MONEYMONEYMONeymoneymoneymoneymoneym........ oh f**k!Watched this the other day:
Business Nightmares with Evan Davis.
It charted the demise of Gerald Ratner's Empire, the iphone4 curfuffle, Hoover's demise in the UK and other embaressing stories. Learn from the past GW...
There comes a moment when GW need to understand that they need to run a leaner and more efficient organisation. Their current approach smacks of a utility company. The oil prices increase, so petrol prices increase, the oil prices decrease, so petrol prices increase...
I'm concerned that for such a large but fragile company, they are playing with fire. The inherent value of the GW brand is in the time, investment and effort placed in it by it's customers. GW is worth something because we believe it is.
The strength of the strategy is that it's tricky (and potentially profitable) to put a price tag on belief ... just ask Rome. As Gerald Ratner found out, all you need is one 'crap' comment and the whole house of cards falls around your head.
Imperial Guard, Orks and Tyranids have been the epoch of an established, commited and well funded gamer since pre 5th Edition release. Ironically, the only release I'm excited about coming up is the Tau release BECAUSE I already have a Tau army. I'll spend £50 on some new toys and have a blast rebuilding my army and reading new fluff.
Is that what GW want? The prices are too high for the old guard to do more than 'cherry pick' and too huge for the noobs to swallow? So what's the plan?
GW creaks of market leader arrogance, over employing, overpaid, over confident and over the hill ... meanwhile efficient orgs like Hordes, Warmachine, Malifaux, Cutlass and Infinity are able to demonstrate their value and ease of accessibility compared to 40k.
And don't give me gaff about 'quality' or 'the finest' ... All of above lines have actually got NICER models than yours GW for the same or less. And don't pimp your rules/fluff as the be all - Your rules 'vary' shall we say, and anyone with BOTH Black Libary Bliss and Forgeworld Imperial Armour Shite Writing in the canon needs some serious Quality Control addressingshipness innit (line taken from IA6 - the shafting of the english language)!
WhiteDwarf is now just a marketing mag, where it used to be a funny and useful resource (and half the price) ... independent stores, forums and blogs online is where it's at and it's leaving GW flagging. Even before this price hike I'd noticed a significant rise in posts on 'other games' ... Hordes and Warmachine have been doing well on Bells. But Icunoblog (I can never spell it) is pimping Malifaux, myself and others have found Infinity a delight and I'm getting into cutlass...
The gravy train's plowed into toffee ...
When's GW gonna smell the coffee ...
When its far far too late ...
and love's turned to hate.
The beggining of the end?
Peace out ... LOLz.