Where'd the Advance orders go?

[Wathapend2urfase]

Today is the first day in years where i have gone onto the GW website and clicked the Advance Orders section for any of the game systems and not seen a single model. I know GW has officially changed their policy on releasing news and pics for upcoming releases but i literally have no reason to go their website now. I really think this new marketing strategy is a very poor decision.

[daboarder]

It's GW's new "were not going to tell you until a week before its released in order to build hype" business approach.....



its not quite that bad but thats the basic principle for GW advertising now.

[Astartes]

Who orders from GW anymore anyway? Get it 2nd hand or through a discounted site. **** Corporate Games Workshop

[wittdooley]

Yeah, real mature.

From a former teacher: Unions blow.

[BrokenWing]

What's that I hear? The politics train?? OH LORD! Get off the tracks!

Side note: This policy, like some of the others people are flipping out about as if they are being put into camps, does not really change anything for me. I will miss the black boxes...but that's about it. I typically didn't know about future releases until a week or two ahead of time anyway.

Oh cool, I'm a Chaplain! I'm now fearless, have a 4+ invulnerable save and make people around me re-roll missed hits in close combat!

[Squirrel_Fish]

Oh cool, I'm a Chaplain! I'm now fearless, have a 4+ invulnerable save and make people around me re-roll missed hits in close combat!

Don't forget, you get your fancy energy powered Pimp Stick.

...I'd probably be shot for heresy for referring to a sacred chapter relic as a energy powered pimp stick, wouldn't I?

[BrokenWing]

lol, how could I forget?

and...all signs point to yes.

[Demonus]

dammit, i want an energy fielded pimp stick..

[Hive Mind]

I'm shocked that this board has so many active posters really. It seems certain that almost everyone here knows how to run a business better then GW's management do so I can't seem to figure out why they're posting here instead of running their own multi-million pound publicly-listed corporation.

I'd buy stock in NerdRage Holdings Ltd, just so long as it's only e-stock and I never have to be forced to back up my investment with anything real or tangible.

[pauljc]

Who orders from GW anymore anyway? Get it 2nd hand or through a discounted site. **** Corporate Games Workshop

Yeah, good one, mate. Let's all do that, watch GW run out of money and shut down, putting thousands out of work. Then let's move on to the next (inferior) game, start *****ing about costs and do the same. Let's do it to every game, and in a few years, no more games. Well done, we have killed our own hobby.

Say what you want about GW prices, but if people can't appreciate all the things they've done for his hobby, then they have no business playing miniature games.

[pauljc]

And for those who haven't understood it yet, all the recent policy changes at GW are designed primarily with one goal in mind: get people coming back to the stores.

Without stores (GW or indie), we won't have any games soon. Where you gonna play all those tournaments when the stores close down? Bob's apartment? ;)

Sure, the new information policy makes my job harder, but I'll find away to evolve. But I salute GW for making some of these recent changes. Getting people back in to play at the LGS is just what's needed at the moment.

GW aren't the only ones doing this, by the way. Quite a few hobby game companies are doing the same thing.

[daboarder]

I get what their trying to do, I just don't really think they've chosen a very good time frame. Both the electronics and entertainment industry operate of public hype, and considering how long they've been doing this as a major industry I reckon they'd know a thing or two, both these industries give their target audiences news MONTHS usually up to a year, in advanced and then keep the hype building by releasing tidbits of information to tease the public into coming into the store for either the "big reveal" or the "big release".

EDIT: I HATE that I need this disclaimer but I know if I don't put it in someone is going to attack me for whinning, well I'm not people.

[pauljc]

Yeah, I'm not necessarily agreeing with every change they make. But I do wonder if the movie/video game industry can be compared - marketing-wise - to hobby games. Movies and video games are, after all, much more disposable and rapidly changing. A new miniature release tends to last you for quite a long time, compared to say, GTA 5 or whatever. :)

[wittdooley]

Don't forget, you get your fancy energy powered Pimp Stick.

...I'd probably be shot for heresy for referring to a sacred chapter relic as a energy powered pimp stick, wouldn't I?

God no. I think we should all refer to as such now. I'm going to go home and ammend all my rulebooks. Hey GW.... can we FAQ that???

