What If GW went "mainstream"?

[entendre_entendre]

I was sitting in a crowded room thinking about 40k (it happens often), and I wondered what would happen to the hobby if it went "mainstream" (think Warcraft after the South Park episode). If you wanted a theoretical reason, say a popular celebrity (like John Cusack, or Jean-Jaques Jarre, or... or... who the devil do the kids like nowadays?... Gilbert Godfreid) starts playing & gets press about it. the public get their introduction to GW through the entertainment news (i can see them sending a "reporter" to interview someone from GW: "so you sell plastic men?" "actually I'm a customer, the staff's over there..."). suddenly it becomes "in" to play GW games, and the customer index for GW skyrockets.
In short, what I'm trying to ask (without so many interrupt-... dammit! :P ) is what do you think would happen to the hobby as a whole if this scenario occurred? I mean this has always been a somewhat unknown/nerdy hobby, so what would happen if this was very suddenly reversed? Would it be better for all? Would GW get money-drunk and start slacking off? Would it be the same, only more crowded in the stores? I can't be the only one who's pondered this, and I'm interested to see what you all think.
I think if this happened we might actually get a 40k flick... and have some Hollywood A-hole totally butcher it. :( *cough* Michael Bay *cough*

[Aegis]

See WotC and what they did to Dungeons and Dragons following games from Bioware, and the introduction of a mini's game...

Watered down rules, bland fluff, and even more rules changes...

[entendre_entendre]

I don't know much about D&D ('twas before my time...), but that seems the most logical outcome.

[Inquisitor Soren]

It would depend a lot, on the GW staff as well as everyones FLGSs, if GW suddenly changed its marketing plan and fluff due to that then yes it would be belly up, at least from my stance. While if they held their course or somehow made it better, faster codex updates, regular errata and faq, more support for certain ranges, it would most likely be better. The FLGSs would also have to be able to cope with a possible sudden influx of new gamers, young and old, and could very well be overrun, I know my local one sure would be. Though it is a small store actually.

If they did a movie, in all honesty it could be the biggest boon to 40k ever if it went well, but its greatest down-fall if it failed...so ya that is a crap shoot imo at least.

Also I would die to see a South Park episode of 40k, could you imagine it?

Wait aren't we already a mini's game? (Couldn't resist sorry.)

[Prometheus]

[QUOTE=entendre_entendre;19276] If you wanted a theoretical reason, say a popular celebrity (like John Cusack, or Jean-Jaques Jarre, or... or... who the devil do the kids like nowadays?... Gilbert Godfreid) QUOTE]

Nice selection of the Hollywood elite... :)

Anyway thier is at least one celebrity that to my knoweldge plays Fantasy and thats Robin Williams. I hear he has a Scottish Orks army. They all have plaid kilts on. Supposedly he stopped by a local GT but evidence is only 3 or 4 people so its hard to say if it is true. His wikipedia page also mentions that he plays.

I actually think that GW going mainstream is not a horrible thing though. It would stop the massive power creep that GW seems to like and thre minis would get cheaper. However my favorite part of the hobby, the "fluff", would probably go out the window.

[entendre_entendre]

Nice selection of the Hollywood elite... :)

in my head it's with a "stewie griffon" voice :D


Anyway thier is at least one celebrity that to my knoweldge plays Fantasy and thats Robin Williams. I hear he has a Scottish Orks army. They all have plaid kilts on. Supposedly he stopped by a local GT but evidence is only 3 or 4 people so its hard to say if it is true. His wikipedia page also mentions that he plays.

I thought I heard about that, supposedly he played the guy who owns the local LGS while filming Jumanji


I actually think that GW going mainstream is not a horrible thing though. It would stop the massive power creep that GW seems to like and thre minis would get cheaper. However my favorite part of the hobby, the "fluff", would probably go out the window.

this is the other possible outcome, but with all the fresh $$ coming in, do you think they'd actually lower the prices? just playing devil's advocate (it's fun!)

[entendre_entendre]

Also I would die to see a South Park episode of 40k, could you imagine it?

i can imagine "nerfed" would become common speak along with "MEQ", "Ultra-smurfs", and "Space Puppies"

[Drew da Destroya]

"nerfed" is slang in quite a few places... online gaming, for instance. Back when I was addicted to WoW, various classes and items were constantly being "nerfed". I'm sure it was also heavily used in Evercrack, WHO, Counterstrike, and really anything else that was updated by the developers.

Honestly, I'm pretty sure I've even heard the term used for Nerf Gun reprints, if they scale back the power. It's a pretty common term, overall.

[Grabnutz]

So having a series of best-selling computer versions of W40K isn't going mainstream? Indeed GW has done better in this arena than D&D.

GW first went mainstream with its cooperation with Milton Bradley and the Space Crusade bordgame series. Every toyshop was piled up with them, and afterwards every car boot sale - which is where many of my marines and orks come from :D

And what about Vin Diesel's thinly disguised Space Marine movie The Chronicles of Riddick?

