GW does it again !!!

[Flashman14]

I\'m sympathetic to the folks who tire of these endless rants and I was too until I got priced out.

I usually do ok with GW because I was always able to find a reliable discount somewheres. But now my discount prices are too high.

In this case, I don\'t even think a boycott needs to be organized - it will happen on it\'s own as the product is just flat out unaffordable.

But here\'s why all this is causing a stir: People of all economic levels love miniature gaming and a lot of us were raised on it when you could pick up a few figs with pocket money and allowance. Over the years our love and interest in the hobby deepened and we spent a lot of money and time pursuing all aspects of collecting, painting and gaming. As a result of these recent price increases however, it is now for all practical purposes, out of reach of many of us. What we have loved for so long is no longer going to be available. This is emotionally important not just finanacially. There are still alternatives to people with web access or Con access but a ton of people are going to have the rug ripped out from under them and will have to start something else. You may say \"fine - that\'s life mate\" but I would think it is comparable to a pet dying rather than a TV show cancelation.

As for me, because of the many years I\'ve spent with miniatures - I have other options - mostly in the realm of historicals where prices for the most part are still reasonable. But in large parts of the US, GW is the only game there is and without that there is going to be a big hole in peoples lives. Just don\'t underestimate the importance of this hobby to folks is all I\'m saying.

I spose the only other good news is the last few armies that have come out have kinda sucked (almost uniformly in the sculpting department) so I don\'t really have a desire for them at even affordable prices ...

 

[supervike]

amen!

Originally posted by Jarrett Lee
I also decided that giving almost half my paycheck to the government so they can completely waste it and basically throw it in the garbage was charity enough!

I have no idea who\'s side I\'m ranting on. I\'m just ranting in general

Jarrett

I will agree with you completely on this. Almost half of my money is taken from me every week, and goes towards everything from Space Exploration to government funded charity.


Besides, as many have said it, GW stuff is a want, not a necessity. I surely don\'t want to pay higher prices, but still I find it a rather INEXPENSIVE grown man (or women\'s) hobby. Compare the prices of buying a boat, fishing gear, computer systems, sewing machines, hunting gear, motorcycles, fast cars, stereo systems.

Hobby\'s aimed at adults are always expensive. Why? Disposable income.

I can take one little 10 dollar mini, a few pots of paint, and be entertained for hours upon hours.......

 

[Sturmhalo]

Ooooooooh... a few of you up on the moral high ground there!



It would be interesting to see if any of this conscience rattling has any result. OK, miniatures and games are luxuries, so drop the whole hobby, sell your figures and feed a starving village for a year. Then just sit back and warm yourselves in the glow your own smug self satisfaction.

Hold on this is becoming a rant! I don\'t wish to insult anyone, I just find those kind of disparate and emotive comparisons rather annoying. We do take certain things for granted but it doesn\'t mean that we\'re a bunch of greedy Westerners with no thought for the bigger picture! I can afford to buy certain \'luxury\' items, but just because someone else can\'t doesn\'t mean I\'m going to rack myself with guilt and deny myself whatever it is I want to buy.

We live in a world of have\'s and have not\'s, bad things happen, people suffer and people die - that\'s life I\'m afraid. Sometimes you have to switch off from the ills of the world otherwise you\'d go f**king insane. That\'s why we buy model soldiers and play games isn\'t it?!

 

[Jarrett Lee]

Originally posted by Sturmhalo
We live in a world of have\'s and have not\'s, bad things happen, people suffer and people die - that\'s life I\'m afraid.

This has become my view of the world these days, yep.

Jarrett

 

[sivousplay]

This is a complicated one ... if you want it to be that way

Not the GW part ... companies do what companies do ... they have one purpose ... to continue to exist ... with that in mind, their actions are usually quite predictable.

