Several sources including Harry confirmed that Rick Priestley has left Games Workshop.
Most say that he has been made redundant, some say he has been sacked, all this after 28 years of employment.
This is sad news as Rick Priestley has been one of the original designers of Warhammer and the first edition of Warhammer 40,000 (Rogue Trader). And he has been the driving force behind Warhammer Forge with its ambitious story arc.

Anyone knows more about this?

I don't think he'd have been made redundant, and I don't see how he'd get sacked....

Perhaps he has retired. He's not exactly a spring chicken you know.

True, retiring could be an option. Should have at least waited til 30 years of warhammer So long, and thanks for all the fish. Even if it is coated with space marines these days

Didn't he have/still has a similar contractual clause to what Blanche is rumored to have? I mean, being unsackable?

Maybe he just retired. Stuff can get old after 30 years...

Unless people have their wires crossed and he's simply moved Departments?

Happens quite a lot at HO.

Voluntary retirement? Nonsense! On Games Day UK, about a month ago, he presented his ambitious plans for Warhammer Forge, enough work for several years and really exciting stuff. But there have been signals that the GW management didn't believe in the potential of Warhammer Forge and kept financial resources low. So my speculation would be that Rick and the bean counters disagreed on the future of Warhammer Forge and parted in dissent.

This could be a real interesting story if the facts make it out.

RP leaving would be a huge blow to GW. Hopefully this is just some sort of mistake.

I'd guess he's retired, more likely. 30 years is a long time. After a certain point, it's just too much, I guess.

That does sadden me though. I read about examples of him doing awesome stuff all the time. I wish him the best in whatever new adventures he undertakes.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kroothawk wrote:Voluntary retirement? Nonsense! On Games Day UK, about a month ago, he presented his ambitious plans for Warhammer Forge, enough work for several years and really exciting stuff. But there have been signals that the GW management didn't believe in the potential of Warhammer Forge and kept financial resources low. So my speculation would be that Rick and the bean counters disagreed on the future of Warhammer Forge and parted in dissent.

Not to mention those sexy chaos dwarves that everyone's looking forward to..If those don't get released, there's no hope for chaos dwarves ever being released....I'm sure he was a contributer to the original chaos dwarves, which certifies him 'not-to-feth' them up.

Mr Mystery wrote:Unless people have their wires crossed and he's simply moved Departments?

Not in this instance it seems.

Quite a few people have left GW recently, Messrs, Joyce, Williams and Dunn to name but three others.

Thanks to them all though, especially Mr. Priestley for all that he's done.

... not to forget Alessio Calvatore in April.

Rick did not retire.

I am reliably informed the WF project will continue.

This is just me speculating, but it seems they've had a management slice because of a cost/ benefit analysis.

Or it could just be he's "left Games Workshop" to work full-time at Warhammer Forge/Black Library.

After all, his wife Lindsey is a pretty heavy hitter over at BL from what I recall(ADB! If you're lurking, can you confirm?)

I would believe that he left to do other things versus being axed. Its possible they gave him a choice in the matter (retirement with whatever benefits it entails, or being sacked) but after 28 years one would expect a certain amount of loyalty from an employer.

It sucks when the cool ones go. With all the "old school" people missing there, they could make a new company.

paulguise wrote:I would believe that he left to do other things versus being axed. Its possible they gave him a choice in the matter (retirement with whatever benefits it entails, or being sacked) but after 28 years one would expect a certain amount of loyalty from an employer.

Not sure which America you're living in, but employer loyalty is an oxymoron in my neck of the woods. Mr. Preistly doesn't live in the US, but my understanding of UK corporations is they've got fairly draconian business practices as a whole and it wouldn't surprise me if the bean-counters in GW did draw his number. That being said, I hope this news is erroneous and that 'ole Rick is still kicking it for years to come.

Grimstonefire wrote:This is just me speculating, but it seems they've had a management slice because of a cost/ benefit analysis.

paulguise wrote:I would believe that he left to do other things versus being axed. Its possible they gave him a choice in the matter (retirement with whatever benefits it entails, or being sacked) but after 28 years one would expect a certain amount of loyalty from an employer.

Well, it is another sign of how GW works, when a manager from the shampoo industry(the current CEO) can decide that GW can't afford that many creative people. Said manager sacked BI at its peak, Gav Thorpe, Alessio Calvatore, now Rick Priestley, said that GW doesn't need marketing, made Space Hulk a limited edition and so on.

And it seems to be working out pretty well so far.

Alessio I believe went to work for a seperate company (and my word Fantasy is way better for his passing), Gav left to concetrate full time on his Novels, Space Hulk was a massive success (despite multibuying knobends on the make) the company is going forward, enlarging it's size steadily, and cutting the chaff. Advertising produces an immediate boost, which you need to maintain to keep the banks/share holders happy. Which means more advertising. Ever thought for a second that advertising might not be that effective for such a niche hobby?

Simple truth is, we don't know why, or indeed if, Rick left. And we may never know.

And British employment law, draconian? Pull the other one skip. You can't just get sacked on the spot for one offence, and if you are made redundant, you can take a large sum of money with you, depending on length of service. That's positively civilised!

Gavin Thorne wrote:
Not sure which America you're living in, but employer loyalty is an oxymoron in my neck of the woods. Mr. Preistly doesn't live in the US, but my understanding of UK corporations is they've got fairly draconian business practices as a whole and it wouldn't surprise me if the bean-counters in GW did draw his number. That being said, I hope this news is erroneous and that 'ole Rick is still kicking it for years to come.

That is just what I am used to. All of my family work for companies that have retirement packages (GE, IBM, a couple of gov. jobs). I am not sure of how British businessmen go about their day, but it still seems like 28 years would get you something resembling loyalty.

Sad to see him gone.

I thought he was a member of the board. Hard to sack him, though not impossible. Surely investors would know a board member being ousted or being asked to go quietly. Does priestly have a blog or anything?

