if you could be the owner of gw what would you do differently?
- Thread starter uberdark
- Start date
IdofEntity
New member
Create a new line of products aimed at preteen girls. They would be able to paint, accessorize, and otherwise pretty up a barbie-esque type model. (at least 80mm) Make it a slightly challenging task, but not so much so that it would put customers off. Provide a line of flesh tones and make-up colored acrylics and sell "wigs" and the like for a nice profit margin.
This is if I was running GW to make a profit.
Other ideas?
-Redesign the paint lids on their citadel colours line
-Switch over as many Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K models to plastic instead of pewter. (they've been doing much better)
-Release one army book per army until the entire line has been addressed, and THEN put out a new version of the whole line.
-Print a painting tutorial book that properly explains colour theory. You know, explain that most colors aren't as bright as their line and that they need to be toned down through either shading or addition of another colour.
-Release....Dark....Eldar
This is if I was running GW to make a profit.
Other ideas?
-Redesign the paint lids on their citadel colours line
-Switch over as many Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K models to plastic instead of pewter. (they've been doing much better)
-Release one army book per army until the entire line has been addressed, and THEN put out a new version of the whole line.
-Print a painting tutorial book that properly explains colour theory. You know, explain that most colors aren't as bright as their line and that they need to be toned down through either shading or addition of another colour.
-Release....Dark....Eldar
freakinacage
Well-known member
i'd get dan abnett involved inthe design team. he has a unique vision that would be awesome for them.
and do some of the forgeworld stuff in plastic. imagine an army of those new grot tanks. awesome!
and do some of the forgeworld stuff in plastic. imagine an army of those new grot tanks. awesome!
Wyrmypops
New member
Off the top of my head...
Get back to releasing a game a couple of times a year. Be it the core game, or one of the supplementary games. Start with Man'O'War, cos I never got to play the original.
Hire a firm to do a solid CRPG on the Warhammer setting (like Kotor was for Star Wars). With mechanics cullled from the old WFRP. Advancement coming through incremental upgrades in stats, and acquring talents and skill mastery - that is, instead of "levels" as every other game seems to do.
Can then bang out another CRPG with the same engine now and again. With the story relating to the latest army. Knock up a 40K version too.
When a table top game is released, in addition to traditional novel that comes out in support of its imagery, also release a short animated film too.
Get a forum back on their website. One that isn't antiquated.
Cancel the 3rd Edition of WFRP. Reinstate the Black Industries arm of Black Library, get back in contact with Green Ronin and make a new edition based on 2nd edition with elements yoinked from the 40K RPG's.
Go to a casino, put everything on black. If I win, I ditch W.A.R are have the original Warhammer Online taken back up in development. If it came up red, go back to the last save point and try again.
Arrange for John Blanche to have a biking accident so he can't inflict his "art" on folk anymore.
Get back to releasing a game a couple of times a year. Be it the core game, or one of the supplementary games. Start with Man'O'War, cos I never got to play the original.
Hire a firm to do a solid CRPG on the Warhammer setting (like Kotor was for Star Wars). With mechanics cullled from the old WFRP. Advancement coming through incremental upgrades in stats, and acquring talents and skill mastery - that is, instead of "levels" as every other game seems to do.
Can then bang out another CRPG with the same engine now and again. With the story relating to the latest army. Knock up a 40K version too.
When a table top game is released, in addition to traditional novel that comes out in support of its imagery, also release a short animated film too.
Get a forum back on their website. One that isn't antiquated.
Cancel the 3rd Edition of WFRP. Reinstate the Black Industries arm of Black Library, get back in contact with Green Ronin and make a new edition based on 2nd edition with elements yoinked from the 40K RPG's.
Go to a casino, put everything on black. If I win, I ditch W.A.R are have the original Warhammer Online taken back up in development. If it came up red, go back to the last save point and try again.
Arrange for John Blanche to have a biking accident so he can't inflict his "art" on folk anymore.
Innovate yes.
Also make sure that they are not wasting money on dead lines <cough>LOTR<cough> when there are games relegated to the sidelines which are still popular.
Make sure that the entry level games aren't dependant on huge customer outlay to play.
Think about how the stores are supported, possibly reduce the numbers in favor of better locations and make them gaming centres.
Roger Bunting
New member
Joek
New member
I'd work out a way to expand Forgeworld and get it into the stores. Considering the hoards of folk who queue for hours on end everytime FW go to a convention, it just seems bonkers that they don't tap into it - there's obvious demand and people seem to be happy paying for it, so make the thing vaguely more professional and get the money flowing into the coffers.
DXM
New member
People are going to hate me for saying this.....Plastic Pre-Painted Armies.
You need new blood, hoards of new blood that can't paint worth a darn and get frustrated that when they
take hours to paint a mini and it like nothing like the box art and just drop the game.