[Grumpy Ripper]

[QUOTE=entendre_entendre;19276] If you wanted a theoretical reason, say a popular celebrity (like John Cusack, or Jean-Jaques Jarre, or... or... who the devil do the kids like nowadays?... Gilbert Godfreid) QUOTE]

Nice selection of the Hollywood elite... :)

Anyway thier is at least one celebrity that to my knoweldge plays Fantasy and thats Robin Williams. I hear he has a Scottish Orks army. They all have plaid kilts on. Supposedly he stopped by a local GT but evidence is only 3 or 4 people so its hard to say if it is true. His wikipedia page also mentions that he plays.
.

apperentley Vin desiel plays black templars and Amy lee plays sisters of battle, but these are still urban myths and not confrimed

[TSINI]

I can see this lol, its never going to happen, but its a great "what if".

It's funny when people call it a nerdy hobby, yes its hardly sport but its only as nerdy as people knowing exactly how many goals have been scored by each player, what their wages are, their strengths/weaknesses, game goal average, how much their team spends on stuff, what the shareholders are doing etc etc. I once told a lager lout footbal nut this and he nearly killed me but it was funny to finally call someone else a nerd and get a laugh out of the pub :D

[Lunar Camel]

[QUOTE=entendre_entendre;19276]
Anyway thier is at least one celebrity that to my knoweldge plays Fantasy and thats Robin Williams. I hear he has a Scottish Orks army. They all have plaid kilts on. Supposedly he stopped by a local GT but evidence is only 3 or 4 people so its hard to say if it is true. His wikipedia page also mentions that he plays.

I can verify this. When I was working for GW (about four years ago) at the Glendale, CA store, Robin Williams would come in every now and then to buy Orky things. I'm not sure where (or who) he would play or if he still does.

Also, Drew Carey would come into the store about twice a week acting like a regular customer (sometimes you wouldn't recognize him). I would run him through a demo game, he would seem interested in it, but he would never buy anything. :confused:

[NealSmith]

[QUOTE=Prometheus;19288]
Also, Drew Carey would come into the store about twice a week acting like a regular customer (sometimes you wouldn't recognize him). I would run him through a demo game, he would seem interested in it, but he would never buy anything. :confused:

He was saving his money for the "gentleman's clubs"... :)

Vin Diesel does indeed play D&D. Had to look up Amy Lee... sorry... :)

Curt Schilling plays a strategy boardgame called Advanced Squad Leader and in fact owns the company (Multi-Man Publishing) that produces that game and quite a few others.

Back to the original point. If Lord of the Rings didn't do that for GW, then it will be a very big uphill battle. Pre-painted miniatures would have to be the norm to get "mainstream" people to play. There would also have to be a huge tie-in with other media such as movies or video gaming. And something I don't think GW has the capacity to understand... It has to be affordable! LOL


Later,
Neal

[Drunkencorgimaster]

[QUOTE=Lunar Camel;19347]
Back to the original point. If Lord of the Rings didn't do that for GW, then it will be a very big uphill battle.

Yeah, I was going to say...did this not happen already with Lord of the Rings? Sort of? LotR went mainstream, Gw did get money drunk, f-d things up and their stock went into the toilet for 3-4 years. They finally crawled out over the last 2-3 quarters. Given that I am rooting for GW (Yes, I know I rarely sound like it on my other posts) I think it might be a nightmare if Megan Fox started playing with GW plastic. Not that she does not probably play with other plastic things. Nor is she likely to be able to actually read the rulebook without help.

[entendre_entendre]

@ TSINI: i called it a "nerdy" hobby due to the way "popular society" views it, and i agree with you entirely about the sports info. society deems sports knowledge 'above' gaming knowledge, ah well... :)

@ grabnutz: no, not necessarily. the point i was trying to get across was if the average person heard about GW (the tabletop version) from the entertainment news
example: Entertainment Tonight's headline: "Brad divorces Angelina to go play Warhammer! Sells children to pay for it!" :p

[Grabnutz]

"Brad divorces Angelina to go play Warhammer! Sells children to pay for it!" :p

Bags first in the queue at Angelina's gate. You can have all my warhammer clutter Monsieur Entendre I have bigger fish to fry :D

[Mike X]

See WotC and what they did to Dungeons and Dragons following games from Bioware, and the introduction of a mini's game...

Hey! Neverwinter Nights was a great game (I never played NWN2 though).

I tried D&D Miniatures with a girlfriend-at-the-time who played D&D v3.5, and it wasn't too bad for a simple "throw down" game.

[the9ravan]

I don't think it will do much for it. I mean Vin Diesel came out and said he plays D&D in several interviews and yet the popularity of it hasn't increased.

[RocketRollRebel]

It gets plugged on SNL by Steve Carell (or a write I guess) here...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/20340/saturday-night-live-deal-or-deal

its about 4:30 into it but the whole thing is pretty funny.

good times ;)

[TSINI]

Bags first in the queue at Angelina's gate. You can have all my warhammer clutter Monsieur Entendre I have bigger fish to fry :D

lol, "Fish" couldnt be a more apt word when referring to Angelina Jolie...

