Oh how GW has failed me.....Let me count the ways (7 of them in honor of 7th ed)

[Comrade_Nikolai]

Here's some food for thought. 7th Ed is comprised of three books, each one numbered. Book One? All about the models. Book Two? All about the setting and the background. Book Three? All about how you play a game featuring the stuff in Book One and Book Two. That to me really sets out GW's stall. If it's not your bag it's not your bag. But it's what GW wanted to produce.

Here's some more food for thought. GW are the ones that used to run tournaments and could therefore be considered as responsible for people still wanting to play tournaments using their system. At some points in the past, their tournaments were even comped (no special characters).

[Mr Mystery]

And now they're not. It's not unheard of for businesses to change approach.

[Defenestratus]

It's not unheard of for businesses to change approach.

2nd half 2013 Gross Operating Profit 7.7m GBP.
Year prior? 11.0m GBP

Changing their approach really seems to be working out for them!!

I realize that correlation != causality but GW is continuing to alienate its customers either through price, quality, or customer conduct.

[Comrade_Nikolai]

And now they're not. It's not unheard of for businesses to change approach.

Its quite rare that they alienate this much of their customer base though.

Lets see what it costs them.

[Mr Mystery]

But what percentage is actually alienated?

We don't have anything like enough suitable data for any more than the odd anecdote. And as a Fortean, I'm a firm believer that the plural of anecdote is not data.

[Harley]

The whole topic reminds me of Climate Change.

GW apologists deny the division of the 40k community and alienation of the fanbase, citing lack of evidence and clear statistical data.

Meanwhile, the polar glaciers (in this case the fanbase) are beginning to look a bit like Swiss cheese.

[Mr Mystery]

Locally perhaps. That's my whole point. Talking Heads on the Internet aren't particularly representative.

I mean, how many posters does BoLS have registered? And how many of those are expressing alienation? Can that be taken as representative of the wider gaming community? I dunno.

[spaceman91]

I have recently felt a little alienated but not from GW but from the local store. Not felt very welcome in the store for quite some time. Shame as I love the hobby.

[Mr Mystery]

In what way?

[spaceman91]

Its hard to explain but some of the staff ( not all ) have really not been friendly. Its sort of like because I'm a established gamer that I'm not as important as some one new.