How much does Games Workshop want to rule the World?
A great article on Ten Copper tells the story...
Games Workshop has always had a somewhat fearful relationship with
the internet. While it’s easy to paint the big company of any market in a
negative light, this is not an exaggeration: in the past, Games
Workshop has shut down its own forums, has purged every scrap of free
rules or hobby content from its website until it became nothing more
than a shop, and has served more takedown orders than you’d think
possible for a company which literally makes tiny plastic space men.
But whether it’s shutdowns, shutterings or takedowns, one thing is
clear. Games Workshop is the lumbering, conservative giant of the
miniature wargaming world, and it has approached the internet with the
same absolute desire it brings to every other aspect of its business: control.
In 2011, Games Workshop was faced with an unspeakable threat: many of
their players (mostly from Australia) were purchasing goods direct from
the UK and the US — and in the process saving incredible amounts over
Games Workshop’s inflated local prices. Their response wasn’t so much a
warning shot as an atomic bomb: a draconian new set of trade agreements that imposed unprecedented restrictions on where third-party retailers could and could not ship their products.
Read the rest of the article here:
It is really a good read.
Loken
Please for the love of god get Naftka to link or post this along with Bols etc. This is too important to just be relgated to this site.
ReplyDeleteYes we have been on the receiving end of GW for a while now in Oz.
ReplyDeleteLots of people selling up and playing other games. To be honest. I don't think GW management really give a (fill in the appropriate 4 letter word).
I submitted a petition with a huge number of signature to GW Australia and GW UK's HQ. It was requesting help to balance the prices vs ordering from overseas to allow local gaming stores which support the hobby (playing tables etc) to compete with online and overseas retailers.
GW's answer. Ban sales to Australia from overseas retailers and hike the price so we are paying double.
I have been playing since Rogue Trader and find it hard to justify buying more GW product. It costs too damn much here in Australia. Guys are buying Forge World kits because they are cheaper than the plastics (go figure).
I love 40K and WHFB but GW are killing the hobby for many over here. It gets harder to get games locally and I am considering selling all my carefully horded GW figures. The only thing stopping me so far is that if I sell it, I will never be able to afford it again.....
@Allen and Carmen.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya. I recently left gaming to focus on painting. 2 months ago I sold all my 40k terrain. I had tons including a realm of battle board. I am about to sell all my 40k armies. My DE are gone, the Dark Angels will be next and my Necrons too. I have had the urge to get back into gaming and I really like the aesthetic of Infinity minis and the skirmish type feel of the game. I don't say this in anger - more like indifference - GW has done this to themselves by alienating veteran customers like us. We've never had so many alternatives for gaming before. They need us more than we need them. Let go. Don't look back. You won't save or topple their towers - only they can do that.
Cheers!
Zab
It's a timely post for me. Just yesterday I advertised my stuff for sale. It's too expensive here in Australia and I'm getting out now. It's a great hobby but GW's attitude seems ridiculous to me. I'll miss 40K but they aren't the only thing out there now.
ReplyDelete