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This whole thing is really deplorable. I'm not sure if this quite qualifies as news but it seems like something people should know about.

http://galaxyinflames.blogspot.com/2011/05/games-workshop-in-ruins.html

Edit for full disclosure for anybody new to the thread:

kinghammer wrote:Let me bring some clarity to the situation. I was there when it was "blown up" not smashed. The stores were given specific directions of what to build as well as pictures of what was expected. They manager was being defiant and thumbed his nose at the Regional management. The manager had been written up multiple times for insubordination and poor performance. The manager and most of the staff were later terminated. A new manager and staff came in and turn that store around.

The shame is if they spent the same amount of time in promotion of events and hobby classes the store would have not been a giant failure. Hulksmash knows that the Regional manager at the time was no non-sense and the staff/manager knew that was unacceptable.

Now you have both sides.

Not really news or a rumour, plus it is rather tasteless, especially the "It contains a corpse for everyone of the hobby centers staff members" bit.

What's deplorable about it?

Games Days usually have specific themed tables. A piece like that (i.e. 'breaking the 4th wall') doesn't belong on the themed tables that are built up to be Cadia or Medusa V.

Should it have been stomped? Probably not. But still, they knew what they're meant to be creating terrain for.

Not news, not rumors, so off it goes!

Personally I thought it was a great piece of work and for someone to take it and break said work is what's deplorable about the story.

BrookM wrote:Not really news or a rumour, plus it is rather tasteless, especially the "It contains a corpse for everyone of the hobby centers staff members" bit.

It's just dark humor. Often times I wonder if I'll be here at my job till quite literally the day I die.

Putting it bluntly:

It's not that much of a 'great piece of work'.

Very little actual creativity went into it and it really just looks like it's meant to shock people who see it.

Not news or a rumour really (but it was news to me as I did not know it, so technically) but I think its funny. I get the impression that the skeletons are not meant to insult the staff. Its was made by them for them isn't' it?

Also a real loss on the basis it is such a cool thing, the skeleton playing 40k and actually rolling dice is awesome. Really creative the real insult is the douche bag that smashed it up. No matter what you think of someones creation does not give you thr right to destroy it.

I see it as more just a fun set piece. I thought it looked decent and all... definitely not worthy of being destroyed, but some folks take this hobby wayyyyy too seriously.

Having said that, and that I think it was just a fun one-off item, I personally don't think I would have taken it to an actual GW event... I feel like it's inviting a reaction from folks without a sense of humor. Just because it doesn't offend you or your friends doesn't mean it won't offend a corporate entity (and apparently some of their workers).

Still though, it didn't deserve to be crushed out of existence. That was pretty callous.

Oh my god, that's amazing. I like the little posters on the wall, How the heck did they do that?

lukewild1982 wrote:Not news or a rumour really (but it was news to me as I did not know it, so technically) but I think its funny. I get the impression that the skeletons are not meant to insult the staff. Its was made by them for them isn't' it?

It was made by the staff, to be used as scenery for Games Day Los Angeles. Shops make scenery that gets sent there for the big events they used to run. They get given a basic set of guidelines, and are supposed to do them within those guidelines.

You can pretty much be guaranteed that making a comedic piece about how the staff feel like they're chained into working for GW even if the shop burns down around them wasn't within those guidelines.

dang, Ninja'd by Kan....

Kanluwen wrote:

lukewild1982 wrote:Not news or a rumour really (but it was news to me as I did not know it, so technically) but I think its funny. I get the impression that the skeletons are not meant to insult the staff. Its was made by them for them isn't' it?

It was made by the staff, to be used as scenery for Games Day Los Angeles. Shops make scenery that gets sent there for the big events they used to run. They get given a basic set of guidelines, and are supposed to do them within those guidelines.

You can pretty much be guaranteed that making a comedic piece about how the staff feel like they're chained into working for GW even if the shop burns down around them wasn't within those guidelines.

Which are perfectly fine grounds for it to not be put on a table. . . .but are you really defending someone who would actually destroy it?

Unless I'm missing some big piece of back story, I think some people here are totally evaluating it in the wrong light. It was made *by* GW staffers as a funny joke; I can't imagine it's any serious, negative commentary, and hardly tasteless in this milieu. I also can't imagine they were trying to throw it down on some very serious, highly sculpted table or anything like that. It's just, you know, fun, and a pretty great modeling job.

But, you know, this is serious business!!!

What should they do with it Drum? You don't wanna send a kid home with it. Can't keep it in the shop (most upper management would not find it funny). Maybe just throw it away, but then it could be salvaged. Or do you do what a lot of companies do and destroy it before you throw it away?

Granted I remember seeing that building and laughing my butt off. But it probably wasn't a good idea for the NoCal guys to send that. We had a dude at my store we had to keep from constantly doing stuff like this before he had to be let go.

ok i see what you mean. yeah that was probably pretty stupid on their part then. Thats like sending a picture of your arse in an email to your area manager, its never going to be well received.

