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Yes Nintendo. If you arnt familiar withthe cool things Nintendo does for its fans your missing out. A few examples, are if you buy their products, you can register the bardcodes from them on their website, and you get tokens for it. Now if you save enough tokens you can use them to buy cool trinkets and such from Nintendo, and if you save more and more the better your stuff can be. So far Ive bought some cutesy stuff for my kids, but also a Mario hat club nintendo game holder (oddly enough I use t hold my PS3 games )

And since we registered so much stuff we were considered "Platinum Members" and now for xmas, we are getting this cheesy yet cool famous Nintendo characters plaque that supposedly comes in a cool box, total collectors items kindda stuff

They also have fun special edition things for some of their games, that are limited quantity. Like a game I LOVE called Fossil Hunters. If you bought the special edition, it comes to you in a crate, and inside is an excavator set, and the game is surrounded inside a cool "fossil" that you use the tools to excavate.

So all this got me thinking, why does GW practically punish their fan base, when a company like Nintendo totally praises theirs? Now I understand that Nintendo makes many times more profit then GW does, and you probably couldnt compare the profits, but is it REALLY so hard for a company to do something for the fans? Just simply make some cool weapon sculpts or if your awesome enough a members only mini along the games day minis. Is it such an impossible thing for GW to do? I honestly think if they changed their tactics a little bit they could not only get happier, more hardcore fans, but people would want to join in on the fun because they heard about a company that gives cheesy but cool stuff to their fans for supporting the hobby.

Actually, GW might be learning from Nintendo by trying to throw out the old fan base in order to try to apeal to a more broader audience while using less effort than before.



But, this stuff you're talking about sounds cool. Maybe it's a US only thing as I've heard nothing about it. It's always good for a company to try just a little harder to make the customer feel apreciated. All I've seen lately, from Nintendo that's special, is the new Monster Hunter Tri game which comes with a black controller.

KingCracker wrote:So all this got me thinking, why does GW practically punish their fan base, when a company like Nintendo totally praises theirs? Now I understand that Nintendo makes many times more profit then GW does, and you probably couldnt compare the profits, but is it REALLY so hard for a company to do something for the fans? Just simply make some cool weapon sculpts or if your awesome enough a members only mini along the games day minis. Is it such an impossible thing for GW to do? I honestly think if they changed their tactics a little bit they could not only get happier, more hardcore fans, but people would want to join in on the fun because they heard about a company that gives cheesy but cool stuff to their fans for supporting the hobby.

While I agree GW needs to re-orient itself to cater for the real wargamers but the costs involved to do something like that rewards system would not work in their favour.

Lets say they make a special sprue/model the costs:
-Pay for the sclupter
-Pay for the painter to paint it
-Pay for the photographer to photoshop it for sales and so on
-Pay for the cast
-Pay for the raw materials
-Pay for shipping
-Pay for administration of a scheme so that it isnt exploited

With a market where a large portion is made of teenagers going through a fad, retention would be low and all this money would be spent on a small portion of real wargamers, they lose, as they already have the loyalty of the real wargamers and it is unlikely to retain the teenagers going through a fad.


While I agree a system like this would be good for us, GW would suffer if they arnt making the money to back it.

They used to do this; it was called the Silver Skulz Program. You could get exclusive posters, badges, diorama miniatures and various other things with enough skulls. I used to covet the Adeptus Mechanicus set they did, but couldn't afford to buy enough to get the stickers. (http://www.solegends.com/citle/citle2000/Skulz/skulzadeptus/skulzadeptus.htm).

Ah, here we go. The full Skulz gift list is (http://www.solegends.com/citle/citle2000/Skulz/skulzprogramwd245.htm). As you can see, a lot of it was just regular, off the shelf stuff with a few special items in at the higher level.

I get the feeling that either they couldn't be bothered to do it any more, or because it took an absolute age to collect enough skulls for anything, not enough people claimed their prizes to make it worth while carrying on with.

I think Mantic does something like this. Dunno how great its working out, but they seem to be doing fine.

endtransmission is right with the Silver Skulz program that GW used to have. I even still have a few of them.

