GW- pushing the licensing even further...

[Erik Setzer]

Posted this to the front page article, might be handy here.



AHA!

So, I was wondering how a tiny store offering ripoff "services" and using a website that has a vomit-inducing design (hey, I'm a web designer, that's the NICEST I can be about it, and that's being way too charitable!) could, or would, produce this stuff. I mean, how does that even work?

Ah, but then I read the page. And did some brief searching.

And now it makes more sense, and I don't think it looks quite as bad. Behold the actual producers of the products, Nemesis Now:

[url]http://www.nemesisnow.com/nemesis-now-premium-ranges/sci-fi/[/url]

These guys are the ones actually producing the stuff. They've also got some other ranges, so they're not just a hole-in-the-wall operation, and feel a lot more respectable than a shop selling "online readings." DreamsAway doesn't even show the full assortment, which you can get a better view of by searching "GW" (albeit with an extra result tossed in... inexact search mechanic, but I won't hold that against them, it might be a design choice):

[url]http://www.nemesisnow.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?p=3&q=GW[/url]

They have messenger bags as well!

Now, the thing is, Nemesis Now produces them and seems to sell to retailers, not direct to customers, at least not via the website. Unfortunately, I can't find anyone else current selling the GW products online. But it'll be something to watch for.

As for quality, it's hard to get a reading, but doing a quick search for "nemesis now" on Amazon (where various sellers list some of their other stuff) shows 20 review averages of 4+ stars, 24 of 3+, and 25 of 2+. Checking out the reviews, the ones most likely to have poor reviews are clocks, where it seems all of them have at least one 1-star review noting a defective and/or cheaply made product (seems they're produced in China, which doesn't necessarily mean bad quality, but does mean that despite being a "local" company, they apparently don't produce locally).

Hopefully some of that info was useful to some people and I didn't just spend 20 minutes or so chasing info for nothing. :-P

[Psychosplodge]

Nemesis now produce some beautiful stuff. They also produce some tat. But GW are obviously taking the attitude that people are producing and selling unofficial 40k merchandise so they know the market exists so they might as well licence a manufacturer and take a cut of the market.
TBH with how quick the T-shirts seem to sell at events I'm surprised it's taken this long.

[Mr Mystery]

Sad Old Git Mode Engage....

1. GET OFF MY LAWN, WHIPPERSNAPPERS

2. Time was, GW used to sell their t-shirts in-store. I....I don't recall many actually selling, but they were there. Up to and possibly beyond Gorkamorka.

[Psychosplodge]

Yeah I never saw any actually sell when they were in store, but try getting a 2xl or x half way through an event
I think part of thats probably you go to an event with a wad cash and an intention to spend, where as you don't have the same attitude in store, but a space marine clock? Think I might have one, maybe one for work as well

[Hendrik Booraem VI]

I totally want an Aquila Journal. Like, right now.

[Erik Setzer]

Sad Old Git Mode Engage....

1. GET OFF MY LAWN, WHIPPERSNAPPERS

2. Time was, GW used to sell their t-shirts in-store. I....I don't recall many actually selling, but they were there. Up to and possibly beyond Gorkamorka.

That helps highlight something weird about their licensed products: They don't sell any of them in their own stores. It's like they treat their own licensed games as competition, stuff like Conquest, Relic, Forbidden Stars, Warhammer Quest (the new card game), etc. Seems weird. You can offer a wider variety of products in your stores and at least make some money off folks, maybe get some money from a GW gamer who comes in and sees no figures he needs but a board game that looks interesting, and the games are also a good way to introduce people to the worlds at a more affordable price point.

I get it with the shirts, mugs, etc.... They'd take up a good bit of store space, and the modern stores tend to be pretty small. In order to have enough to offer a selection at all of their stores, they'd have to order a pretty good chunk of product up-front, which might be too much risk for a board that's averse to anything that doesn't look like guaranteed profit.

[Patrick Boyle]

And there's the ever-morphing MMO that I believe is now a shooter where you fight for worlds, but who knows when that'll actually release or what it'll be like. (And then there's the sad tale of the RPG we'll never get to play.)

There's not really anything 'ever-morphing' about Eternal Crusade, they've been very upfront about what it was going to be basically since it was announced. They didn't say it in these terms exactly, but they've basically been describing a blend of Planetside 2 and Relic's Space Marine. And you can even play it now; it was in closed Alpha for founder's pack purchasers for a few months and has since gone Early Access on Steam. As such it's still a bit rough around the edges and playable Orkz and Eldar aren't in yet, but they're coming.

[Erik Setzer]

There's not really anything 'ever-morphing' about Eternal Crusade, they've been very upfront about what it was going to be basically since it was announced. They didn't say it in these terms exactly, but they've basically been describing a blend of Planetside 2 and Relic's Space Marine. And you can even play it now; it was in closed Alpha for founder's pack purchasers for a few months and has since gone Early Access on Steam. As such it's still a bit rough around the edges and playable Orkz and Eldar aren't in yet, but they're coming.

I was actually referring not to the specific game, but to the concept of a 40K MMO. IIRC, the original was going to be a more standard MMORPG, which then looked like it'd become a single-player RPG, and even that seems to have disappeared. It eventually landed on the current concept of an MMO FPS with factions fighting for control of planets (I assume that's still in there). I have no problem with that kind of game, could be fun (might be a beast to balance and remain "fluffy," though). But it *is* a good bit different from the first reports of a 40K-related MMO years ago. And it has gone through some changes. To be fair, a lot of MMOs do (see SWTOR for a great example, where the game gutted multiple features just before launch).

I saw it's on Early Access, but given what that's like across the industry, I'll hold my money until I'm not paying to be a tester. Too many other games have made that a bad prospect, nothing against EC itself.