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Purely hypothetical question:

If GW were to be bought out by another company who decided to try and 'fix' the 40k rules, assuming they did a good job and wrote a great set of rules, would you want them to bring out an 8th edition as soon as they could so as to have a great set of rules or would that cause more upset as 7th has only just been released?

Would you rather they released an errata and FAQ to the existing rule book and codex to tie us over? Or to abandon current rules completely and come out with the next edition completely re-written?

I'd give 8th a shot, but only if there was some sort of trade-in/buy-back program for 7th edition rule books. Something similar to what Flames of War did a few years back where players could turn in their previous edition rule book for a copy of the latest rule set. That would be a classy move, and would generate goodwill among players.

Only if it were free.

I'd want either the whole game redone - new codexes and rules released on one day for every faction - or it left alone for a few years.

Reason being that I would want the core rules and codexes to be built with one another in mind.

 Davylove21 wrote:
I'd want either the whole game redone - new codexes and rules released on one day for every faction - or it left alone for a few years.

Reason being that I would want the core rules and codexes to be built with one another in mind.

I Could agree to that, 40k could use sort of a rule makeover
And official release dates for codexes

I've already sold everything 40k that I owned so if this hypothetical new company released a rules set that I was actually interested in I would probably have to re-buy it all over again. Mind you, this would have to be a truly awesome ruleset and not just a re-hash of 2nd or 3rd edition! I'm talking about Force on Force but with balanced forces, levels of awesome to even make me consider getting back into 40k!

Now if anyone released WHFB 9th edition as a 6th edition clone, I would be all over it!

If GW was bought out, I’d rather the new owners took the time to do things right, and playtest stuff, rather then just shove a new edition out the door. This would ideally take the form of free trial rules and errata, fixing various parts of the rules, culminating in a new edition after a year or two.

I would rather the new people in charge took the time to find out what the problems of the old regime were and took steps to fix it. I'd expect a fairly quick open beta/playtest for some possible rules (similar to how Wizards of the Cost did with D&D Next) before the real thing was released.

I'd want a new edition of Epic right away. 40k itself can go die in a fire.

 Nevelon wrote:
If GW was bought out, I’d rather the new owners took the time to do things right, and playtest stuff, rather then just shove a new edition out the door. This would ideally take the form of free trial rules and errata, fixing various parts of the rules, culminating in a new edition after a year or two.

This.

I think if GW was bought out. The new company would redo the rules declaring all the GW versions invalid. Then release a new model line and declaring the GW versions also invalid once they are replaced. What would be the piont of a new company taking over just to not make sales on their products.

 Shredder wrote:

If GW were to be bought out by another company who decided to try and 'fix' the 40k rules, assuming they did a good job and wrote a great set of rules, would you want them to bring out an 8th edition as soon as they could so as to have a great set of rules or would that cause more upset as 7th has only just been released?

Given that I gave up at the start of fifth, I couldn't care less about the fate of seventh. But eighth from a different company, with the promise of a good rewrite with rules and game scale and whatnot that are elegant and make sense and other things that 40K hasn't been since fourth or earlier? I'd be interested in giving it a look-see, yes. But in the vein of MWHistorian's reply, it also depends if they wrap the new rules up in a giant brick of a book and charge half a kidney for it.

Though from a wider view, I'm not altogether interested in waiting for a hypothetical buyout by a hypothetical company that'll bring out a hypothetical edition*, I already have this.

* Y'know, I can see that as the title of a new or limited edition. Sounds funky but makes no sense under any scrutiny. Perfect for GW.

"Let's buy out a company, take thier IP, and design a new game and rules... which we will give away for free and can be fully played using the models they already have with no purchases needed from us... We will make Millions!"

Wait... how does that work?

I assume if someone did get their hands on the IP, there would need to be a business model behind it and I am pretty sure that business model would probably not reflect wargaming 40k as we know it.

I suspect we would probably see it released as some sort of homogenized board game which would probably require lots of 're-purchasing' of stuff because otherwise there is no business model for it.

