GW EOY 2014 Investor Statements

[40kGamer]

True but I'm sure this one will give us something to talk about for a month at least.

True... It'll probably take a full week to debate the revenue drop caused by currency fluctuations vs declining sales.

[Caitsidhe]

True... It'll probably take a full week to debate the revenue drop caused by currency fluctuations vs declining sales.

Yep, although it should only take about fifteen minutes to do the math and debunk that as an excuse.

[BeardMonk]

Whereas Warmachine and X-Wing, two popular games have their boards absolutely heaving.

Oh wait, no..... They're quiet as well.

Cant speak for xwing but the official WM/H forum run by PP is busy all the time. But PP supports their community and the forum is one way they do that.

[Denzark]

I think MM meant on here, not the official site. You can't compare like for like using official sites because GW don't have a forum.

[Wolfshade]

Cant speak for xwing but the official WM/H forum run by PP is busy all the time. But PP supports their community and the forum is one way they do that.

I know what you mean their prescene on the high street so I can pop in and play is essential. Oh wait, no that doesn't happen.

[Caitsidhe]

I know what you mean their prescene on the high street so I can pop in and play is essential. Oh wait, no that doesn't happen.

It happens here. I've gotten more Warmachine/Hordes games in the last month than I have 40K in the previous year. They were all with people I didn't know (until I played them) and connected simply by saying, "hey want a game?" I openly defer to the point that I know nothing about England or Mercia, but in the United States their presence is only growing.

[BeardMonk]

I know what you mean their prescene on the high street so I can pop in and play is essential. Oh wait, no that doesn't happen.

Is there a "Privateer Press Shop" on the high street. No. Can I go into nearly EVERY major (and minor) War Games Shop on on-line retailer in the UK and interweb and buy their products? Yes. Can I get a game in my local area, yes. Is their official support for the game provided by PP? Yes. Its an aside to the thread but from my experience in the UK, its here, its solid and its well known.

xwing much less so I think.

[Psychosplodge]

@ caitsidhe Cultural differences.
The UK land is expensive so shops generally small and are rammed full of stock, so most independents in my experience don't have gaming space, with the occasional exception of a table for CCG.
GW always has at least two and usually three 4x4 playing spaces, plus a paint station.

Is there a "Privateer Press Shop" on the high street.

@beardy, I think that was Wolfies point.

[Caitsidhe]

Cultural differences.
The UK land is expensive so shops generally small and are rammed full of stock, so most independents in my experience don't have gaming space, with the occasional exception of a table for CCG.
GW always has at least two and usually three 4x4 playing spaces, plus a paint station.

Yep. That is a huge cultural difference because the independents here (the successful ones) trade on LARGE stores up to which half the space is often dedicated to gamers using it. They have found that keeping gamers (i.e. customers) in the store all day long to play games equates to more impulse sales. The customers are victims of propinquity. It becomes a positive feedback loop for specific games. The more games of 40K or Warmachine/Hordes (or whatever) going on for other people to see and ask questions about, the more players are likely to get interested and try it out. The players become free advertisements. This is why the drop off in Games Workshop players and the shift other games is becoming such a problem... at least in the American market. It isn't getting played as much in the LGS. You can't just walk in and grab a game. For GW it is a negative feedback loop. What happens is people come in and see:

1. People playing some other game (Warmachine/Hordes is a frequent one).
2. People ask questions and find out the buy in to Warmachine Hordes is dirt cheap to start play.
3. If they compare that to the cost on the Games Workshop wall, they are sticker shocked.

So which one would you try out, the one with Players talking to you and within a price range you can impulse buy, or the one with no games available unless you happen to know someone already playing to plan one (and costs a fortune to get going)?

[Mr Mystery]

It happens here. I've gotten more Warmachine/Hordes games in the last month than I have 40K in the previous year. They were all with people I didn't know (until I played them) and connected simply by saying, "hey want a game?" I openly defer to the point that I know nothing about England or Mercia, but in the United States their presence is only growing.

Not provided by the company though, so the same applies to GW in 'Murica.

And this is the fundamental difference between UK and US concepts of customer service (I apologise in advance for what is sure to be an oversimplification - no insult intended).

UK - Company sells me stuff, and gives me stuff to do with it, without additional charge. Yep. GW do this and in spades. Local stores do a lot for us.

US - We buy stuff from the company, so they should cater to our every whim.

Not drawing conclusions about one being bad, one being good. No point doing that on account it's subjective.

But I don't consider PP to offer any customer service worth speaking of in the UK. Oh they do Tournaments? Great, so I can pay them more, to play the game I've just paid them money to obtain the models and rules for. Yeah. Great. T'riffic. There's no engagement with their community, and it shows. Warmahordes is tiddly in the UK. Got a local games club with 30-40 members. Nobody plays Warmahordes, there is some Infinity and a growing X-Wing group (yay!). But everyone has at least one GW army, and it's GW games that get played the most.

Now, we might see a local shift here soon, as the town is getting a FLGS in the very near future. This will make impulse buys whilst kicking about town possible. I dunno about you, but I find impulse buys on a new game a rarity in my spending habit. Perhaps it's my age, but I remain first and foremost a visual shopper. I don't have the inclination to trawl the interwebs until something catches my eye, but I do it all the time on the high street.

FFG are currently suffering from the limited availability of their fantastic X-Wing game. As covered elsewhere, in the 4 or 5 months since I got involved in the game, I've wound up with pretty much two of everything, missing only the Rebel Transport, Shuttle, Slave 1 and the Falcon. All this will be rectified in time. But their comparative rarity is most irritating. Yes, I can lend my ships to people, and I freely do so (no point having all the toys if you're keeping them to yourself), but the fact new would-be opponents struggle to buy the fleet they want is a big issue. But happily one their recent merger might just clear up!

But with the exception of GW, here in the UK there are absolutely no wargames companies actively seeking my custom. Not one. Sure they might arrange or enable tournaments, but that's not reaching out to me as a prospective gamer. Nor do they offer much for those who don't enjoy the tournament environment (because minority they may be, TFG will ruin anything they turn up to just by being TFG).

So it's GW that get the majority of my cash. I can stroll into my local store (5 minutes from my flat) for a natter and a chinwag. Manager will of course try to sell me stuff, that being his job - but he does so by engaging with me as a would-be customer, in precisely the same way he does with people who didn't used to be his underling, and those who have never set foot in a GW store at all.

So here in the UK, GW have customer service absolutely nailed down tight.