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Step 4 is "File extensive amounts of lawsuits."
Duh, people! : )

Eric

Thinking this approach to the end, it would mean no more Black Boxes or Codices in advance for stores. Weird!

tarnish wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:GW says they compensate media advertising through the "marketing power of word of mouth". Then they do everything to destroy even that. Doesn't make sense.

Yes i see that but mabye that word of mouth is more effective when the news really are news when the new product comes out. im sure they have seen a rise in sales when they kept things secret and therefore concluded that they need to go covert on the market to sell even more. I know its not a flawless plan but to that end i kinda get it.

The marketing concept is called "building up interest" and involves announcements, previews and such. This is what supports word of mouth campaigns, not secretly hitting customers with a product.
And they haven't seen a raise in sales for years (about as long as they dropped previews on their website)!

Then i can only see two possible reasons for this move:
1: trying to keep the competition in the dark.
2: lessen confusion about future products duo to a singular source: the official one.

There might be some overtly complex idea behind it, that the companies ideas (and upcoming products) are their property until they become public which might be some kind of copyright concern. Like for example a new trooptype being released and some competitor then filing an lawsuit for using a name they copyrighted some time in advance duo to rumour leakage.

Another might be that they find the rumour leakage to be out of their control and therefore undesirable. Companies often get a god complex like that.

While I enjoy 40k, I'm not a rabid GW fanboy. It's the only miniatures game I've played, and for now it'll remain the only one.

That said, they're making some really questionable business moves. There is a lot of heavy competition in the hobby and games category, and they're competing for people's time in a broad market with lots of companies that are very saavy and eager to please their customers. Rarely is increasing your prices, reducing your bottom line, and buttoning up what is already an extremely poor dialogue with their enthusiasts a sound move. It just makes them appear as though they are riding tall on a high horse, and pompously aware of their success.

As an alternative, I would be more inclined to find ways to reduce our bottom line, try to pass a cheaper and yet still quality product on to the customer, and open up with our strategy. Appointing a community manager to deal entirely in behind the scenes glimpses, concept art, and things to expect to come down the pipe in the coming months. You ingratiate your customer by giving them the feeling of transparency and insider info, you crush harmful rumors, and you generate early hype for your product.

Or just charge more, deliver the same, spend less to do it, and never tell anyone about anything you're working on.

Seems like the "Why register" page https://www.games-workshop.com/gws/login/login.jsp doesn't include the paragraph on the "Incoming email" anymore, a silent confirmation of the original rumour (thanks to Necr0n for noticing it). Does anyone remember such a paragraph and can confirm that?

So if I understand this correctly, we will never know what GW is releasing until a week before it actually goes on sale.

I guess that means GW doesn’t want to collect customer’s cash as quickly as possible via pre-orders to recoup the cash investment being made to build out stock for the new release. I guess that means that they won’t be telling their retail partners what’s coming up so they have time to figure out what and how much to order based on customer interest. They will just have the to guess or forgo not having any product the week it released. Furthermore I guess GW is assuming that people just have piles of unspent money just waiting around so that they can essentially impulse buy GW’s expensive plastic toy soldiers (and soon to be mystery mix minis).

Sounds like a plan for success………………………if success is defined as decreasing sales and upsetting your customers and retail partners.

Seriously? Seriously? Seriously?

Who is running this company? Chimpazees? 5-year old kids? FOX?!

I simply can't comprehend how they think this sort of thing is a good idea. If this is true, and I have no reason to doubt it because it sounds like them, perhaps it's time I moved on to a far worthier hobby. Like clipping my nails.

I don't like this.

But after what happened with the Grey Knights release (and it was a GOOD release...if we ignore fluff; and speaking as an Inquisition player) its not surprising.

I can also understand this may help stop the blatant copying that other companies do of their range (like Chapterhouse)

Mr Hyena wrote:I don't like this.

But after what happened with the Grey Knights release (and it was a GOOD release...if we ignore fluff; and speaking as an Inquisition player) its not surprising.

An unauthorized leak of something well before the announcement date that wouldn't have been any different under the policy they are proposing?

