Friday 23 July 2010

Well, you've gone and done it now. Nice one ZombYs...

I call Bullshit.

I just visited YTTH when eating my dinner (for the Chronologocially astute, yes, I was eating it at roughly 1:30 AM, because I got home from work around midnight, and got sucked into the devious machinations of Mr Sinister and the work of the Neo and the High Evolutionary before them.  I'm on a real X-Men trip atm, and am feverishly reading issues I totally stole acquired from the PirateBay.  It's annoying because I don't have all the Uncannys, and there are holes in the story...anyway...) I came across THIS article.  It set me off a bet, I admit.  Personal bugbears, things that have been creeping up in my travels and travails, and it's time to set my admittedly layman's understanding of the economic world in the maw of my verbal (well, this isn't in print, so I feel verbal fits best, though it isn't auditory.  If it helps, imagine William Shatner reading the article aloud.  At worst, it will make you smile...) cannon, and unleash a fusillade [Broadside, perhaps, TKE?] the like of which you have never seen! This week.  With some (mis-)fortune, maybe I will get to be the locale of this week's FNIF?  Either way, I've babbled enough.  Time for me to ramble!


1) In large part because of the bollocks Battleforce armies the Studio guys use themselves, they don't believe any Codex or army is particularly underpowered, and they think Orks are fine.

2) Even if they accepted the premise that an army (eg Necrons) was at a major disadvantage versus any competitive build, they wouldn't care, as you have the capacity to buy one army, you have the capacity to buy more than one.  Get a new army, keep up.

3) People who play only one army (such as, but not limited to, Fluff Nazis) are bad for GW's business, because they will never buy enough.  Spend $1200 over four years on getting everything in the Codex? Great.  They'd MUCH rather you spent $500 getting a decent army, then dropped another $500 on a second army two years later - partly because you do it once, you'll do it again, partly because:

4) By the time a new Codex DOES arrive, they get to rerelease as much of the range as is deemed viable - because a LOT of players will replace their basic troops with the new kits too.  How many times have you seen metal Dire Avengers in the last 5 years?  What, you think they got thrown out? What about metal Wraithlords, even?  Or 2e Rangers?  Being replaced by shiny new kits, means even the most ardent traditionalist will likely buy a few new ones - because:

5) Appearance of the minis is one of the most important things to a LARGE part of the 'playerbase.'  You DO know GW estimates over half of their customers buy PURELY for the models, right?  NEWSFLASH - Even 'hardcore Competitive players' like myself buy models purely for aesthetic reasons.  Know the DA Captain with a Winged Helmet and a cloak?  Just standing, leaning on his Power Sword?   Yeah.  I've never played DA, and never felt a HUGE desire to...but that model is GREAT.

6) Perhaps you don't realise, but the creation of a SINGLE mould for a SINGLE model doesn't merely cost Hundreds.  It costs Hundreds of Thousands.  The reason we didn't get a new Rhino or Land Raider for so long was because they needed to make a profit on those models.  The main reason I think we haven't had a new Eldar jetbike is the same thing.  One of the main reasons for the delay of DE is the fear of going tits up if the range bombs.  We CANNOT AFFORD to have GW release models of things like TWC and Stormravens without proof of a demand for such things.  Given you can never have more than 3 Stormravens in an army, it's unlikely that they would have sold enough at release to make it worthwhile.  This isn't like the Valkyrie here guys.  That was new, spectacular, ground-breaking...and leaked WELL in advance, and the proof of the desire for that model was there.  Guard were getting the coolest new toy they could have dreamed of - and, of course, the rules had exist in IA for some time, and the sales for things like Elysians, and no doubt barrage of requests for an expansion of the range, convinced the sales people.  Let's be honest, the actual DESIGN people are like us - they play and love the game.  They WANT AirCav as much as any of us.  Doesn't mean they get to do it without the Suits say-so though.

Moving this back to TWC, there was NO precedent for Space Marine Cavalry.  Closest equivalent?  That would be Seekers, which didn't sell, Exodite Dragon Knights, which never got to production, or BloodCrushers.  Out of those three, what do you go with?  The ONE success, and HOPE the TWC follow suit?  If you said 'yes', then never open a business.

With no reason to hope you will succeed in the blatant and NECESSARY aim of selling enough in the initial splurge (as you correctly identified, most models for any given range are sold at and around release day) then you MUST err on the side of caution, and bide your time.  What you ALL seem to forget when making such grandiose complaints is that they WILL release things that don't bomb completely - sometimes even then.  And when they do, you WILL replace your shitty conversions (no offence Brent) with the new shiny GW just cranked out the loading bay into your retailer of choice.

