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I've been a reader of White Dwarf for many a year now. I started collecting from the Ogre Kingdoms debut issue(302?), and bought as many back copies of the magazine as I could lay my hands on, as the previous 100 or so editions were pretty damn good and interesting. When I first bougth White Dwarf, it was gripping, I enjoyed the battle report style, and there were interesting army articles. But rather than discuss the slow degradation of White Dwarf, onto the topic at hand:- namely, Jervis.

Initially, he seemed a bit Paul Sawyer-esque to me, in that he was a veteran gamer of many years, and was clearly a well known figure around the studio. He started out writing some vaguely interesting artircles. But ever since he was included, like White Dwarf. There articles have slowly gone downhill in content, and anything worth reading. It's got to the point well all he does he ramble on about how awesome Games Workshop is.

My point is this. Is it time for Jervis's articles to be canned? These days, every time I open the magazine, I find myself dreading his article, and wishing the man would just go away already, rather than going on and on.

I want him fired anyway, White Dwarf back to its former glory would be a bonus.

White Dwarf is advertising copy.

i actually like standard bearer

Absolutely!

JJ is the last of a dying breed in WD, and he fulfills the rambling old timer act with gusto. Standard Bearer is absolute nonsense and one of the best reasons for not buying WD... ever. Most sane people will agree that it's a sales catalogue anyway, a fact which you and I might have missed when we initially got into the hobby. I was about 11 when I got my first WD, issue 193.
People on Dakka have debated his inclusion for a while now; some see it as a worthwhile and thought provoking read whilst others would rather see another article, any article, take its place.

What I find most annoying is that his articles have only one point. He uses three to four pages to state ''Terrain makes battles better'', or ''Characters models look great''. You'd have to be eleven to swallow that crap.

I once had a technology teacher renowned throughout my school for hellish rambling. People would sleep, eat, and listen to headphones covertly to ease the pain. He was pure JJ. Once, after a full hour and ten minutes, the bell went, and his closing words?

''So what I'm saying is, use colour in your work''.

Jervis' column isn't the reason WD has gone downhill. You should be looking more at the Editor of WD, along with the head of GW Marketing, as being responsible here.

JohnHwangDD wrote:Jervis' column isn't the reason WD has gone downhill. You should be looking more at the Editor of WD, along with the head of GW Marketing, as being responsible here.

Yes, but JJ has survived numerous past editors and still lingers like an bad smell. Standard Bearer is a glowing example of a continuously bad series in WD, whereas others have thankfully been put to the sword.

Ketara wrote:I've been a reader of White Dwarf for many a year now. I started collecting from the Ogre Kingdoms debut issue(302?)...

You started collecting White Dwarf the issue after I stopped. I stopped for the same underlying reasons you are thinking of stopping now. I blame you (and your ilk) for the decline in White Dwarf.

Did anyone stop collecting at issue 145 to carry this torch back a generation?

Issue 302 looks like a literary utopia to what the kids get now.

The Giant! issue was what around 310? I know the US issue was decent up until a few months before then. The UK issues were bad for a decent while before then I remember, so the obvious solution was to sack the US guys to bring the world into a suck alignment.

Although we all know WD suck now, this months wasnt bad, but Jervis, king of the rambly hobby police i think may have had his day.

Presuming that Jervis' column goes, do we really need more ad space in what amounts to little more than a sales catalog?

George Spiggott wrote:

Ketara wrote:I've been a reader of White Dwarf for many a year now. I started collecting from the Ogre Kingdoms debut issue(302?)...

You started collecting White Dwarf the issue after I stopped. I stopped for the same underlying reasons you are thinking of stopping now. I blame you (and your ilk) for the decline in White Dwarf.

Did anyone stop collecting at issue 145 to carry this torch back a generation?

I never collected it, but the last issue I bought for the content was about 112, the Spulk 1e extra floor plans. The mag was clearly a catalogue back then.

