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I was looking at old codices and such and saw pictures of people next to armies. I think GW should go back to the fan-player models showing up in places like white dwarf and codices again...

Thoughts?

I would buy it if they added some content.

Meh. Magazine is for the newer player, I get all my kicks and stuff online.

So no need to change it at all really.

You know, I really don't have a great opinion of White Dwarf, but the last one with three IG batreps was kinda nice. I actually read the hell out of that one, as it showed some of the New Hotness in action, and gave tenative, unofficial, and prehaps wrong answers to how some of the new stuff works rules-wise. For that, I thought it was a HUGE step up, but comparing it to previous issues and looking at improvement isn't setting the bar very high is it?

They could turn the clock back around 15 years and go back to what they were doing then (this would have the added advantage - for me - of not having to flick past the lotr stuff).

It's so damn expensive for what you get, in the UK at least

Have something else other than "THESE ARE NEW MODELS BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY BLAAAAARGH!"

Seriously, they have the same models showing up in 3 consecutive months' WD! As much as I thought the Stompas are awesome, I didn't need to see the same GW staff painted models over and over again... Put in some crazy fan made content. Have interviews with tourney players. How about some Warhammer Cartoons? Or some inworld fiction?

[/rant]

If they control their upcomming release from being leaked months before (advanced order) Im sure people will actually care about it when they see it in the magazine.

1. Lower the price. For that kind of money I can buy a paperback novel by a reputable author.
2. Add content. I used to love the WD when I got into the game back in 2005 (yes, I'm still new at this) because I could look at the pictures and get all kinds of great ideas. Plus it had Battlefleet Gothic and other specialist games in there. More variety!
3. Stop being a shill catalog. Now before I get flamed, I do understand GW has to make money. But I believe that as the consumer I get to decide if I plunk down my hard earned cash whether or not it's worth it. I don't like paying for advertisements. I definitely don't like paying for weak and very watered down articles of how to paint using "GW's new fill-in-the-blank product." More ads should mean the magazine costs less. Would it hurt them to sell ad space to lower the price of the mag and increase readership?

My .02.

Lower the price (I've resolved to never buy a $9 WD)

Add some actual content (hobby tips beyond how great their [shi$] tools are)

Fan armies/submissions

NO LORD OF THE RINGS!!!!!!!!! Seriously who plays this? Is it enough to justify 1/3 of the WD? "Oh wow yet another Aragorn model! Wooooo..."

I am not opposed to the ads, they gotta sell it, but I hate the 3-page spreads of old stuff like Necrons with nothing relevant or new in it. Makes no sense and is insulting. "Oooooh look, the same old stuff. I gotta buy some!!!"

Problem with selling the adds is they sell the space to themselves - doesn't help with the cost. I do agree with you though!

I think the answer has been covered. Less new stuff and more fan stuff. I used to love the older issues when there were articles on readers armies and great conversions. I liked the recent article on the shadow sword with the unlucky gun or whatever it was, and the may issue has a couple of interesting pictures, e.g. the Mech Baneblade and the jungle temple, but they're just pictures, I want to know more than that, I want a modelling article! Same with the new sprue pictures, it's nice to know what you get but that's what the box is for. I'd rather be shown a few ideas and conversion ispired by the bits, like they did with the space marines when the plastic multipart frames were released in 3rd. Some of those were pretty clever and made you want to get involved and make it your own rather than jumping on the band wagon.

And yes it is a bandwagon, guess what I popped in to GW this weekend and hardly saw power armour (JUST TWO PLAYERS USING MARINES!!!! shock horror). What did everyone else have? IG. and bog standard ones at that, nothing inspiring. And what were the staff talking about? Selling you tanks (they have no troops, surprise surprise - off the shelves for a repack?)

And yes I do know they have to make money - surely there's better ways to sell stuff AND keep us online grumpy folks happy

Elric of Grans wrote:I would buy it if they added some content.

Seconded...

