PRICE RAISE!!!

[Sanai]

I'm not alienated at all Dan, I buy only games workshops products, It would be foolish of me not to make the most out of their kits, which they designed to be useable that way. I still love games workshops, warhammer and all of the various games they provide. What, you think they put those extra 10 bases in the grave guard kit by accident? You think the saving inherent in battalions is accidental on GWs part? Also, anything that is good for the hobby, is good for games workshop in the long run.
Also, I don't follow all of those points myself, I just recomend them to anyone who is having hobby money troubles. I buy all of my models new, not used, because I like to have the original packaging, to assemble them myself in my own way and soforth, and because it means more money for gw to use to develop more cool models.

 

[Dan_Lee]

I never bought the new GG, as I have plenty of the old models. I was under the impression that they stopped providing extra bases years ago. Characters used to come with a sprue of 4 bases, then they started breaking the sprues up so you didn't get any spares.

Clearly the batallions are designed to save you money and it was intentional by GW. As deals go though, they're variable and typically not brilliant. The tomb king batallion only saved you a tiny sum compared to buying them individually. Compare those to the mantic army deals and you'll stop considering GW batallions as being a deal at all.

Generally what's good for the hobby is good for GW. But its also good for their competitors (who are growing all the time). We just don't want to see GW (and therefore support for warhammer and their other games) disappear due to bad company policy.

I usually buy models new, but from online retailers such as ebay. Older metal models (that aren't really assembled in the same way as plastic kits) I'll happily buy second hand.

 

[Sanai]

I was shocked when I opened my grave guard box and saw two packets of 10 bases. So I got 10 extra bases.
The VC battallion is a good deal, as long as you actually want corpse carts/zombies in your army, as you basically get 20 skeletons for the price of 10 skeletons in the box.

 

[eastern barbarian]

Sanai, I suggest reading last GW financial report. Sales are unfortunately falling down and Australia went down by nearly 12% and that is BEFORE the embargo!

PS And yes, they had so many new expenses warranting price increases that Tom Kirby... decided to up his salary by 15%. So unfortunately it looks like we are paying for bigger dividends and Toms new swimming pool.

 

[Dan_Lee]

I expect your GG bases were a packaging mistake.

The VC batallion is ok once or twice for a beginner, but for me the problem is the corpse cart. People generally don't need more than one, limiting the usefulness of our batallion. Other batallions are better though, as they contain units you'd happily have many of, such as the tomb king batallion which contains skeletons and chariots. But I digress...

I just think GW need to cut their profits per sale and focus on increasing their sale volume instead. But I fear the latter involves more work on their part so they go for price raises instead (which only involve a bit of publicity and finding another excuse for them).

 

[Sanai]

I am still going to be buying VC battalions as I want a second corpse cart so I can model the other rider options (whip instead of big spear) and then perhaps a 3rd battalion (to bring me up to 60 skellies, 60 zombies and 30 ghouls) and the 3rd corpse cart just for the bits (I am planning a zombie giant conversion that will need corpse cart bits) but that is over the long term, and they might bring out a new, completely different battalion before then (probably when our new book comes out)
But I do agree that the corpse cart and zombies can be a big barrier to the usefulness of the battalion.
I do think driving up sales is a good idea for GW, and that whether or not the price raises are the right thing or not, the amount of hostility people feel towards them makes them a bad thing for GW even if they were fully justified and neccesary, but in the end we can all armchair CEO/Market all we like, we arent actually the people in the position to know exactly all of the details or to make those decisions. Heck, for all we know the guy/gal in charge of pricing could be a mantic spy driving the prices up to make mantic stuff sell more for all we know. My point is to try and avoid being too judgemental.

Hypothetically, if I was one of the big 'uns in GW, here is what I would probably do, based on the information I have now as a random consumer (my decisions would probably be slightly different if I really was a big un because of the information/know how I would have!)
1# Keep the price raises to a steady annual thing as much as possible, to keep up with inflation and rising costs but not to increase it too much. If you turn the heat up too fast the lizard jumps outta the pot, but if you steadily increase the temperature by increments you can boil him without him even noticing.
2# Bring back those occasional free models that came with White Dwarfs. Aenur the Sword of Twilight is a great example of this.
3# More 'Eavy Metal painting guides in white dwarves. They are one of the biggest incentives to buy white dwarf for me and I reckon every issue should have one.
4# Offer more support for specialist games, including bringing out new stuff/rules for them over time to keep them alive. The more games are being played by consumers, the more different scenery/rulebooks/models they will buy.
5# Create an official social website connected to gamesworkshop.com on which players can write the fluff of their army, battle reports (using an official GW online battle report plugin) and post paintlogs. This would create a great sense of community, and by having GW staff as moderators/admins on such things.... people would have more of a face to put on the gw corporation.

 

[eastern barbarian]

yeah, few good ideas there mate, but they "know" better.
I am really trying not to be judgemental but I am in that hobby for 16 years and see a lot of bad things happening recently that make me unhappy with GW. If it looks like a greedy businessman, behaves like a greedy businessman it is most likely a greedy businessman. Problem is that shareholders have muich more to say in GW than people that genuinely love that hobby. It is always a bad thing for the hobby itself.