I can also understand this may help stop the blatant copying that other companies do of their range (like Chapterhouse)

I don't see how, it's not like the stuff these companies are putting out either isn't out there in the fluff usually already or can't be put out within weeks of a release anyway, often months or years before GW releases a mini.

An unauthorized leak of something well before the announcement date that wouldn't have been any different under the policy they are proposing?

I mean the ******** that it caused. Leaks are bad whatever happens (and the guy should have been sacked with no pay) but the problem was how people kept bitching and negatively impacting on the release. (even when I myself was glad as I finally had my army usable...)

I don't see how, it's not like the stuff these companies are putting out either isn't out there in the fluff usually already or can't be put out within weeks of a release anyway, often months or years before GW releases a mini.

Thats not the point. The point is they shouldn't be putting it out full stop. Its not their game. When they hold the license to the game; then sure they can. Thats honestly whats caused this whole mess anyway.

Lord of Deeds wrote:Sounds like a plan for success………………………if success is defined as decreasing sales and upsetting your customers and retail partners.

GW management prefers the expression "business as usual"

Mr Hyena wrote:I can also understand this may help stop the blatant copying that other companies do of their range (like Chapterhouse)

Right, GW wooing its customers and telling them 5 months in advance when to expect the urgently needed Tervigon kit will certainly discourage customers to buy the Chapterhouse conversion kit

Which chapterhouse has no right to make anyway.

Mr Hyena wrote:Which chapterhouse has no right to make anyway.

There's a huge thread about that very topic, virtually filled to the brim with real lawyers, on this very website, where I'm sure they would love to hear off-the-cuff rulings like yours in there. See apparently there's this huge lawsuit going on about this very thing, and there's a lot of crazy legal concepts to consider, but all they really need is your ignorant absolutes to clear everything up for them.

Crazy lawyers, with their insight, and analysis! What will they think of next?

MikeMcSomething wrote:

Mr Hyena wrote:Which chapterhouse has no right to make anyway.

There's a huge thread about that very topic, virtually filled to the brim with real lawyers, on this very website, where I'm sure they would love to hear off-the-cuff rulings like yours in there. See apparently there's this huge lawsuit going on about this very thing, and there's a lot of crazy legal concepts to consider, but all they really need is your ignorant absolutes to clear everything up for them.

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

Mr Hyena wrote:Which chapterhouse has no right to make anyway.

Not the topic here, but maybe you have noticed a trend in recent threads of people urgently looking for non-GW miniatures, not the contrary.

Scarey Nerd wrote:

MikeMcSomething wrote:

Mr Hyena wrote:Which chapterhouse has no right to make anyway.

There's a huge thread about that very topic, virtually filled to the brim with real lawyers, on this very website, where I'm sure they would love to hear off-the-cuff rulings like yours in there. See apparently there's this huge lawsuit going on about this very thing, and there's a lot of crazy legal concepts to consider, but all they really need is your ignorant absolutes to clear everything up for them.

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

If you switch the letters around in "Sith" you get a pretty accurate description of the quality of Mr Hyena's post. Does The Force have anything to say about coincidence?

MikeMcSomething wrote:

Mr Hyena wrote:Which chapterhouse has no right to make anyway.

There's a huge thread about that very topic, virtually filled to the brim with real lawyers, on this very website, where I'm sure they would love to hear off-the-cuff rulings like yours in there. See apparently there's this huge lawsuit going on about this very thing, and there's a lot of crazy legal concepts to consider, but all they really need is your ignorant absolutes to clear everything up for them.

Crazy lawyers, with their insight, and analysis! What will they think of next?

Don't complain when the only alternative is to keep everything silent till the product comes out; so they can actually get some return on it before someone copies it.

Not the topic here, but maybe you have noticed a trend in recent threads of people urgently looking for non-GW miniatures, not the contrary.

Of course. But its stupidity to deny theres not some knock-on effect that causes things like that here. A change of this magnitude isn't thought of overnight.

Nuance and critical thinking aren't really your "things" are they?

Nuance and critical thinking aren't really your "things" are they?

