Games Workshop Stock Plummets By 24 Percent

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

snip

Ah, interesting video!

Though what I meant wasn't using pre-painted plastic miniatures, terribly sorry if what I said was confusing. What I meant was that, basically, they could send a box containing two or so different armies to the FLGS or so on, those armies could be painted like normal at the store and so on, all of that set up work is handled by the people who actually run the store. Then once or twice every week or so, they could have a "new player" day, where basically they open up the shop to people who are maybe interested in warhammer or haven't played warhammer before. Those people spend anywhere from $10-$20 to buy a "ticket" of sorts, where they are given a basic rundown on how to play the game (if required) and for maybe an hour or two they're given a choice of one of those two armies and can play Warhammer. When the hour is up the game ends... or they can buy another ticket to continue playing.

Basically, a way to get people hooked on the hobby and still earn some cash. Granted I've never played Warhammer so I don't know if they do something like this already, but I think it would be a smart move on GW's part.

They do, stores usually have a few display armies that beginners can use and have a day a week set aside where noobs get priority on the tables. It's also free. Problem is they'll only let you play a couple of times before they start holding up a boxed set, coughing and making pointed motions towards the till.

 

[Timedraven 117]

I got into 40K through the novels (Cain, Dark Heresy, and Swallow's SoB duology). Since then I've wanted to build a collection of IG, SoBs, and Inquisition but quite a few things are stopping me. First is prices; they're absurd. Seriously, $30 for 10 models (IG Cadian Shock Troops)? Second, when it comes to models of people, I love posing. That's kinda hard to do when the models are 1 piece and made of metal (Sisters of Battle, arggghh...)! But the final nail in the coffin is that GW has the gall to change policy on online stores and make it really bloody hard to find bits for conversions out of some stupid belief that it'll undermine the fanbase or something (I mean, really, WTF?). Focusing on the most popular product lines is smart business, but even the less profitable ones have their fans. Dropping all work on them and leaving them to stagnate is really stupid. This has left me trying to find posable models that have a close look to 40K stuff -not that easy since GW are ruthless with protecting their 40K rights.

So, GW, you want my money? Make more of your models multi-part plastic kits, lower your ridiculous prices, STOP MAKING MODELS IN METAL (I've yet to meet a modeller who preferred metal to plastic), and let us buy individual pieces online.

Here is a few tips for buying guardsmen. I play IG too and my friend has lately been hassling me on not buying the actual models (The prick)

Anyways a few things, try the Dream forge models they aren't made of plastic but some kind of resin so you have to use super glue but many of them look awesome. Also Alien Wars have some good stuff, http://dreamforge-games.com/products/eisenkern-stormtroopers-20-man-set 20 for like 30-40 dollars

Then there are some stuff like this from defiance games who have amazing quality models for cheap ass prices (Although the Chinese militia aren't all fully posable)http://defiancegames.com/ I got my storm troopers from their panzer grenadiers.

For flare i also use my Van Saar naecromunda models for a bodyguard for my Platoon commander and bought a model from i think Rezolution for my female commander and the Necromunda sets come with like 7 guys for 10 bucks (Not posable though and made of metal.)

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I can tell you my local GW is incredibly incompetent and greedy. I absolutely hate going. And let me say that the GW store is about 10 mins away from my apartment. The next nearest hobby store is roughly 45mins away. and i ALWAYS go there because I absolutely hate GW and their staff. For starters they have absolutely terrible hours, and are never open on weekends. I remember I wanted to buy a stompa from my friend who plays orks for Xmas. And they were never, ever open during the season.
Another thing I hate, and this may seem anecdotal, but I went to play a game with a friend at their tables. But I forgot my dice set and I asked the manager if I could borrow the studio set for the game. He laughed and said he'd sell me a set for $8. I told him no way and he asked me to leave the store because I wasn't going to buy anything. Actually asked me to leave.
Also I brought my brother there and he hasn't played since 4th edition and I wanted to show him the new stuff. I asked the clerk if there was a studio army, or at least a play set we could run a quick match. Like for example they had that Dark Angel / Chaos Marine set all assembled and painted on the table. I asked if we could run a few scenarios. He said "No and don't touch those miniatures! Those are for display only!"
Maybe this is not the experience most people have at their local GW, but I see a drop in sales as karma.