 

[Dan_Lee]

I like your analogy of the boiled lizard Sanai - it seems to fit the bill quite nicely.

White Dwarf could definitively be handled better. I only recently bought an issue, having not touched it in years. It was ok, but the recent change to the delivery dates have only annoyed subscribers. If it was less of a sales pitch it would probably sell better. Throw in some interesting articles and freebies (not just "how to buy the latest models" articles and "how the latest army wins" battle reports) and sales could climb.

I believe specialist games never made big money, but they did provide nice alternatives, allow people to play with less models, etc. GW may disapprove of Mordheim because you only buy ~15 models to play it, but I think they've overlooked the fact that it helps people get playing in the early stages of buying an army.

The website thing isn't very feasible, as it would be overwhelmed by negative comments. They used to have user forums and they had to get rid of them in the end because they were too negative. They have their facebook account, which allows limited feedback. It is censored though. White Dwarf used to be a forum for hobbyist articles etc. (it still talks about submitting them in the small print on the first few pages), but I imagine most 3rd party articles won't meet their "criteria".

 

[merenwen]

Sanai: I think you should work for GW! You seem to know your stuff when it comes to corporate things.

I also wish White Dwarf had more painting guides or modelling/converting guides, it would help with making people want to buy the models and paints,glues, green stuff etc.

One thing which has annoyed me about the recent models (which has been mentioned) is the new sprue's have few to no extra bits to convert things or individualise things, also for example, I bought last year the empire wizard box for my necro and it came with loads of things to convert and individualise, then when these new wizards came out I bought the sorceress and it didn't have a single option to swap and change any weapon or anything! I wasn't happy with the lack of customisability. If GW are going to be upping their prices they shouldn't drop the amount we get for out money.

 

[merenwen]

Sanai: I think you should work for GW! You seem to know your stuff when it comes to corporate things.

I also wish White Dwarf had more painting guides or modelling/converting guides, it would help with making people want to buy the models and paints,glues, green stuff etc.

One thing which has annoyed me about the recent models (which has been mentioned) is the new sprue's have few to no extra bits to convert things or individualise things, also for example, I bought last year the empire wizard box for my necro and it came with loads of things to convert and individualise, then when these new wizards came out I bought the sorceress and it didn't have a single option to swap and change any weapon or anything! I wasn't happy with the lack of customisability. If GW are going to be upping their prices they shouldn't drop the amount we get for out money.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Interesting read.

Overall I do have to agree with the general consensus though. GW, whilst having the right to charge whatever it likes for its product, is raising its prices to much in my opinion.

There is raising prices due to inflation and so on - that is understandable and expected. However GW's prices rise much more sharply, the reduce the amount you get in the boxes etc. It's plainly clear that they are just trying to maximise the profit on the falling number of sales.

But as has been said, they do not seem to understand that they are a contributing factor to their sales loss. The sharp rises mean that wages do not go up to match the increase. Thus those on lower incomes cannot afford it, and stop buying reducing sales. If GW continues to do this they will go bust. One of their biggest customer bases is children, but how long do you think parents will continue to spend large amounts of money on such things?

I am not a GW hater. I love the world they have created, and some of the things they do are good (like our new rules in the WD!). But they are actually making it impossible for some people to buy models from them. Years ago when I started this, no one bought their models anywhere else. They were reasonably priced, plus you felt some kind of loyalty to GW. The freebies they used to give away, the great special events with prizes etc.

Other companies have started to use this, what GW have stopped doing. Mantic for example have a more "hands on" feel, and offer freebies and special deals. A lot of people are going to buy their product, and whilst it doesn't have the margins GW's boxes do, the sheer numbers they are starting to sell is causing their sales to grow.

I would have thought GW would notice this, and realise why this is happening. It will be interesting as competitors grow, to see what GW do.

 

[hairyjeff]

It's the old adage, isn't it-S.P.Q.R., Small Profit Quick Return, so charge slightly less and sell more. I know a guy who bought four shipping containers of unwanted blister toys, the type stuck on comic covers. Two days later, I asked what he was going to do with them...he'd already sold them. 0.01% profit. he made 6000 pounds in less than 48 hours. Sell it cheaper, sell it quicker, sell more of it.It's not a perfect match for GW's situation, but it illustrates the point.

 

[Fenrir]

I would have thought GW would notice this, and realise why this is happening. It will be interesting as competitors grow, to see what GW do.

£5 wager on them raising prices and putting out a statement about "Games Workshop produce the best miniatures in the industry"

 

[eastern barbarian]

yep, safe bet

 

[Sception]

I do wish there was a local indie store. I would totally give Mantic some business.

 

[hairyjeff]

Hey, Malisteen, it's all on line! I picked up some skellies after reading DoN's review. No delivery probs, great models (IMO ), and extremely economical. Plus, read the boxes carefully- there's a lot of 'in' jokes. Now they're my main source of models.

 

[Sception]

It's not that I'd need an indie store to buy it, it's that when I play, I do so at the local store, which is a GW and not an indie retailer, so 3rd party minis aren't allowed. The manager might be willing to make an exception for me as a friend, but I wouldn't want to put him in that kind of position. GW's turnover is ridiculous, though, and he's already looking to leave when he's able. When he does, I'll try and find some other store in the area that would let me use the Mantic models.