Whats the alternative for them to do? And where will they get the funds to do it? And how do they reduce copies that steal sales (giving that dropping news of what product is on its way early is clearly not working)?

I don't like this any more than you do. But I, on the other hand, am not surprised this happened.

Mr Hyena wrote: Whats the alternative for them to do?

The same thing they have always done - use their reputation for churning out quality product to continue generating revenue that is orders of magnitude higher than all of the garage kit companies combined.

If we all ran out and bought everything CH owned right now, it would make gw "lose" less money than what they paid for the phone call to their lawyers.

I conclude that the guys at GW who make all the decisions are not only half wits, but are also drunk and high every moment of the day.

The new DE was a top-quality line. The new Tomb Kings look utterly amazing. Doesn't seem to be doing much however; otherwise GW wouldn't be implementing these measures would they?

Well i have a feeling Spartan games are going to be getting a lot of new customer's.

Yay Dystopian war's.

MikeMcSomething wrote:

Mr Hyena wrote: Whats the alternative for them to do?

The same thing they have always done - use their reputation for churning out quality product to continue generating revenue that is orders of magnitude higher than all of the garage kit companies combined.

If we all ran out and bought everything CH owned right now, it would make gw "lose" less money than what they paid for the phone call to their lawyers.

I'M A PORSCHE!



:( sadly that reputation doesn't always work....

Mr Hyena wrote:But I, on the other hand, am not surprised this happened.

I am not surprised either, it is a common and well known development for people or organisations suffering paranoid schizophrenia, just study the behavior of dictators in the late stages of a crumbling regime. Cutting off communication with the outside world and hiding behind strong walls is standard procedure

Its not even comparable to paranoid schizophrenia; even in a hyperbolic sense. A company itself cannot be a paranoid schizophrenic and even if the leader of said company was; he would have been outed from the company a long time ago.

To say so is to deny there is not a justifiable reason for this change which is honestly wrong. How many times have shitstorms been seen with upcoming releases; wrong info and worse still; knowing that other companies without the same costs to pay; are able to make copies for cheaper. (they don't have stores to pay for)

You would think a company would want its customers to get hyped up and excited for new models/books to come out. Those of us who like the models (and I think most people agree that most new models are awesome) see the images and get excited and impulse buy because we've waited so long for these models and want them immediately. Steps we normally take:

-Open email, dakka, other various website
-See news of new GW models along with pictures
-Froth at the mouth at the idea of owning said product soon
-Wait and save money, stewing the whole time about the wait
-See model on shelf, buy two copies before we can stop ourselves because we want them so bad
-Rinse, Repeat

This has worked for them-get us hyped up and excited for new releases. How do we get excited for: "find out next week what comes out on Friday!" Oh man, something is coming! What if it's for an army I hate....I'm gonna go buy a video game that I know I want instead of something that may be crap.

Good thing that GW's recent decisions made it more difficult for other companies to undercut GW prices
Good thing that now everyone can buy a complete GW army on release day before non-GW alternatives are on the market, like Dwarfs™, Elves™, female™ SciFi™ Soldiers™, Orcs™, Alien™ Monsters™ or whatever™

Its not like the opposite was working; as the Grey Knights release proved. So theres not really any choice.

Frankly; they should just cut the stores and be an internet only franchise. They are a drain on resources; that especially is impacting europe. (well; its more the recession thats impacting; but this too) They might make something back on their releases then.

This has worked for them-get us hyped up and excited for new releases.

GW is like any company. They like money. Why would they stop doing something if it makes them money?

Mr Hyena wrote:I mean the ******** that it caused. Leaks are bad whatever happens (and the guy should have been sacked with no pay) but the problem was how people kept bitching and negatively impacting on the release. (even when I myself was glad as I finally had my army usable...)

I agree, however I don't think their proposed policy will change any of that given the nature of that leak.

Thats not the point. The point is they shouldn't be putting it out full stop. Its not their game. When they hold the license to the game; then sure they can. Thats honestly whats caused this whole mess anyway.

Again, I don't disagree, but once again, I don't see how this change in their policy will do anything about that.