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Comparing GW with other companies seems to be the way to go, so:

Product quality: GW are like BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Lexus et al - a top marque that turns out quality products (which is the reason they got to the top) and they now charge a premium price so you get the item with the name on it - in the car terms, that price is paid as a status thing IMO; GW, it's because of that monopoly they have. The miniatures they produce are great; the peripheral stuff (brushes, paints, glues, whatever) may not be the highest quality, but they definitely aren't the lowest - serviceable stuff suited to the job in hand.

Customer service (not needed to use it personally, but from others' experiences): GW are like Marks and Spencer: you pay a bit more than comparable (or as said above, slightly higher quality) products from their competitors, but you have complete confidence that any problem you may encounter will be resolved satisfactorily in the shortest possible time.
To those who stated they are just following the law: from what I've heard, they're going well above and beyond what is required. A company could resolve your complaint in 2 hours or 28 days (or longer, depending on the situation), and both scenarios are perfectly compliant - which would make you a happier customer, though?

Business model: GW are just like the company I work for (and a whole load of other large private and public companies)
- They have a very corporate environment/culture, sales scripts and shop quotas and targets, certain products that have to be promoted, detaching the customer from the hobby experience; the customer is just someone to be sold something and then on to the next. I'm sure they have customer service seminars for their staff, but from views in this thread (and elsewehere on the forum) their current practice is obviously not what many customers want.
- They manufacture the product and have an extensive distribution system: their own retail outlets; independent retail outlets; their own e-commerce site; independent e-commerce. Other miniatures and game systems could be the best in the world, but if they have no way to get them to hobbyists then no one will know about them.

Can't think of a comparison here, but the GW worlds are 'complete' - from game systems to miniatures to paints and hobby equipment to extensive background fluff and fiction, they try to cover every angle. If someone finds a new angle, they try to cover it (like Microsoft I suppose, who, if they can't replicate a technology, buy a company that can).

Short summary is what I think has been said many times before: good product from a good company that has lost its way now that it has shareholders that it needs to satisfy.

Ulver wrote:Comparing GW with other companies seems to be the way to go, so:

Product quality: GW are like BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Lexus et al - a top marque that turns out quality products (which is the reason they got to the top) and they now charge a premium price so you get the item with the name on it - in the car terms, that price is paid as a status thing IMO;

What's that rumbling I hear in the distance? Oh no, it's getting closer! OMG!!!!!



The horror, the horror.....

Hahaha, hey, every company has it's ugly ducklings!

In general, GW models are top notch. Their plastic kits, literally, have no peers. They have changed the entire industry time and again.

Reecius wrote:Their plastic kits, literally, have no peers.

Let's not overstate the case.

How many other plastic minotaur kits are out there Johira? See, no peer

And yeah, any company can miss the mark from time to time even though I personally like the Mino's (though not the razorgor).

JOHIRA wrote:

Reecius wrote:Their plastic kits, literally, have no peers.

Let's not overstate the case.

Funny, here I was thinking the general consensus was that "when not painted like beefcakes, the Minotaurs can actually look pretty good".

Crazy!

The big positive of GW:

Like many start up and independent companies, it has not been bought out by a bigger entity (read: Hasbro, WOTC, TSR).

Hence I feel that despite the many complaints (including costs), they still have an original vision for their product rather than the crap that gets spewed out as their corporate slavemasters demand of them.

WarOne wrote:The big positive of GW:

Like many start up and independent companies, it has not been bought out by a bigger entity (read: Hasbro, WOTC, TSR).

Hence I feel that despite the many complaints (including costs), they still have an original vision for their product rather than the crap that gets spewed out as their corporate slavemasters demand of them.

Not sure the angle you're trying to represent there, but either way Gw doesn't exactly count as a 'small' entity:

"For the {year ended 30th (sic) May 2010}, the company reported revenue of £126.511 million against £125.706 million a year ago. Operating profit was £16.045 million against £8.933 million a year ago."

Ulver wrote:

WarOne wrote:The big positive of GW:

Like many start up and independent companies, it has not been bought out by a bigger entity (read: Hasbro, WOTC, TSR).

Hence I feel that despite the many complaints (including costs), they still have an original vision for their product rather than the crap that gets spewed out as their corporate slavemasters demand of them.

Not sure the angle you're trying to represent there, but either way Gw doesn't exactly count as a 'small' entity:

"For the {year ended 30th (sic) May 2010}, the company reported revenue of £126.511 million against £125.706 million a year ago. Operating profit was £16.045 million against £8.933 million a year ago."

And yet, they're still not as large as WOTC was when it was bought out by Hasbro or TSR was when bought out by WOTC.

I was trying to look for that info, but couldn't source it.

Again then, I wouldn't regard WOTC or TSR as startups or independents. WOTC was acquired after about 9 years of trading.

GW is a publicly-listed company, so I don't see how it qualifies as an 'independent'.

I had quite some fun when i whent into a gw store the other day, they didnt know me so i played the ignorant teen, he spent half a hour explaining every thing for me and proclaimed when he was finished, "soo, i was just picking up some paint for my dwarves." The look he gave me was priceless. Ah... good times.

Kanluwen wrote:Funny, here I was thinking the general consensus was that "when not painted like beefcakes, the Minotaurs can actually look pretty good".

I've seen no consensus (just like I've seen no plastic minotaurs yet that "actually look pretty good"). But if you need a different plastic example then you can look at the "chibi-hawk", a miniature that no doubt saw many months of design time and is still inferior to many players' kitbashes and designs people could knock together in photoshop in 30 mintues.

Why is it that despite my general dislike for GW I can acknowledge that they do some things well, and yet there are still people out there who cannot accept that GW has any negative points? They're a big company, they don't need anyone to defend them and you won't get any free minis white knighting for them.

Why is it that despite my general dislike for GW I can acknowledge that they do some things well, and yet there are still people out there who cannot accept that GW has any negative points? They're a big company, they don't need anyone to defend them and you won't get any free minis white knighting for them.

There are those people who border the Zealot edge of reality who are so... blinded that no wrong can be to their beliefs. I've met a few of these people in my businesses and when I was active in a more professional tournament play.

Games workshop makes good models in their market sphere but they are not the "absolute" best IMHO.

They do have a good product and they promote the hobby in their stores. It is everything else that people are complaining about.

As far as positives go, GW has a decent, long running product and hobby. Whilst I won’t say that they are the best hobby company around, they are probably the most iconic.

Probably the main negative of the company IMO is their rules side of the hobby with the slow release of codices as the sole source of rules updates and the lack of supplement/interim rules for older codices. This reason has always restricted me to a small degree when purchasing GW products

The bad:

Their items are overpriced. 40k favors expensive armies and is horribly unbalanced. They do not update codexes frequently enough. C'mon, we're what? 2 years into 5th edition and still have what 3, 3rd edition codexes in use?

The good:

Their models are usually excellent. They have the best plastic kits. 40k and Warhammer are both fascinating universes. I'd say Warhammer is probably my favorite fantasy setting. .

Captain Solon wrote:Evil sponge, why are they a terrible company? are you saying it's bad of them to ask you to pay for their space, their terrain, their toys, their knowledge?

that comment really gets to me. how dare you forget why patronage is important.

in my exp id say its because they dont pay enough to staff to enable them to live (if they have any dependants) without getting a second job (in terms of how much cash you actually get in 12 months...) - shame or id have stayed put with a great big smile on my face..... that upsets a lot of staff n x staff.....