Of course they used to give away blisters and small box sets with their WD subscriptions also. Only certain choices but still at least it was something.

I just remember how GW would offer you free plastic boxed sets or discounted ones if you bought the new, big thing that appealed to everyone. Remember when we got free stuff for getting white dwarf? Remember when if you spent $75 you'd get a free $7 blister? Those were extremely good days and I felt like I was embarking on something new and exciting and that we were all in it together.

GW also did the 'Skullz' promotion years ago. Basically, you got little skull stickers when you bought stuff that you could trade for some special stuff... Even some exotics like an Adeptus mechanics character, if I remember correctly.

Balance wrote:GW also did the 'Skullz' promotion years ago. Basically, you got little skull stickers when you bought stuff that you could trade for some special stuff... Even some exotics like an Adeptus mechanics character, if I remember correctly.

Which was the fourth post in the thread. READ before you post people!

On topic however, it was an excellent program that was fun, exciting, and really meant something.

..Oh corporate, why must you make everything dull and uninteresting...

That's a really good idea actually KingCracker. Personally, i use my stars to buy Wii Points but i can see this type of thing working for GW. Maybe if one of the rewards could be those Josef Bugman minatures or something....

How much did you have to spend to get 1 Skull? Also, was it only buying from them direct? Or did you submit some information on a new box that you bought regardless of where it came from?

Neconilis wrote:How much did you have to spend to get 1 Skull? Also, was it only buying from them direct? Or did you submit some information on a new box that you bought regardless of where it came from?

Here in Oz, I think it was $25 per skull. And it was only from GW stores. No idea on other countries.

Damn, guess I need to start registering my Nintendo crap after all. I had no idea the program existed.

My FLGS (It's now earned the F part, rather than the usual FU) is buy $100 and get $10 free. They're cool about transfering the card around too. It seems like a such a little thing, but then I realize how much I appreciate the token (and dropped an extra $40 to boot, with another purchase on the way in short order).

insaniak wrote:

Neconilis wrote:How much did you have to spend to get 1 Skull? Also, was it only buying from them direct? Or did you submit some information on a new box that you bought regardless of where it came from?

Here in Oz, I think it was $25 per skull. And it was only from GW stores. No idea on other countries.

Thanks insaniak. I can see why some of the higher point stuff is so rare now.

I'd still appreciate some feedback from people from other countries though, I'm quite curious about this.

They used to have a yearly contest where you won 1 of every box set they made at the time and all you had to do was mail in a form!

They also had the Skullz program several years ago.

Honestly, I don't see how what the OP described for Nintendo's business model is any good...

So I buy a bunch of their stuff, show what a good customer I am, and I get... garbage. Cutesy toys, hats, a game holder, and a plaque are terrible examples of customer rewards items. If they gave out discounts on their products, or perhaps a free game, then it would make sense.

I understand what you're trying to say, but the idea of getting commemorative junk from GW is not at all appealing. If I got 10% off any product for buying $150 worth of stuff, THAT would be at least a somewhat reasonable incentive.

I mean, no matter how many pins, t-shirts, or limited edition cuff-links you give me, all of that kind of stuff is going in a box somewhere if it's not immediately discarded.

/rant... sorry, I just really disagree with your idea; and it costs money to do that sort of thing, and I DO NOT want prices to go up any further just so I can get free junk.

Xca|iber wrote:I mean, no matter how many pins, t-shirts, or limited edition cuff-links you give me, all of that kind of stuff is going in a box somewhere if it's not immediately discarded.

Never underestimate the lure of the special edition. Look at how quickly the Warhammer Collector's edition sold out, and it's not even released yet! Some people will go to great lengths to get something just because it's something most people can't get.

I think there's great potential here. And no reason that both of your ideas can't be integrated. One of the potential rewards could easily be a gift voucher for more GW product.

I quite enjoyed the Medusa V campaign that GW did. I appreciate that sort of reward (getting web content and medals to enjoy for participating - and winning new backstory for your army if you did well - ie the chance for Tau to become Warp Capable).

GW gives out a free model if you subscribe to WD.

I liked it that they published Spearhead in WD - this is what I always wanted from WD once again - more gaming content. I see this turning around a little and I like it.

