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AFAIK the 40k fluff has been running still for the last 25 years. What we know of the current events is that, in a nutshell, WE'RE fethed!
The Emperor is dying, as the Throne is giving away and Abaddon is still going strong, trying to make the process of death slightly faster. The tyranids are quickly consuming planets like they were dying of hunger, the orks feth stuff up out of sheer joy, and all the other xenos races pretty much do the same. This goes for all eldar and necrons too. The fluff "stops" at a really important turning point and as a fairly imagination-less person, I can't do anything about it myself. I wish GW was to publish some spinoff game, book series or hell, even video games that are well written might make me happy! Anyway, you get the point. I'd like them to slowly start carrying on 40k with some spinoff series. Now, this wouldn't ruin the "40k" thing (much at least), as the game still could take place in the 40 000s just fine.

What does dakka think?

(I am sorry, if a thread like this already exists, I got the idea late at night, when I didn't have patience to look through the list of posts.)

Edit: added poll option for "should GW clear out the past of the 40k background?"

Edit2: Please, mind you reading through the other comments before posting your own? Some of these arguments make valid points, don't let them go to waste.
This request doesn't apply if the amount of comment pages exceeds something like 10. No one would bother reading that

Yes, they should. Nothing decisive like the Emperor dies or whatever, but having "events" would not be a bad idea. Have Cadia fall and the Cadian Shock Troopers become refugees determined to take their home back, for instance.

They will finish it one day, the only question is when.

And Relic has already gone some 10 - 15 years into 42'nd millennium with "Dawn of War" and "Space Marine" video games.

Yes, I believe and official continuation might be in order, as long as it won't replace the 40k I know and love.
Why?
Because - Heresy & 40k are becoming soap operas...It's time for a change, lord of change, no matter his champion is a wuss....

They should do something big that doesn't invalidate anything, like Cadia or Armageddon falling.

At this point in the history of the product, I'd like to see even more "historicals" (as I believe they are known in the BattleTech world). The FW and Space Marine Battles style of "zooming in" on important points in the existing timeframe is very interesting. We know almost nothing of the Great Scouring, the Nova Terra Interregnum, and the Age of Apostacy, just to name a few very broad periods.

 Manchu wrote:
At this point in the history of the product, I'd like to see even more "historicals" (as I believe they are known in the BattleTech world). The FW and Space Marine Battles style of "zooming in" on important points in the existing timeframe is very interesting. We know almost nothing of the Great Scouring, the Nova Terra Interregnum, and the Age of Apostacy, just to name a few very broad periods.

This too. The storyline not only is stagnant, it more or less refuses to go to anywhere between M31 and M41. There have been some huge events there, and GW is giving more leeway with what's kosher for BL authors to do lately (i.e. the upcoming Sanguinius as Emperor book and Fenris coming under Imperial invasion in The Emperor's Gift) so there's a lot of exciting opportunity.

I'd love to see a series of books about battling this guy for instance

 Manchu wrote:
At this point in the history of the product, I'd like to see even more "historicals" (as I believe they are known in the BattleTech world). The FW and Space Marine Battles style of "zooming in" on important points in the existing timeframe is very interesting. We know almost nothing of the Great Scouring, the Nova Terra Interregnum, and the Age of Apostacy, just to name a few very broad periods.

Interesting - don't go to space, rather explore the ocean, concept...Nice, we already have some ground picture on that periods which only needs storyline...Kudos to you @Manchu

Like others have already said. I think they should move it along slowly. Not doing anything too big, but still give players something juicy to chew on for a few months, then give us something new. The current constants have been around for too long. Cadia always under attack but never falling, same for Armageddon and Ryza. Those stories should be moved along.

Absolutely not. 40K has no storyline. Rather, it has a setting which allows us, the players, to create our own storylines within it. Advancing the storyline will necessarily invalidate huge swathes of the player base. Either that, or it's just change for it's own sake. Why advance the setting ten years, if nothing at all changes? Or we only get cosmetic changes?