Then I bought the Tau Empire codex launch issue.

I used to collect them when I was a youngsta. Didn't have the internet until mid teens as we couldn't afford it. So it was the only way I could see pics of models. I don't think I ever actually read much in white dwarf, just liked the pictures. sad eh.

Anyway, the appeal of that magazine is lost on me now. When I can just...'log on'. ...'log on' and search for whatever ...brunette, redhead...too easy.

Space Hulk debuted in issue 113. I just looked at it upstairs. 112 premiered the Terminator squads, although a "turtle" model was shown a few months earlier.

Um, stop buying White Dwarf? Is it really that hard?

LAEVE JERIVS ALNOE!

In all seriousness, I find WD to be....

Decent.

I can understand where Jervis is coming from, but it seems that his rants could be more...erm... "interesting"

You could see where this thread was going to go from the first post. Out come the predigested comments - 'WD is a sales catalogue', 'Jervis should go' etc.

It's true that Jervis's column isn't particularly interesting. He's moved away from the relentless infomertials of last year to more game-related topics, but there's a feeling that he struggles to fill the column. It would be better if his column was an irregular feature for when he had something to say, or they had a mixture of people writing it. As for Jervis's bigger role within GW, I don't think those who like to blame him for everything that they perceive is wrong with GW have a clue what he does or doesn't do, or what kinds of external pressures he deals with. For all you know, he may be responsible for the rejuvenation of the Orks, the continuing expansion of their range of plastic kits and successful supplements like Apocalypse. The WH40k side of the hobby is in considerably better shape than it was prior to 5th Edition, and we're getting more new models then ever, and as far as I'm aware he has been instrumental in that. He may also be responsible for ensuring that low-selling armies aren't canned by the bean counters there, leaving us with nothing by Space Marines. I don't know if that is the case, but give the guy a break. The only real issue that can be laid at Jervis's feet is the unsatisfactory way they've dealt with the 5th Edition codexes, which are coming out too slowly. I know a lot of players hated the way he simplified the army lists, but in reality it was never as big a deal as it was made out to be.

As for WD, it definitely went into decline a couple of years ago, but as someone who's been buying them every month since before WH40k was released, I've seen several peaks and troughs in quality over the years. I have noticed a real improvement in the last year, from about the time the Ork codex was released (we even got free plastic minis when AoBR was released, and a poster when the Stompa came out). There's clearly been a change in editorial policy, with a wider range of articles and less stuff that's focused on selling the month's new releases.

That said, things have changed since what was arguably WD's heyday. I think the internet has dented WD's relevance. There was a time when new models appeared first in WD, but now that's rare. The hobby side has also been eroded by the internet, since they can cram a lot more information into their website than they can into WD (although that shouldn't stop them from including more articles about converting etc - I think it's still deficient in that regard). Remember too that GW now produces a lot more products for the hobby, including terrain and materials for basing, so there's less need for all the DIY advice that used to be included. Conversely, they only support 3 core games now, so there's less scope for all the add-ons that used to fill WD.

I also suspect that their resources are relatively limited, hence the reduced amount of fluff articles and one-off stuff. And they seem to prefer not to add rules, FAQ's etc to the core games the way they did in the days of Chapter Approved (everyone here used to complain about them then - funny how they're now viewed with nostalgia). The reality is, however, that WD has essentially been a sales catalogue since they stopped featuring their competitors' products. Other companies have learnt the hard way thay if you don't keep promoting your products your sales decline - many years ago, Airfix used to produce a magazine which covered all aspects of the hobby, and ultimately they discovered that it was costing them money, and they dropped it. However much some of you seem unable to accept it, GW has to promote its products in order to generate the sales that fund production of the models we all want.

Given that Jervis' rants already have people calling for his head, making them more "interesting" might lead to people coming out with torches and pitchforks...