I know PLENTY of you, IRL and online, spent a small fortune converting Ravens, or buying eBay Ravens from others.  What'd the average be, about £60, I think?  Okay.  So, say, in January, GW releases the DH Codex, with new plastic Raven kit.  Cost?  £50.  It comes with ALL the doors etc to make either GK or BA (conveniently Rhino sized) and all the weapon options.  It also features a new and innovative method of transporting the Dread that looks great, and a new size of Flying Stand, while having it's own unique feel that ties it to the SM range without looking like a Flying Land Raider.  Do you buy them? Of course you do.

In conclusion - STOP moaning about your perception of 'poor business decisions' when you don't understand that prudence = survival and longer term profit, when you don't get that Wave Releases = cycling out 'failed' ranges as well as spreading out the lifespan of a Codex and therefore it's sales, when you don't get that GW's Business Practice fits it's Business Model, when you can't fathom that they are interested in survival and placating the Shareholders FAR more than they are interested in whether or not little Timmy refuses to convert TWC from Canis Wolfborn, that a model that hasn't sold enough yet is only going to be pulled if they have(/perceive) a way to reimburse that double-loss with the new kit (see Calgar)...basically - if you don't like the way rules are cycled and replaced, then you know better now than to complain at me.  I have no sympathy for you.

No, I don't like the way things have panned out for SW, DE and BA, where they had a decade-ish between Codexes.

No, I don't like how some Codexes are from a radically different approach that has since been abandoned and leaves them underpowered and bland (CSM, DA, Ogre Kingdoms.)

No, I don't like the fact that I have to put up with a bunch of mediocre at best models in the Eldar range, and insufficient variety to run a Foot Seer Council without doubling up models, screw it's effectiveness, I want the AESTHETIC when I pull out my Witchblade.  Um...

GW doesn't work the way computer game companies can, and with the example mentioned of EA, this is a GREAT thing.  The example of Konami, even BETTER.  At least EA fix stuff with patches.    Konami leave glaring coding errors in place, and laugh in your face.

Sure smaller companies like PP are growing, and may use this model you describe - BECAUSE, they don't have majority market share to lose.

You people remind me of the Arsenal fans who berate our club's youth policy.  We don't win a prize for a few years and all of a sudden the manager's head should roll and the team members just out of their teens should be thrown out, their potential wasted or, worse, granted to a rival, while we should abandon sensible financial policies for short-term success, and damn the consequences.

THINK, before you speak, that's all I ask.

That isn't too much, no?

22 comments:

Brent said...

THIS is the type of post that reminds me of what you're capable of.

Top notch, mate, top notch.

Faolain said...

*slow clap*

I think a lot of it comes just from cultural differences between Americans and the British. But of course, you can never please everyone. I just wish they would update the FAQs more frequently. That doesn't cost anything, does it?

sonsoftaurus said...

40K stuff aside, you do have this, right?

http://www.amazon.com/40-Years-of-the-X-Men/dp/B000E28UT2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1279851899&sr=8-1

Unknown said...

+1 for rant :P.

As I said on YTTH, the concept is nice in an airy fairy world where something really simple can keep people interested in their armies which might turn them off (i.e. Necrons = stubborn) but regular patches is going to affect their bottom line.

I appreciated the explanation into why they didn't release new models for what are perceived as good or exciting new units (TWC), new lens for me! :)

TheKing Elessar said...

Sonsoftaurus - I think that has to be my favourite comment on one of my posts EVER...and I've made plenty of my own!

o.O

I'm totally going to buy the hell out of that.

SandWyrm said...

Good Post!

Von said...

when you can't fathom that they are interested in survival and placating the Shareholders FAR more than they are interested in whether or not little Timmy refuses to convert TWC from Canis Wolfborn,

YES.

I read last year's annual report from Citadel management (remember, the people who make the minis bought out the company nearly twenty years back) to the hedgies who now own them, and did you know, there's bog-all in there about what it is that Games Workshop actually does? I think 'the Warhammer ident' is mentioned a few times, and while the words 'game' and 'miniature' aren't entirely absent, there's absolutely nothing in there about the game design policy, at all?

Bottom line is, the company isn't run by gamers, hasn't been since the big box games first appeared, and the owners aren't that interested because... well, they're hedgies, their streams of income are many and varied and GW is only one, so as long as it keeps flowing, they don't especially care about where it's flowing from.

Their priorities are not our priorities. And that's that.

Thank you TKE. You get it. I wish more people did.


Word verification: orkbrue. It's either a beer or a Goff Rokk band.

Venerable Brother said...

