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So this issue crops out fairly often and became a recurring issue in space wolves thread, the Gav responds to Chaos sucking thread, and any time space marines are talked about. So in the interest of educating people about the discussion and trying to expose people to as many viewpoints as possible, I'm gonna approach this topic. I think I need to set some ground rules, because every time this gets discussed heads explode and wars begin.
So please: Respond by stating what you think of the issue and why. Then state what you think is the best solution and why. Please concentrate on what you think and providing support for why you think that way and not whether or not someone on the internet is wrong.

GW releases more space marines as a release than any other type of supplement. The fundamental issue is that some think there is too much emphasis on Marines and that has ruined the hobby. Space marines are so commonplace that they're no longer seen as super human in game and are considered the norm. Others think that this is wonderful for the game, since it allows people to play specialized space marines that are different from other space marines. What do you think of the issue? What do you think is the best approach for GW to approach the issue?

Classic solutions:
1. Sub codecies such as legions, DA, BA, SW are good and the correct approach.
2. All 3+ save armies should be consolidated into one book.
3. More emphasis on xenos and nonsuperhumans is preferable.
4. A sort of compromise>a generic space marines book and one book with all the variants.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
I think this issue, like Abortion, has no easy answers. I also feel that one side dismisses what the other side has to say fairly regularly because there are different fundamental ideas about armies. To a xenos player, all 3+ armies are the same. Eldar kill space wolves the same way they kill crimson fists or whatever variant chapter there is. So of course, there is the feeling of why are there different subcodecies. To a space wolves or nightlords player though, his army is distinctly unique and different from the other space marine armies, so he doesn't feel the same way.

Then it becomes an issue of fairness and perspective. To an Eldar player, it's not fair. It's not like craftworld eldar are legal or what not. So why allow space marines all the variants? To a nightlords player though, his army was distinct and now no longer exists. After investing so much time and money in an army, why is it suddenly okay to remove his army from existence?

The best solution in my opinion would be to do something in the middle. GW complains that they can't fit everything into one book, and even if they did that would be bad for sales. So the easiest fair solution is to allow a generic book that allows you to do whatever chapter you want, and then make a separate book of variants. I would expect each variant to be designed to be significantly different from the other variants while maintaining balance. Simple force org swaps or name swaps would be deemed unacceptable. The keys are different, distinct, fair, and yet fun. I would allow this for every single codex released: Chaos, chaos variants, eldar, eldar variants (like a harlequins list where everything is distinct and different), etc.
I think this solution answers many of the problems.
Keeping them different, distinct, and yet fair would give each variant a compelling reason to be played while at the same time keep one variant from being preferred over others. Classicly, either the generic codex or the variant codecies were too strong, making one or the other obsolete. By keeping them distinctlty different, there would be no reason for players to only play one codex over another (Blood angels are just marines but better...but if they're distinctly different, the comparison would be like comparing oranges to apples)
It also solves the wargear issue, no more which cyclone is which. Or stormshields being directly compared.
It also solves the share book problem, which required players to carry several sets of rules because one codex referred to another.

WHat about you players that think there should only be one space marine codex? Let's hear your perspective.

And HBMC, since you talked quite a bit about Gav's codex being bland, I'd like to hear your perspective on a solution.

That's so far been the most compelling argument for removing variant marines.