Games Workshop Behaving Badly? Warhammer and GWs Monopoly…
Auspex Tactics
Views: 64674
Like: 4140
Let’s talk a little about GW and some of their more questionable decisions lately…
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0:00 Intro
1:54 Some Grievances
5:19 Warhammer + GW
7:56 Community Action?
27.01.2022
The youtubers had a good run and made good money for a while with ad revenue and patreon. This like all things must come to an end. Dump the paywall(Patreon) and keep doin what u do. If u truly do it for the viewers. To disseminate info u will keep doin it. But watch the big youtubers disappear because they can't sit at home make a video and publish it and make a couple grand a month through Patreon.
I’m just taking a break now and probably gonna move over to something like legion.
Look into infinity by Corvus Belli, free rules, a tight ruleset with very good balance, free army builder with company support, proxy in a tournament, no colour restrictions and the lore, stunning miniatures, etc, oh GIVE IT A LOOK PLEASE!
Thank you for covering this Auspex! Idk if you saw the conversations we were having on your community post but this is exactly what we need right now
I started last year with Indomitus and I am alreay tired with this company.
Mainly we are all at fault. If all 40k players decided to do kings of war or another game giving GW an abysmal quarter we would see change. But we don't so we won't.
GW has mostly lost me at this point. I recently managed to get an entire game, the new aliens game by gale force nine, for as much as a single box of intercessors. In addition, i can buy the base game for that, both expansions, and the scenery set for less than 200 bucks, and i wont have worry about the company saying “oooooo we have a new codex you need! Ooooooo now we are raising our prices to 45 bucks for a box of cadians! Ooooo now we are dumping another batch of stupid primaris marines!” I’m kinda done with 40k for the time being. The fact that the company just seems to be ruining the lore of a cool sci if universe for the sake of more money, raising prices, shutting down fan animators, and just the fact that other games give me much more bang for my buck have driven me away
I was about to spend about 150 pounds on gw but after all this bullshit I bought 4 mtg commander decks for me and my friends to play together with balance and tight ruleset.
Some time ago I started on Star Wars Legion, while smaller in scale, it has fixed the 'go first, 60% win' advantage, while being a science fiction I like.
My man's vocal inflection sounds like he ends every sentence with a comma.
I just started getting heavily into 40k miniatures last year. I got my first box of Chaos Space Marines shortly after I got out of a month-long quarantine. And all I could say is I wish I had picked up the hobby DURING it.
I've started hoarding junk for scrap builds of terrain. I've amassed a good $400 or so in minis. I'm actually trying to learn other skills involved with the hobby, as well as pursuing my odd curiosities.
At the risk of sounding cliche, this hobby has pulled me out of a rut in my life. And it pains me to know this shit was bad before and only has been getting worse.
Dear Games Workshop,
No. Fuck off.
Thanks.
Not played in a few years, they're so many horror stories from ex employees and how they were treated, many sued and got big money, the rules have been getting worse and worse, not played since 6th edition but from what I've seen it's not getting better, talking about that slippery slope they have started copyright strikes on some battle reporters, they're a few references on reddit about these, but they're limited for now and not a broad strikes
I actually prefer old-style GW to the Rountree iteration. These games should be for legacy fans first and everyone else second.
I get the outrage and anger. I don't agree with their business practices, absolute trash. However, there are normal people who rely on the hobby to live, who are still relying on those jobs. Shop owners, low level employees at GW, and others who will suffer first when the sales stop. It's a fine line, executives and those in power won't make changes based on that, they'll just cut employees and continue doing what they do. You'll only punish hardworking people trying to get by…..it's a no win situation
A mass, collective boycott is the way to go. Even just for a short period, say two weeks, where no-one buys a thing from GW. Once they see the impact on their bottom line they'll start to pay attention to the consumer. If we can organise a boycott once, we can do it again.
At the end of the day, we're what keeps them afloat, without us they don't exist. Make them appreciate that fact.
How much faith do they really have in Warhammer+ to try and get every other channel covering 40K content to stop with their new IP policy?
Yea my friend and I went to marvel protocol for a while. Pretty fun so far.
I’m not really surprised, nor am I really upset. Except for Cursed City, so really wanted that one. But really it’s been years since I have purchased any 40k items. I had abandoned GW years ago after being abused by the company with their previous apathy to the fans and customers (Melodrama I know). I recently picked up some Warcry stuff but am using it for roleplaying. I just can’t abide giving them my hard earned money anymore.
Well said.
It’s the suits and execs that are-as usual, the problem, not the mid tier dudes who are just into the hobby.
Fuck em.
I am so close to putting my army up for sale, mainly due to the Codex Creep. Unless Necron become viable in the next year, I have War Machine and Infinity in my sights with the proceeds.
Great video, but please stop calling it "Pile of Shame". I'm quit proud of it 😉
GW exercising nasty business practices? Oh, it must be Tuesday.
Guys, this is GW. This is what they've always been. They are not a nice company even if they do have a pretty epic set of IPs.
Real shame. Don't think I will subscribe to Warhammer+, even with the free special edition models.
Lack of support for Cursed City…..then why have articles for it been appearing in White Dwarf?
Of course they have a ‘monopoly’ on war hammer. It’s their product. That’s like saying Samsung have a monopoly on Galaxy phones………
Same old … same old. I started in Historical, had a dabble in GW games for 5 years or so, then dropped out after the latest codex changes became obvious engines to suck more money out of me! Back to historical! That was 10 years ago.. still gaming, just not warhammer or 40k. Wargaming is more varied than warhammer!
