Why the Shock? It is a sign of the times (Past 8 years).

[chipset35]

The downsizing and repackaging of WHF and soon to be WH:40K should come as no surprise.
Almost every type of product regardless of the market and sector is being downsized, streamlined, or repackaged.
For example,

1) When you buy your groceries, have you noticed that over the past 8 years, contents are less, containers are smaller, or containers are re-shaped to make it appear you are getting the same amount as always but in reality, you are getting less. Even Wendy's Hamburgers have gotten smaller.

2) Higher prices on everything, as prices go up, the quantity of what you get goes down, and sometimes even quality.

3) Store shelves stocking less...go to a Walmart or especially a Target Store or Best Buy...there are less choices, i.e. less brands and types of everything.

4) Mom and pop shops going out of business, vacant shopping centers, brick and mortar super stores downsizing or closing. Every shopping center here in the USA at least, has a nail salon, a UPS or FedEx store (or similar), a Dollar Store (or similar), or a Pharmacy. But, Shoe stores, clothing stores, bicycle shops, book stores, hobby shops, barber shops, and all other types of shops are closing. Also, Best Buy's are scaling down the size of any new Best Buy stores.

5) Even Subway sandwich shops are closing, my neighbor owned 3 and Subway forced him to close 2 saying there are too many of them within a certain distance, whereas over 8 years ago Subway was saying the opposite, i.e. not enough stores.

6) Niche and Specialty markets sticker shock. Have you seen the price of most hobby related stuff these days? $1,200-$2,500 for a Lionel Train, $500 on average, $5 for a tiny plastic container of paint that is smaller than a plastic coffee creamer single serve packet. $100 for a board game, $400+ for a box of plastic Napoleonic soldiers, $15 for a paperback book.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that Games Workshop has downsized rule sets, removed old product lines and created new ones in its place (AoS), etc etc etc. And now is changing the name of their Stores from Games Workshop to simply Warhammer. That is because they will soon have only 1 product line, albiet 2 atm but the line has been blurred with Sigmarines.

There is less stock in physical game stores of any type, and forget about buying anything Games Workshop online as they reserve that right to themselves, as online sales are more lucrative than brick and mortar...you dont have to pay huge rent! The poor mom and pop gaming stores cannot even post prices online for GW products and have to charge either full retail to stay afloat or host many tournaments and events to get people in the store to cover discounts on GW products.

Yet, to the contrary..look at Privateer Press..is it my imagination? Or is Privateer Press expanding product lines?

In conclusion, with the world economy in shambles these days and most jobs in the USA being converted from full time to part time, it is certain that we will all end up in a world like that depicted in the movie "Soylent Green"....where a book made of paper is a treasure, a tomato is a luxury item of the rich, and we are eating re-processed corpses because only the rich can afford that very rare and $1000 tomato.

[Cutter]

However, having said that

...you decided to stop?

[chipset35]

...you decided to stop?

Fixed

[Denzark]

1) When you buy your groceries, have you noticed that over the past 8 years, contents are less, containers are smaller, or containers are re-shaped to make it appear you are getting the same amount as always but in reality, you are getting less. Even Wendy's Hamburgers have gotten smaller.

Who is Wendy and why does she get a vote?

2) Higher prices on everything, as prices go up, the quantity of what you get goes down, and sometimes even quality.

Blu-Rays, and their players, are going down, as are most electrical goods.


5) Even Subway sandwich shops are closing, my neighbor owned 3 and Subway forced him to close 2 saying there are too many of them within a certain distance, whereas over 8 years ago Subway was saying the opposite, i.e. not enough stores.

A veritable good news story as they serve reconstituted rat.


.

Yet, to the contrary..look at Privateer Press..is it my imagination? Or is Privateer Press expanding product lines?

Define product line. If you mean games systems/rulesets, then GW aren't expanding they are pretty steady. If you mean races or amount of units for each... umm, harlequins, admech, forgeworld, etc. Can't talk about PP as killing the warcaster for autowin got boring about a decade back.

In conclusion, with the world economy in shambles these days and most jobs in the USA being converted from full time to part time, it is certain that we will all end up in a world like that depicted in the movie "Soylent Green"....where a book made of paper is a treasure, a tomato is a luxury item of the rich, and we are eating re-processed corpses because only the rich can afford that very rare and $1000 tomato.

It is certain is it? Let's hope so, sounds fun.

[Lhorgrim]

I'm not sure what the magic answer is to make everybody happy and also keep GW profitable/in business.

Almost every game system I have played has ended up in the same situation. The game has to expand and have new options or people grow bored and find a new game, but the more the game expands the more daunting it can be to get started. The company has to keep moving product, so either entry sales and/or expansion sales have to continue or the game doesn't stay in print. I wish GWs prices were lower, but I don't get too upset about it. I just prioritize my shopping list and buy what I can afford.

[spiralingcadaver]

Yet, to the contrary..look at Privateer Press..is it my imagination? Or is Privateer Press expanding product lines?

I am so sick of this attitude. It feels like there's this segment of the population that believe gaming consists of GW's failures, and the second coming of gaming, in a vacuum. There are easily a half-dozen thriving wargames companies out there. Yes, PP is the biggest fish after GW, no, they aren't the only other game in town. I'm glad you found a company that could actually write rules, but that's only the first step into the wide world of gaming outside space marines.

[Lexington]

Yes, PP is the biggest fish after GW, no, they aren't the only other game in town.

I'm not sure they're the second-biggest fish anymore. FFG is really creaming the competition these days with X-Wing. If there's anything that keeps GW up at night, it's probably the idea that FFG could bring a direct competitor to 40K, and do it with the Star Wars license.

[Erik Setzer]

I'm not sure they're the second-biggest fish anymore. FFG is really creaming the competition these days with X-Wing. If there's anything that keeps GW up at night, it's probably the idea that FFG could bring a direct competitor to 40K, and do it with the Star Wars license.

Yeah, if "Star Wars Miniatures" becomes a thing again, and it has the accessibility of X-Wing and Armada (not just pricing, but also being in all kinds of various stores), that'd be a serious threat to 40K.

[Alaric]

Just watched Soylent Green the other day. Those wacky old movies, Charlton Heston played quite the character, highly recommend watching. Agree that a lot of things are downsizing and nothing EVER seems to get cheaper anymore except for electronics it seems, definitely nothing goes down in the industrial sector. FFG is gonna eclipse PP methinks after the new movies drop....if they don't suck that is.

[Denzark]

Alaric - I don't think Lord of the Rings Movies got more people into LotR games much to GW's distress and I don't think more starwars movies will get more X-Wing players...