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So there's this deal. You pay 60 dollars for a magazine subscription
(renewal or new) to White Dwarf and they give you a chance to win every
box they are producing (~2000 USD) .

It's a cool prize, but the slim chance of winning it is not worth it to subscribe to WD again. At first it appears to be kinda generous that they're giving away all that stuff, until you remember when they gave away a model to everyone who subscribed. Then this offer seems downright cheap.

My WD subscription ran out a few years ago. If I was planning on resubsribing I would whether or not this contest was going on. And it sure as hell isn't going to get me to do it now that I don't want to. I'd be surprised if this actually motivated many people to pony up the $60 if they didn't already want to.

The magazine is terrible, and balance of the box sets are not useful to you even in the unlikely circumstance that they arrive at your door. Why pay $60 for a glossy hardcopy of GW online and a heap of improbable plastic of questionable utility?

Posted By malfred on 10/24/2006 2:03 PM
So there's this deal. You pay 60 dollars for a magazine subscription
(renewal or new) to White Dwarf and they give you a chance to win every
box they are producing (~2000 USD) .

It's not even every box set, just the battleforce, battalion, and legion box sets (23 in all). As to the value of the prize, it probably cost GW less than $100 (which is being generous) while hordes of morons will sign up in hopes that they are "the one".

Remember when these prizes didn't cost anything? Like the old MEGA PRIZE SWEEPSTAKES of yesteryear? Or when a WD promo not only offered a discount on the annual magazine price compared to the newstand cost (like every other mag subscription does), but you also got some sort of nifty freebie, like $25 worth of bitz or a free $20 or less box of your choice through mail order?

No, not that last crappy deal where you tell GW what armies you play and hope they send you something on the list, much less useful as they cleared out their overstock.

And then there is the mag itself. Even the Robin Dews issues were better. Hell, the RT era issues were better. They had content. Templates to scratch build vehicles, or how to convert kits into something else, a letters page (gone now that the bean counters had Dirty Steve fired... I mean "let go" , fan input, experimental rules, 'Eavy Metal articles that had GD worthy figures (and not the photshopped hack jobs). Worse, is the magazine is now twice the size as those ancient issues yet has half the content.

No, I think I'll be saving my $60 and spending on something I'm more likely to get a decent return on, like the lottery.

WD has been better lately, but I wouldn't renew just for miniatures.

Since the promotion obviously doesn't interest you guys, I would say its a blatant failure if its attempt was to woo back those players who rarely (if ever) buy WD into getting a subscription.

However, I'd wager that it wasn't directed at players such as yourself. Instead it is likely for those players who fairly regularly buy WD but don't currently have a subscription (Its obviously also a nice freebie to those who already have a subscription).

So you have to ask yourself: If I currently bought WD nearly every month at my FLGS, would this promotion be enough to get me to buy a subscription instead? I'm guessing the answer is yes.

If enough of *those* players buy a subscription due to this promotion, then this will be a successful promotion. GW obviously makes more money off of WD subscriptions than those sold at stores as all the profit goes to them.


IMO, you guys sound pretty silly saying: "this promotion is stupid because its like the lottery/the prize isn't big enough".

The promotion isn't aimed at you! I would imagine they would have to give away a $30 item with each subscription to get interest from those who never buy WD, either that or a lottery contest where the prize was 10-20k.

If they gave a free $30 item with subscription it would be almost as good as the $20 item you could get several years ago when I first subscribed.

That's what I'm wondering. You're right in that if the money they make off of
new subscriptions surpasses the value of the giveaway then the promotion
was successful. But isn't there an intangible value to promotion and advertising
where the point of the endeavor is to build faith and trust? I'd say that they
failed at that.

Posted By yakface on 10/24/2006 6:34 PM

IMO, you guys sound pretty silly saying: "this promotion is stupid because its like the lottery/the prize isn't big enough".

