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At the risk of starting another GW bashing thread (which isn't my intention), does anyone know what's going on with "What's New Today?" on GW's website? Aside from the now ironic title ("What's New Today?, well erm... nothing because we're banned from talking about it "), the hobby content appears to have dried up completely. They had some pretty good painting articles on there in the last year or so and now... zippo.

The only thing they seem to do at the moment is look at armies painted by loyalist scum... ahem, I mean our fellow gamers. It's kind of turned into "What old miniatures have been painted by you guys, today?" Whilst I have no objection to seeing the hobby at its purest (i.e. people making proper painted armies) celebrated on the website, it's getting kind of dull. I really enjoyed the painting/modelling stuff, but it seems to be drying up. They don't have any articles at all in the Tomb Kings section.

Is this part of the new strategy to restore content to White Dwarf by removing it from the web?

Probably. GW has been going a bit insane in the membrane lately.

'New Stuff' from this month:

Jun 17 - New DE Launch
Jun 14 - GK Errata
Jun 10 - New TK
Jun 9 - THQ and Kill Team
Jun 3 - DE wave
Jun 1 - Finecast

Compare to last month
May 27th - Finecast on the way
May 26th - Finecast preview
May 25th - TK wave
May 24th - Finecast
May 23rd - Finecast
May 16th - Finecast
May 11th - DE Advance
May 6th - TK Launch

It's only the 21st and Jun is actually ahead for 'New Stuff!' posts on What's New Today.

I agree.

I miss conversion corner from the old website. I'd like to see that return and be regularly updated by the fanbase.

The 'what's new today' needs more goodness

Pulse wrote:Probably. GW has been going a bit insane in the membrane lately.

Pretty much this. These days whenever something wonky like this happens, I dont get too surprised

I never knew GW had a website.

spaceelf wrote:I never knew GW had a website.

That's because it's a secret website

Let me tell you a little story about a black gobbo...

It's sucked for a while, IMO. Since before BA, for sure. The DE releases back in november weren't nearly as hyped up as they could have been. There was new hobby going around everywhere, and all they had to show was studio models. I was really disappointed. Back when Tyranids came out, it was something to look forward to.

Well, if you want to go for proof instead of memory... So far in going back through the archives, it looks pretty much the same. No incoming articles the last month or two, but we knew about that:

(You can just change the date in the URL to go to specific date ranges.)

June 2010: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/blog.jsp?dateCutHi=2010-06-30+23%3A59%3A59&dateCutLo=2010-06-01+00%3A00%3A00&isMonthArchive=true&start=11

May 2010: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/blog.jsp?dateCutHi=2010-05-30+23%3A59%3A59&dateCutLo=2010-05-01+00%3A00%3A00&isMonthArchive=true&start=11

Jan 2010:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/blog.jsp?dateCutHi=2010-01-30+23%3A59%3A59&dateCutLo=2010-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&isMonthArchive=true&start=11

Nov 2009:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/blog.jsp?dateCutHi=2009-11-30+23%3A59%3A59&dateCutLo=2009-11-01+00%3A00%3A00&isMonthArchive=true&start=11

"What's On Sale Today" is just another clumsy and lazy method of advertising masquerading as 'hobby advice'. It could be used as an actual hobby article, but is just used as an excuse to hotlink to various products and remind us that they sell stuff.

H.B.M.C. wrote:"What's On Sale Today" is just another clumsy and lazy method of advertising masquerading as 'hobby advice'. It could be used as an actual hobby article, but is just used as an excuse to hotlink to various products and remind us that they sell stuff.

7

You are aware GW are a business yes? Because you know, promoting your wares on your own website is, you know, kind of de rigeur...

I actually quite like the What's New Today section. They normally have quite a few cool models painted/converted by non-studio staff and I think it's neat to see what other people are up to.

Recently they had that Chaos themed Space Wolf army and I thought it was pretty ace. I know it was done by a staff member but it still looked pretty cool and got my imagination going.

Took me a while because as usual it was buried where nobody would find it unless you had half an idea it existed (which fortunately I did), but this is the kind of thing I'm talking about...

