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Came back to the hobby after a 14 year break. Read the rules, started ammending some things my playing group didn't like. Realised there's more I dislike than like about the rules. Am writing up my own generic sci fi rules. Will continue to buy and use GW models though.

I don't think the rules are un-fun or anything, Just often illogical and written with little regard to balance and tactical gameplay. And the amount of material is increasingly expansive (and therefore expensive) to keep up with.

The speculative loss of the Vendetta hit me hard and caused me to rethink what GW is doing to IG, since i'm really not that fussed about being a cutting edge marine player.

Ha, they're finally getting rid of the Vendetta? Took them long enough.

Left WH40K 4 years ago and haven't looked back. Okay, I I've looked back, around and forward, but nothing has got me to return to the 40K gaming fold. I still have painted armies for 'Nids, SM, IG and Orks. I highly doubt I'll ever get rid of them, but who knows. That doesn't stop me from still collecting miniatures that strike my fancy...like Knights!

I personally used to play weekly, and paint whenever I had the mix of time and inspiration.

My local Store underwent some changes which drastically changed the clientelle and a lot of the regular visitors became ghosts, and a lot of hyper competitive players stayed, creating a very unfriendly and pretty boring environment. Once deciding I didnt wanna make the travel to play 3 turns of getting my behind whooped, I became purely a painter for pleasure.

However I will admit, the more time goes on the less motivated I am becoming and my extremely poor completed model output is reflecting this.

The Blacklibrary fiction books though, I dont think I'll ever stop reading. I just love the Warhammer 40k Universe too much Nothing beats bunkering down and reading about the mayhem and heroic antics of the characters of the 41st millenium

Bought an ork army and gave up fairly quickly. I think the game is a mess.

I still buy their stuff from time to time to use in home-brew skirmish games but I haven't played by the book since early in 6th.

 Frozocrone wrote:

I'm curious, how many people have been tempted or have actually quit the hobby? Poll included for answers, possibly left out some response options.

It has been a very long time since I've played 40k, but I am very far from leaving the hobby. I play games with miniatures two to three times a week, and I paint with an unreasonable percentage of my free time (not just professional time).

I still paint GW minis- even 40k minis from time to time. In fact, I'm working on restoring a Space Crusade set.

I started in 2nd ed, played for a couple of years (mostly small skirmish back then due to limited budget), but deeply enjoyed the game and fluff. Then 3rd ed happened and I just couldn't adapt to the huge crippling of the game. Stayed a while longer with Necromunda, but struggled with finding players, so I finally left, but kept all my minis.

I go back a year ago and I must say, that I deeply enjoy 7th ed, exactly because all that "bloated mess" and randomness people keep complaining about. It feels a lot more like 2nd ed now and I can "sink" into it just like I did back then, which was impossible for me in 3rd (and from what I gathered i would not enjoy 4th and 5th ed also)...

You might have enjoyed 4th. Honestly, I think GW drifted away from the

i started in 2nd, like you, and was shocked when 3rd ed took away all of our cool wargear, strategy cards and stuff. Didn't play for a while (did some Mordheim and Battletech in the interrim).

By the time they finished all of the 3rd ed codexes, they had really changed their philosophy away from the minimalism of 3rd, and were moving towards customization of your individual forces:

The Chaos Space Marine, Imperial Guard and Space Marine codexes at the beginning of 4th had tons of neat and fluffy options available. They really moved things away from the vanilla flavor of 3rd.

Left 40k at the tail end of 6th. Switched to Infinity and I've never been happier: better models, better rules, better product support.

I play on occasion with friends only.
Pickup games are for other game systems.
The present game of 40k does not lend itself well to strangers playing together.

I am unsure I could ever completely leave the overall story of 40k.
Too many books, PC games and miniatures for that ever to really happen.
I may complain of GW as a company now, but the body of work the company has put out over the decades is greater than the managers that presently run it.

<edit> I like my science fiction, the mentioned "Infinity" may be the next step outside of Star Wars for me to get into.

Played a lot during 3.5 to 4th. During the Golden Age of Chaos.

I stopped right when 5th came out. Bought rulebook and played 1 game.

6th ed played 1-2 games but still chatted with current players about game.

7th ed. Actually started playing weekly again. Oddly. the closure of a local shop forced me to put together a gaming table and build buy terrain. At the same time because of the stores closure, a friend started playing. Past few seasons we've played a narrative campaign. I write a storyline to follow games and create custom scenarios. I usually build balanced lists for the weekly scenario and divide armies based on who shows..

Its all FAAC, a lot of prep work but Im really enjoying the game more.

I quit during 2nd - but still collected the models. Came back at the tail end of 5th.

Right now I feel like I have full-up armies and I don't like where the rules have gone, so I haven't been playing 40K. I have instead been working on my own ruleset and intend to include armies from other games (such as AT-43) in my updated rules.

I left 40k after 5th edition, right when 6th came out. I still like assembling the models a lot and I sometimes even paint them, but I haven't out a mini on a table to play a game of 40k in over 4 years.