If you're not going to do it big, then don't do it at all. And for the love of the Emperor, don't do it big, you'll only piss everyone off. In fact, you've got it pretty much right at the moment. Don't touch it.

I honestly think they could advance the storyline without it coming to an immediate catastrophic end. For example, Cadia falls, but in a high stakes last ditch maneuver, Creed leads an attack which is able to wipe out the high command of the Black Crusade (Failbaddon the Armless included). With the sudden vacancy for warmaster, many terrible and infamous chaos warlords come forward to claim the right to the title which results in inevitable bloodshed and more or less halts the crusade. Or something like that.

40k is a setting made for highest variety in playable races, not a storyline. Advancing the story might kill options.
It's okay to have BL books or specific campaign books on different settings though (like HH).

I voted no. Why?

 Manchu wrote:
At this point in the history of the product, I'd like to see even more "historicals" (as I believe they are known in the BattleTech world). The FW and Space Marine Battles style of "zooming in" on important points in the existing timeframe is very interesting. We know almost nothing of the Great Scouring, the Nova Terra Interregnum, and the Age of Apostacy, just to name a few very broad periods.

 Kaldor wrote:
Absolutely not. 40K has no storyline. Rather, it has a setting which allows us, the players, to create our own storylines within it. Advancing the storyline will necessarily invalidate huge swathes of the player base. Either that, or it's just change for it's own sake. Why advance the setting ten years, if nothing at all changes? Or we only get cosmetic changes?

If you're not going to do it big, then don't do it at all. And for the love of the Emperor, don't do it big, you'll only piss everyone off. In fact, you've got it pretty much right at the moment. Don't touch it.

^ That. That's why.

I think they should start to move forwards, start a crusade off-shoot, or something, move with it and each month add missions to continue that story. It doesn't need to make a huge impact in the wider universe. They could link it to other games like the Fantasy Flight RPGs.

They could release it in the White Dwarfs but I think they should instead do it online and for free. Print a book at the end of the year if need be. But making it a free thing would be a nice thank you to fans who have stuck with the game over the years and might even take away some of the anger towards GW with the prices, lack of support, etc. Maybe even do up some free to print out and build terrain to tie into it.

Even do the same for Historic things we know little about to flesh them out a bit more. It takes little time and small effort to do that kind of thing. If its run as an offshoot and not a tsunami of change, then people who want to play out that story can, those that don't can still do their own thing.

There is no need to advance the 'current' timeline. There's 10000 years of 'history' to finish fleshing out first.

 Harriticus wrote:
Yes, they should. Nothing decisive like the Emperor dies or whatever, but having "events" would not be a bad idea. Have Cadia fall and the Cadian Shock Troopers become refugees determined to take their home back, for instance.

What he said. I just want it to advance like 3 years. Unfotunately GW set a lot of storylines in M41.99999999

SkyD wrote:
I think they should start to move forwards, start a crusade off-shoot, or something, move with it and each month add missions to continue that story. It doesn't need to make a huge impact in the wider universe.

They just did that with the Crusade of Fire. There's no reason something like that needs to advance the storyline.

They would upset so many people if they did. The way they have it now is better than it continuing.

I'm going to have to agree with kaldor, on the only thing we really agree on. The story for 40k is not designed to go forward, but rather for us to create are own stories, and while maybe they can add something from time to time, their is only eternal war.

It's just a setting for a game. It doesn't need a "storyline".

There are ten thousand years of old school battles they can fight. Just go backwards in time for new campaigns or other "storylines". /shrug.


It's been M41 for twenty five years. I don't understand why everyone needs "something to happen".

I say keep it as is. There's a great backdrop to stage virtually any scenario or battle, with a rich setting. Why mess with that?

Want to advance it? Run a campaign on your own which plays out the continuation you'd like to see. Stage the end of the Black Crusade, or the big push to eliminate the Tyranid threat, or even targeting the Necron Tomb Worlds.