The promotion isn't aimed at you! I would imagine they would have to give away a $30 item with each subscription to get interest from those who never buy WD, either that or a lottery contest where the prize was 10-20k.

 

I was going to renew my subscription, but Yakface said it wasn't directed toward me, so now I'm not!

In your face,  GW!

I was once tempted to subscribe to White Dwarf, but I got over it.

As has been pointed out, usually a subscription offers the subscriber the benefit of a discount off the 'newstand price'.  The publishing company benefits because its' advertisers can get their pap directly into your mailbox.  GW doesn't have advertisers, so I guess they have no incentive to give us a subscription discount.  Hell, these days we are basically paying for a monthly catalog- with content that was previously published online, for free.

I'm glad the last couple of issues haven't completely sucked. There was a long spell there in the summer when the suckage level was high. Damn high.  Those issues are still sitting on the shelf at my FLGS.

I'd renew if they brought back the 1 year get a boxe set, 2 years get 2 or a bigger one.

I wonder if the 6 month codex cycle contributes to the 4 months of nothing in WD.

I was thinking the same thing. The long period of really bad WDs seemed to coincide with the long period of no new releases. Except for Legions of Middle Earth, and nobody cared about that.

I would disagree. The really bad WD's coincided just fine with new releases in WFB and 40K. Already forgetting the 200+ mentions of the new Giant model? How about the issue from what 2 months ago that started a batrep but stopped after showing the units and mission? The newest edition is not better. Where's the fluff? Where's the new potential lists? Where's the detailed notes on why the new eldar units are coming up?

Well, 200+ mentions of the new giant model, and lots of pictures, etc., yet in the end the rules for the giant remain unchanged. Just months of advertising, promotion of the new product, blatant shilling by Jervis... wait, the latest WD has all that too. Damn!

Is this even legal? I thought that such contests (where prizes are determined by chance) had to be "no purchase necessary", ie no entry fee?

Cool! Let's all send in our entrance cards.

I called gw today really hyping the whole "I want to subscribe to this wonderful magazine you call white dwarf" rigamorale.

The guy was totally trying to sell it to me until I started asking questions like:

Do you think you will be putting any new scenarios for killteam in the future?

"No, we dont place any rules in white dwarf anymore" (way to sell a mag, atleast he didnt lie though)

Will the magazine be able to help me play better games, as in tactical articles? How to use a certain squad type of artcile? Do you use outside sources t help you write these anymore, or are they all inhouse now?

"Yeah! We cover a alot of tactice in our battle reports..."

You mean the ones where they dont use the rules or have correct pint costs for their armies?

"...well sometimes it gets exagerrated but for the most part, the tactics are sound." ( I didnt say this, but I was thinking "Like moving 6" in the movement phase for infantry! How revolutionary!")

I am so glad you guys fired fat ass or fat bloke or whatever that dudes name was. He was annoying how he always quipped his little remarks in the middle of articles in the magazine like anyone cared what he thought.

"...uh ...so you have read white dwarf in the past then I gather?"

So in your words, why should I subscibe to white dwarf?

"(gives marketting crap about the lottery giveaway for almost two minutes, then proceeds to...) ...We also have great modelling articles and golden demon showcases!"

So in essence I am paying $60 for your catalog.

"Its so much more than a catalog!"

How is that? And you admit it is a catalog?

"Well, not a catalog really, but a great look at what we offer, news, special offers to our readers, in depth looks at how we make models too!"

But it sounds like its essentially a catalog, I mean I hear you dont advertise for anyone else besides your own company.

"Our games are so great, we dont have room for other companies"

Thanks for your time, you have helped me decide on saving my $60.

You went all "V for Vendetta" on a mail order troll.

You've got sand, I'll give you that.

Hellfury, you just tortured a poor mail order troll who did nothing to you except work for the man. Does that give you personal fulfillment?

So seriously, how do we enter without a subscription? I went to their website and it didn't say anything about this sweepstakes, though it did have an offer of a free Cpt Sicarus model with 1-yr subscription.