I think the best 'model' for someone like WotC would be to buy the IP and possibly turn the 40k universe into a 'D&D in space' brand and then sell Campaign boxes and individuals or pre-paints for RPG figures. That drives a reason to sell new product, allows backwards compatibility with existing minis, sell rules and opens up to 3rd party licensing. They could pretty easily turn Warhammer fantasy into a RPG system.

The brand is way more valuable than the game, the mechanics or the backlog of current figures. Since any re-use of the IP would need to involve a pathway for future product sales, I just don't see one with an 8th edition. (because buying IP is not the same as buying all citadel miniatures sculpts, molds and manufacturing plants)

I would want, not immediately because that's just impractical, but quickly a slew of errata and updates to bring 7th to more playable standards. I'd also like a commitment to releasing 8th within a year, a website to apply to be a playtester and an offer of a discount for anyone who owns 7th.

If I somehow acquired the rights, that's the path I'd take. Patch 7th up to be playable, re-release Epic and make 8th a far smaller scale game, even if it means ditching some models.

nkelsch wrote:
"Let's buy out a company, take thier IP, and design a new game and rules... which we will give away for free and can be fully played using the models they already have with no purchases needed from us... We will make Millions!"

Wait... how does that work?

I assume if someone did get their hands on the IP, there would need to be a business model behind it and I am pretty sure that business model would probably not reflect wargaming 40k as we know it.

I suspect we would probably see it released as some sort of homogenized board game which would probably require lots of 're-purchasing' of stuff because otherwise there is no business model for it.

I think the best 'model' for someone like WotC would be to buy the IP and possibly turn the 40k universe into a 'D&D in space' brand and then sell Campaign boxes and individuals or pre-paints for RPG figures. That drives a reason to sell new product, allows backwards compatibility with existing minis, sell rules and opens up to 3rd party licensing. They could pretty easily turn Warhammer fantasy into a RPG system.

The brand is way more valuable than the game, the mechanics or the backlog of current figures. Since any re-use of the IP would need to involve a pathway for future product sales, I just don't see one with an 8th edition. (because buying IP is not the same as buying all citadel miniatures sculpts, molds and manufacturing plants)

Pre-painted figures? Please no.
But yes, they would need to do something to make sure it'll be profitable for them. What that is, I have no idea.

 MWHistorian wrote:

Pre-painted figures? Please no.
But yes, they would need to do something to make sure it'll be profitable for them. What that is, I have no idea.

Imagine if 'space hulk' was a RPG scenario pack Like D&D Castle ravencroft and then imagine if they had a free-formed RPG rule set and slowly released models as boardgames/campaign packs which double for RPG stuff.

And sadly, that might include a lot of mono-pose, pre-assembled and Pre-paint stuff. Remember, GW sells a HOBBY where a new brand holder may not be, especially if they don't want to take on a bloated complex miniature manufacturing backlog on. WotC is best equipped for releasing a pack of monsters or a board game, running it and then letting it go OOP. Not keeping an extensive catalog of every possible unit or figure needed to play the game constantly on the market. Lots companies do waves and don't keep an entire product lines on the market forever and replace it with new stuff.

If 40K gets bought out I imagine we could look forward to prepainted, randomly packed figures, with stats on their bases.

Does anyone really want that ?

Something to bear in mind is that for GW to be taken over 7th edition would have to have been a huge failure.

The valuable parts of the company would be a lot of everything else except the rules, plus the potential market of hordes of disgruntled veterans who had driven GW into the ground by abandoning the 7th edition and could probably be tempted back with a good 8th edition.

In that case the new owner would not want to carry on publishing 7th edition and would logically be be forced to make a completely revised game.

A clever buyer would have developed the new ruleset before the take-over, and given enough financial muscle would be able to offer new rules and codexes from day one.

That's not what I imagine at all.

And as mentioned, wouldn't bother me much either way.

Honestly I find this entire concept laughable. We have people who have left the game, and people who raged about buying 7th edition and hardcover codexes, getting excited about having to buy new rules and codexes.