Everytime I have read WD, I feel like I'm having the latest trend shoved down my throat. What I'd personally like to see is more things from the consumers. Models they've made, tactica's, army lists, batlle reports (not the, we have just released marines so marines are uber, battle reports)

Until they improve, I'll not be buying White Dwarf

The problem is most of their "news" isn't news at all. Just look at the "lastest" from Forge World that they showcaser each month. The May issue is showcasing Inquisitor Hector Rex and retinue.

They used to preview stuff still ages away with little teasers and WIP shots. Remember the preview of the plastic terminators or the chaos marauders? The current trend in previews is two months before their release, which really doesn't help a lot to build hype and make people go apeshit.

edit.

Oh and scrap the column of Jervis, all he does is masturbate to his own greatness and what HE did for the hobby.

Elric of Grans wrote:I would buy it if they added some content.

QFT

@BrookM, lol, very true. I always suprisingly seem to skip his babbling, I think there are a lot more people on Dakka who know more than him.

Maybe we should try and buy the rights to White Dwarf? (White Dakka)

They need to give out free stuff With all the price hikes on everything, a special order mini a couple times a year would probably do the trick for the people on the fence.

The main problem is that White Dwarf is an Obsolete concept, that of printing on paper (i mean, look at how newspapers are doing).

In this day and age, there is no need to buy a White Dwarf for "news" and "Tactics" because you can get everything and more for free on-line.

Maxstreel wrote:
3. Stop being a shill catalog. Now before I get flamed, I do understand GW has to make money. But I believe that as the consumer I get to decide if I plunk down my hard earned cash whether or not it's worth it. I don't like paying for advertisements. I definitely don't like paying for weak and very watered down articles of how to paint using "GW's new fill-in-the-blank product." More ads should mean the magazine costs less. Would it hurt them to sell ad space to lower the price of the mag and increase readership?

Nurgleboy77 wrote:
NO LORD OF THE RINGS!!!!!!!!! Seriously who plays this? Is it enough to justify 1/3 of the WD? "Oh wow yet another Aragorn model! Wooooo..."

BrookM wrote:T
Oh and scrap the column of Jervis, all he does is masturbate to his own greatness and what HE did for the hobby.

gremmie0 wrote:They need to give out free stuff With all the price hikes on everything, a special order mini a couple times a year would probably do the trick for the people on the fence.

QFT!!!!

I hafta agree with anyone that says "add content". I quit subscribeing, now I pick one up if it has something in it of interest to me. That happens maybe 2-3 times a year now. I could stand to see a lot less LoTR stuff, maybe more useable stuff, like mini codexes, chapter approved rules suplements, and articles about scratchbuilding, converting and painting. The "Standard bearer" articles are a complete waste, Jervis talks about the hobby as if he had invented Rock'n'Roll, or something. It's a cool game, and a fun hobby, but it dosn't define my life or anything. I could also do without the "Citadel hall of fame", as I feel it is a shameless pitch for models that are about to go obsolete.

They should do more articles on the people that work there. I found the article on the Perry twins a while ago a fine read, as it was something other than just fun and games.

I'd like to give examples of what content I'd like to see, every month:

1) A comic page. There are at least three 40k-related webcomics out there. I remember, back in the day, that Wormy, and Phil&Dixie were in the back of Dragon magazine, and the ongoing stories were fun. Add a little humour to the magazine.

2) A short story. 2-3 pages, they have a ton of black library writers, surely someone can come up with a few thousand words once a month. Maybe serialized...

3) New rules. Make me excited to buy something. Ok, so it's only going to be datasheets (or the fantasy/LotR equivalent), but have it be something. Make me want to convert something.

4) Actual commentary from the designers about why they did things. Not just what they did, but why. Why did the guard need orders instead of a leadership bubble. I'm smart enough to figure out that they got orders from reading the codex, telling me that doesn't do much for me. Tell me why you removed things as well, not just what you added.

5) Battle reports that aren't necessarily the new army of the month. I've seen a few of these in the past.

6) Real tactics articles. They've tried some of these in the past too, and they've always been good reads.

7) More masterclass painting articles. One a month, every month. And, while you're at that, masterclass conversion articles too.

I LOVE the Citadel Hall of Fame segment.
I enjoy most of the battle reports.
Campaign rules/ideas/reports are a definite way forward.