Less artistic people are more likely to play a game that all it involves is cracking a box , dumping it out and playing and not pay an arm and a leg. Not spent 6 month painting only to find out something is obsolete because of rule changes or embarrassed that they field the notorious Black Primer Army.....now I'll be in the basement behind the sandbags as angry mob of painters pounds on door:smile-big:
The second is dump Warhammer online....why did they go up against Warcraft with 14 million subscribers with a game that was not 100% ready.
Put out a good first person shooter online 40k game. You say they did...what Fire Warrior...please.
What is the big seller in 40k... Marines now Tau. think about this, which weapon in the game did everyone want...the Bolter. In Dark Hersey RPG, biggest complaint......you can't be a Marine......hint hint GW.
Hell, Lucas Films reskined the Battlefield engine to put out Battlefront Star Wars.. think about it, online FPS during the Horus Heresy. Loyalist vs Traitor. Set it up much like Bad Company 2.
We'll they are final putting out a movie after all these year...Ultramarine...A start.
You need new blood, hoards of new blood that can't paint worth a darn and get frustrated that when they
take hours to paint a mini and it like nothing like the box art and just drop the game.
Less artistic people are more likely to play a game that all it involves is cracking a box , dumping it out and playing and not pay an arm and a leg. Not spent 6 month painting only to find out something is obsolete because of rule changes or embarrassed that they field the notorious Black Primer Army.....now I'll be in the basement behind the sandbags as angry mob of painters pounds on door:smile-big:
The second is dump Warhammer online....why did they go up against Warcraft with 14 million subscribers with a game that was not 100% ready.
Put out a good first person shooter online 40k game. You say they did...what Fire Warrior...please.
What is the big seller in 40k... Marines now Tau. think about this, which weapon in the game did everyone want...the Bolter. In Dark Hersey RPG, biggest complaint......you can't be a Marine......hint hint GW.
Hell, Lucas Films reskined the Battlefield engine to put out Battlefront Star Wars.. think about it, online FPS during the Horus Heresy. Loyalist vs Traitor. Set it up much like Bad Company 2.
We'll they are final putting out a movie after all these year...Ultramarine...A start.
IdofEntity
New member
Wow, good one. The paint jobs don't have to be anything amazing, just enough that they feel like a cohesive army. You know, the same paint quality as those mini's that Wizards of the Coast put out for D&D 4.0
Maybe they could commission someone like Bethesda to come out with a Fallout 3 style game for War40k? It's a good engine.
DXM
New member
Never thought a Fallout 3 style game. Where do we sign up.
Played Fallout 3 with 2 characters ( total over 250 hours ) and doing the add ons now.
I'm definitely buying New Vegas , their new release.
IdofEntity
New member
Hopefully a Warhammer 40k FPS wouldn't turn out like Starcraft: Ghost. A game so stealthy that you'll never find the damned thing on store shelves.
freakinacage
Well-known member
aye i thought of something like that but i was gonna go for an inquisition style game done like deus ex...
Wyrmypops
New member
Be on the lookout for Deathwatch when it comes out. Dark Heresy was always one of three planned 40K rpgs. That first one was investigative, comparable to WFRP in tone. The second one that is already out, "Rogue Trader", is more focused on exploration, with a higher power level for the PC's. The third, Deathwatch, will have the PC's be marines. Quite a clever take, having the PC's be a Deathwatch squad, as they're formed from a variety of chapters and are given missions more sympathetic to an RPG session than an Asatartes chapter going to war.
Remove restrictions on GW employees promoting specialist games.
Make White Dwarf an Open Submission mag. Along with GW Adds and occasional battle reports (rather than obligatory ones) the magazine will field hobby articles and submissions presented by the staff and various gamers. The last non-staff submission I've seen was the Speed Freak Tactica before 5th.
Additionally bring back Black Gobbo as a full free web-zine that expands and includes White dwarf articles.
Re-introduce old web articles that haven't been seen since the first and second website changes, as well as the two old lists dropped from the website (CD and DoW) with a notice that these armies are no longer wholly supported by the current line of miniatures, but encouraging players to convert. Include example conversion guides.
Support larger GW-game-based Indy tournaments with additional prize money/figs for entrants. (Feasibly GW may only lose several dollars a tournament doing this).
Use local GW stores and reps to do this.
Screw the Secrecy. Intentionally leak several secrets and pointers. Mislead rumors at some points along the line to confuse those competitors who wait for the reliable rumors then begin building models to compete.
See: 40k MMO, and Space Marine.
Make White Dwarf an Open Submission mag. Along with GW Adds and occasional battle reports (rather than obligatory ones) the magazine will field hobby articles and submissions presented by the staff and various gamers. The last non-staff submission I've seen was the Speed Freak Tactica before 5th.