He was, in his time at GW, perhaps the most influential creative forces in modern fantasy and scifi wargaming.

He was instrumental in the creation of both Warhammer and the original Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader.

His leaving GW is like the ravens leaving the Tower of London or the elves leaving Middle Earth.

Still, as more of the creative talent I admired in GW and looked up to as a boy leaves for pastures new, it does free me to loathe the company at new levels of excess.

I'd still exercise caution in believing this, considering the source.

You know, the one who claimed last year that C.S. Goto still worked at Black Library because they published one of his short stories that he'd turned in years before.

Which source are you talking about?

Which one are you talking about?

The same bloody one who started an entire huge joke about Dark Eldar being canned back in Feb/March as an "April Fool's Joke".

Still don't get it. In February it was already officially confirmed that Dark Eldar get a completely new miniature range designed by Jes Goodwin, so it can't be a good source (maybe you mixed it up with some Warseer Guilders making up fake rumours on an upcoming Dark Eldar Codex). As bad as your "several sources" saying that we get a Dark Eldar battleforce with the first wave

I never said I had any sources saying that, actually.

I said that I would be surprised if we didn't see one.

L2FactCheck.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Kanluwen wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:Most people in the know are not aware of any battle force release in the near future, certainly not this year.

Then they're full of crap. Everything I've heard points towards a battleforce release for the first wave, in November/December.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/900/319245.page (scroll down)
Good thing I hotlinked your statement for future reference

Anyway, none of my sources said that DE will be canned or Goto is still with BL. But Harry and several others confirmed that Rick has left GW. (and that we shouldn't expect a battleforce this year)).

Is this "who has the best source" and epenis thing? I don't get this whole got to be first to post a rumor thing or point out "I said it first on x thread" - especially as half the rumors are just pointless wish listing or outright BS.

This would make me so sad.....

Kanluwen wrote:I'd still exercise caution in believing this, considering the source.

You know, the one who claimed last year that C.S. Goto still worked at Black Library because they published one of his short stories that he'd turned in years before.

Sorry to go off topic for a bit, but who on earth is C.S. Goto? I've seen the name (nickname?) mentioned a couple of times now, but everyone else already seems to know all about it.

This has been confirmed by someone who works for GW and is definitely in a position to know. Also by Harry on warseer.

No need to check sources on this one. What is not entirely clear yet is whether he has left entirely or not.

Raptorkid wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:I'd still exercise caution in believing this, considering the source.

You know, the one who claimed last year that C.S. Goto still worked at Black Library because they published one of his short stories that he'd turned in years before.

Sorry to go off topic for a bit, but who on earth is C.S. Goto? I've seen the name (nickname?) mentioned a couple of times now, but everyone else already seems to know all about it.

Hes a Black Library author. wrote some fluff breaking stuff. More-so than usual by BL standards

While I wasn't around for the older days of GW, I'll certainly miss Rick. Seemed like a fantastic fellow, and it's a shame to see him go.

If he is an employee of GW he has a right to some privacy and not to have his private details splashed across the internet for consumption by rumor hungry nut jobs that want to spin it and spin it until there is a prediction of the apocolypse and GW being the cause of it.

So, he isn't working there. Concentrate on find who is replacing him and their attitude to the game rather than speculating if he got sacked etc.

sometimes this idea we have a right to know or even that we should know what goes on between employee and employer is just plain BS.

I'm a bit shocked by this. Having been around a bit longer than most I can remember the days well when he played a more active role in game development before disappearing behind the walls of the Imperial Palace.

All I can say to the father of 40k and infamous inventor of the deodorant hover tank thanks for all your hard work over the years creating a game system that I have had two decades of fun playing and best of luck for the future in whatever you do.

McVey and Rick were a big part of my GW experience as a very little kid... shame. Still, the company will go on, no one is irreplaceable... except maybe Jes God-win.

But for everyone lost, there have been Paul Dainton's and Juan Diaz' added, we made some gains over the years too.

Gavin Thorne wrote:

paulguise wrote:I would believe that he left to do other things versus being axed. Its possible they gave him a choice in the matter (retirement with whatever benefits it entails, or being sacked) but after 28 years one would expect a certain amount of loyalty from an employer.

Not sure which America you're living in, but employer loyalty is an oxymoron in my neck of the woods. Mr. Preistly doesn't live in the US, but my understanding of UK corporations is they've got fairly draconian business practices as a whole and it wouldn't surprise me if the bean-counters in GW did draw his number. That being said, I hope this news is erroneous and that 'ole Rick is still kicking it for years to come.

Help me out here better informed folks but I remember hearing that when GW went public the partners who then ran it all got huge shares making them owners. Not true? Never true? No longer true?

Legally you are a part owner if you have just one share. To be un-sackable you would need a big percentage, though, an absolute majority to be sure.

IMO if he has gone, following all the others, it is because there hasn't been much chance for major creativity at GW since the last new faction releases, which were Tau in 40K, and Ogres (who are an expansion franchise) in WHFB.

There are too many armies in both games to keep adding more.

The rules and codexes were basically finished a couple of editions ago. All that has been done since is to tinker with the details.

There aren't a lot of totally new models -- apart from retreads, of course. Forge World do the interesting stuff, like the Piranha and Trygon.

It doesn't seem to me like an environment that would interest a really creative person. Maybe if you get to remodel an entire line such as DE, it is worth staying to do that.

Can we get a link to Harry's statement?

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Gavin Thorne wrote:

paulguise wrote:I would believe that he left to do other things versus being axed. Its possible they gave him a choice in the matter (retirement with whatever benefits it entails, or being sacked) but after 28 years one would expect a certain amount of loyalty from an employer.

Not sure which America you're living in, but employer loyalty is an oxymoron in my neck of the woods. Mr. Preistly doesn't live in the US, but my understanding of UK corporations is they've got fairly draconian business practices as a whole and it wouldn't surprise me if the bean-counters in GW did draw his number. That being said, I hope this news is erroneous and that 'ole Rick is still kicking it for years to come.