Could they do more? Sure. Does it cost money? Sure. But it takes money to make money, and the best "rewards" are free advertising for GW. Example - Mario Plaque on the wall - nice centerpiece. Pretty soon after seeing it, your guests are going to want to play Nintendo and who knows? It will probably represent more purchases by them down the road. Same if I had an awesome Ork Statue in my front yard *hint hint GW*. Everyone in the neighborhood would see my loyalty prize and they would know at once that I'd gotten exactly what I deserved.

JOHIRA wrote:
Never underestimate the lure of the special edition. Look at how quickly the Warhammer Collector's edition sold out, and it's not even released yet! Some people will go to great lengths to get something just because it's something most people can't get.

I think there's great potential here. And no reason that both of your ideas can't be integrated. One of the potential rewards could easily be a gift voucher for more GW product.

Until they find a pallet in the warehouse a la Space Hulk....

Xca|iber wrote:I mean, no matter how many pins, t-shirts, or limited edition cuff-links you give me, all of that kind of stuff is going in a box somewhere if it's not immediately discarded.

/rant... sorry, I just really disagree with your idea; and it costs money to do that sort of thing, and I DO NOT want prices to go up any further just so I can get free junk.

I agree that there's no point giving stuff like that away - it costs money and some people won't want it.

What they should be doing is selling it. Every t-shirt, pin, belt buckle, etc that they've offered has been extremely desirable and sold well. Why so long since they've done any?

Scott-S6 wrote:

Xca|iber wrote:I mean, no matter how many pins, t-shirts, or limited edition cuff-links you give me, all of that kind of stuff is going in a box somewhere if it's not immediately discarded.

/rant... sorry, I just really disagree with your idea; and it costs money to do that sort of thing, and I DO NOT want prices to go up any further just so I can get free junk.

I agree that there's no point giving stuff like that away - it costs money and some people won't want it.

What they should be doing is selling it. Every t-shirt, pin, belt buckle, etc that they've offered has been extremely desirable and sold well. Why so long since they've done any?

Because they never seem to do anything that could net them money. They discontinue popular model lines and won't countenance producing highly desirable figures. How many people would like models of the Emperor and the Primarchs? People pay hundreds of dollars for third party sculpts on eBay, they could do very nicely from producing their own official collectors range, but all they do is whine that other people are coming in to fill a market they refuse to supply.

customer retention is the key tbh. If i give the example of my local manga bookstore. I can get everything on the net or at waterstones if i want. But i choose to support my local independant manga bookstore. For every £10 you spend you get a stamp, when you collect 10 stamps you can redeem it for a free book to the value of £10. I personally cant see GW doing a loyalty scheme its not worth their time. When they can just soak up the customer orders an sit back. Free shipping from online sales is all we will get.

brainscan wrote:customer retention is the key tbh. If i give the example of my local manga bookstore. I can get everything on the net or at waterstones if i want. But i choose to support my local independant manga bookstore. For every £10 you spend you get a stamp, when you collect 10 stamps you can redeem it for a free book to the value of £10. I personally cant see GW doing a loyalty scheme its not worth their time. When they can just soak up the customer orders an sit back. Free shipping from online sales is all we will get.

It's probably a sign they don't retain enough customers long term to effectively reward them. Long term customers probably don't offer them customer loyalty because their shops are hard selling hell holes and their approach to the 'fun' aspects of the hobby and pricing drives people with any sense away to independent retailers online and to clubs, forums etc.

The Skullz offer was impossible, you got one skull for each whole £10 spent. After 10 skullz you got a cheap key ring or something. To get the decent stuff you had to collect masses of the, the Ad Mech set was 100 skulls or something, that £1000. No wonder there are so few of them around. Again, you can see Ad Mech stuff is popular and they could now release this set onto their website and it would sell well, even at their collectors prices. But they won't because that would make it too easy to make money, or something.

I saw "learn from Nintendo" and lol'd.

Then again I guess wargaming is about releasing the same game again and again and again.

endtransmission wrote:Ah, here we go. The full Skulz gift list is (http://www.solegends.com/citle/citle2000/Skulz/skulzprogramwd245.htm). As you can see, a lot of it was just regular, off the shelf stuff with a few special items in at the higher level.