I just paint the larger models from gw and forge but will now be going to vallejo for paints and independents printers for models especially due to this IP crap….I want more tts
I can understanding them wanting to protect their IP. A lot of those fan films and what have you are literally just taking the IP and using the fame and marketing generated by GW to boost their own careers rather than trying to make something original. I know a lot of this stuff is made with love and passion, but fan creations of an existing high profile property are definitely an easy path to fame (unless you get stomped on by the original owners). There are big rewards to such projects (a large pre-existing audience and the benefit of the host organism's marketing budget), but I think anyone making something like that knows the risks too. The fact that GW tried to work with them rather than just crushing them is progress vs GW circa 10 years ago.
That said I think GW have made some bad moves over the last few years (particularly in pricing and in the scheduling of some of their army books) and I also think they'd be crazy to try to stop Bat-reps and channels like this one as such channels are very beneficial to GW. It's just free advertising and it hardly competes with what GW do. Nor can it be mistaken for official product and thus damage the IP.
As to the product shortages of late, I don't think those were ideal for GW but they were perhaps done due to the vast cost of distribution at the moment. With higher distribution costs it becomes more effective to sell lower volumes at a higher price. Hopefully GW will move away from these limited releases again once the world catches up with itself and shipping costs are no longer so astronomically high.
The only way is an heart breaking boycott… Video game industry is also rotting for ten years now, and it is going to be worse in the near future. Same problem in western politics… The only way to make them change, is to hit where it hurts : WALLET.
im just going to buy kill team get the compendium and stay away from GW for a good while. sad since ive dropped almost $1000 in the last year lol
Im a definite hobby gamer, since 3rd ed 40k but sadly GW has effectively priced me out of buying their products except perhaps as a Christmas gift. I started a kings of war historical army and have amassed a decent amount of units for fractions of GW prices … You can't argue with £19 for a unit of 40 selucid phalanx when you'd be lucky to get 5 or 10 40k or AoS minis for that.
Hit them in the wallet. That they`ll notice.
By the way, GW did go after Tabletop simulator in the past taking down mods and such… Did not work though but you know what will? Actually giving the candy that is the Warhammer IP license to them and split the profit from paid DLC like what normal people do.
Gw fanbois: GW has a monopoly
The rest of us: If you say so
Seriously though GW has shit on its fans for decades now, the whole business model is centered around pulling in new blood at the expense of the last "generation" of fans. Rick Prestly said it best "the point is not to create a well made game, its to make a game that best spotlights the models to sell." Seriously who needs 9 editions and 30 years to get a game right.
I'm never buying GW again until TTS is back
If the company tanks I would be happy to buy games workshops ip. What they're doing right now is just ridiculous.
I have not believed any of this anti GW stuff…but now hearing it from someone as even tempered and reliable as auspex…it makes me wonder. 8th wasnt perfect but it worked very well. I think the whole 9th edition was a bad idea from GW the power creep is the worst I have ever seen.
any change they made was purely propaganda. they have ALWAYS been megalomaniac bastards.
cardboard and a 3d printer, im sure you can all keep yourselves busy with what youve got .. i sure can!! back to some dungeon crawlers i think
Auspex, I have no problem with you ALSO covering other games, I'm not sure who you think would have a problem with that.
If you drew a venn diagram of the core customers GW sells to (the ones actually buying a bunch of new models every month, getting the codexes, buying black library books etc.) and the folks saying they want to boycott over GW's IP policy, there would only a be a sliver of overlap.
Like GW's core customer base is already subbed to WH+ and probably doesn't give a shit astartes if off youtube
If you want balance play bolt action! A rifleman is a rifleman is a rifleman! and its made by GW veterans who left GW.
Aussie veteran playing 40k since 1994 here. I came back to 9th after 7th and picked up Indomitus. Wish I hadn't. the pricing, codex structure (with TERRIBLE layout and constant FAQs and updates – where are the editors???) and "need to keep up" combined with their treatment of content creators has made me abandon the current stuff. Back to 2nd edition with a bunch of older players as it's what we loved, but I highly recommend going back to an old edition you already have the love for, the books and (likely unpainted) models. It means you already know nothing else is coming out, you can buy things cheaper 2nd hand or delve into the pile of shame and GW does't get a cent and doesn't have the chance to impose itself now into your games at home.
Infinity the Game is awesome.
Having played 40k since 1993, their behavior is so bad at this point, I will not be spending any more money with them. They have their pound of flesh from me, and I have a bunch of awesome models. But the game, IMO, sucks and is probably my least favorite edition. It's overly complicated (not that that hasn't been a thing in the past), you have to own 15 books to keep up with it, and I just don't think it is fun anymore. GW has turned anti-consumer and I'm just done. They are other companies out there that treat their customers well and have great products.
I feel like the prices are ridiculous
Am I the only one old enough to remember what GWS did to the UK hobby gaming industry in the '90s, and tried to do in the US? GWS has never been a nice bunch of guys. Their business model has always been predatory and destructive toward the competition, to say nothing of parasitic toward their retailers. I don't think it's overstating things to describe GWS as a cult-like business operation of which L. Ron Hubbard would have been proud to have founded. =9[.]9=
Games Workshop should have a monopoly on Warhammer given it is their IP.
That being said, it's not really a monopoly and if it is, you then have to consider all IPs as monopolies.
Other than that, this is probably the most balanced and reasonable take on the recent community upheaval.
Good work.
Won't be long untill GWs IP team start attacking and stripping Warhammer cosplayers at events 🤣😂
Cursed City has just been announced as a new settings book for Cubicle 7's Soulbound AoS RPG…
So many other things to play. Hurt GW in their share price, then they will listen.