy the fluff in hard back and get the rules for my iPad.
In response to your second post: Yes, I agree.

@ [URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426691&viewfull=1#post426691"]Deniol[/URL]: I think this comes from the ‘norm – deviation from the norm’. The norm is in the book, everyone knows what to expect and it’s easier to just go with it. The missions and fluff stuff are the deviation, and currently require more work/ communication to get going.
My local GW ran a campaign recently and it was pretty successful at getting people in store.

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426710&viewfull=1#post426710"]Thaldin[/URL], [URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426725&viewfull=1#post426725"]Defenestratus[/URL]: I would further this to a micro transaction system instead of a subscription. Basic digital codex for Dark Angels (including all the units from the starter box) would cost very little. If you want terminators it’ll cost a little more. Fluff on the Deathwing more still. Ravenwing bikes? Another purchase. At the end the cost would be close to buying a current codex, but again the barrier for entry is reduced and picking up an ally codex is a lot cheaper (and would, in theory, grow into a full codex purchase).

@[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?45688-An-Open-Letter-to-GW&p=426727&viewfull=1#post426727"]Sainhann[/URL]: I am waiting on 7th edition – I’m currently in Hong Kong and my army is in the UK… The cost isn’t stopping me, the amount of use I will get out of it Vs the cost is stopping me – which is an important distinction. I’m hoping the rumours of a Blood Angel/ Ork starter kit are true and I will more than likely pick that up – especially if it comes with a mini rulebook.
A lot of the things I am talking about in the original post would address your fluff concerns – campaigns with specific Ork clans or a Genestealer cult invasions would be perfectly possible (Chaos cult VS Genestealer cult would be a great one to play – missions designed to show two large forces clashing by controlling the peons of a hive world like chess pieces… hmmm I may just write that…).

Rikkumon

[Deadlift]

But are they profitable? When a company remains profitable by increasing their prices every year by 5-10% or doubling the prices of certian models I.E. Dire Avengers that says they just might have a problem.

Oh as to the rules updating they are doing that all the time with the FAQ's.

Oh and I will not buy 7th Edition because I only see it as a money grab, was 6th Edition so hosed up that they needed to bring out 7th Edition?

If the rules were well written in the first place they would not need to put out FAQ's but they will be putting out FAQ's nearly every month until they release 8th Edition which could be in two years and maybe sooner.

GW did not come out on top in the Chapterhouse lawsuit and have been losing customers to other games that don't cost an arm & a leg to even get one army.

Very few players today can afford to have 4-5 armies, which is what I have for both 40K and WFB.

As to the fluff I say that GW dropped most of that over ten years ago.

There are no longer several Ork clans just Orks, gone are the Goffs, Bad Moons, Evil Suns, Death Lootas, Blood Axes & Snakebites.

There is really only one type of Imperial Guard, which is Cadians.

Plus I don't even want to mention what GW did to the Squats and Genestealer Cults armies.

Today Squats are gone as are the Genestealer Cults.

They are only interested in selling their overpriced miniatures and have destroyed once was a great gaming magazine - White Dwarf, which is nothing but a customer supported advertisement filled with lots of petty pictures of the new models and hardly anything else.

Whilst I don't disagree with most of this sentiment, I do think the "fluff" of 40k is far richer now than many other imagined universes from other wargaming companies. I'm not being disparaging but I am pretty sure the BL produces more novels based on the 40k universe than the rest do combined on their own products. Hell I feel the 40k universe easily surpasses the Starwars or Star trek ones for sheer diversity and complexity. Supporting the 40k backstory has always been GWs strong point IMO. The prices of their novels are comparable to usual book prices too and I feel this is one area they actually do produce something that's good value fof money.
The rules books and codex prices however are now beyond a joke, and in my experiance that is what's turning players away. And having thm look at alternatives.

[BeardMonk]

There’s much to be said for many of the ideas in the OP. If you were starting GW again from scratch with today’s technology then you might look to do a number of those things.