To be fair, that isn't the full list. They're missing the Iwo Jimo Marines diorama, and a bunch of the LE Standard Bearers, as well as a few other minor items.

After thinking about it, I think the problem with the skullz program wasn't the difficulty of earning the top prizes. I think the biggest problem was actually the crappiness of the lowest tier prizes.

No one wants a boltgun keychain. No one wants a hammer of Sigmar.

GW seems to have treated the Skullz program less like a verteran incentive system and more like a game of skeeball. The bottom tier prizes were crap and the top tier prizes were all but unattainable.

But the skeeball model doesn't really work with miniatures. Because for one, skeeball has the chance of getting bonus tickets if you can score high points, but how many skullz you could get was strictly determined by how much money you spent. The other difference is skeeball is marketted at teens with much poorer impulse control than the average GW customer.

If they would have just modified their prizes slightly they could have turned it into something really great. A low tier gift certificate prize could almost by itself have made Skullz a major hit. Say, for 10 skulls you could get a voucher for 10 quid or whatever your local currency was. Then even if people couldn't save up for the AM set, they could at least have a chance at something they would enjoy. And GW wouldn't actually have to spring for any product, they'd just have to occaisionally offer a slight discount to customers with skullz.

And a well-made skullz program could accomplish the seemingly impossible feat of making GW stores and the GW website competative with independent retailers.

Xca|iber wrote:Honestly, I don't see how what the OP described for Nintendo's business model is any good...

So I buy a bunch of their stuff, show what a good customer I am, and I get... garbage. Cutesy toys, hats, a game holder, and a plaque are terrible examples of customer rewards items. If they gave out discounts on their products, or perhaps a free game, then it would make sense.

I understand what you're trying to say, but the idea of getting commemorative junk from GW is not at all appealing. If I got 10% off any product for buying $150 worth of stuff, THAT would be at least a somewhat reasonable incentive.

I mean, no matter how many pins, t-shirts, or limited edition cuff-links you give me, all of that kind of stuff is going in a box somewhere if it's not immediately discarded.

/rant... sorry, I just really disagree with your idea; and it costs money to do that sort of thing, and I DO NOT want prices to go up any further just so I can get free junk.

Well I wasnt going to list off the ENTIRE page of stuff they give away with your points. There are some members only video games you can only get from what I mentioned.

Not only that but getting SOME TYPE of recognition is what Im talking about. Getting limited print pictures of your favorite army, or some cool scuplts and what not would make a HUGE difference in their fanbase. The only people that are 100% satisfied with GW are their fan bois, b ut just those few small things would make a difference. I also like the idea of spend X amount, and get X amount for free. Something, ANYTHING would be a nice change of pace, but usually all I see are people making threads about their worst time at a GW, or how much they are fed up with the annoying GW sales pitch, or how much GW sucks and why are they suing websites and the like. Its pretty hard to like a company that all you hear about is garbage. I mean really whats the point of WhiteDwarf other then to piss $70 bucks on?

Itd be nice, for a change, to see "Hey look at this cool picture I got from GW" or I saved $50 on buying stuff. Not Hey I hate my GW store because the employees are Aholes, OH and GW has ANOTHER price hike WTF!

I'd be down for something like the Skullz promotion coming back - I enjoy that kind of incentive system.

Yea but it would have to be useful. Not spend $100 and get 1 token. Thats pretty ridiculous, specially seeing as most the people I know, dont spend $100 bucks i one shot. Its usually I need this unit and that unit, and usually scores just under that.

But ya, no matter what they do not everyone will be happy, but again, Im looking at it as, they need to do something different because the way they are doing it right now just pisses people off. I mean who actually shops at a GW (or their website) anymore? I know I dont, and Im sure 3/4 of the people posting on here dont either. And thats terrible. Id like to shop with GW, but it comes down to a $$$/friendly setting. They want more cash from me, and their staff pisses me off. Thats just bad business sense

KC if I didn't know better I'd say you are a secret sales agent for Nintendo.

G