Hi there,
I\'m usually very laid back and never get on my soap box. But over the years this I thought I\'d finally send GW a complaint letter voicing my concerns :cussing: ...As you can imagine after reading it, I haven\'t received a reply
p.s. Forgive my grammer and spelling.
Games Workshop
Direct Sales
Willow Road
Lenton
Nottingham
NG7 2WS
Dear Sir/ Madam.
Re: complaint
I’m a 30-year-old graphic designer and I’ve been a collector, player and fan of Warhammer & Warhammer 40,000 since I was a Young Blood of 13. First and foremost, I would just like to state that the games and products that have come out from Nottingham have been truly addictive and enjoyable to paint and play with. This reflects my continuing interest throughout my teens and now into my veteran years.
However, since then things have changed and I’ve felt like many other enthusiast I’ve spoken to, more disgruntled regarding Gamesworkshops loyalty to their dedicated customer/fan base that have helped make it the hugely successful Imperial Guard Titan it is today.
But thankfully not as destructive.
My two points being…
• The lack of focus on the fans via it’s various platforms such as White Dwarf and the Gamesworkshop website.
• The comparably high price of the products and the lack of scope for the occasional discounts or sale.
I understand that Gamesworkshop is fundamentally a business that needs to make money. But it also needs to balance this out with a duty to the thousands that play the games it supplies for. My point being that White Dwarf doesn’t include a single page on readers submissions, letters or case studies on local clubs & events that aren’t necessarily run in a GW branch. This is quite unlike many other specialist magazines on the shelf at your local WHSmiths. You’ll find in such examples the fans are celebrated just as much as the products that are sold to supply it. Without these types of articles, White Dwarf has risked looking more like a pricy catalogue promoting new releases rather than a rally point to which everyone can find out what’s going on amongst their fellow gamers up and down the country. This highlights an underlying point that Gamesworkshop seems to be balanced more towards the product rather than the game.
I became interested in the hobby back when many of the miniatures were metal and the price although a little higher compared to other wargaming genres, felt justified due to the production costs, but were still affordable. Since then, Gamesworkshop has started to produce more injection moulded plastic kits which did bring prices crashing down but not comparable to other brands that produce if not more detailed models. An example of this is Tamya. Highly regarded has one of the best plastic model making companies in the world based in one of the most expensive countries in the world, Japan. But yet are relatively cheap in comparison to
Gamesworkshop products. Below is an example of this comparison…
Gamesworkshop Baneblade £58.70
Tamya Tiger tank with crew £44.99
Tamya Radio controlled Tiger Tank £69.99
I understand that prices reflect the worlds current economy such as the increase of fuel, V.A.T etc. And that injection moulded plastic production is an expensive process (initially) needing specialised machinery and moulds. But what really jams my bolter is not the price rise, but the actual cost of these products. Charging shy of £5 for two pots of paint is as ludicrous as finding a Necron in a pet shop. Considering the hobby largely focuses to get people hooked at a young age. Young Bloods are only funded by pocket money and a paper round which seems unfair and is left to Mum & Dad to use some of their redundancy money they received during the credit crunch.
In my humble opinion, it feels that these are the pit-falls of a company having little or no competition. Imagine if Chess was heavily copy written and highly priced.
If anyone other than the customer services temp has read this far, than I thank you for indulging me in my grumbles. In the meantime I will have to work some extra hours, save up and continue lying to my girlfriend that I’m planning to buy the long awaited Shadowsword for the same price as taken her out to a nice hotel.
Yours sincerely
John Child
P.s. Don’t tell my girlfriend.
I\'m usually very laid back and never get on my soap box. But over the years this I thought I\'d finally send GW a complaint letter voicing my concerns :cussing: ...As you can imagine after reading it, I haven\'t received a reply
p.s. Forgive my grammer and spelling.
Games Workshop
Direct Sales
Willow Road
Lenton
Nottingham
NG7 2WS
Dear Sir/ Madam.
Re: complaint
I’m a 30-year-old graphic designer and I’ve been a collector, player and fan of Warhammer & Warhammer 40,000 since I was a Young Blood of 13. First and foremost, I would just like to state that the games and products that have come out from Nottingham have been truly addictive and enjoyable to paint and play with. This reflects my continuing interest throughout my teens and now into my veteran years.
However, since then things have changed and I’ve felt like many other enthusiast I’ve spoken to, more disgruntled regarding Gamesworkshops loyalty to their dedicated customer/fan base that have helped make it the hugely successful Imperial Guard Titan it is today.
But thankfully not as destructive.
My two points being…
• The lack of focus on the fans via it’s various platforms such as White Dwarf and the Gamesworkshop website.
• The comparably high price of the products and the lack of scope for the occasional discounts or sale.
I understand that Gamesworkshop is fundamentally a business that needs to make money. But it also needs to balance this out with a duty to the thousands that play the games it supplies for. My point being that White Dwarf doesn’t include a single page on readers submissions, letters or case studies on local clubs & events that aren’t necessarily run in a GW branch. This is quite unlike many other specialist magazines on the shelf at your local WHSmiths. You’ll find in such examples the fans are celebrated just as much as the products that are sold to supply it. Without these types of articles, White Dwarf has risked looking more like a pricy catalogue promoting new releases rather than a rally point to which everyone can find out what’s going on amongst their fellow gamers up and down the country. This highlights an underlying point that Gamesworkshop seems to be balanced more towards the product rather than the game.
I became interested in the hobby back when many of the miniatures were metal and the price although a little higher compared to other wargaming genres, felt justified due to the production costs, but were still affordable. Since then, Gamesworkshop has started to produce more injection moulded plastic kits which did bring prices crashing down but not comparable to other brands that produce if not more detailed models. An example of this is Tamya. Highly regarded has one of the best plastic model making companies in the world based in one of the most expensive countries in the world, Japan. But yet are relatively cheap in comparison to
Gamesworkshop products. Below is an example of this comparison…
Gamesworkshop Baneblade £58.70
Tamya Tiger tank with crew £44.99
Tamya Radio controlled Tiger Tank £69.99
I understand that prices reflect the worlds current economy such as the increase of fuel, V.A.T etc. And that injection moulded plastic production is an expensive process (initially) needing specialised machinery and moulds. But what really jams my bolter is not the price rise, but the actual cost of these products. Charging shy of £5 for two pots of paint is as ludicrous as finding a Necron in a pet shop. Considering the hobby largely focuses to get people hooked at a young age. Young Bloods are only funded by pocket money and a paper round which seems unfair and is left to Mum & Dad to use some of their redundancy money they received during the credit crunch.
In my humble opinion, it feels that these are the pit-falls of a company having little or no competition. Imagine if Chess was heavily copy written and highly priced.
If anyone other than the customer services temp has read this far, than I thank you for indulging me in my grumbles. In the meantime I will have to work some extra hours, save up and continue lying to my girlfriend that I’m planning to buy the long awaited Shadowsword for the same price as taken her out to a nice hotel.
Yours sincerely
John Child
P.s. Don’t tell my girlfriend.