Off main topic....TKE, SonsOT - surely that doesn't beat holding it in your hand!
Um...
on screen vs comic in hand? surely in hand...although how the hell you catch up 40 years I don't know!
I'm still back in time on Onslaught!

suneokun said...

Superb breakdown. I despair of the whittering masses that keep bleating on about release dates like children complaining that December 25th is too far away.

Come on people ... the joy of getting a present is the anticipation ... any adult knows this. Cracking the box open is even better when you've been planning, anticipating and working toward that goal for weeks.

GW - last home of the patient present. LOL.

sonsoftaurus said...

Venerable - definitely, comic in hand is better. For one thing, the DVDs can't replicate that old comic smell. ;-)

While I still get some back issues now and then, realistically I'm never going to get a complete run of the stuff from the 1960's, especially across multiple titles. The Essential collections are nice, and I have many, but the do have the disadvantage of being B&W (understandable for cost). The DVDs let you get the whole run, in color, ads and everything. Very nice. 40yrs is a lot, and I freely admit I haven't gone through them all, especially as I have multiple titles of them - X-men, Spidey, Avengers, FF, Captain A, etc. Since they stopped actually making them, I just wanted to get them while I could! They're a supplement to the physical collection, not a direct replacement.

But they would be a heck of a lot easier to use on a laptop than a couple of long boxes would!

TheKing Elessar said...

For me, it's more a case of storage than anything.

I already spend too much on toy soldiers and back issues of WD to half-heartedly begin my search for Marvel Comics...and this restricts me from buying new ones too, as I know I would just go and grab more. I DO prefer reading them in my hand though.

Back on topic - Thanks everyone for the words of support. It's nice to see so many of you coming out in support of my rant. :D

Anonymous said...

The thing that gets me are the people that think they know the Intent or Way of GW. Are you a game designer? Are you a "hedgie" and you know why they do what they do?

Shut up. You don't know shit. Go math hammer how a unit of fire warriors can take out a unit of Termies.

Oh and great article TKE!

DFM said...

I still can't get my head around the OP's outright claim that WoW is patched for balance.

one + for digital media comics is that you don't get some fucktard trying to jack you on the price of yours because it was opened once and got staple-cracked. Not to mention your kids can't fucking ruin ~400 bucks of comics in less than a hour that way.

Zheilt said...

Yeah, the OP there fairly clearly missed the fact that WoW is in the same boat as 40k with balance. The game is balanced really well and has lots of content for PvE, but the PvP hasn't been balanced since before it was a main focus of the game when it wasn't on purpose. The PvP balance designers for WoW seem to care about fair competition about as much as Jervis...


In any case, excellent insight TKE. It always seems so easy to fix this, that, or the other problem but nobody ever really thinks about the consequences.

Lauby said...

The OP is just a continuation in the long line of entitlement many people have toward what is, ultimately, a luxury item.

Christ, apple has the iphone users in practical indentured servitude with the pace of their planned obsolescence and you don't see any of those trendy fuckwads moaning about the updates. They know they're buying a pointless gadget, pay the money and enjoy themselves.

I think what really gets me about this is not the fact that another group of people are bitching about business maters they don't understand but that the premise is preposterous. The video game/software industry is not the super clever mega-industry people think it is. Patches have just become an enabler for rushed development and poor decisions.

As rough as GW can be, I sure as fuck don't want a game that won't work right until the designers fix it a month later or gets changes made because of the vocal and whiney minority.

Plus, privateer press already tried this kinda constant update BS with the MkI warmachine rules. People got tired of the constant FAQing. Dartan Vilmon changed theree times in one year alone. PP has since stopped doing this - wonder if there's a reason

Mark said...

Right on, TKE. If I ever make it to Old Blighty, I'm buyin' you a beer.

Thud said...

The plural of codex is codices.

Thus your argument is invalid.

TheKing Elessar said...

#2501 - I appreciate it, though my usual tipple is vodka-based.

Thud - No, the LATIN plural of Codex is Codicies, in colloquial English the plural is either Codicies or Codexes. :p

Thud said...

The nice people at Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary disagree with you.

*does the robot*

Oh, and in case you were wondering; yes, I am too lazy to write something of my own, so I'm spending my time being an annoying git.

Unknown said...

Rant of a Irish man! Not English for all those who are deceived! lol.

Some true words here TKE.

Stelek said...

You do realize I wasn't agreeing with that article, right? Just presenting someones viewpoint, even if I didn't agree with it. lol

TheKing Elessar said...

Indeed - but I felt my reply was too long, and too good, to be left in a comment field. ;)

My reference to ZombYs is about the misguided individuals who DID agree. lol

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