Help me out here better informed folks but I remember hearing that when GW went public the partners who then ran it all got huge shares making them owners. Not true? Never true? No longer true?

John Stallard was also part of the buy-out and was made redundant a few years ago. I suppose the same could be true of RP.

Damn, that sucks. Rick was the man, he was a huge part of making the game what it is. I remember reading White Dwarf as a kid and reading his battle reports and what not.

Well, he had a good run and I hope he is leaving in good spirits. He contributed a lot to our favorite pastime.

Kanluwen wrote:Or it could just be he's "left Games Workshop" to work full-time at Warhammer Forge/Black Library.

After all, his wife Lindsey is a pretty heavy hitter over at BL from what I recall(ADB! If you're lurking, can you confirm?)

She's the Senior Editor, one of the uberlords.

And also, very lovely.

He's not exactly a spring chicken you know.

He turned 50 last year, IIRC. That's not really retiring age...

Raxor wrote:Can we get a link to Harry's statement?

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5083142&postcount=192
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5083961&postcount=200
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5085382&postcount=221
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5091006&postcount=243
and
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5091655&postcount=25

Warseer discussion (after first being revealed in the Warhammer Forge Tamurkhan thread): http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5091184

Also found on Miniatures Page Forum (thanks to Jim30 from Warseer for finding it):

Spoke to Rick on Sunday at the Fiasco show in the Uk. He is no longer at GW. No more details though and i'm not going to speculate and start rumours.

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=212259

And it seems to be working out pretty well so far.

For the management: Yes. For the sales: Not so well.

Sales are still good, but far from what could have been achieved if done properly. TT is still in a niche, a niche the as well freaky computer games industry has been able to leave. GW should have gone for more and the studio was ready to go beyond, sadly the management not.

Alessio I believe went to work for a seperate company (and my word Fantasy is way better for his passing)

Alessio has his own company Riverhorse Games, he is also working freelance for other companies, too. At the time being he has released his own game Shuuro and created the rules for Kings of War (Mantic (a company made up of mostly former GW staff). And I have to disagree, besides from the Rat Codex (which in the end was not solely his fault, since he was lacking information when writing it and the guys in the upper level not giving it to him and changing it after he delivered it) he was the one that changed WHFB for the better. If not for him WHFB would be a much worse game. Don`t forget though he was writing quite alot of it, he always had to bow to the management and they have a huge influence when it comes to how the book will look in the end. Proof? Check Kings of War and LotR, with both games he was able to do as he wanted and though he still had to bow somewhat to the management with LotR, it turned ou far better than WHFB where he was hamstrung by a huge catalogue of demands from the managment. BTW, huge bist of 8th edition were written by him and you can tell which, if you compare WHFB with LotR and KoW.

Gav left to concetrate full time on his Novels

True, but he also left because he wanted to change things that would have made the game better and was not allowed to (In some ways the same story why Andy Chambers left and created Starship Troopers (40K the way he envisioned it to turn out with the new edition, back then).

Space Hulk was a massive success (despite multibuying knobends on the make)

If you check the numbers they could have sold much more. Why is it that similar games from other companies still sell way more boxes than SH? There seems to be a demand that GW tends to ignore.

the company is going forward, enlarging it's size steadily, and cutting the chaff.

It is going forward when it comes to designing miniatures, they are really good at CAD-minis and they have been restructuring production and logistics. But sales have not been as good as expected. And sizewise they have not increased much over the last few years, they are still a very small company compared with Hasbro and Mattel. Quite some shops have closed, relocated and been turned in 1-man-shows. Sales in continental europe are still stagnating after declining for at least two years in a row. And other companies like Mantic are starting to chew a bit from their cake. Sure, they still have to go some way to truely compete with GW, but their sales already have caused raised eyebrows at GW. Heck, if late Rackham would have refrained from doing suicidal business decissions GW already would be sweating. Their product was superb and only hamstrung by inept management.

GW is not cutting chaff, at the moment they are cutting creative staff. Like with so many technology companies where the management believed that R&D can be replaced by a PR and crippled the former and increased the size of the latter. And it will hurt them badly in the future. Ask yourself why someone like Jervis Johnson is writing a book for Warlord Games (Black Powder) if he is absolutely happy with how GW is run.

Advertising produces an immediate boost, which you need to maintain to keep the banks/share holders happy. Which means more advertising. Ever thought for a second that advertising might not be that effective for such a niche hobby?

Word of mouth ist advertising, too. And you use it if you are intelligent since very often it costs you only some blisters of boxes to get the word out. Also advertising a niche still pays of when don rightly. TV ads definitely is not the way, but advertising in the right magazines, local newspapers, supporting clubs etc. is not that expensive and it pays off.

I like to add the following:

1.) Sales and customer numbers are declining for years. Sales and customer increases in the past were caused by other companies doing the advertising and marketing (Space Crusade, Heroquest). In Germany, there once was a non-GW LOTR magazine with one GW-sprue per issue plus some full colour articles on rules and painting. This is the reason why LOTR is still popular in Germany and no other country.
2.) Space Hulk 3rd edition sold well for 1-2 weeks before being sold out. The original Space Hulk/Space Crusade was the game introducing thousands of kids to 40k, being sold in general toy stores and advertised in TV. This game could again have reversed the decline in sales and customers, but the managers voted against it.
3.) Alessio had his company and the Shuuro game while still working for GW.
4.) Rick was very enthusiastic about his plans for Warhammer Forge and worked on that for over a year. He wanted about one year more preparation time. The GD UK revelation was the result of GW management wanting to see money early before putting more money into that project. My speculation still is that the management had no faith in his ambitioous project, wanted to downsize it beyond recognition and Rick just couldn't live with that. Even while Warhammer Forge will continue.

Still a shame that people whose jobs were practically created by Rick are now in a position to make him leave the company.

And yet Jervis remains...

Really sad to see Rick go. He was the one bright spark left in that place.