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=cat440136a&categoryId=1100020§ion=&pIndex=0&aId=14700022&start=1&multiPageMode=true*

Now admittedly this is an painting article, but I only saw it because it was referenced in WNT. New stuff like this has either stopped appearing, or they are putting it on and choosing not to tell us

Mr Mystery wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:"What's On Sale Today" is just another clumsy and lazy method of advertising masquerading as 'hobby advice'. It could be used as an actual hobby article, but is just used as an excuse to hotlink to various products and remind us that they sell stuff.

7

You are aware GW are a business yes? Because you know, promoting your wares on your own website is, you know, kind of de rigeur...

There is a difference between, say, showing off a great themed board or converted model you created with some household stuff, and going into great detail on how you did it (while also throwing in some of your own product), and posting articles describing your crappy airpocked resin models as a revolution akin to humanity landing on the moon.

Mr Mystery wrote:You are aware GW are a business yes? Because you know, promoting your wares on your own website is, you know, kind of de rigeur...

Clueless as always Grotsnik, but I'll try to give a full response and explain my reasoning rather than just brushing you aside for the sycophantic GW-banner bearer you are:

Promoting and selling your own products on your website is normal. Putting up hobby advice that isn't actually hobby advice but is just a very thinly veiled attempt at advertising is not normal - it's bs.

You remember the three Matrix movies right? In the second one, towards the end, the Architect talks about how the original Matrix was perfect, but that it failed horribly because people wouldn't accept the program. Why? They weren't given a choice. Once they were given a choice, even the smallest of subconscious ones, everything worked fine. Advertising works in the exact same manner, and when you try to hide advertising in a 'perfect system' (in this case, hobby advice), people reject it even if they aren't as cynical as me. In other words - they see right through all the nonsense and would much rather the other side just be open and upfront about what they're trying to sell. Only the most dyed-in-the-wool kool-aid drinking fanboys don't see that (which explains pretty much all your posts Mystery).

Now, did you go to the link I posted in my last post? I'll save you the trouble just put the first part:

It's been a while since I've started a "GW whine!" thread, but the latest What's New Today just hit the right spot to set off my cynicism mode. I refer specifically to the first two sentences of the latest issue:

I was in the Warhammer World store the other day picking up a couple of mail orders (new Orcs & Goblins - I caught the green bug) when I noticed a Goblin Warboss on Gigantic Spider and the Animosity Orcs in their cabinet. On closer inspection I realised that all of the models in the cabinet were Available to Order miniatures - ones that you can only get through the webstore or our terminals in store.

I mean… come on… really? He didn’t know they were for sale? Really??? And an employee of the company who works in the webstore/warehouse would admit that on the official website?

Now, before you jump at me, I have no problem with GW advertising their products; if anything, GW needs to advertise more – banner ads on other websites, sponsorship and participation in local events outside of the ones they run themselves (ie. stop pretending they are the hobby and finally admit that they are part of a hobby), but these What’s New Today articles have just gone beyond the joke.

D'ya see what I'm getting at Mystery?

Can you see how "This is our newest product. It does X, Y and Z. Please buy some!" is often better than "Wow! I just happened to notice product X! And OMG! It's on sale! I didn't even know that! Now look at this showcase of models that *gasp* just happen to be new releases! What a fething coincidence!"

Like when they got the studio staff to come up with their own interpretations of heresy era marines or when they got them to model their own versions of marine HQ units to promote the command boxed set.
That is good advertising as well as being interesting. I assume for Dark Eldar they didn't get various people to paint up and or convert their own versions of the sets?

cadbren wrote:Like when they got the studio staff to come up with their own interpretations of heresy era marines or when they got them to model their own versions of marine HQ units to promote the command boxed set.

Yes, exactly - it's not that's it never happens anymore, so much as it's become more rare. That horse article that was Flashman posted was an ideal article for what it could be (informative and interesting, while also helping to push sales) vs the kind of stuff they now post - hey, look at these new models, aren't they swell, and "conversions" that are, like, replacing a Killa Kan's rocket launcher with the one from a Valkyrie.