 

[NSGrendel]

I'd save your complaining for after they sell the company off to Hasbro or whoever.

Don't believe me? Check recent appointees to the board of directors.

 

[Atmos Duality]

It's not even that. They violated the first rule of this sort of business. "Make it easy for your customers to buy your product". Instead they are control freaks. They want to control every aspect of the product, and retail experience, even down to the ownership experience.

Well, then it appears my assertion to their monopolistic nature some pages back was correct.
Between that, the price and the fact that I've seen better made plastic models in HAPPY MEALS (no joke), it's stunning to me how they're still in business.

 

[Boba Frag]

It's kinda sad, really, several of my friends were really big into GW and table top gaming but the constant price jacking and the fact that models they'd been collecting since their teens were starting to (a) take over the houses and (b) seem less fun and relevant each time.
And these guys game twice or three times a week.

Most of them now play War Machine- cheaper, less clunky, stodgy rules and above all : more fun.

A good friend used to love working in a GW shop for several years, but the SELL SELL SELL pressure they were increasingly put under sucked the fun out of the store and really pissed off their regulars too.

As far as I'm concerned, GW has dug its own grave.

 

[Roggen Bread]

still some people can be silly and their the ones your better off not being with anyway.

OT: everything I'd say has been said 100 times, Games Workshop deserves what they get. Their greed is utter bullcrap.

I agree with you, mostly. I am talking mostly about the equivalent of high school times here, so you get the picture.

My girlfriend is just fantastic, however, she previously had been with an emotionally abusive son of a ***** who played WHFB. So I suppose, in this particular case, I have to disagree with you. Admittedly it's a special case, though.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

Well, good. I frankly despise Games Workshop now because as far as I'm concerned they're almost as bad as Activision and EA. Fuck, these are the same douchebags who wanted to trademark the term 'Space Marine'! They're just a vile, stupid company run by greedy, short-sighted morons and I pity all the dedicated, hard-working people having their efforts squandered by them.

Also, I'm never, ever, EVER going to forgive them for replacing Necrons with 'Tomb Kings In Space".

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

More on topic though, lo and behold the end times have come. [http://natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/gw-changes-stores-closing-and-armies-no.html] Mark this as the harbinger of things to come.

No more Brets, Beasts, Wood Elves or Khemri? But...

Hell...though, last WE army book was 10 years ago. Time to join the squats and Chaos Dwarves and Fimir and Zoats...

My uncle helped design the Khemri :C He was an archaeologist and Egyptian historian who studied in the region on and off on various digs for about 5 years before going on to work at games workshop. He also co wrote the first Brittonia codex. I wonder how he feels about this :/ I should give him a ring and ask. Nigel Stillman if youre interested.

I collected eldar for a while. Price got me in the end too.

 

[Thaluikhain]

He was an archaeologist and Egyptian historian who studied in the region on and off on various digs for about 5 years before going on to work at games workshop.

Really? I never knew Stillman did that, I always thought he was just a games designer.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

He was an archaeologist and Egyptian historian who studied in the region on and off on various digs for about 5 years before going on to work at games workshop.

Really? I never knew Stillman did that, I always thought he was just a games designer.

My uncle Lemme tell you, what a guy. He crafts historically accurate armor and weapons too. I remember when my family went to tour an old celtic fort and barrows and he brought the entire traditional celtic warrior garb and wore it the whole time. Theres a great picture online of him wearing a helmet fashioned from the horns of some animal. I remember for my 12th he gave me a bronze dagger he forged and bound with leather and wood from near his house. Remarkable, somewhat eccentric, but VERY interesting man.