Kroothawk wrote:I My speculation still is that the management had no faith in his ambitioous project, wanted to downsize it beyond recognition and Rick just couldn't live with that. Even while Warhammer Forge will continue.

Whilst you are correct that Warhammer Forge will continue, you are flat out wrong with regards to the first part of your assertion.

It was not, and never was his project only.

Shame if Mr Priestley really has gone.

Hopefully he'll pop up again with some other company to share his brilliance with us once again!

Hasn't Mr. Priestley been working on other projects outside of GW with former GW employees at Warlord Games? Black Powder comes to mind as well as their upcoming Ancinets ruleset.

Le Grognard wrote:Hasn't Mr. Priestley been working on other projects outside of GW with former GW employees at Warlord Games? Black Powder comes to mind as well as their upcoming Ancinets ruleset.

True. Although so did JJ

What?!? Who is going to write "The Standard Bearer" now in WD?

Samus_aran115 wrote:Not to mention those sexy chaos dwarves that everyone's looking forward to..If those don't get released, there's no hope for chaos dwarves ever being released....I'm sure he was a contributer to the original chaos dwarves, which certifies him 'not-to-feth' them up.

I really wish people would quit talking about this; every time someone mentions it, I have to take my big box of big-hats out of the closet and sigh wistfully, thinking about how nice it would be if GW hadn't have dumped them (army book-wise).

*sigh*

drgabe wrote:What?!? Who is going to write "The Standard Bearer" now in WD?

That's Jervis not Rick Priestley

kenshin620 wrote:

Le Grognard wrote:Hasn't Mr. Priestley been working on other projects outside of GW with former GW employees at Warlord Games? Black Powder comes to mind as well as their upcoming Ancinets ruleset.

True. Although so did JJ

Along with the Perry Brothers and John Stallard; Paul Sawyer is part of Warlord too. Lots of cross-mojination and gaming goodness going on over there.

drgabe wrote:What?!? Who is going to write "The Standard Bearer" now in WD?

Jervis Johnson, presumably.

Hasn't Mr. Priestley been working on other projects outside of GW with former GW employees at Warlord Games ?

Yes, he has indeed. even popping up on their forums every now and again IIRC.

I think he'll do alright, job wise.

Kroothawk wrote:Rick and the bean counters

I misread this and thought it said that Mr Priestley had had a fight with a certain Black Library novelist

Actually the truth is he left GW to pursue a career on broadway. He's going to be in A Chorus Line, opening Dec 12th. Pretty easy to find if you google it...

After reading Kroothawk's post, I thought he left to join a boy band "Rick and the Bean Counters"...

Grimdark- The Musical

Well hell. Best of luck to you Rick!

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:Grimdark- The Musical

+1

An tank enters stage left and mows down everything in sight. The spotlight goes to a dead corpse....He's alive! He's so happy to be alive! Yay!*a musical number is sung*....And then, all of the sudden, bombs drop from the sky. The survivor dies. MOAR GRIMDARK!

filbert wrote:

drgabe wrote:What?!? Who is going to write "The Standard Bearer" now in WD?

That's Jervis not Rick Priestley

Doh!
Early morning snarky attempted failed.

Pilau Rice wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:Rick and the bean counters

I misread this and thought it said that Mr Priestley had had a fight with a certain Black Library novelist

You mean the one impersonated by Rowan Atkinson?

kenshin620 wrote:

Raptorkid wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:I'd still exercise caution in believing this, considering the source.

You know, the one who claimed last year that C.S. Goto still worked at Black Library because they published one of his short stories that he'd turned in years before.

Sorry to go off topic for a bit, but who on earth is C.S. Goto? I've seen the name (nickname?) mentioned a couple of times now, but everyone else already seems to know all about it.

Hes a Black Library author. wrote some fluff breaking stuff. More-so than usual by BL standards

Ah, ok. Ta.

Sad to see him leave. Though he could wander back.

I am betting on him popping up qutie a bit with Warlord Games, and contributing to Mantic's Kings of War as it develops.
So many former GW-ers in both.

IIRC, he was developing Ancients rules for Warlord.
He and Jervis, as well as the Perrys, have always indulged in the historical wargaming world as well as GW's.
They were the writers of Warhammer Ancients, were they not?

agnosto wrote:
I really wish people would quit talking about this; every time someone mentions it, I have to take my big box of big-hats out of the closet and sigh wistfully, thinking about how nice it would be if GW hadn't have dumped them (army book-wise).

*sigh*

I think to be dumped "army book-wise", you'd first require an Army Book and not just an assortment of White Dwarf articles assembled into a book.

Two more quotes from Miniatures Page Forum:

Rick no longer works for Games Workshop. I spoke to him last Friday and can confirm that he's absolutely fine and, like many people in his situation, actually sounded relieved that he could now talk about it.

He now has the opportunity to pursue all those other projects he's had on the back burner, and I wish him well for the future. A nicer guy it would be hard to meet, and in my opinion, GW will be the poorer for letting him go.

Henry
Battlegames
battlegames.co.uk

Vanth SpiritWalker wrote:Well, the founders (Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone) have left GW ages ago already. As for Rick, I seem to recall he was the actual owner of the Warhammer franchise so either he has sold it for a really good compensation, or he might still have a foot in, albeit only financially.
I remember on a Studio tour being told specifically by one of their lead designers "If Rick goes, Warhammer goes", so I guess that this issue has been addressed somehow

Can't a man his age retire in peace?

well crap, another creative mind gone from GW.

How much has Rick Priestly done in recent years though? I'd love to see a list, if anyone has one.

If it is true good time to start exploring new game systems out....

If it's true, it doesn't really matter if all he's been doing in recent years is an advisory role now does it?

Yeah, like Warmaster...

Kanluwen wrote:If it's true, it doesn't really matter if all he's been doing in recent years is an advisory role now does it?

It matters if he was the guy who shot down BA on giant bats.

Duncan_Idaho wrote:

And it seems to be working out pretty well so far.