About the other stuff, I feel pretty lucky about my own situation. So, I try to help others when I can. I\'m certainly no saint ... I love to spend $ on minis (see thread about this topic), but I also try to use a little of my time and money to help those who can use it. I\'m certainly not going to get p*ssed at those who don\'t, but I am pleased when I see others take time from their day to make somone else\'s day a little brighter.

jim

 

[t_haye2]

Ah, but the point i was trying to make isn\'t that we\'re bad or should think more about the bigger picture, but that complaining about GW\'s pricing plan is stupid. if you don\'t like it don\'t buy it, but you do, so shut up about GW trying to \'do you wrong\'.(you being a general term here guys, not any specific person) i mean, some people would think it\'s the sole core of your existance..sheez...

every time Gw ups their prices you get this, \'it\'s going to be their downfall etc\' stuff, and i\'m not going to play anymore, they\'re alienating their customers..well, for the one that stops, ten others step in. It doesn\'t matter, like has been said earlier, they\'re a business rying to make money, and they have had a steady increase of profit the last ten years or so...

 

[dave3555]

>>if you don\'t like it don\'t buy it, but you >>do, so shut up about GW trying to \'do >>you wrong\'.(

Exactly the point in question. No one is forcing you to participate in the hobby or even buy minis - the choice is yours - GW are such a huge company with such a wide and dedicated fanbase that any incrimental price changes will just be accepted in the long term .... after all the moans and groans that is....

There are other mini companies out there if you feel that strong agains the GW price rises.

But if you look at most of their prices they are very similarly priced to gw and they too have their regular price rises to keep up with inflation and the cost of raw materials and labour.

Dave

 

[Flashman14]

Valid points all around.

There are real economic questions here. There is little doubt that many more people will not get into this hobby now or will choose to leave it.

I\'m not saying it\'s the end of the world but for once - for the first time I think, basic figures are beyond the reach of many gamers.

GW has been the most attractive thing out there to get people into miniature gaming. The support and accessibility has been top notch and will continue to be. The prices were always a bit high but basically in line with their competitors but now I think the prices have reached a level where actual growth will stop. Many think this is acceptable but I\'d rather see the hobby grow rather than shrink.

That\'s where my interest lies - the more people in the is hobby the better for all of us. In some ways this will happen elsewhere as folks who think they can do it better will get in. We\'re seeing a lot of that now. I spose it could be argued that some will get introduced via GW but then buy other games but...

Hey, where did all these free markerters come from? But the question isn\'t that one has a choice - the point is that more people will choose to opt out. That\'s why I give a damn: and I\'ve never even played a GW game apart from a demo or three.

Now all this said - I strongly support their ability to do whatever they want. If they want to make the cave troll $50 next week fine but I just hate to see something so compelling be reserved for those who have the most disposable income. We really need the kids in this hobby and this won\'t help.

 

[ZeCorto]

Absolutely right. I used to forgive GW\'s steamroller approach to marketting because they did a lot of good in the promotion of the hobby in general. But their current prices make it prohibitive for the young, so they are not doing the community any more favors, instead they discourage young players from the hobby, marking it as extremely expensive.
So it\'s no GW for me, I will support smaller more dedicated manufacturers with better games and lower prices. I will try to make them known so that people play their games and have an attractive alternative for the younger public. I bear no grudge to GW, who I respect for their history and their huge contribution to my favorite hobby. Still, I have stopped buying minis from them because they are not worth the extra cost and I do not wish to spend extra money supporting a company that does not give the fair share back to the community.

 

[finn17]

Thinking about my own buying habits....

I reckon that in the last two years I have bought one new GW model - Celestine. However, I have spent truckloads of money with Rackham, Heresy, Reaper, Assassin, i-Kore, Kenzer and Co, Dragonrune, Hasslefree, Foundry and Darksword. Plus a few more I have forgotten about:flip:
GW are overpriced, but more importantly, \'common\' in my opinion and I will continue to spend my money elsewhere.

Whoops! Forgot about all those GamesDay minis I owned up to on another thread, but I passed them straight on so they still don\'t count:innocent:

 

[Grey Mouser]

I bought one of the new female models too in fact it was the my one and only purchase for the Year! I too would prefer to give my money to somebody else... Rackham, Reaper, etc.. as long as they stay under GW they get my vote.

 

[darthfoley]

I\'m a little confused by that last bit.

My impression of Rackham is they are every bit as expensive as GW (most models I\'ve seen run at least 7.99).

I understand that you don\'t need nearly as many figures to play a game of Confrontation, but single figure prices seem equal to me.