Still love the thing for what it is though, tragedy that someone smashed in. They could have just put it aside and given them a bollocking for not doing as asked later.

The piece is fun, it was a shame that someone had to take the nerdrage bit too far and tear it up.

Whats the old addage?


I don't have to like it, but I respect you that you like it? or something to that effect.


Even how things are going these days, we need some levitivity here on the subject of GW and whats been going on as of late.


Again, the piece was amazing. A colorful self dig if I've ever saw one, especially in light of a GW shop. ( Redshirts, I figure, would appreciate that inside joke there.)




Theres no insult there. It's called satire.

MrDrumMachine wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

lukewild1982 wrote:Not news or a rumour really (but it was news to me as I did not know it, so technically) but I think its funny. I get the impression that the skeletons are not meant to insult the staff. Its was made by them for them isn't' it?

It was made by the staff, to be used as scenery for Games Day Los Angeles. Shops make scenery that gets sent there for the big events they used to run. They get given a basic set of guidelines, and are supposed to do them within those guidelines.

You can pretty much be guaranteed that making a comedic piece about how the staff feel like they're chained into working for GW even if the shop burns down around them wasn't within those guidelines.

Which are perfectly fine grounds for it to not be put on a table. . . .but are you really defending someone who would actually destroy it?

They sent it to GW's HQ to be used. What the hell are they going to use it for? If it can't be put down at Games Day Los Angeles, there's no reason to keep it around.

Or do you really think they need to store every single piece of half-arsed card terrain that staffers make as jokes?

This kind of thing is something that's fine for them to have had on their tables at home, but otherwise there's no reason at all for it to continue to exist.

And I sincerely doubt someone 'stomped it to death' as the blog claims. More likely than not, it was just tossed.

Hulksmash wrote:What should they do with it Drum? You don't wanna send a kid home with it. Can't keep it in the shop (most upper management would not find it funny). Maybe just throw it away, but then it could be salvaged. Or do you do what a lot of companies do and destroy it before you throw it away?

Granted I remember seeing that building and laughing my butt off. But it probably wasn't a good idea for the NoCal guys to send that. We had a dude at my store we had to keep from constantly doing stuff like this before he had to be let go.

How about I dunno. . . .sending it back? If it's "inappropriate" at least tell the creators send shipping money or it goes in the garbage.

MrDrumMachine wrote:

Hulksmash wrote:What should they do with it Drum? You don't wanna send a kid home with it. Can't keep it in the shop (most upper management would not find it funny). Maybe just throw it away, but then it could be salvaged. Or do you do what a lot of companies do and destroy it before you throw it away?

Granted I remember seeing that building and laughing my butt off. But it probably wasn't a good idea for the NoCal guys to send that. We had a dude at my store we had to keep from constantly doing stuff like this before he had to be let go.

How about I dunno. . . .sending it back? If it's "inappropriate" at least tell the creators send shipping money or it goes in the garbage.

Again:
The creators fethed the pooch.

They, in all likelihood like every single GW shop that has built terrain or painted army pieces, had a specific set of groundwork to work from and disregarded them.

Imagine, if you will, you worked at McDonald's. You have to make 62 hamburgers in an hour, which you do. 40 of those hamburgers have to be plain, with no toppings or condiments on them.

You make all 62 of those hamburgers with pickles and onions making smiley faces as a 'joke'.
What do you think will happen to you in that situation?

I'm surprised at the chilly reception from some of you.

Kanluwen wrote:

Very little actual creativity went into it and it really just looks like it's meant to shock people who see it.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you think that you've seen something that like this before, do tell. If you feel that the this quote from one of the creators doesn't represent something valuable, say so.

"The patrons of our shop absolutely loved the building"

Not to be overly pedantic, but attacking the piece on the basis of its creativity seems really lame. It's okay to laugh at GW sometimes. Take another look, maybe you'll see the humor when you look again with fresh eyes.

That isn't the best example, Kan; food is hardly comparable to non-perishable scenery that can serve future purpose at some point.

Those hamburgers would have to be eaten or thrown away, otherwise they'd perish, scenery doesn't do that AFAIK.

I'm sorry but that comparison is terrible. Maybe I'm just too reasonable to think that something that obviously had a lot of work go into it shouldn't just be thrown away without giving the creator a chance to at least get it back.

A more accurate comparison would be that an art dealer is having a themed show and only wants grim-dark artwork. Someone sends in a one of a kind lolcat piece of artwork and instead of sending it back they punch a hole through it and dump it in the garbage.

I think it's pretty awesome, but not sure I'd send it out to Gamesday. They're right, they should have kept it for themselves.

AesSedai wrote:I'm surprised at the chilly reception from some of you.

Kanluwen wrote:

Very little actual creativity went into it and it really just looks like it's meant to shock people who see it.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you think that you've seen something that like this before, do tell.