[brother drakist]

Hmm interesting topic! To be honest I think that if GW were to go mainstream you would see the rules dumbed down further. As most people have the attention span of a puppy you would need to hook them in early. Also pre-painted models would have to be a must, not everyone has time to assemble and paint models......some people just want to play hence the number of "Grey armies of doooooom."

[oni]

I keep seeing the same thing mentioned over and over, which I also believe. The rules would be dumbed down and streamlined for the masses. Another thing that would happen is product being rushed to market. No R&D, just get something on the store shelves and worry about the problems later.

The Dawn of War video game series is probably the biggest leap into 'main stream' as GW can achieve. Unless GW starts running TV ads for their games nothing will ever change. GW games rely on 'word of mouth' advertising and I think they intentionally keep it this way to stay a small company that can remain focused on the product rather than all of the other nuances that come with having a popular product.

[j-orge-287]

So having a series of best-selling computer versions of W40K isn't going mainstream? Indeed GW has done better in this arena than D&D.

Yeah 40k was begging for a computer game but it isn't written on the cover 'this is based on a board game where you paint model soldiers and roll a lot of dice' that would not sell to anyone (by this I mean the majority)
If it did become fashion to roll lots of dice and push model soldiers around then hooray for the people who spend most mornings on a bus with a crate full of chavs AKA me.

[Mystery.Shadow]

Alwaya found it funny that Robin Williams (AKA "Mork" of the Mork and Mindy fame) would play Eldar insted of Orks!

Anyone here (old enough to) remember Mork from Ork ?

[DarkLink]

40k isn't a very user-friendly game. You have to spend tons of money to buy unpainted, unassembled armies, pick and choose your units out of an entire rule book (and that's after you've picked you army out of the, what, 14 or so), paint and assemble said models, memorize a couple rulebooks (ok, so lots of people skip this step), buy a bunch of dice and other accessories, scrounge up terrain, then find other people to play.

Even the user-friendly version of the game, space hulk, is still a lot less user friendly than most board games. 40k couldn't make it mainstream as it is now, as you can't just pick up and play.

Now, if they made a version of the game that was like risk, with little mini's you didn't have to assemble, with simple rules and pre-laid out mission boards, all in one box with little to no assembly required, it might catch on with enough marketing. But it would be more like Epic than the 40k we know, and would be a completely different game.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

Alwaya found it funny that Robin Williams (AKA "Mork" of the Mork and Mindy fame) would play Eldar insted of Orks!

Anyone here (old enough to) remember Mork from Ork ?

Damn! Have you ever showed your age! I think I had completely forgotten that show, and you have to re-ignite those synapses? Really lame show as I recall. Didn't scientific testing prove that people could actually lower their IQ by watching it? Sort of like "The Love Boat?"

[imperialsavant]

:rolleyes: Does anyone remember the "in progress" CG movie called Blood Quest that was on the Net about 7/8 years ago?
It was Blood Angels Vs Orks & there were sample shots of Ork Dreds etc.
Wonder if they just ran out of Money!

On another thread which 40K novels would make the best movies??

Humm think I will start a Thread on that subject.

[Mystery.Shadow]

Damn! Have you ever showed your age! I think I had completely forgotten that show, and you have to re-ignite that synapse? Really lame show as I recall. Didn't scientific test prove that people could actually lower their IQ by watching it? Sort of like "The Love Boat?"

Ha ha ha, "The Love Boat".... How about "Fantasy Island" ? I think that's proven to lower your IQ. "Hey Bozz, Da Plane! Da Plane!!"

[Drunkencorgimaster]

Ha ha ha, "The Love Boat".... How about "Fantasy Island" ? I think that's proven to lower your IQ. "Hey Bozz, Da Plane! Da Plane!!"

"Hey Bozz, de Orks, de Orks!" "Come Tatou, let us welcome our guests" -Heavy Bolter opens up...

[Mystery.Shadow]

Just da good ol' Boyz
Never meanin' no harm.
Beats all you neva' saw
Been in trouble with the Nobz
Since the day dey was grown

Staightnin' the curves
Flatnin' the hills
Someday Wazdakka might get 'em
But the Eldar neva' will

Makin' their way
The only way dey know how
That's just a little bit more
Than the Warboss will allow.

Just dem good lo' Boyz
Wouldn't change their bad luck
Fightin' the system
Like a true modern day Kaptain Badrukk.

[entendre_entendre]

:rolleyes: Does anyone remember the "in progress" CG movie called Blood Quest that was on the Net about 7/8 years ago?
It was Blood Angels Vs Orks & there were sample shots of Ork Dreds etc.
Wonder if they just ran out of Money!

On another thread which 40K novels would make the best movies??

Humm think I will start a Thread on that subject.

oh GOD! don't start on that! i'm glad it never saw the light on day, that would drive people away! XP

[Faultie]

MTV Cribs: Dan Abnett