Well at the very least, fething expand the 10,000 years between M31 and M41.

I agree, as much as i'd like to see Cadia fall, I'd much rather see the important events that make Cadia so great in the first place, that way, when it does, it would be much more epic. I could last at least 15 more years without having to go into the 42nd millennium if they covered the rich fluff of 10,000 years of war that's at most, a paragraph in the majority of our codexs.

 Kaldor wrote:

SkyD wrote:
I think they should start to move forwards, start a crusade off-shoot, or something, move with it and each month add missions to continue that story. It doesn't need to make a huge impact in the wider universe.

They just did that with the Crusade of Fire. There's no reason something like that needs to advance the storyline.

I'm not paying $80 for white dwarf nonsense and stolen ideas from game clubs.

40k has a setting which can be filled out better instead of stagnating and sitting in the same storylines for thousands of years. OP states they have trouble with imagining where you can go and he won't be the only person. Some people can rattle off a campaign that will take the next 20 years of gaming every day to complete, in less than a day, plotted out and set. Some people can't. For people like that some form of support from the game maker comes in handy. But it needs to be open for 40k players so people who play different armies can play, there will be some people who never face off against Daemons, Chaos, Dark/Eldar, etc in their gaming life. Some who won't face them because of their beliefs and the setting of certain world's will not be of any use to them.

31k,32k,33k,34k...

No - its not like things are gonna get better, so long as the High Lords of Terra continue to govern the Imperium as opposed to direct Imperial rule, and people continue to remain ignorant and STUPID under the Imperial Church. Ten thousand years and more under the High Lords of Terra and the Imperial have done little other than to build on the achievements of the Great Crusade and the Imperial Truth, as opposed to actually surpassing them.

40K, it appears, is not a place for 'global' change. Rather, it's a story of heroes and villains and the battles between them. This allows for BL books and look-back scenarios.

An advancing storyline could be done, WM/H for example, but it requires focus on specific character growth and conflict change, something 40K is not focused on.

I'm going to agree with a lot of others on this.
Don't go forward, go backwards. Flesh out big battles that are just mentioned in passing in the BRB or the Codexs. There is so much space to fill.
Advancing it would upset people. Going back and fleshing out the already established fluff would make MOST gamers happy. IA has the right idea.

SkyD wrote:
I'm not paying $80 for white dwarf nonsense and stolen ideas from game clubs.

But it's exactly what you're asking for. A narrative campaign crusade off-shoot, with missions that further the story. You may think it's overpriced. Welcome to Games Workshop, I guess. But despite the price it's exactly the product you asked for.

Heck, there's several Forgeworld campaigns available that all do exactly what you want, not only with new scenarios to advance the campaign story, but new rules and models as well.

 gunslingerpro wrote:
40K, it appears, is not a place for 'global' change. Rather, it's a story of heroes and villains and the battles between them. This allows for BL books and look-back scenarios.

An advancing storyline could be done, WM/H for example, but it requires focus on specific character growth and conflict change, something 40K is not focused on.

Also, the WM/H setting has a completely mapped out continent, so you can make drastic changes (that simultaneously change nothing) just by re-drawing some borders. 40K deliberately avoids locking factions down like that, so it's impossible to show one faction gaining ground against another as there is very little ground to actually gain. Only the big, important planets are named and recognisable by players, and we certainly can't have Fenris or Cadia over-run.

The only bummer about fleshing out the years between the heresy and the "current date" with storied from conflicts in those times is that it plays hell with Tau and current Necron players. You basically have to go back to what existed in 2nd edition. So Tau didn't exist as a race, and Necrons were horrors that attacked out of the night in very, very small numbers like the bogeyman, and even that's quite recent.

Other than that, every single other army could function in any year of the 10,000 year time period, except for perhaps the Sisters Of Battle, but even they were created several thousand years before M41, in the Age of Apostasy, if I remember correctly (M36??).