H.B.M.C. wrote:You remember the three Matrix movies right?

I was following your point up until here.

I'm fairly certain there was only ever one Matrix movie.

pretre wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:You remember the three Matrix movies right?

I was following your point up until here.

I'm fairly certain there was only ever one Matrix movie.

No, no. You're only wishing there was.


After a few cursory visits to the website, I realized that most of the "Hobby Articles" were just advertising anyway and left for greener pastures. I honestly believe that it's (the website) is worse than White Dwarf in that respect, or just as bad anyway.

Im more annoyed the Astronomican seems to have gone bye bye. It did contain some good and interesting articles even if some individual points within each article were flawed (battle tactics/analysis for example).

Astronomican is their archive, and you can occasionally find something good in there, especially because their in-website search engine no longer searches for articles.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mr Mystery wrote:You are aware GW are a business yes? Because you know, promoting your wares on your own website is, you know, kind of de rigeur...

Clueless as always Grotsnik, but I'll try to give a full response and explain my reasoning rather than just brushing you aside for the sycophantic GW-banner bearer you are:

Promoting and selling your own products on your website is normal. Putting up hobby advice that isn't actually hobby advice but is just a very thinly veiled attempt at advertising is not normal - it's bs.

You remember the three Matrix movies right? In the second one, towards the end, the Architect talks about how the original Matrix was perfect, but that it failed horribly because people wouldn't accept the program. Why? They weren't given a choice. Once they were given a choice, even the smallest of subconscious ones, everything worked fine. Advertising works in the exact same manner, and when you try to hide advertising in a 'perfect system' (in this case, hobby advice), people reject it even if they aren't as cynical as me. In other words - they see right through all the nonsense and would much rather the other side just be open and upfront about what they're trying to sell. Only the most dyed-in-the-wool kool-aid drinking fanboys don't see that (which explains pretty much all your posts Mystery).

Now, did you go to the link I posted in my last post? I'll save you the trouble just put the first part:

It's been a while since I've started a "GW whine!" thread, but the latest What's New Today just hit the right spot to set off my cynicism mode. I refer specifically to the first two sentences of the latest issue:

I was in the Warhammer World store the other day picking up a couple of mail orders (new Orcs & Goblins - I caught the green bug) when I noticed a Goblin Warboss on Gigantic Spider and the Animosity Orcs in their cabinet. On closer inspection I realised that all of the models in the cabinet were Available to Order miniatures - ones that you can only get through the webstore or our terminals in store.

I mean… come on… really? He didn’t know they were for sale? Really??? And an employee of the company who works in the webstore/warehouse would admit that on the official website?

Now, before you jump at me, I have no problem with GW advertising their products; if anything, GW needs to advertise more – banner ads on other websites, sponsorship and participation in local events outside of the ones they run themselves (ie. stop pretending they are the hobby and finally admit that they are part of a hobby), but these What’s New Today articles have just gone beyond the joke.

D'ya see what I'm getting at Mystery?

Can you see how "This is our newest product. It does X, Y and Z. Please buy some!" is often better than "Wow! I just happened to notice product X! And OMG! It's on sale! I didn't even know that! Now look at this showcase of models that *gasp* just happen to be new releases! What a fething coincidence!"

And straight in with the personal insults, as if somehow childish mudslinging makes your point suddenly valid.

Show me any GW article which wouldn't be some kind of advertising? Painting, your promoting the paints, the brushes, perhaps a book etc. And so on.

The quote in your post..well, is he actually saying 'zomg! I HAS NEVAR SEEN B4!!!!!' or 'hey, did you know there are models and stuff we don't have on the shelves, and you can instead only buy from this very website?'

I think your cynicism is blinding you. You actively seek stuff to piss and moan about, and then act like some kind of messiah for your views. Not terribly endearing I'm afraid. Don't get me wrong, I really couldn't give the proverbial at a rolling donought, but you genuinely come across as 'my opinion is the only opinion'. Perhaps if you tried to be less egotistical and obnoxious?