For the management: Yes. For the sales: Not so well.

Sales are still good, but far from what could have been achieved if done properly. TT is still in a niche, a niche the as well freaky computer games industry has been able to leave. GW should have gone for more and the studio was ready to go beyond, sadly the management not.

Alessio I believe went to work for a seperate company (and my word Fantasy is way better for his passing)

Alessio has his own company Riverhorse Games, he is also working freelance for other companies, too. At the time being he has released his own game Shuuro and created the rules for Kings of War (Mantic (a company made up of mostly former GW staff). And I have to disagree, besides from the Rat Codex (which in the end was not solely his fault, since he was lacking information when writing it and the guys in the upper level not giving it to him and changing it after he delivered it) he was the one that changed WHFB for the better. If not for him WHFB would be a much worse game. Don`t forget though he was writing quite alot of it, he always had to bow to the management and they have a huge influence when it comes to how the book will look in the end. Proof? Check Kings of War and LotR, with both games he was able to do as he wanted and though he still had to bow somewhat to the management with LotR, it turned ou far better than WHFB where he was hamstrung by a huge catalogue of demands from the managment. BTW, huge bist of 8th edition were written by him and you can tell which, if you compare WHFB with LotR and KoW.

Gav left to concetrate full time on his Novels

True, but he also left because he wanted to change things that would have made the game better and was not allowed to (In some ways the same story why Andy Chambers left and created Starship Troopers (40K the way he envisioned it to turn out with the new edition, back then).

Space Hulk was a massive success (despite multibuying knobends on the make)

If you check the numbers they could have sold much more. Why is it that similar games from other companies still sell way more boxes than SH? There seems to be a demand that GW tends to ignore.

the company is going forward, enlarging it's size steadily, and cutting the chaff.

It is going forward when it comes to designing miniatures, they are really good at CAD-minis and they have been restructuring production and logistics. But sales have not been as good as expected. And sizewise they have not increased much over the last few years, they are still a very small company compared with Hasbro and Mattel. Quite some shops have closed, relocated and been turned in 1-man-shows. Sales in continental europe are still stagnating after declining for at least two years in a row. And other companies like Mantic are starting to chew a bit from their cake. Sure, they still have to go some way to truely compete with GW, but their sales already have caused raised eyebrows at GW. Heck, if late Rackham would have refrained from doing suicidal business decissions GW already would be sweating. Their product was superb and only hamstrung by inept management.

GW is not cutting chaff, at the moment they are cutting creative staff. Like with so many technology companies where the management believed that R&D can be replaced by a PR and crippled the former and increased the size of the latter. And it will hurt them badly in the future. Ask yourself why someone like Jervis Johnson is writing a book for Warlord Games (Black Powder) if he is absolutely happy with how GW is run.

Advertising produces an immediate boost, which you need to maintain to keep the banks/share holders happy. Which means more advertising. Ever thought for a second that advertising might not be that effective for such a niche hobby?

Word of mouth ist advertising, too. And you use it if you are intelligent since very often it costs you only some blisters of boxes to get the word out. Also advertising a niche still pays of when don rightly. TV ads definitely is not the way, but advertising in the right magazines, local newspapers, supporting clubs etc. is not that expensive and it pays off.

Wow. That's a lot of opinion. Got any decent references? Or could you admit that most of what you posted is pretty much unsubstantiated? If not, I await substantiation.....

BTW, you're already wrong on one count...Andy C didn't plan for 40k to be SST. Indeed, he was sacked for being really rather rude...

skrulnik wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:If it's true, it doesn't really matter if all he's been doing in recent years is an advisory role now does it?

It matters if he was the guy who shot down BA on giant bats.

Oh please. That wouldn't have happened anyways.

Kanluwen wrote:

skrulnik wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:If it's true, it doesn't really matter if all he's been doing in recent years is an advisory role now does it?

It matters if he was the guy who shot down BA on giant bats.

Oh please. That wouldn't have happened anyways.

Lol I would tend to agree, but never say never, who knows how close we came to the abyss lol

I'd say not very close, at all, considering we didn't get Guardsmen riding Ogryn or Ultramarines riding Julius Caesars.

The Thunderwolf complaints are idiotic. They fit, reasonably well at least, with the Space Wolf mythos(more barbaric, yet honorable to a fault), not to mention the giant wolves of Fenris have long been a staple of the planet.

Blood Angels on giant bats don't make sense, and not once has Baal ever been said to be host to any gigantic creatures.

Now now Kan...don't forget, this are intarwebtubes....if one doesn't like, NONE MAY LIKE!

Kanluwen wrote:I'd say not very close, at all, considering we didn't get Guardsmen riding Ogryn or Ultramarines riding Julius Caesars.

The Thunderwolf complaints are idiotic. They fit, reasonably well at least, with the Space Wolf mythos(more barbaric, yet honorable to a fault), not to mention the giant wolves of Fenris have long been a staple of the planet.

Blood Angels on giant bats don't make sense, and not once has Baal ever been said to be host to any gigantic creatures.

I agree. I see no particular reason to complain about it. Fenrisian Wolves have been part of SW fluff since they were created. It's no different than daemonic cavalry, really.

Go away Kan. This thread isn't about you defending some facet of GW, it's about Rick leaving GW.

Cough. There are no wolves on Fenris.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Go away Kan. This thread isn't about you defending some facet of GW, it's about Rick leaving GW.

And nor is it about your ongoing spat with Kan. But of course, it's not Trolling if you claim someone else to be a Troll.

So, what do we actually know? Rick Priestly has left GW, and nobody is privy as to how, why or exactly when.

End of thread I'd imagine?

Not a single person here can say why he left(or even if it wasn't a case of just him moving to head Warhammer Forge and leaving the GW Studios proper with the whole situation being blown out of proportion by an internet rumormonger. My money's on that scenario, simply because he was so excited about the plans for WF in years to come). It's all conjecture, and some of it led to the standard crap of "X MEMBER OF GW HAS LEFT, NO MORE CREATIVITY WILL COME FROM THEM!".