If the new rules were greatly improved and also cheaper, why would people who have dropped 7th edition and have armies they would like to play with not be excited at the idea.

 Blacksails wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:
If GW was bought out, I’d rather the new owners took the time to do things right, and playtest stuff, rather then just shove a new edition out the door. This would ideally take the form of free trial rules and errata, fixing various parts of the rules, culminating in a new edition after a year or two.

This.

Indeed.

Possibly with an open and public playtest. (Pathfinder, Kings of War, D&D 5th edition....)

Let folks know that they are being listened to, not ignored because market research is otiose in a niche market....

The Auld Grump

 TheAuldGrump wrote:

Possibly with an open and public playtest. (Pathfinder, Kings of War, D&D 5th edition....)

Let folks know that they are being listened to, not ignored because market research is otiose in a niche market....

The Auld Grump

I still believe the PP MK2 Field Test should be the standard. There is simply no excuse for a company the size of GW to fail this task. People always go on about how tight the rules are and this was a big reason for it.

 Kojiro wrote:

 TheAuldGrump wrote:

Possibly with an open and public playtest. (Pathfinder, Kings of War, D&D 5th edition....)

Let folks know that they are being listened to, not ignored because market research is otiose in a niche market....

The Auld Grump

I still believe the PP MK2 Field Test should be the standard. There is simply no excuse for a company the size of GW to fail this task. People always go on about how tight the rules are and this was a big reason for it.

As opposed to 'Surprise! Here's 7th Edition! Spend Money! Now!!!'

I don't know which is worse, just not bothering to say that the new game is on the way until the month of release, or what WotC did - deny that 4th edition was in the works until the year of release. (GW at least didn't lie and say that 7th ed. wasn't happening... they just didn't say anything at all....)

The Auld Grump

As long as they put the effort and time in to fix 40k and make it a good game, and tried to balance the game and playtest as much as reasonably could be expected, then yes, I would want it released as soon as it is ready (and would buy it - I have not bought 7th edition at this time and stopped buying GW products after the 6th ed nid dex dropped).

That said, I would expect that in the process of 'fixing' the game to have tight, good rules (and figure out what scale of game 40k should be) and while internally and externally balancing dexes (not perfect but very balanced) there would be some bitterness from players as some units may have to get dropped. I am fine with this if it is done well and makes 40k into a solid game.

I want someone to put 7th on life support with extensive living FAQs and erratas as they begin work not on 8th edition but 40k 2.0.

Complete overhaul of the game, finally decide if its going to be skirmish or mass battle, redo everything down to the core statline. Then remove the codex system in favour of living rules PDFs online and codeciess that are purely fluff and art and are entirely optional.

This would not be released until six months later however because there would be extensive community playtesting.

 adamsouza wrote:
If 40K gets bought out I imagine we could look forward to prepainted, randomly packed figures, with stats on their bases.

Does anyone really want that ?

Wooooooooooooooooo!

(Sorry )

As one of those who quit for 7th, yes absolutely, if they were great (or even good) rules per the original question.

 adamsouza wrote:
Honestly I find this entire concept laughable. We have people who have left the game, and people who raged about buying 7th edition and hardcover codexes, getting excited about having to buy new rules and codexes.

Context, please. You're making it seem like we're all jumping up and down and flapping our hands at the thought of GW releasing 40K eighth ed. But reread the OP's question.

A good game is a good game. GW used to be able to make those - some of their rulebooks still hold pride of place on my shelf. Other companies or authors still do make good games. If one of those was in a position to haul 40K up by it's ankles, shake out all the crap, and wire up what's left in good and better ways, why shouldn't we be interested in taking a peek?

(BTW, my last post was directed at you, not Kilkrazy. FYI)

Yeah, I consider current 40k to be the bottom of the barrel when it comes to game design, but I would take an honest look at any new version by new designers with a new approach. For sure.

Don't even have the 7th version rule-book, so no