Campaign a year, release. Army Codices would move over to the free side of the fence, and include only the stat line and point cost of the models, which would also get updated in the update window- not to alter but to ‘fix’ problems as with units. Faction codices could still exist but as Fluff only, pretty pictures and back story.

Respectfully, this would utterly destroy the fluff and background for the games. The Warhammer fantasy and 40K universes are so huge in scale that it would be impossible. Campaigns and crusades are just tiny blips in the scheme of things. You need those army books to represent the basic/standard set up of each race. You can’t just change them every 6-12 months. Even if you went to a fully online fre-to-use rule set, people still have to buy and paint models to create armies that may not work a few months after they have been bought.

I also play WamaHordes. The various new releases sort of follow the slowly evolving between the factions, warcasters get new version (or tiers) released, new warjacks are added for each faction as technologies etc moves on, battles are foughts etc. However, nobody I have ever met who plays wamahordes gives a flying flat fish about the fluff. Fluff is irrelevant. I don’t even buy the “army books”. I just look at stats and buy the models. Fluff is irrelevant. Id hate to see Warhammer/40K go that way.

‘Faction Starter Kits’.

You can argue these already exist in the form of the various Battalion/Army boxes that GW produce for each army. Again, drawing on WamaHordes, each faction also has a starter box which comes with quick start rules, a painting guide and a copy of the lates “No Quarter” magazine which has some battle reports etc in it. I would like that concept to be brought over into Warhammer and 40K. A Space Marine Starter Set could have a single piece character, a combat squad, a rhino and some quick start 40K rules for example. Cost less than the full Army Box and allows new player to get into the games without too much investment.

[Andrew Thomas]

As to the fluff I say that GW dropped most of that over ten years ago.

There are no longer several Ork clans just Orks, gone are the Goffs, Bad Moons, Evil Suns, Death Lootas, Blood Axes & Snakebites.

There is really only one type of Imperial Guard, which is Cadians.

Plus I don't even want to mention what GW did to the Squats and Genestealer Cults armies.

Today Squats are gone as are the Genestealer Cults.

They are only interested in selling their overpriced miniatures and have destroyed once was a great gaming magazine - White Dwarf, which is nothing but a customer supported advertisement filled with lots of petty pictures of the new models and hardly anything else.

Seriously? This just seems like a lot of baseless, reactionary butthurt.

The fluff is still there, if you actually read it.

You can have any kind of army you want if you take the time to build it.

I'm not going to sit here, telling you to quit complaining if you are unwilling to put some extra effort into your hobby, but I am going to say that if you want everything handed to you, you may want to consider a less labor intensive pass time.

[Sainhann]

Seriously? This just seems like a lot of baseless, reactionary butthurt.

The fluff is still there, if you actually read it.

You can have any kind of army you want if you take the time to build it.

I'm not going to sit here, telling you to quit complaining if you are unwilling to put some extra effort into your hobby, but I am going to say that if you want everything handed to you, you may want to consider a less labor intensive pass time.

Hmm, you must have missed the part where I stated that I have 5 armies for Warhammer 40K; Dark Angels, Guardians of the Covenant, Eldar, Orks, & Imperial Guard.

Total number of models for those well over 1000+

Oh and lets not forget the 4 armies for Warhammer Fantasy Battle; Empire, High Elves, Dwarves & Orks & Goblins.

Total number of models for those well over 1000+ as well.

Then I also have 5 armies for Warhammer 40K Epic; Eldar, Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Orks & Squats (they aren't dead in Epic) total figures run around 2500+.

Then there are the French, Prussians, Russians, Bavarians, Saxons & British that I have for Napoleonics as well.

Then you come out and tell me that I am not putting extra effort into the hobby.

I started out with 40K in 1989 and then into WFB in the early 1990's I put a lot of effort into it until GW decided to trash the rules.

But I would not be able afford to replace what I have because the cost to do so would be in the five figure range.

Which is why today most players only have one army and would not even consider to have 9 armies across both 40K & WFB that have over 2000+ models because they just can not afford them. Just the Army/Codex books alone would be around $500 and that price keeps on going up.

There is a limit on the amount of effort one is willing to do to keep up with GW.