Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Me too.

Damn, it shows how emotionally invested I am that I'm more stressed about this than my PhD right now.
Priorities John, priorities!

I do hope they fall. Hard. Then someone pick up the pieces and do it right again.

Sorry, no sympathy here.

It's not sympathy, it's just wanting the good things to remain good.
I wouldn't mind if some incompetents got fired, but i'd hate for the games to get damaged.

...more so than they already are.

It would introduce a ton of uncertainty in the short term, which wouldn't be good for the game or attracting new players either, really.

Or for stores for that matter, because despite the interest in other games (even at GW's expense) Games Workshop makes up a sizeable chunk of most FLGS' sales.

I also disagree with carmachu. It's not a matter of sympathy. GW is not a person, deserving or undeserving of sympathy. If GW is purchased by another company, chances are very high that what makes 40K unique or special will be lost. What are the chances of a company, capable of affording GW and interested in that market, will adhere to some of the values that made GW successful for two decades? Pretty low, in my opinion.

The real value of GW is in the brand and the IP...they could scuttle the talent and capitalize on the IP/brand with substandard products (almost certainly outsourced to China). No thanks.

I agree GW needs some new management and humble pie. But a new owner brings too many questions and uncertainties.

Ho boy. Here we go again.
Not good.
It realy is my fault though.
I've been playing Warmachine.

Traitor!

Look who's talkin' bub!

Besides it's your fault anyhow.

Unless it went prepainted clicky, it cant POSSIBLY be any worse now. Changing directions mid edtion, losing or firing a bunch of older studio folks.

When exactly was it "good"? RT, beginning of 3rd, 3,5? beginning of 4th?

I HATE the direction its starting to go now, with your choices being limited ala DA and looks like BA.

OR, conversely, it could be the best thing sinced WotC/Hasbro picked up D&D and released 3.0, which was freaking awesome.....grnated 3.5 came a bit too fast, but with OGL....RPG's havent seen a better time.

Bet it could be very much the same way. If GW got its head out of its rectum.

Posted By carmachu on 05/03/2007 12:48 PM
I do hope they fall. Hard. Then someone pick up the pieces and do it right again.

Sorry, no sympathy here.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I'd LOVE to see something like what WOTC did to D&D. Yeah, there was the gnashing of teeth and putting on of sackcloth, but Monte Cooke and the gang put together an (arguably) superior gaming product to AD&D, which was DOA at that point, and while we could argue that D20 killed a lot of other RPGs,  WOTC successfully took a dated, clunky and unpopular game and made it a killer.

On the other hand? Ultimate Warzone, Mutant Chronicles, Mechwarrior, D20 Star Wars.

IF they go private and IF someone utilizes the IP to create a superior product gaming wise, I'm all for it. Big IFs there.

Don't worry.. gw just charged me 9 dollars to ship me two bilster packs. They'll be back on their feet in no time.

Good for you! Rescuing the big GW 9 dollars at a time...

Or fifty dollars at a time...

Restructure marketing (ie make prices more reasonable through slight permanent price reductions or incentives to collect programs) AND franchise off the stores. Use the proceeds to accelerate updating of the product lines and creation of new IP as well as restructuring of manufacturing.

I cant see why someone cant. I can see Hasbro taking it up.

GW management (or anyone replacing them after they're fired) could very easily put the company back on track, not even lowering their prices. Locate production in Asia (for the US) or in Eastern Europe (for Europe) and the costs are cut more than whatever you can expect from shutting down stores.

Not popular, but damn' effective.

Posted By dienekes96 on 05/03/2007 1:41 PM
If GW is purchased by another company, chances are very high that what makes 40K unique or special will be lost.

Yeah... I like where you're going with these "space marines" but do they have to be so dark and brutal?  Couldn't you make them more heroic?  Like, say... Jedi?  Everybody likes Jedi.

And these chaos guys. They're too icky. They've just got to go. And we've made 1MM in selling the old molds for the defunct ork and DE lines, while improving inventory costs and SKU management. Its a win-win situation.

That's my big fear.
Just before the codex gets released, GW dies.
It'd be the ultimate kick in the teeth.

Anyone have any idea what GWs captial holdings look like?

I'm just thinking if GW has enough holdings and is willing to start closing stores, liquidating inventory... And... If the stock continues to fall. I could see a principal buyout and a return to the private sector where they belong. In the short term GW will just weather the storm to see how investors react before making major changes.

