Friday, July 8, 2011

So I Know Its Only White Dwarf......

If you are like I am you pick up a White Dwarf once in a blue moon.  Since they removed all the good features, thank god the painting stuff is still there,  and its become one big steaming pile of corporate propaganda I thumb through it at the shop and buy it if there is something worth while. 

I noticed this while really bored tonight.  So basically if you have a subscription you will be getting your issue of White Dwarf days after people can just buy it in the store.  I thought the whole purpose of the subscription was to get it earlier.  In fact I remember the days when you would get bonus stuff with your White Dwarf if you had a subscription. 

Basically I see GW starting to really roll out the the new way you can expect to be treated.  Between this,  their mail order policies and the debacle with finecast it is clear GW holds you, the people who keep them in business, in utter contempt.  It is also clear they are moving everything towards making it so you have to get their products form them.  Either online or from a GW store. 
Notice you can get an in store White Dwarf subscription at a GW store.  With them scaling back their retail stores here in the states I find it odd they are moving in this direction.

So I know I made some leaps, but GW's audacity and show of contempt, with price hikes and such, towards all of us is akin to a drug dealer taking advantage of the people who buy from him.  I have started to not buy new products at all.  I have been making buys and trading for models with others in bits trading at the FLGS and on ebay. 

I would like to try and set up a boycott of purchasing for a week.  Kinda send a message to GW that they are so successful in business because of the players not because of their marketing plans.  The Models generally look great and the rules sets are usually good.  Maybe I am just getting old and bitter and yearn for the old days.  Better prices, specialist games with support and a White Dwarf magazine that was worth a damn.

Ok Rant over.  Next time The 10th Foundation Of Vengeance.


Until then..........



Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls........................      WAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!

15 comments:

  1. Nope, it isn´t only white dwarf.

    GW has been showing disrespect for us, his customers, for some time now and white dwarf is the magazine that show us all this.

    I still own the Spanish White Dwarf #1 and is much more interesting to read and re-read than anyone of the new magazines.

    Years ago Games Workshop was an enterprise ruled by gamers and hobyists who wanted the things to go ok and to keep sharing their hobby while earning some money with it, today it´s just another profit-guided company interested only in its budget and to keep enough customers (happy or not) to keep them a profit-wealthy company.

    The boycott is not a bad idea, but I think we should storm their mail with letters telling them the situation in which they are putting their customers.

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  2. Firstly, when did they ever guarantee you would get WD at home before you could get it in the store?

    Secondly, your boycotting idea won't make a damn bit of difference to them - enraged internet nerds only make up a very small portion of their global sales. They won't even notice the blip.

    Finally, if you want a protest that will hurt them and make them take notice, start a campaign for everyone who receives WD at home to say they haven't received their August issue, forcing GW to send a second copy out. THAT they will take notice of.

    So if you want to start a protest, do a proper one, don't just whine quietly in your little corner of the internet.

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  3. Great job anonymous! Living up to your name of being a giant troll and contributing nothing to the conversation! Good job. So getting a bunch of people to say they didn't get their white dwarf is so much more of an effective idea then a boycott of purchases? Yea that totally makes sense. Im fairly certain if a large group of people stopped buying things from the company for a bit of time they would notice. It wouldn't be "just a blip on the map".

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  4. You are really right. I was a Warhammer-gamer till they started making "strange things" with the army books and so... They really made me to gave up the hobby and pass to the historical wargame, that is cheaper and they don't really try to cheat you at all... sometimes competition is fairly necessary.

    Cheers from Spain! :D

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  5. Actually anonymous if you knew anything about retail you would know a downturn in sales for an entire week would make everybody at the company take notice. To get a boycott going does take time and campaigning. This starts in my corner of the internet and then snowballs as I promote it.

    Internet "nerds" actually make up a very large portion of the demigraphic GW sells their games to. So much so the designers and management are actually on the forums and blogs to see whats going on with the fans, clearly they are not paying great attention If you knew marketing you would also know this.

    SO basically what I am saying is you are a troll so shut your whore mouth. I usually like the free exchange of ideas, but i have had a bad day at work and your tone is mocking. I would not be surprised if you were a trolling GW employee.

    Traditionally when you subscribe to a magazine you get it before it reaches stores. not always, but I remember when I subscribed to white dwarf I always got it before the hobby shops did.

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  6. I got in invite to boycott GW for 2 month as a FB group. It that spreads it may actually make them take notice.

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  7. Could you post the link? I was actually thinking about making a FB group just for this exact purpose

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  8. I wonder how many gamers it would take (boycotting in unison) and how long to actually get a response out of GW.

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  9. Well it would take a a lot and everybody would have to fend off the crack habit for a couple weeks to really start making the brass notice a drop off in sales.

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  10. The issue I have with the "protest" idea is that it hurts the FLGS. Losing a focal point like that for the community is devastating. So whilst I appreciate you sticking it to "the man" just remember who is getting hurt in your non-spending. Make sure to buy other stuff as well :-D

    (Different anon)

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  11. I appreciate the position of the FLGS. You can support the FLGS while boycotting GW. Buy other games. SPend the money you otherwise would be spending on GW sruff on other third party supplies and games.

    I don't just play 40K. I play warmachine on occasion and I also play D&D.

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  12. Well, to be fair they are also trying to turn WD back into a hobby magazine rather than just a giant ad. The Cities of Death article and SoB codex next month are the start of that. In the coming months they are supposed to be putting out new SoM monster rules and all sorts of other things.

    Believe it when you see it, but if they do this it would at least make the magazine worth buying ewven if you don't get it early. In my opinion.

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  13. To me, the value of a product is more important than the logistical issues of obtaining it (usually). I would still be miffed about the delay of my subscription versus just buying it in stores regardless of how good the mag was.

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  14. This is true. Quality over how quick I get something is very important. I would love to see a return of the white dwarf of old. Great articles, chapter approved stuff and battle reports with army lists that made sense.

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  15. Financially speaking GW won't feel a thing. Don't believe me I'll be happy to expand on the point.

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