People doing scenery of their shops burnt out isn't new.

If you feel that the this quote from one of the creators doesn't represent something valuable, say so.

"The patrons of our shop absolutely loved the building"

And that's like if I were to create a piece of scenery of the college where I and several fellow players go to. We would find it absolutely fantastic, but would you?

Not to be overly pedantic, but attacking the piece on the basis of its creativity seems really lame.

It's crummily built, it's a played out idea, and the only real thing it's meant to do is be one great big in-joke.

It's okay to laugh at GW sometimes. Take another look, maybe you'll see the humor when you look again with fresh eyes.

No, I get it. Haha, it's a burnt out local shop from Northern California. Oh how wonderful, I wish we could have a whole table themed around it!

You're completely missing the point. But I'm not really surprised.

The point is that GW shops are supposed to make scenery within a specific purview for the Games Day tables. It's so that one specific group of people isn't stuck doing terrain for every single table at the Games Day event.

They wasted their time building a joke piece, when they were supposed to be making something else. They then sent that in to GW's HQ for the Games Day and expected some kind of praise for it?

I don't know about you, but any job I've worked at where I goof off and do something completely outside of the boundaries of what I'm told to do--I get reprimanded for.

Avatar720 wrote:That isn't the best example, Kan; food is hardly comparable to non-perishable scenery that can serve future purpose at some point.

What future purpose can that piece of terrain possibly serve? It's a joke piece that really only applies to a specific shop. It's, for all intents and purposes, 'an inside joke'.

Those hamburgers would have to be eaten or thrown away, otherwise they'd perish, scenery doesn't do that AFAIK.

The point of the example was that if you don't follow directions and fail to follow through with the actual work , do you expect your bosses to appreciate the joke?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

MrDrumMachine wrote:I'm sorry but that comparison is terrible. Maybe I'm just too reasonable to think that something that obviously had a lot of work go into it shouldn't just be thrown away without giving the creator a chance to at least get it back.

First off: how do you know the creator didn't get a chance to 'at least get it back'?

You're going off a blog post for an event that was in 2004, when the blog post was done in May 2011.

A more accurate comparison would be that an art dealer is having a themed show and only wants grim-dark artwork. Someone sends in a one of a kind lolcat piece of artwork and instead of sending it back they punch a hole through it and dump it in the garbage.

And again, more assumptions.

Do you have any kind of evidence outside of a 7 year gap for them actually destroying it and not throwing it away after the Northern California shop jokesters didn't want to go get it?

I think they stomped it to death because OBVIOUSLY the marines are NOT to scale on those tables.

I mean seriously. How can you have a table with 20 ft tall marines on there?!?!?

Were they playing a game of Inquisitor? I don't think so!

I feel like this is a good time for the umadbro guy to queue in...

I made something like this when I was younger. It was smaller than theirs, and I cut up a free catalogue to get their logos and stuff to go on the walls. I had two broken windows on the walls of the building and a games table inside with epic figures on and a few dead skeletons. It was part of a shopping mall for Necromunda.

Anyway their thing didn't fit with the aesthetic of Games Day but my guess is that someone had a sense of humour failure when they saw GW staff being depicted as locked in chains working in the store.

It doesn't surprise me that you Kan should leap in with such defence. "Meant to shock people", it's not shocking it'll just get a laugh. GW used to be fine with people having a laugh, perhaps not so blatantly at their expense but breaking the 4th wall didn't used to be an issue.

They could have just quietly put it in the bin or offered it back to the staff first. Time and effort did go into making it after all. But no, they stamped it to pieces and then gave a verbal warning to staff for "not fostering the proper creativity in the hobby" which is a load of ass. Seems that behaving inappropriately is going at least both ways.

It was made by the staff, to be used as scenery for Games Day Los Angeles. Shops make scenery that gets sent there for the big events they used to run. They get given a basic set of guidelines, and are supposed to do them within those guidelines.

You can pretty much be guaranteed that making a comedic piece about how the staff feel like they're chained into working for GW even if the shop burns down around them wasn't within those guidelines.

I'd like to know what the guidelines were, should they actually exist. Otherwise you're just guessing that GW thought to give specific instructions as to what could or could not be made.

What future purpose can that piece of terrain possibly serve? It's a joke piece that really only applies to a specific shop. It's, for all intents and purposes, 'an inside joke'.

I dunno, perhaps being terrain on someone's personal table?

The point of the example was that if you don't follow directions and fail to follow through with the actual work , do you expect your bosses to appreciate the joke?

Then it wasn't great at getting the point across. I don't expect them to get the joke, but the repurcussions for scenery should be different from hamburgers.

@ Kanluwen

If you're whole point is to simply say "don't assume this actually happened they way detailed based on a single blog post" then why not just say that?

You also seem to be making the assumption that they didn't find some loophole to exploit in the terrain building policies, unless you have the actual policies then this may have fit just fine and then got deemed inappropriate anyway.