Mr Mystery wrote:
The quote in your post..well, is he actually saying 'zomg! I HAS NEVAR SEEN B4!!!!!' or 'hey, did you know there are models and stuff we don't have on the shelves, and you can instead only buy from this very website?'

This, this right here is exactly HBMC's point.
Its a thinly veiled 'o look, theres more places you can buy our stuff' advertising piece where none is needed.

O and if you complain about personal insults, why did you join in and do it back?

Oh dear. Here we go again.

Read what he wrote. Not what you want it to say. He is bringing to peoples attention models they won't have seen in-store. How is this anyway cynical, or different to any other company ever? And why is this not needed? It's not something you generally see in-store, or indeed anywhere but their website. Why shouldn't they point them out once in a while?

Seriously, you people are aware GW is very much a for-profit enterprise? It's just some seem so shocked that they might, you know, want to make money?

Mr Mystery wrote:Oh dear. Here we go again.

Read what he wrote. Not what you want it to say. He is bringing to peoples attention models they won't have seen in-store. How is this anyway cynical, or different to any other company ever? And why is this not needed? It's not something you generally see in-store, or indeed anywhere but their website. Why shouldn't they point them out once in a while?

Seriously, you people are aware GW is very much a for-profit enterprise? It's just some seem so shocked that they might, you know, want to make money?

It's not that they want to make money, every business want's to turn a profit...it's how they go about doing it that bugs me.
GW appears to be going for the "quick" money, without giving a hell of a lot of thought to long term customers.

Trouble is, with a hobby, particularly one like Wargaming, every customer develops into a more or less unique beast. Pleasing all your experienced customers could be said to be a fools errand. Once you've grasped the basics, what more can the producer do for you? This in particularly is a very social hobby. I don't need GW to organise every single facet of it for me. I only go into the shop for a pick up game, or to make a purchase. I don't need painting lessons, modelling lessons etc. Newbs do. Hence that's what the stores, and by extension the company, need to concern themselve with.

My overall point was more one that GW seems to be solely concerned with turning a quick buck rather than establishing "good relations" with it's customer base.
Now, I do agree with you that no company can please everyone all the time, to attempt to do so would be impossiable, yet as a somewhat longtime "buyer", I see much of what GW does business wise to be short sighted.
The constant price hikes to fill in profit loss and the "information black outs" being chief among my issues.

From my last time with the company, their plan is a lot more long sighted that you might think.

For now, the main onus is of course recruitment. BUT, with that, retention begins straight away. Get them through beginners, and keep them coming back with invites etc. Oddly this isn't something they really did before. Sure, every store would have an event of some kind on, but the planning was less than consistent across the board etc. Main events are more catch all, typically promoting the latest release etc. But you also need to make sure you have personal invites etc. These should be extended to every customer. Is it always done? Nope, but that's a failing of the individual staff member, rather than one of general policy.

Look at this way. Do you try to appease a serial whinger, whether it's justified or not, or chalk it up to experience, and do your damnedest to prevent the current crop from having people of the same opinion? Which is going to be the most productive approach?

Mr Mystery wrote:Oh dear. Here we go again.

Read what he wrote. Not what you want it to say. He is bringing to peoples attention models they won't have seen in-store. How is this anyway cynical, or different to any other company ever? And why is this not needed? It's not something you generally see in-store, or indeed anywhere but their website. Why shouldn't they point them out once in a while?

Seriously, you people are aware GW is very much a for-profit enterprise? It's just some seem so shocked that they might, you know, want to make money?

First of all hi Mr Mystery glad to see your posting style hasn't changed much in the past few day's

Second the problem is the difference between

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! HEY GUY'S DID YOU KNOW WE SELL THIS STUFF!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!! I DIDN'T AND YOU CAN GET IT RIGHT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111!!!!!!!! OMG!!!1!!!!11

and

Hey we sell some cool figures like this one why don't you go have a look at them at this link and maybe buy some.

one works and get's people to look at stuff, the other well it just makes you look stupid...