Maybe the no purchase necessary thing is not a rule in the UK? Or does it make difference?

Back to your telephone Hellfury!

Posted By nyarlathotep667 on 10/24/2006 5:06 PM
Remember ... when a WD promo ... offered a discount on the annual magazine price compared to the newstand cost (like every other mag subscription does ... ?

Am I missing something?

Subscription to White Dwarf: $60 for 12 issues over the year, or $5 per issue.

White Dwarf bought every month in a FLGS: $6.60 per issue or $79.20 for 12 issues per year.

Isn't almsot $20 enough of a discount for you?

Posted By malfred on 10/27/2006 4:00 AM
Maybe the no purchase necessary thing is not a rule in the UK? Or does it make difference?

If that's the case then wouldn't "void where prohibited" make it impossible to win if you're in the US?

Wait, isn't the White Dwarf just 6 bucks? It's been a while since I actually bought one and
paid attention. Is the cover price 6 bucks or 6.60, or is Stu-Rat figuring in taxes?

Here's some comparable hobby/specialist magazines and their subscription prices:

White Dwarf (GW): $6.60 ea (Cost on subscription: $5 ~ 24.4% savings ): Full colour

No Quarter (Privateer): $5.95 (Subscription N/A - Short print): Full colour

Dragon Magazine (WOTC): $5.99 (Subscription: $3.33 ~ 44.5% savings): Full colour

Fine Scale Modeller: $5.50 (Cost on subscription: $3.95 ~ 28% savings) - Full colour

Hobby Japan: $10.00 (Subscription N/A - Import) - Contains: In-depth scratch build projects, dioramas, military modelling, hobby show reviews. Full colour glossy/newsprint hybrid magazine - roughly twice the thickness of White Dwarf.

Newtype: $10.00 ($8.09 - Online for ~20% savings) - Contains: Anime reviews, manga content, glossy/newsprint hybrid magazine. Price includes monthly Posters, DVD and/or Toy giveaway. Oversize format.

So... as far as I can tell, from a pure pricing standpoint, and subscription pricing standpoint, White Dwarf isn't really out of line. However, when content is compared against the other listed magazines, White Dwarf is uh... kind of hurt by its tunnel vision like focus. I've seen people compare White Dwarf to Newtype as a specialty mag, but Newtype has loads of giveaways every month and regular features such as monthly exclusive comics, which White Dwarf can not match. If it was priced similar to say, Dragon Magazine, nobody would have any complaints.

It would be cool if they released a longrunning comic series in WD and then
as a tradebook later. That would be awesome.

I want No Quarter to do that, too.

I'd still have complaints at $3.33. I am not into paying for a glorified catalog, and frankly, thats what it has become (and why I did not renew my subscription). Interestingly, that will remove one of my big complaints about GW.

Since when has WD been $6.60 an issue? Or is that a Canadian thing? Like jfrazell, even at $3.33 USD an issue I wouldn't be paying for it (and for the same reasons). Start including optional/trial rules, new gear, conversion clinics that aren't thinly veiled attempts at selling overpriced bitz (ie: motorcycle Rough Rider that costs $80 or whatever a fig...), etc. Until it becomes a "hobby mag" I'll not be buying any glorified catalog for $6.

And Hellfury, that's hilarious. Kudos to you for calling them up and torturing that poor MO troll. Now we just need someone to point out to them the illegality of running a sweepstakes that requires a purchase or find out where we need to send our free entries to (and automate it).

The WD I buy at my FLGS is 5.99 US$. The one I would get from a subscription would be $5.  A $12 savings is nothing to sneeze at, in these days of inflation.

On the other hand, my wife's copy of Cooking Light costs 4.50 $US at the newstand, while her subscription runs only $16.00 and includes a bonus holiday issue. That is about a 70% discount, as buying the rag at the stand would run $54 per year.

Admittedly, Cooking Light never gave away one of everything they make, either.