My favourite story was when my father, along with my mother before they were married, went to visit him one evening as a surprise and when they entered his house to surprise him my uncle swung a cavalry sabre at them thinking they were breaking into his house. It was embedded in the wall and I think it caused an argument between them for some time.

Seriously an amazing person. Im very sad his work might be getting scrapped.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Seriously an amazing person. Im very sad his work might be getting scrapped.

Yeah, I can imagine why GW wanted him back in the day, and why they don't anymore.

But...hopefully Khemri won't be scrapped, it'd be rolled back into the Vampire Counts.

When I started, there was just one undead book, "Undead", which lumped things all in together, Sylvania, Khemri and Nagash's stuff. This got replaced by "Vampire Counts", the Tomb Kings got in WD (later their own book) and stuff on Nagash;s stuff was promised, but never happened.

I suppose they could go back to doing that. Likewise, Beastmen were once lumped in with Chaos Warriors and Daemons, way back in the day.

OTOH, I can't see them doing that to Bretonnia, unless they make them, like Kislev, appendices to the Empire. Which is a real shame, since they've been a big part of WHFB since I can remember.

 

[Batou667]

yes 3D printing will be the end of shops like theirs but that isnt moving in THAT fast yet. Also licensing and other stupid laws will allow them to hold a stranglehold for a while still.

How so? 3D printing is going to kill the miniatures division of GW stone cold dead. If bootlegged resin recasts were a problem for Forge World, imagine the free-for-all 3D printing represents. You could spend £18 on five models (or whatever they charge these days), but if you can print them, who in their right mind wouldn't take the cheaper option?

And I suspect GW would rather you buy the models, and the paints, and the brushes, and the terrain, and the books from them, rather than have their one-man stores waste time on setting up demos and teaching people how to play.

Yeah, I think we can safely conclude that a switch to a one-man model means participation games, painting demos, modelling and hobby advice are going to fall by the wayside. So much for "hobby centres", the new GW stores will basically be kiosks selling overpriced models. For a hobby that requires enthusiastic word of mouth to get new people interested, it's a bewildering decision. GW are famously apathetic about customer retention, so where's the new blood supposed to come from?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Just look at the state of the Tyranid Codex and note that the reason a few models were took out was because they lost a count case over units they wrote rules for, but decided not to make models for.

Wait what? Court case over units they didn't make model for? GW has done that before in the past, and why should it be that big a deal?

 

[Moktor]

Just look at the state of the Tyranid Codex and note that the reason a few models were took out was because they lost a count case over units they wrote rules for, but decided not to make models for.

Wait what? Court case over units they didn't make model for? GW has done that before in the past, and why should it be that big a deal?

If I understand correctly, the reference is about Doom of Malan'tai and the Myocetic Spore. GW had both in the Nid codex but another company made the model. A judge (presumably in Europe, this probably wouldn't have happened in the US with our copyright laws) allegedly ruled that since the other company made the miniatures first, GW no longer had a claim to them, even though they had obviously created the IP first. Again, this is what I've heard, feel free to correct me if my RUMINT is wrong.

 

[Batou667]

Also, I'm never, ever, EVER going to forgive them for replacing Necrons with 'Tomb Kings In Space".

Wellll.... that's all they ever were, to be fair. Just about every 40K race is "XXXXXX in space" (knights, orcs, elves, dwarfs WAITNOTHATNEVERHAPPENED). I remember when Necrons first came out they had a slightly Terminator vibe to them, but had blatant Egyptian influences even then. Then for a bit it looked like Necrons were going to become "Tyranids, only metal, because insectoid stuff with blades is cool by default". If anything the current Necron range is the most well-developed and fleshed-out (ironic pun unintended) it's ever been, and if that means dropping the charade and admitting that, yes, they're Undead In Space, then so be it...

 

[Thaluikhain]

Also, I'm never, ever, EVER going to forgive them for replacing Necrons with 'Tomb Kings In Space".