Part of the reason I guess the GW price hike doesn\'t bother me much is that I don\'t actually play (anymore) - so buying huge chunks of army at a time is sorta out of the scope of what I have to look at.

Though it does make me wonder why I can\'t sell armies on EBay for roughly 50% of their retail value.

 

[Sturmhalo]

Whoever mentioned kids being priced out of the equation has a good point. Yeah, when someone bunks their prices up I do smart a little, but I\'m learning to just take it on the chin rather than blurt out rash statements (I did vow to never buy GW paints again, but I do use their metallics and inks - f**k the rest though, Rackham fills my desk now!). Kids do have quite a bit of disposable income but parents won\'t buy everything their pride and joy wants. Miniatures these days are rather expensive, and GW\'s are perhaps the most expensive. Originally plastics were seen as being the cheap alternative (especially for those mass units) but they\'re also getting quite pricey. It\'ll be interesting to see if GW (or other companies) change tact at some point and try and offer a little more value (there are some things that are pretty good value already though in comparison!). The thing with GW is that it doesn\'t matter one little shit if a handful of us turn against them and decide to never buy any of their products again. They always have a good influx of new gamers to fuel the machine which replaces their losses. It\'s the same situation with their staff (either shop monkeys or studio types). The money isn\'t great but hay ho, when someone ups and leaves they\'re easily replaced by another eager newbie. I suppose it\'s a great system. Why fix something that ain\'t broke (yet!). I guess we all just have to accept that GW will occasionally upset us, but ultimately they\'re an important part of the hobby/industry. I don\'t know what I\'d do without the money grabbing buggers! lol By the way, anyone got the second issue of Fanatic? I want to set up a Mordheim warband (using old models), Bloodbowl looks tempting again (after 16 years), and Epic could tempt me! You see, the system works. Don\'t mess with it.

 

[War Griffon]

Yep I picked up my copy yesterday however if you are thinking of playing Mordhiem again Sturmhalo then go to then follow this link to their specialist games site and download teh PDF living rule book beware though its a 22meg download.
http://www.specialist-games.com/mordheim/livingrule.asp

 

[Sturmhalo]

Excellent! I heard someone mention that recently but I couldn\'t find the post again! Cheers for that. You might have just saved me £40! Now if only I can get my girlfriend into gaming I might actually get a game of something. She did actually want to have a stab a painting a figure the other week (seems to have lost interest in it though now).

 

[Sturmhalo]

Hold on! You\'re in Cardiff too!!! Where are you located? I\'m down in Windsor Quay.

 

[Sturmhalo]

Ohhh... just checked your profile. You must be Pontprennau way then (across the road from Griffin?).

 

[dave12]

why do people have to bring third world nations and starving children into this discussion? If you don\'t like the fact that some of us are concerned about the price increases, thats fine. Although, the fact is it is getting quite expensive for some people. I personally have no problem affording the minatures even at the new prices, but I\'m arguing for the sake of a person who is saying \"man, i wish i could afford to play (or continue playing)warhammer.\" Back to the fact of people saying \"oh well you should donate your money to charity.\" Maybe so, but this is my money and personally, if i cared about everything that was \'wrong\' with the world I dont think id ever get much time where i didnt have something to worry about. The sad fact is, is that some people are not that well off. This usually (almost always) is caused the form of government the country has. Until the gov\'ts are changed in these country, our efforts are going to do very little to change the whole economy or level of living in country \'x\'. But you know what? Thats LIFE. If you want to give your all of your mini money for charity, then I say you are a great person. But please stop saying, instead of complaining about 5 bucks why dont you just not buy it and give it to charity. This is too discuss the price raise that GW made. If you dont agree that the price change sucks, then dont come here and tell us not to complain. We are the consumer and we have the right to complain.

 

[Sturmhalo]

Here, here!

 

[darthfoley]

Originally posted by dave12
We are the consumer and we have the right to complain.

And GW is the company and has the right to alter their price structure as they see fit. *shrug*

Not to mention that everyone else has the \'right\' to express their opinion, as well. The fact that it may not agree with yours doesn\'t make it any less valid.

Let\'s not get too out of hand, is all I\'m saying.