[wittdooley]

Yeah, I'm not necessarily agreeing with every change they make. But I do wonder if the movie/video game industry can be compared - marketing-wise - to hobby games. Movies and video games are, after all, much more disposable and rapidly changing. A new miniature release tends to last you for quite a long time, compared to say, GTA 5 or whatever. :)

See, thats the issue. People want this industry to be marketed like the other industries they love; however, miniature wargaming is such an inconsequential niche hobby when compared to video games or even comic books.

I don't hate the change, but I'm not a huge fan of it either, if only because it makes my ability to budget my gaming dollar a bit harder.

I think, however, that they could offset this by maintaining a healthy Twitter presence, which they already do quite a good job of.

[dvs1]

Does it matter at all that they just released the new wave of DE this weekend? That is what was previously on the page a month before... Maybe they haven't had time or decided what exactly is coming out next.

[isotope99]

What makes no sense to me is that they are going to release WD this weekend and you're not going to be able to buy what's in it until the following week, by which time it will have joined its fellows in the dusty pile at the bottom of my bookcase that I'm too lazy to tidy up.

[MarneusCalgar]

Yeah, good one, mate. Let's all do that, watch GW run out of money and shut down, putting thousands out of work. Then let's move on to the next (inferior) game, start *****ing about costs and do the same. Let's do it to every game, and in a few years, no more games. Well done, we have killed our own hobby.

Say what you want about GW prices, but if people can't appreciate all the things they've done for his hobby, then they have no business playing miniature games.

I agree with you, man!!

The problem is that in this hobby the fanboys are so huge in numbers that they feel strong in their crystal towers from their forums and blogs...

And in most cases they always thrash talk about GW but I´m pretty sure they will buy them anything, even a Citadel Paint, in less than a month

[Luke Licens]

Yeah, I'm not necessarily agreeing with every change they make. But I do wonder if the movie/video game industry can be compared - marketing-wise - to hobby games. Movies and video games are, after all, much more disposable and rapidly changing. A new miniature release tends to last you for quite a long time, compared to say, GTA 5 or whatever. :)

Interesting way to phrase that. I've never put as many hours into a single mini (character, conversion, or vehicle) as I've put into any single GTA game that I've played.

[Unzuul the Lascivious]

I like knowing what's coming out in advance, helps me plan my spending accordingly. For me personally, it's a bad decision, but maybe it's good in terms of getting kids into stores etc etc.

I think the reason people have taken issue with GW in recent months (prices aside) is that they are totally hooked on their product, and any half measures and holding of cards to chests really annoys people who are totally in love with the game. Sometimes I'm like' "Why can't Dan Abnett and Graham McNeil write faster!!!" or "White Dwarf Sisters of Battle Codex? NOOOOOOO!" They are usually knee jerk reactions - when thought through, it's not all bad - maybe I can have time to paint the other stuff I already have!

But therein lies another problem - Games Workshop and other hobbies do belong to another time in some ways. People are so used to having what they want, when they want it, that the speed at which GW produce things gets frustrating - of course it shouldn't, but it is such a fast paced world that everything is now now now - working in the service industry, I have noted how our clients have become far more demanding in terms of response times and value for money - everything has become so fast that the world has forgotten what it once was. It stands to reason that hobbyists expect the same rapidity of product and information - and the value for money aspect has hit home hard for those who have been hit by recessions.

So I don't think some of their recent policy changes reflects the new, faster generation - or maybe it is the antidote to that and will be appreciated. I just hope it doesn't damage their market so much that they can't produce what they have been recently, because it could seriously damage their business. If they lose custom, they produce less and slower, if they produce less and slower, they lose more custom and so on.
I'm sure it won't actually make that much difference really - those who are already fans are unlikely to stop buying just because they don't know what's coming out until WD is released, and those just joining the hobby will know no better. It IS about getting more people into GW stores to increase sales - often people will buy the latest release, maybe a few other bits and pieces. It IS annoying to me, but during typing this post I kind of feel less annoyed than when I started. Well, it's been cathartic.

Sorry for the ramble...

[Melissia]

Yeah, good one, mate. Let's all do that, watch GW run out of money and shut downOr force them to change their business practices so they're actually competently managed.