What do you think of Jervis Johnson?

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**legoburner**

Since people routinely say blanket statements 'we love X' and 'we hate X' trying to speak for the whole community, I thought I'd run some polls on the bigger figures in GW to see what people really think of them...

Keep personal attacks out of this forum and out of this website. It goes without saying that very few people here will have actually met him so this is based entirely on his contributions to GW. If you have met him then anecdotes are welcome so long as they are not rude or against the rules of this website.

My personal opinion: Very positive - the man who gave us blood bowl deserves nothing less imho.

**Just Dave**

I've got nothing against him atm, have seen a lot of hate against him though...

**lord_blackfang**

I do seem to recall public playtesting going on when he was in charge of Specialist Games. And free rulebooks and such. Crazy.

**olympia**

Jervis Johnson? That can't be his real name.

**Redbeard**

I spoke to him at the GT in Chicago last year. Any hate directed towards him is well justified. I put down very negative, as a result of that conversation. He told me, to my face, that by wanting clear rules, I was not the sort of person that he was writing rules for. (In those words)

For a developer of a imagination-based game system to be so willfully opposed to making any progress in game design is despicable. GW has progressed by leaps and bounds in terms of miniature design, and manufacturing. New molds and sculpts are amazing.

But their game design is stuck in the 80's and they refuse to make any advances. In talking to him, his approach was that they deliberately make ambiguous rules, because they do not believe that the game should be played in a competitive manner, and by writing ambiguous rules, it reinforces the 'basement game' approach.

Utter BS. I believe that it is he, and other old-guard GW designers, that are holding the Games in Games Workshop back. The sooner he retires and they get someone in charge who can see that it is possible for a game to appeal to beer&pretzel players, while still being written well enough for competitive players, the better.

**CadianXV**

Jervis, IMHO, gets a lot of stick for no real reason. His column in White Dwarf may not appeal to everyone, but can contain some interesting thoughts. Granted he has a tendancy to prattle on, but this shouldn't earn him all the hate it does.

I believe he contributes greatly, in his own way, to the hobby-therefore I gave him a positive opinion.

**Eidolon**

I thought he was very good when he was in charge of specialist games. However the approach that GW has taken towards competitive gaming is not something im interested in. I feel you can have a competitive game played casually. How many of you have played football or poker in a friendly environment?

**zatchmo**

Redbeard, you hit the nail on the head for me.

I answered neutral opinion because I am new to the hobby and don't know exactly how previous editions were, but, from a clarity standpoint, the rules to 40k are abysmal.

I've heard other people say that he has said similar things to them about the rules, and as a completely casual gamer, I think that it is complete BS that they write "ambiguous" rules for casual gamers. I see nothing wrong with making the game appeal to a casual crowd and writing rules that the entire community can agree on.

The ridiculous ambiguity in some of the rules is what has kept me from playing with people outside of my playgroup, because I don't want to have to go through all those arguments again with someone I may only play once.

**Cryonicleech**

I don't know what to say, as there has to be some truth to why people don't like him.

He seems to hate tournament gamers (or severely dislike them)

**Iron_Chaos_Brute**

I can't stand Standard Bearer....

**Vladsimpaler**

Very negative.

He deserves nothing more than that.

**Zaxter**

I quite like Standard Bearer. Apart from that neutral. I voted positive opinion.

**Krellnus**

I have only one thing to say about Jervis
UBERCHEESE!
To be honest though, I find the standard bearer articles rather enlightening (as enlightening as someone's all expenses paid personal blog page can be)
I don't really see what the problem everyone has with him is.

**Flashman**

Neutral really. I have fond memories of the JJ and Andy Chambers days of WD where it was all about the hobby, but I now find his state the obvious ramblings in standard bearer kind of irritating.

**Sidstyler**

Simply negative...because of what Redbeard said before, his soapbox column in White Dwarf, etc.

**1hadhq**

Positive.

Last standart bearer had "no pre paints from GW ever" and "no computer aided gimmiks for our games",
so we'll stay save from this "ready to use" approach so many hobbies have turned into...

A JJ thread without H.B.M.C ?

**Eldar Own**

So he's the 40K/WHFB/LoTR/other god, well certainly is addresed like that.

NB. Regarding the note under his profile about being avle to summon him if you say his name 7 times in front of a mirror, it doesnt really work. Sorry.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Its 8 times.

Lol

**Che-Vito**

Iron_Chaos_Brute wrote:I can't stand Standard Bearer....

From this, it makes it quite clear that Jervis thinks quite highly of himself, and loves to toot his own horn for the heck of it.

Vladsimpaler wrote:Very negative.

He deserves nothing more than that.

Narcissism has no place in proper leadership or management, and I heartily agree with the above two posters.

**KingCracker**

Again I know WHO he is, but aside from that nothing lol. I hear people complain about him ALOT, but then again that isnt surprising lol.