Jervis ought to have a smaller column, and get a few others with opposing viewpoints so it is a genuine open forum.
Extra rules/data cards etc are interesting when they apply to you, but not when you don't, so it needs to be carefull.

I can get painting advice better online.
I can get tactics advice better online.

I haven't enjoyed the last few battle reports. The 40k reports have gone to a rushed format that doesn't show what has happend each turn. Instead, they broadly show what happens over 2-3 turns.

I also would like to see some tactica articles. The perfect place to insert this would be in place of Jervis's rant columns. Jervis's column should be called 'alienating gamers' and not the 'standard bearer'.

I also really like the masterclass painting articles, but when I saw it was another chaos model, I couldnt help but think.... Seriously? Again?

I would also be more prone to continue reading WD if the codex designers knew the rules of the game, or maybe addressed problems or inconsistencies. In the latest WD alone, Robin states that a squad of guardsmen can throw down 30 shots with the order first rank fire, second rank. This is an impossibility b/c sergeants cannot have lasguns. They also show the valkyrie landed in over 50% of the pictures in the battle reports and the rulebook states that skimmers must stay on their flight stand unless imobilized. This just makes me more confused on the already ambiguos rules surrounding the valkyrie/vendetta.

If they need to clarify a rule in WD, then do it.

Full blown tournament-usable Rules previews/mini-books dex's.

DE haven't had a list in years? Give us new rules to use models with if it's going to be another 2 years (on top of the 8-10 it's been already).

Put it up on the web 2-3 months after the issue is out.

That's pretty much the only thing you could do to get me to blow $8 on an otherwise worthless magazine.

The web gives me every other kind of content they could offer for free, and at a higher quality.

Maxstreel wrote:
3. Stop being a shill catalog. Now before I get flamed, I do understand GW has to make money. But I believe that as the consumer I get to decide if I plunk down my hard earned cash whether or not it's worth it. I don't like paying for advertisements. I definitely don't like paying for weak and very watered down articles of how to paint using "GW's new fill-in-the-blank product." More ads should mean the magazine costs less. Would it hurt them to sell ad space to lower the price of the mag and increase readership?

Why would you get flamed? Thats been one of the biggest complaint of WD for years now. Little content, one big catalog magazine. Even the battle reports are more pictures than actually whats going on.

More content, less shill.

Less lotr, more room for specialist games. I'd love to see more battle reports in it and tips/tricks sections for converting and painting getting more room. Some comics relating to either fantasy or 40k would also be very welcome.

Sounds like there are a lot of ideas on how they can improve the magazine! Keep them coming guys!

1. Drop price by half.
2. Include more profiles from tournaments and painting comps
3. generate more content, including reader submitted content (scenarios, map campaigns, army profiles, tactica, scenery building, optional rules for campaigns etc.)
4. Show some love to the Specialist games, WHFRPG and Dark Heresy, including how you can overlap/tie in games (e.g. your Dark Heresy characters in 40k or how your 40k map based campaign can influence your RPG experience, etc.)
5. Have an online version, with some content available to anyone, but double secret content available to subscribers.
6. FAQs and Rules Clarifications.

Basically, all the things we used to expect from Dragon/Dungeon magazine, still expect from No Quarter, and used to get (in drips and drabs) from both White Dwarf and Citadel magazines.

hellsguardian316 wrote:Maybe we should try and buy the rights to White Dwarf? (White Dakka)

I laughed out loud GW should really consider this!

Or more practically speaking- have a reader-generated content section! They could request people to submit pics of non-GW staff stuff, or even just put out an invitation (in general or to select people) to write articles with or without pics. This would be awesome, and mostly free for them, since getting published would be worth it for whoever contributed. All they'd have to do is pay an editor

Well, I think it's an awesome idea... which means they probably won't do it

LunaHound wrote:If they control their upcomming release from being leaked months before (advanced order) Im sure people will actually care about it when they see it in the magazine.

If they showed their upcoming releases - i.e. in green form prior to them being leaked, I'm sure it might be interesting.