Oh, and in answer to my earlier question...it looks like the last thing he did in a rules development role was "The Lord of the Rings" games.

So it's been awhile that he actually got down in the trenches and was in a role where he was supervising background, etc.

Do you work up a sweat punching the strawmen like that? I'm trying to do more cardio, and that might help jazz up my routine.

Huh? Polonius, what are you on about?

What strawman?

I'm simply saying that even if he did entirely leave the company(rather than just taking over Warhammer Forge, which is supposedly going to be its own design studio separate from Forge World proper) or was fired...

He really hasn't done much in terms of actual rule/game development at Games Workshop proper in recent years.

Is that taking away from the fact that he's a founding member? No.
Is that saying "Oh, obviously GW had a perfect reason for letting him go!"? No, it's not.

It's a statement of fact, in that he hasn't done anything rules/game development(or at least been credited for it) in recent years.

And even more, I sincerely doubt we'll ever get the actual story behind it much like even to this day we have like six different stories about why Andy Chambers left/was fired/abducted by podpeople and planted as a mole in opposing companies.

@Mr Mystery
Some people want to work at a company, others work as freelancers for many companies. I know my stuff to be true and really don`t care if someone does not believe it. I am beyond having to polish my ego by impressing others. Rather I share what I am allowed to share with others.

Whereas I say you are talking rubbish I'm afraid.

And your cryptic answer suggests you simply cannot substantiate your claims, and instead threw up a smokescreen.

Mr Mystery wrote:Whereas I say you are talking rubbish I'm afraid.

And your cryptic answer suggests you simply cannot substantiate your claims, and instead threw up a smokescreen.

It's no smokescreen. And he's far from talking rubbish.

But then, I've always known Duncan to be on the up and up(more from other boards than here) and probably more in the know that he lets on to.

Intersting. I used to work for GW as well. Does that mean all my statements are taken as fact, without a shred of substantiation?

Oh no wait. I'm not talking bollocks am I.

Mr Mystery wrote:And nor is it about your ongoing spat with Kan.

You're 100% correct there, but it's also not about Kan's dogged and unyielding need to defend GW at the drop of a hat. I mean really, launching into a tirade about Thunderwolf Cavalry in this thread? Is that necessary? And why is it necessary that because Kan thinks something is so, then it must be so, and he'll prove it to you (in the most belligerant way he can muster, of course).

Mr Mystery wrote:But of course, it's not Trolling if you claim someone else to be a Troll.

Tell me: Do you practice being ironic?

Mr Mystery wrote:So, what do we actually know? Rick Priestly has left GW, and nobody is privy as to how, why or exactly when.

End of thread I'd imagine?

Well no. See, there are more details, and we're discussing them. We're staying on the topic of the thread. We're not derailing it with discussions of fething Thunderwolves and needless GW defence.

Now, if you personally do not wish to discuss it further - that's fine - totally your choice there. But others do want to continue talking about it, especially as this appears to be a developing news story. So if you've nothing further to ad Mr Mystery, may I suggest - in the classiest way I can muster - then please leave the thread.

What are those "more details"?

Please. Elaborate. Astound us with your "Inside Scoop", HBMC.

P.S. Belligerence is your department. I'd hate to take that away from you.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mr Mystery wrote:So, what do we actually know? Rick Priestly has left GW, and nobody is privy as to how, why or exactly when.

End of thread I'd imagine?

Well no. See, there are more details, and we're discussing them. We're staying on the topic of the thread. We're not derailing it with discussions of fething Thunderwolves and needless GW defence.

Now, if you personally do not wish to discuss it further - that's fine - totally your choice there. But others do want to continue talking about it, especially as this appears to be a developing news story. So if you've nothing further to ad Mr Mystery, may I suggest - in the classiest way I can muster - then please leave the thread.

Actually I am with whathisface. I am also curious as to what are you actually discussing in this thread?

Some-one has left the company for reasons no-one knows or should even put up on a forum if they find out. What is there to discuss other than some people making out they know more etc (excluding the usual spat whenever Kan posts - I swear you two would argue over the sun being yellow)

Personally, I have zero respect for people who say there is more but cannot share - if you were at all professional or a friend you wouldn't even let people know you know more. That is what being confidential is all about - for example in my company for some projects even letting on you know something is classed as a breach of NDA and that is a whole world of hurt. To do otherwise just feeds the fire. (and that isn't aimed at HBMC before you take offense)

Thread title is Rick Priestley left GW

People will speculate about these things.
In the absence of fact, gossip and guesswork fill the void.

Has anyone bothered to make a statement to offer an explaination?
There may well be personal reasons and I agree that they are probably left unsaid.
But the fact that we are already 4 pages of toss arguments suggests that people are interested to know why a respected member of the team has left.

A simple statement would have been welcomed and probably advisable.

Kanluwen wrote:What are those "more details"?

Please. Elaborate. Astound us with your "Inside Scoop", HBMC.

Kroothawk posts information in the OP (obviously). A page later he comes back with new details from a different place. On page three Kroothawk once again returns with some more information/corroboration. You know on the news when there's a breaking story, and the newscaster says "X has happened - more details as they arrive". That's a developing story, and that's a bit like this thread. We have the intial bits, and then Kroothawk has brought us new bits of information (or information that backs up previous statements) as time as gone on and as there's been more time for things to develop.

And then the topic itself becomes a discussion about the information, speculation, reactions to the news, as well as waiting for any more info that Kroothawk (or anyone) can provide us. And that's the thread. It's why the thread continues (and doesn't 'end' as Mr Mystery would have us believe) and, on top of that, while this discussion is going on, we can all hopefully avoid any childish antics and bitching about who has what sources, whether they are reliable, or any off-topic discussion about unrelated topics. Oddly enough Kan - you did all three of those things (childish antics (lern2factcheck), questioning sources (the cause of fullheadofhair's small rant on page one), and off-topic conversations (Thunderwolves). Amusing, no?