I fondly remember the days of yesteryear of Standard Bearer. Every month in addition to waiting for the WD to arrive at the LGS so I could peruse it whilst scoffawing (that's scoffing while guffawing) I'd anxiously await the indignant WD threads to appear on Dakka vilifying Mr. Johnson. Truly it was a golden age where rules lawyers were ruining the game and the phrase "playing for fun" was not used ironically to mock casual gamers.

Issue #145 was crap!



Those new missions totally broke Space Crusade!

That's why #144 was my last one!

But that issue 145 also had the list for Tyranids... wait... did it... *checks* ... yes, it did! Screamer Killers, Hunter Slayers, Genestealer Magus', Squigs (!) and Mind Slaves! YEAH!

Ah yes, that list was genius. They even had models for mind slaves IIRC. Can't believe they made some specially. Where were they from?

Re: Jervis - Can't see him going anywhere for the time being unless he gets bored like Andy Chambers (be cool if he came back).

I never did manage to get any of the original metal Tyranid Warriors. Penty of the plastic ones and the later 2nd Ed metals, but never any 1st Ed metals. I'd like three of them. And the Squigs - what became of Ork DNA when mixed with 'Nids? Squigs! That's what! The fluff's changed since then, but it was fun. And the Squig models were awesome.

Oh, and that list had Zoats as well! How could we forget Zoats - armed with flamers and power fists and missile launchers and lots of other very Tyranid-esque weapons!

And Brood Brothers. And Hybrids. And Genestealers that could hypnotise you! Before the 2nd Ed Tyranid Codex came about, this was the list I used!!! Kinda difficult with the conversion of rules, but it worked well enough.

I have some sympathy for JJ. It can't be easy to grind out a couple of thousand words on 'the hobby' every month and make it sound new and interesting.

My point is this. Is it time for Jervis's articles to be canned? These days, every time I open the magazine, I find myself dreading his article, and wishing the man would just go away already, rather than going on and on.

That's also my wish.
His column is not worth reading, its very boring and its contribution to the Warhammer and LotR world is very small.

H.B.M.C. wrote:...And Brood Brothers. And Hybrids. And Genestealers that could hypnotise you! Before the 2nd Ed Tyranid Codex came about, this was the list I used!!! Kinda difficult with the conversion of rules, but it worked well enough.

That was the list I started with. I think I even used to have some of the metal tyranids too; though I think they were quickly replaced with the plastics when they came out. God... that's a long time ago

There might be fellow ex-pat WD readers here who share my views that Standard Bearer is a major reason for not buying WD anymore. I place it in the same mental bucket as adverts and LOTR articles. That's a good half of the magazine there.

There is no excuse. Other magazines, such as PC Gamer (off the top of my head) offer conistently humourous and innovative articles. Long gone are the days when WD was seemingly quite random; to me that was part of its past joy. Knowing a new codex is around the corner tells you that 99% of the following issue will be devoted to selling that race. Who ever heard of a new incarnation of a race losing their first battle report?

Andy Chambers was a great writer for WD as he didn't need to sell the models. Looking back, his Piscina campaign was a great read as were his thoughts on different armies. Even Allessio wrote an original article on the most outrageous army list possible, back when free thought was a possibility in the publication.

WD is dumbed down. The single redeeming feature is the 'Eavy Metal articles, which offer superb tuition. I wish the had been included when I had begun the hobby. It's beige content coupled with its outrageous price is an affront to the GW community.

***warning*** Tangent ***warning***

For those of you who play Warmachine/Hordes, what do you think of No Quarter? Is it as reviled as White Dwarf?

To be special and different, I actually quite enjoy white dwarf. The articles can be enjoyable, and the 'eavy metal tutorials have been decentas of late.

As for the new army always winning, I do have a theory about that. As the new force is nearly always commanded by the writer, they have had months to design tricks and tactics for the new book. The opponent has not, therefore, they are at a disadvantage as they have little idea what the designers plan will be.



Now I've just got to wait for the insults to start.