Additionally bring back Black Gobbo as a full free web-zine that expands and includes White dwarf articles.
Re-introduce old web articles that haven't been seen since the first and second website changes, as well as the two old lists dropped from the website (CD and DoW) with a notice that these armies are no longer wholly supported by the current line of miniatures, but encouraging players to convert. Include example conversion guides.
Support larger GW-game-based Indy tournaments with additional prize money/figs for entrants. (Feasibly GW may only lose several dollars a tournament doing this).
Use local GW stores and reps to do this.
Screw the Secrecy. Intentionally leak several secrets and pointers. Mislead rumors at some points along the line to confuse those competitors who wait for the reliable rumors then begin building models to compete.
Pre Painted armies don't work that well, the same reason pre-painted DnD miniatures don't work that well. Those who can't paint can still paint better than throwing blobs of color at it, and those who can paint well find it hard to get past the heavy coating of paint on the miniatures applied by assembly line process. It's also only a simple process when the miniature is put together as a whole as the DnD miniatures are. Mold lines and sprue marks would still be a problem.
GW has minimal control over the video games. They sell the license, make a few pointers and direction changes, then step back. EA/Mythic is in charge of it now. I'd also point out that in no way was WoW ready, or even the target to go against. WAR was targeted against the midline games like Everquest 2, DAoC, Age of Connan, ect. No one is going to kill the 200 pound gorilla except the 200 pound gorilla.
See: Bloodquest the Movie. Or the various other short films put out by GW over the years. Bloodquest was GW's first step into movies and the biggest failure. They learned from that the way they learned from several game attempts. They seem to get that they are not producers of film nor designers of games. So they take the license, slap a sale tag on it, and sell it to someone else for them to succeed or fail on.
See: 40k MMO, and Space Marine.
You are right, I hate you for saying that.
Let me be quite specific I Hate Pre-Painted cr*p.
And I've yet to see any pre-painted stuff which isn't cr*p.
And far from being a recovery for GW I'd suggest it would be a greater money haemorrhage.
It would certainly be a major customer loss.
Hendarion
Member
Pre-painting is crap indeed and so much I even hate saying that myself now, but... why not allowing unpainted minis to be played? Yea, most kiddos then won't even start painting, but guess what?
I have ~1000 points painted and ~3000 points in total which (going along with improved patience and painting skill) will never be painted in my entire life. So I'm not allowed to play it? No way.
However, allowing non-painted to be played officially has some various benefits:
- People buy what they need (after they realised they lost a battle and with unit XY they would have won)
- You will see more people gaming with more points (for example me) more often
- When someone stops, you can buy his UNPAINTED stuff on eBay
And remember... those who would want to paint (like you+me) would still waste enough money and time into painting while the others would have freedom and won't be forced to do something they don't like. And... you could still force tournaments to be painted-only.
[/theory]
I have ~1000 points painted and ~3000 points in total which (going along with improved patience and painting skill) will never be painted in my entire life. So I'm not allowed to play it? No way.
However, allowing non-painted to be played officially has some various benefits:
- People buy what they need (after they realised they lost a battle and with unit XY they would have won)
- You will see more people gaming with more points (for example me) more often
- When someone stops, you can buy his UNPAINTED stuff on eBay
And remember... those who would want to paint (like you+me) would still waste enough money and time into painting while the others would have freedom and won't be forced to do something they don't like. And... you could still force tournaments to be painted-only.
[/theory]
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nels0nmac
Member
I second Joek on the FW in the stores idea.Some of the staff don't even know what is in the current range. I took the FW marine that I am currently working on into my local store to show them what I was doing and they were like " wow" did you sculpt that yourself?". I mean come on. This was from all of the staff not just the newbie. Even if they didn't have actual FW stuff in stores they should at least be able to access the website from their instore order point. Then they would have at least some knowldge of what they actually produce.
Rich Darkblade
New member
Whilst I like GW's main games, it's the specialist games that have kept me playing. If I were to have control over Games Workshop then more specialist games would be made with some old ones been re-vamped and released.
I'd also release single mini's in the specialist range, for example...a Necromunda Orlock Leader in Carapace Armour. Similiar to what they did with the Mordheim range Captains.
Lastly...I'd allow existing specialist game players to be able to purchase single minis rather then for example...buying a full necromunda gang box-set just to add a 'needed' ganger to your existing gang.
I'd also release single mini's in the specialist range, for example...a Necromunda Orlock Leader in Carapace Armour. Similiar to what they did with the Mordheim range Captains.
Lastly...I'd allow existing specialist game players to be able to purchase single minis rather then for example...buying a full necromunda gang box-set just to add a 'needed' ganger to your existing gang.