P.S. Belligerence is your department. I'd hate to take that away from you.

Aw shucks! Ya gonna make me blush now!

All honesty:
I have no clue what I said that could even be remotely interpreted as "needless GW defense". Nor was the TWC thing entirely off-topic, either.
I replied to someone who said something about the stupid "Blood Angels Riding Bats" idea, and someone else who said something about "It matters if Priestley was the person vetoing that idea".


But anyways, the facts we have(and probably all we'll ever have)?

Priestley no longer works for GW. Was he fired or did he leave?

I can almost guarantee that none of us will know, and that anyone who does know won't post it on here simply because it's a jerk move.

To top it off?
It's none of our bloody business if he left the company of his volition. If he wanted us to know, he has a webpage that he maintains where he could have posted it.
Hell, GW has a webpage where they could have posted a farewell to him.

Do you defend GW?

Is it necessary?

If the answer to both is yes (and it is) than I think we can make a case for needless GW defense.

As has been covered. There are a number of ways you can leave a job...

1) Off to pastures new.
2) Sacked for being rubbish
3) Position made redundant
4) Retirement
5) Yer dead.

Out of those, 5) is most definately out. 2) and 3) seem less likely 4) is a possibility 1) is also possible.

But in this case, there is also a potential 6). He's gone full time elsewhere in the company, and others have crossed wires.

Beyond that, we have simple, mindless speculation, and yet another piss poor excuse to rag on a company on something utterly unproven.

So again, end of thread surely?

Polonius wrote:Do you defend GW?

Is it necessary?

If the answer to both is yes (and it is) than I think we can make a case for needless GW defense.

You actually just made a case for the necessity of defending GW.

Kanluwen wrote:

Polonius wrote:Do you defend GW?

Is it necessary?

If the answer to both is yes (and it is) than I think we can make a case for needless GW defense.

You actually just made a case for the necessity of defending GW.

How so?

"If the answer to both is yes(Is it necessary?), than I think we can make a case for needless GW defense".

But that would be wrong, because if it's necessary then it can't be needless, now can it?

Indeed, needless defence would surely be when the other party is proven to be talking absolute bollocks no?

fullheadofhair wrote:Personally, I have zero respect for people who say there is more but cannot share - if you were at all professional or a friend you wouldn't even let people know you know more. That is what being confidential is all about - for example in my company for some projects even letting on you know something is classed as a breach of NDA and that is a whole world of hurt. To do otherwise just feeds the fire. (and that isn't aimed at HBMC before you take offense)

As I said, this is a developing story. Each page has seen Kroothawk return with new information or information that backs up previous statements or suspicions. I suspect we'll get a bit more as the day goes by and, lacking any sort of formal statement from GW or rick, we'll just have to live on what we find out, resulting in the usual rampant speculation (and what's wrong with having a discussion?).

Yes, saying "I know something you don't know!" is very annoying, but I haven't really got a sense of that here. If I'm wrong, let me know.

ah. yes. well my typo assuredly proves you are correct.

So, lets try again:

Do you defend GW?

Is it needless?

If the answer to both is yes (and it is this time) than you are needlessly defending GW.

H.B.M.C. wrote: Tell me: Do you practice being ironic?

Speaking of ironic...

MeanGreenStompa wrote:
His leaving GW is like the ravens leaving the Tower of London or the elves leaving Middle Earth.

The Elves did leave Middle Earth. Their exodus is central to their story, the vanishing of the elves. Saying Priestly's departure from GW is like the Elves leaving Middle Earth is suggesting that he became discontent in the most tragic way that life itself became unbearable.

If I worked with Jervis, I might feel the same way.

I couldn't resist a chance to rag on you for a typo, Polonius!

And yeah HBMC. There really hasn't been much of the "I know something you don't know!" in this thread.
Duncan laid out what he knows pretty well, but at the same time...it was a big wall of text that amounted to "GW is cutting down on the creative staff within the studio itself"(or at least that's what I got from reading it).

I do still have to wonder if he's moved to Warhammer Forge though.
After all: Forge World's design studio has always been its own entity, why would Warhammer Forge be any different?

Mr Mystery wrote:So again, end of thread surely?

I must apologise to you. I've gone off on a wild tangent without ever taking a step back to look at who my audience was (in this case, you). I had assumed that you weren't new to the internet, so I made the rather callous assumption that you understand how discussions on message boards worked. Clearly you do not, so once again, I apologise for making such an arrogant assumption about you.

So rectify this rather embarrassing error on my part, I'll give you the 101 on web forums:

1. There are threads.
2. In these threads, we have discussions. Discussions can occur about a range of topics, and are usually a sharing of ideas, opinions, reactions and thoughts.
3. Most forums have specific sub-forums which allow various types of discussions to be sectioned off into areas that will allow like-minded people to discuss them, rather than just having one big melting pot with lots of different topics.
4. The particular sub-forum that we're in now is the "News & Rumour" discussion forum. Obviously, this means that this sub-forum is used for discussing news and rumours, within the context of Games Workshop (predominantly) as well as other game and miniature manufacturers.

Now, with that information in mind, and the idea that I elaborated on above (that Kroothawk has been progressively feeding us new information for three pages now), you can see that this is a particular topic that is still going on, and one that will be continued to be discussed as we get new information (assuming we get any). Kroothawk will return (of that we can be sure), and he might have found something new, or he might not have – that’s the fun of a ‘developing’ story. It develops (even a lack of development is still technically development). Plus, as this is an open forum, it allows for others to join in and post any information they have (assuming there is any), and then all the various members can discuss/react/speculate/state their opinions/etc. on the information that has been presented (or discuss Thunderwolf Cavalry, in Kan’s case).

