Yep, the most reasonable and wide-ranging response I've seen. I don't agree with it all, the comments on player base say, and optimum length of business activity, but I have a much greater trust for this kind of holistic approach, a studying of the wider picture.
I recommend watching as much as you can; jump in anywhere - it's all high quality.
I've said elsewhere we each make our own decision on when things have gone too far, affordable or not. The last few months have persuaded me the gaming models of GW's two big systems no longer match my interests. There are plenty of alternatives.
As Shawn says: "it starts with us, and not with animosity".
As Shawn says: "it starts with us, and not with animosity".
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8 comments:
I was shocked when he said that Warhammer Fantasy Battle -- is it even called that nowadays? -- was on its way out. I don't follow the games much any more, but even so I can't believe that WFB is dying off. You know more than me; how accurate is that statement?
Also, does he know GW is a British company? I'm sure he must do, but one doesn't get that impression from his choice of words.
Watched as much as I could and downloaded the video for further perusal, who is he?, what he said made sense but it's down to the individual when enough is enough and that for me has happened already.
There are so many systems out now for miniatures and skirmishing. I think your call out for a 40k OSR is a good idea. The fans need to take it back, make their own mini-cons and establish their own fan-ratings, fan-contests and fan-competitions.
I think GW is blowing it with the price increases. My head just spins when I read the prices of some miniatures.
@ kelvingreen - I've not played eighth edition, but I have heard a lot of murmuring against it. My feeling second-hand is that this is more a murmuring against the business model, the frustrations of rolling updates and hefty new versions, and the idea of making what may seem dramatic changes. It's not that gamers are necessarily especially conservative, but there may be resentment that a hobby - essentially a private sphere - can be interfered in to such a degree.
I'm guessing he knows GW are UK-based. He mentioned importing from Forge World and he is pretty clued up. It could be that he's ordering from GW in the US; I'm not sure how things are set up.
@ The Angry Lurker - This is Shawn Gately - he runs Blue Table Painting, a mini painting service based in Utah, which is moving into event organisation and sculpting. The blog is here and the YouTube channel here. The channel is probably the reason he's so well known, but for me that enthusiasm, fairness and thought do deserve a wide audience.
@ scottsz - Good points. Even following the rules on IP overcautiously a lot is possible. As for breaking out, there was a time I knew little beyond the big games companies, and I think that's true for many gamers now too. But a quick click round the blogs shows how much is going on, and the argument that non-GW player bases are not large enough don't cut it - even if it were true, it takes one player to dive in and set up demo games with whatever's to hand, not least for smaller games involving less outlay in materials and minis.
The price rise is only half the issue - WG gamers are getting gouged in Australia. We're paying three times the UK price when our dollar is worth two thirds of the pound (and over 1 US$). And now we can't order from the UK - not a level playing field. It's a price rise ontop of preventing us from a reasonable price.
I can't believe that he doesn't know where GW is from, it's just that he kept mentioning "foreign" companies as if GW wasn't one. I assume that if you're dealing with their US arm, then it doesn't feel as if they're foreign, it just came across as a bit odd.
@ Guerin - I read all about it, and it certainly makes any price rise a more pressing issue. I think the vid brings it up too, at least briefly, fairly early on. It's possible to go further even and say the price rise is only a small part of the problem. At any rate, it's certainly a big subject.
@ kelvingreen - I hadn't noticed that. I guess if we deal with someone a lot, they do seem close, less foreign, and that could be it; there are fairly regular unboxing vids and a huge amount gets ordered.
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