Wellll.... that's all they ever were, to be fair. Just about every 40K race is "XXXXXX in space" (knights, orcs, elves, dwarfs WAITNOTHATNEVERHAPPENED). I remember when Necrons first came out they had a slightly Terminator vibe to them, but had blatant Egyptian influences even then. Then for a bit it looked like Necrons were going to become "Tyranids, only metal, because insectoid stuff with blades is cool by default". If anything the current Necron range is the most well-developed and fleshed-out (ironic pun unintended) it's ever been, and if that means dropping the charade and admitting that, yes, they're Undead In Space, then so be it...

Yeah, second that, they were flat out stated to be space Egyptian undead from the very beginning. With obvious Terminator influence, though I think there was a large slab of Cybermen in there. Having said that, the Cybermen also had their space Egyptian undead thing for a bit.

Personally, I think they made a mistake fleshing them out, they used to be characterless and limited, true, but they were made very generic.

(I don't remember them ever being much like nids, though)

 

[Strazdas]

yes 3D printing will be the end of shops like theirs but that isnt moving in THAT fast yet. Also licensing and other stupid laws will allow them to hold a stranglehold for a while still.

How so? 3D printing is going to kill the miniatures division of GW stone cold dead. If bootlegged resin recasts were a problem for Forge World, imagine the free-for-all 3D printing represents. You could spend £18 on five models (or whatever they charge these days), but if you can print them, who in their right mind wouldn't take the cheaper option?

if they hold copyright stranglehold on the figures they can essentially sue everyone trying to spread 3D printer schematics.
And if you can print them cheaper and easier who would pay for them? Well, thats like asking why does anyone buy videogames when piracy exists.

 

[Batou667]

if they hold copyright stranglehold on the figures they can essentially sue everyone trying to spread 3D printer schematics.
And if you can print them cheaper and easier who would pay for them? Well, thats like asking why does anyone buy videogames when piracy exists.

I was thinking about this a while back and I was musing over the fact that if GW want to survive in a world with 3D printing/photocopying, they'd be best off distributing rulebooks and models mainly electronically - they've already started using iTunes to sell downloads of Codexes and painting guides (much lower overheads and as a bonus goes some way to circumventing the practice of one guy buying an Imperial Armour book and promptly uploading scanned pages), so selling licenses to print their figures (or more accurately, X-amount of their figures) would be a logical next step. No manufacturing, packaging and distribution costs their end - they'd just need to enforce a time-limited and/or print-limited download of their model schematics for people to print their copyrighted models. Perhaps when 3D printers become mainstream enough to be compatible with personal devices these schematics could be embedded in the relevant Codex or army book, in an equivalent to on-disc DLC:

"Codex Space Marines - full army list and painting guide - licensed schematics for all figures, more downloadable subject to notice - E-Codex license includes free one-use print license for 1 Space Marine Captain and 20 Tactical Marines!"

Hell, when colour 3D printing is developed, it'll make painting your own minis a thing of the past too - or at least as rare as it is to find people who scratchbuild minis today.

I'm not sure whether that's a utopic or dystopic vision, but anyway, it's probably moot just because any 3D printer with a scan function (i.e. a photocopier rather than a straight printer) would be able to produce unlimited numbers of unlicensed models that would be completely indistinguishable from the "genuine" (paid-for) article. I can only assume the future of tabletop gaming is going to favour indie and fan-created games, as there'll be increasingly little place for the kind of monopoly GW has been relying on for the last few decades.

 

[Thaluikhain]

if they hold copyright stranglehold on the figures they can essentially sue everyone trying to spread 3D printer schematics.
And if you can print them cheaper and easier who would pay for them? Well, thats like asking why does anyone buy videogames when piracy exists.

Depends...people copying GW models as is, yeah...though GW has had problems with that for years.

OTOH, though, there's nothing to stop people 3D printing almost, but not quite, exactly the same stuff...that's going on to an extent now, and GW sort of has to put up with it.

http://www.heresyminiatures.com/shop/ For example, rips off all sorts of stuff GW and otherwise. I particularly like the brazenness of the "Doctor Hugh" model.