And that’s how (most) Internet Forums work. There’s the OP, the reaction to the OP, questions to the OP and so on we go. The thread doesn’t ‘end’ until there’s nothing more to discuss (or something I cause gets it locked... which mightn’t be too far into the future now, come to think of it... ), and as this is quite a new thread, it stands to reason that the GW rumour machine will drum up a few more tidbits before this is finally over.

So, once again, I apologise to you Mr Mystery for making the assumption that you understood how news threads worked. I’ll be sure not to jump to conclusions like that with you in the future.


P.S. The other type of thread you might see in a "News & Rumour" forum are 'hoax' or 'troll' threads, but I have a feeling that you're quite familiar with those...

I am no MOD so maybe I shouldnt be the one saying this but...isnt there something about rule #1?

In WD in 3 months we will see that GW is sad to see him go, has high hopes for him in the future, and thanks him for all the contributions he has made to the game and company. Meanwhile they will simply cut and past from the same response they made starting at Dirty Steve and working up to current. The truth is we may never know unless Rick gives us the heads up, and I would be betting he has a NDC that states he can not do that sooooo....

Now back to the bat and TWC debate....

I wish I had the link to the slow clap animated gif. Well done.

"Will return with more news?"

This happened on Friday, if The Miniatures Page is to be believed. It's over and done with.

By all rights, it wasn't "News" on Monday, when it was posted.

redstripe wrote:Speaking of ironic...

Cute.

Could also be retirement due to ill-health.

But hey, lets get out the pitchforks and torches. Why not. Nothing like a good old fashioned under informed Interwebs Witch Hunt.

I wish I had the link to the slow clap animated gif. Well done.

Thanks I try hehe. Just trying to keep it lite.....

But hey, lets get out the pitchforks and torches. Why not. Nothing like a good old fashioned under informed Interwebs Witch Hunt.

You are soooo right so here ya go hehe

Can't you see the sheer arrogance, Kan (and you too, Mystery) in saying "There's no new information (at this moment in time), so we should all stop discussing it RIGHT NOW!".

Who are you to say what we can and cannot discuss, hmm?

This is getting....Intense. Looks like I'll have to troll to break this up.....

Who's rick Priestly?

Just as an aside, Mr Mystery is providing a wonderful contradiction here. In the first quote below, he is discussing the topic (a topic he said is over), and then in the seconde quote he constructs a scarecrow. How can he discuss what is over?

Mr Mystery wrote:Could also be retirement due to ill-health.

See! Now you're getting it. Discussion. Of a topic. In a thread. At a forum.

Keep at it buddy! The internet's a big place I know, but you'll eventually get good at this sort of thing.

I'm proud of you!

But hey, lets get out the pitchforks and torches. Why not. Nothing like a good old fashioned under informed Interwebs Witch Hunt.

Careful with those torches. You might set fire to your strawman by accident.

Translation: Where's the witch hunt?

Kanluwen wrote:
Duncan laid out what he knows pretty well, but at the same time...it was a big wall of text that amounted to "GW is cutting down on the creative staff within the studio itself"(or at least that's what I got from reading it).

This is blasé and puerile kanluwen, I will simply attribute both those factors and the staggering dismissal you've just done as being down to your fairly young age. You never returned home at 13 years of age, clutching the first realm of chaos book, Slaves to Darkness and pouring over it boggling at the size of the mutations charts, nor have you sat transfixed reading your white dwarf (when it was worth reading) chapter approved.

I'll say it again as you've not quite grasped what I typed for the rest of dakka on page one of this thread.

Rick Priestley was one of the founding 3. He, Halliwell and Ansell created warhammer fantasy.

Several years later, Rick Priestley created warhammer 40k when he wrote Rogue Trader. Andy Chambers referred to him as 'The Real Emperor'.

His leaving the company, for people like me who have followed the games and worlds created for such a long time, sounds another note of change, it alludes to a continued recent trend of 'names' leaving the company. You listing the founding father of Warhammer as 'cutting down on creative staff' is just in poor taste.

If wargaming was popular music, Rick Priestley leaving GW's halls is like Lenon leaving the beatles. Of course people will speculate and news and rumours will circulate, but what it certainly is is eventful in the context of posting on a wargaming site, the man has had serious influence over gaming and has been someone who's work I have admired for years.

Now show some bloody respect.

So wait, it's okay to jump to the conclusion that "left GW" can only mean fired...but it's "a strawman" to say that it's possible that someone got their information garbled and he just shifted to Warhammer Forge?

*mindblown*

Oh sod off and Troll someone else you pointless little git.

Every day on Dakka, there you are, following certain posters around threads, trolling trolling trolling. Every. Sodding. Day.

How in the name of Satan's portion have you not been banned yet? It's not like you bring much to the conversation other than a piss poor attempt at sarcasm. Wy do you do it? Is your life really that boring, that you can devote swathes of time to harrassing people online who don't tow the same line of relentless, often baseless negativity? Seriously man. Grow the hell up.

Witch Hunt....someone leaves GW's Employ (or may not have. Nobody knows) and instantly, the tinfoil comes out, and the finger is pointed straight at GW with curses being called down on their head for very little reason. It's truly pathetic.

Are you really doubting the likelihood that he was sacked? Or even the possibility?

Mr Mystery wrote:Oh sod off and Troll someone else you pointless little git.

Every day on Dakka, there you are, following certain posters around threads, trolling trolling trolling. Every. Sodding. Day.

How in the name of Satan's portion have you not been banned yet? It's not like you bring much to the conversation other than a piss poor attempt at sarcasm. Wy do you do it? Is your life really that boring, that you can devote swathes of time to harrassing people online who don't tow the same line of relentless, often baseless negativity? Seriously man. Grow the hell up.

Witch Hunt....someone leaves GW's Employ (or may not have. Nobody knows) and instantly, the tinfoil comes out, and the finger is pointed straight at GW with curses being called down on their head for very little reason. It's truly pathetic.

Hmm

Just for clarification, this thread was locked due to the high levels of insults, snide remarks and general violations of Rule #1.

If anyone would like to further discuss this news item, please start a new thread.