**Cane**

Voted positive since GW has exceeded my expectations even in the failing economy by being able to generate a profit in these times.

Redbeard's comments are interesting and while it has a great point I still think GW products, especially 40k and Space Hulk, have and always will be a better beers and prezels game than a truly competitive one. This goes hand in hand with their concept of 'number one rule is cool and to have fun' which helps alleviate the problems inherent in a system where codices are completed as new models are ready to be shipped.

I support Jervis' mindset and the majority of players will not game competitively on a level where air tight rules is needed as it'd also likely sap away GW's "Wow THAT just happened? Cool/fun!" approach. The rules are good enough for casual competition and how Jervis presented himself to Redbeard they seem almost more like a guideline to follow than words etched in stone; promoting people to use their own house rules and build a community that way.

**Eidolon**

Cane wrote:
I support Jervis' mindset and the majority of players will not game competitively on a level where air tight rules is needed as it'd also likely sap away GW's "Wow THAT just happened? Cool/fun!" approach. The rules are good enough for casual competition and how Jervis presented himself to Redbeard they seem almost more like a guideline to follow than words etched in stone; promoting people to use their own house rules and build a community that way.

Except for the fact that you can play competitive games casually. Its much harder to do the opposite. You can play poker or chess casually. You cannot play uno or yahtzee competitively however. I see no problem with them having much clearer rules, it would not affect casual play and would beef up the competitive aspect of the game.

**Lord-Loss**

Cane, sure I dont mind not having air tight rules, I just want rules that aint utter gak.

**crazypsyko666**

He seems to be more into the hobby aspect of the game, which is great, and I believe he could progress games workshop forward if he were to do JUST that; work in the hobby aspect. I think he is dragging the game down into a pit of tar by its neck first, and that disturbs me. He writes too many codexes, and doesn't do enough of what he's good at, which is concepts.

**Eldar Own**

crazypsyko666 wrote:He seems to be more into the hobby aspect of the game, which is great, and I believe he could progress games workshop forward if he were to do JUST that; work in the hobby aspect. I think he is dragging the game down into a pit of tar by its neck first, and that disturbs me. He writes too many codexes, and doesn't do enough of what he's good at, which is concepts.

True he hasnt been in very many battle reports and you wouldnt trust his opinion on the wargaming front, but he is the only person (other than the editor) who always says something in WD.

**MeanGreenStompa**

He's out of touch.
His articles are self aggrandising and hollow.
His opinion reeks of the stagnation and arrogance of the company in refusing to engage the consumer base or grant even the slightest acknowledgement to anyone who is complaining. Instead we are treated to 'oh your being too competitive' or 'oh, old and bitter players, you can move on whilst we concentrate on shoving The Product at children'.
He's the face of GW, whilst not the MD of the company, he does peddle the propaganda something chronic.

**Yggdrasil**

Erh.. I voted for a "positive opinion".

The overall feelings seemed quite mixed for now, having between 7% for "hate", to 28% for "neutral".

Apparently everyone has different views about him, but aren't we a bunch of utterly different people with a small common interest in our hobby?!?
Even among us, there are some guys who could never relate to some others (for instance, the "ubercompetitive geek" and the "romantic-gothic-sci-fi poet/painter" archetypes), so I guess that's fair.

As for me I cannot deny that a load of hiw words are just some random nabbling; still, I have sometimes read a few sentences in the Standard Bearer that have made me think differently about the hobby, and for that I thank him.

And he's one of GW's cornerstone, so he can't be THAT wicked.

Cheers,

Raphaël

**metallifan**

While I still think that Jervis has some chance for redemption, alone he won't find it. I think if Jervis were ever knocked down a peg and they put more of a 'beer & pretzels' thinker in his place, Jervis would realize what he was doing wrong.

That's not to say I wouldn't drive up onto the curb and run him over with my car if I ever saw him walking down a street regardless, but I still hope that he'll turn around in time and see where he made his major feth-ups and kind of hurt GW's image as a result.

**Cosmic**

Hack into my private details and launch a missile to my mobile/cell phone, I haven't played a game of Warhammer (40,000) since early 4th edition. Maybe I should, but I'm really not that bothered as of yet.

So, from this point of view, I have allot of time for Jervis and his wishes to keep things fun and free. He seems like a nice guy, and his attitude towards the rules and such reflect the casual gamer. I don't think that many people started out in the hobby because they wanted to play hard-core games with miniatures. It was probably because they wanted something enjoyable to do, or a release of some sort.

**Da Boss**

From talking to him in person, he seems like a nice guy. Stuff like Epic, Blood Bowl and the specialist games are good.
However, his attitude towards tightening up the rules reeks of arrogant lazyness, so I voted neutral.

**Tyranid Horde**

I have no clue who he is