I haven't bought anything new in a long time - I accumulated enough models prior to quitting that at my assembling and painting pace should last me a decade. I will occaisionally pick up some third party stuff now and then, like Ork stuff from Kromlech or those Necron-ish heroes from that Costa Rican guy on ebay. I think the last GWS kit I bought was one of those big Ork transport mechs, I forget the name - they have 2 variants and transport 6, something like that? And I only bought that because it was half-price on clearance. I've never even opened the box.

The rules are just too much of a mess. GWS really should abandon rules entirely, outsource it to FFG or someone else, and just do models.

Not much 40K going on at gaming stores in my state or region these days, so I'm effectively out of the game. The FLGS tends to get resentful when people play games in their store if they're unwilling and unable to pay anything close to retail price for the product. Meanwhile people just don't seem to have fun at games. Everything takes forever, the rules are unwieldy, games are one-sided and players exude a depressed and morose aura. I have more fun sitting down with them and shooting the breeze about GW fluff than actually playing the game.
Can't stand the gamey attitude players are taking toward army list design these days. I'm glad we can't have eldar or skitarii in drop pods anymore, but unfluffy ally combos just make me sad. If players were nerfing themselves by taking Sisters with Marines or CSM with daemons that'd be one thing, but they only seem to do it in the spirit of gaining the advantage. Doesn't prove a lot if you ask me.

I just got in and I have no plans of getting out. The disadvantages of being orks is getting to me a little, but I've had a history of playing underpowered characters/classes/etc., so it's nothing I'm not used to. Also, I plan on starting a higher-tier army sometime eventually, for when I want to be a bit more meta. I just like the setting, the models, and, oddly enough, my local community to stop.

I just cannot be bothered these days.
It's been 3-4 months or so since I played 40k at the regular Saturday afternoon club.
Painting time (when I get around to it) is on Zombicide and other side games, which get played 1-3 times a month.

Basically, gaming is too much trouble, and it's all 40k's fault.

I left 40k at the start of 7th for a similar reason to many people here; it's just a mess that most of the time doesn't reward both player's time investment. I would be happy to return someday if the game was to somehow fix itself.

So because the game will never be fixed, I've been writing my own game up for use with friends and possibly any locals who want to play it. However I've just moved, so I don't really know anyone in my area, and therefore have stuck with improving my painting skills and dreaming up mad 40k stories.

G.A

I voted somewhat since Classichammer wasn't an option. Sticking with 3rd unless something monumental happens.

Left 40k, started playing Epic, no ragrets.

Yes and no. Yes to the GW official following, no to 40k world. I switched to superior edition aka 2nd ed with some small tweaks. No point keeping models collecting dust so it's either sell models, keep following GW's constant money grabbing strategy or say "screw GW" and go independent. I went independent.

Sold off my armies sometime during early 7th after playing only a dozen or so games in 6th. The game is pretty garbage in terms of just about everything and I'd lost most of my interest in it. I still enjoy the fluff (I actively moderate a 40k wikia) but I'm not a big fan of how GW handles it's consistency or quality. I now regularly play Flames of War instead. It's got real life bad guys.

I'm thinking of moving away from 40k to something else, but I haven't stopped outright (yet) because no one near me plays much else other than X-Wing or Armada.

I do really enjoy painting and modelling my 40k minis though.

EDIT: Recently I found a random file on my PC that turns out to be a more "streamlined" version of 40k that my friends and I stopped working on because we just couldn't keep working on it due to school related stuffs I think we were going to use that but never did, probs never will.

I've taken multiple hiatuses, usually lasting a few months at a time. Then I get hit with an urge to play, and I play a few games and have fun at first, then get hit with the realization that GW sucks at game balance, prefers certain codexes and couldn't care less about the others, and it just gets to me. Then I go right back to not playing and switching to things like X-wing or back to my PS4.

I've played maybe 5 games of 40k in the past 6 years. Once everything became flyers and titans I lost all interest in the game. The codexs haven't really been helpful either.

I have tried to leave as much as possible but as it is the most played game at my club by a long margin I have remained somewhat, although I do a lot less 40K than before, and I have not purchased a 40K model in several years..

I leave and come back.

In college, I was focused on my studies. There was no time for 40k, nor was there interest. Filled the hole with sports, women and poetry (was an English major.)

Did not play for about 8 years. Then my Dad had a stroke and I had to take care of him. Painting models was therapy. Slid back in during 5th edition.

During this time, a friend opened a FLGS. Operated at a serious loss. Helped him to build a community, which lasted until 7th edition came out. A lot of players decided to boycott. Except for the occasional game, I stopped playing with anything but 2nd edition / 4th edition rules (which I guess means stepping away.)

Started playing 7th edition with the release of Traitor's Hate. Am not too enamored with the game in it's current form but am optimistic about 8th edition. Feels like GW may have learned some lessons / got rid of some of the people that were holding it back.

I took a hiatus, but never left. I've entertained the idea, but ultimately here I am.

Also, the results seem to be quite a spread.

I took an almost year long break, and came back to some really intense changes.

I am probably gonna be taking another beak from 40k to focus mainly on 30k and Shadow War Armageddon (it looks fun...?)