As far as a break-up... pretty unlikely. But if it were to happen I think it would be along the lines of Publishing vs Miniatures. Boding well for the mini linesas thy could probily be profitable on their own. Publishing... Not so much.

Takeover... Perhaps but that scares me

But... That's alota Ifs.

beef

Posted By Da Boss on 05/04/2007 5:36 AM
That's my big fear.
Just before the codex gets released, GW dies.
It'd be the ultimate kick in the teeth.

The Codex is due out in January. GW's financial position isn't the best, but I've seen no suggestions of imminent collapse.

Barring massive fraud by management, you'll get your Codex.

And if it is anything as usual, the army box will be out for Christmas. So grab it quick!

Chaos, Apoc and Orks oh my... I can't wait for the fall.

If that doesn't infuse a little money nothing will....

GWs biggest problem related to sales is 2 fold, first the prices, yes minatures accross the hobby are expensive, but lower price/profet per peice pricing means more sales. There was a time I would buy new stuff just because I liked it, now with the current prices I have to ask myself "Do I really need it?", the sad thing is I use to spend 2 to 3 times what I spend now just on impulse purchases. The money is there, the will isn't. Second is thier lack of Advertising. When you rely on vetern gamers to sell your products to newbies you need to treat us better. As things stand now i wouldn't suggest anyone who dosen't all ready have a bunch of stuff to gett into the game, 5 years ago I was pusshing it like a drug. I still enjoy my armies, but GW has changed so much that its just not a good place for people new in the hobby.

My attitude is similar to Tim's.  Lots of kids in the neighborhood like to oogle my minis when i'm working on them in the garage, but I stear them to consules games as a cheaper alternative (my conscience will not allow me to recommend the GW hobby).

 

 

 

And now a random fact about Vin Diesel . . .

Vin Diesel invented the dipping method by accidently sitting on a portion of his Tau army while naked.  Note this is also how the Kroot came about.

 

 

 

Games Workshop Group (LSE: GAW.L - news) (GAW) Director name: Mr Alan Stewart Amount sold: 750,000 @ 350.00p Value: £2,625,000

Found from previous post on forums ...looks like a bit of insider trading if you ask me ...some one should be brought up on charges....kinda enron like "Get out before the stock plumits and make the saps take the hit"   


Kinda shady if you ask me he dumps 3/4 a million share right before the stock plumits walking away with a cool 2.6million.

Shady man just plain dirty dealing.

Posted By Tazok on 05/04/2007 12:19 PM

My attitude is similar to Tim's.  Lots of kids in the neighborhood like to oogle my minis when i'm working on them in the garage, but I stear them to consules games as a cheaper alternative (my conscience will not allow me to recommend the GW hobby).

That's me too. I started a few clubs and got tons of people into the hobby, now I'm just kinda sickened and burned out.


And yes, it is just waiting and waiting for an update as other armies got redone and redone that did it.
That and armies like Daemonhunters being released. (I seriously have a problem with that army)

Posted By Sadistikk on 05/04/2007 3:26 PM
Games Workshop Group (LSE: GAW.L - news) (GAW) Director name: Mr Alan Stewart Amount sold: 750,000 @ 350.00p Value: £2,625,000

Found from previous post on forums ...looks like a bit of insider trading if you ask me ...some one should be brought up on charges....kinda enron like "Get out before the stock plumits and make the saps take the hit"   


Kinda shady if you ask me he dumps 3/4 a million share right before the stock plumits walking away with a cool 2.6million.

Shady man just plain dirty dealing.

Is that illegal in the UK?  Not every country has the same trading rules that the US has...  'Course it certainly seems unethical at best.

But on the issue of GW being bought out, I was talking with a friend of mine at GWUS HQ over beers about the possibility that GW might be bought out by a Hasbro or Wizards (back when Wizards was an independent company running high on M:tG).  Anyway, he said that GW had structured their assets such that the physical infrastructure was in the publicly traded company, but that the IP was actually privately held in a separate corporate entity.  If that's true, and I certainly don't know that it is, it would seem to make GW a particularly poor acquisition target unless your goal was to wipe out the company since all you'd get was their physical infrastructure and not the all-important IP. 

Vale,

JohnS

Wow, that's a pretty good plan.  Seems that they can make at least one really good decision.

Thanks for the info!