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Scarey Nerd wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:Another small tidbit by the leak for the 6th edition rumours:

As I am done with GW forever. I love the miniatures, I like the new rules (been pretty enthusiastic about it), but I hate the company, that makes them. If you knew what I know you would feel the same. GW doesn’t care for their customers one bit. The whole corporal culture is cynical as hell. The managers despise the hobby and all immatures who play it. There is a huge rift in the management and most of the executives that actually play the game have left or are leaving the company right now.

WOW. Just... WOW. Where's my popcorn?

Indeed. Seriously, I think that person is a little upset.

But it would explain recent decisions and recent quits.
And the rage gave us a detailed preview on 6th edition, if true.

When Rick Priestley left the company, my personal opinion was there has to be something up. You have guessed he'd have been at GW till the end otherwise.

So the idea of a huge rift wouldn't surprise me. No idea if accurate, but it wouldn't surprise.

Add that to a post over at the main Infinity fan forums, which I admit you have to take at face value, but according to the poster who claimed to be ex lower management. That some of the meetings he went to, higher ups had less that rosey terms for the player base.

I am starting to wonder.

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:When Rick Priestley left the company, my personal opinion was there has to be something up. You have guessed he'd have been at GW till the end otherwise.

So the idea of a huge rift wouldn't surprise me. No idea if accurate, but it wouldn't surprise.

Add that to a post over at the main Infinity fan forums, which I admit you have to take at face value, but according to the poster who claimed to be ex lower management. That some of the meetings he went to, higher ups had less that rosey terms for the player base.

I am starting to wonder.

It wasn't just the fact that he left, it was the manner in which he left as well. When Andy Chambers left/was sacked/asked to leave (depending on who's version of events you wish to believe), there was little or no fanfare and little mention of his passing. Similarly, I think I am right ion saying there was little or no 'official' mention of Rick's departure? There may have been a brief line in WD mentioning it, I can't remember. Anyway, I would have thought for someone so integral both to GW philosophy as well as GW history, Rick's departure would have merited much more, maybe even a retrospective in WD or something?

Well, the CEO Mark Wells leading the company is a lawyer and ex-manager of the shampoo industry, not the best credits to get comfy with the gaming fanbase. Gav Thorpe, one column of fluff control, left several months after Wells became CEO. Alessio Calvatore, one column of game balance and competitive play (yeah, I know, the Skaven book ), left last year. Rick Priestley (himself!) also left last year.

And many decisions make only sense when the management has no clue about gaming and gamers.

@Morathi's Darkest Sin: Can you find and quote the post?

Aye. I can't go over there right now as its sadly work blocked, but once I'm home in about an hour, I'll drag a link back here.

OMG I was gonna say that I wish GW went bankrupt so someone can take over.

For worse or better.

But I guess someone already said that.

I do remember reading an article few years ago that GW made a loss. (considering there ridiculous prices what are they doing with their money?)

The relative of a friend of mine works for GW and wasn't very complimentary about the new resin when asked. I can't say who they are but they aren't just your common redshirt, ok?

Point is, the more senior GW staff know the product is poor, they aren't deluded up in HQ.

Meh. Until theres a name attached to the rage posts they don't add up to much. I would only be worried if it was someone on the creative side. The problem with managers is that they have to manage and eventually they have to become dispassionate about whatever they are managing. There is always going to be a point where staff who are still passionate about the hobby will have to work with people who are trying to maximise productivity and profits. At that point things get nasty and some folks get disillusioned.

The problem here is that the vocal majority on the web are constantly bitching about the company which then annoys the senior management because they can't control it and then they try to control it, things go wrong and wee are back to the 'fans' bitching again. Both sides driving deeper wedges between each other and people trying to gain some notoriety by leaking information.

If the poster was really that upset they wouldn't have bothered with the rules spoilers. If they were that upset they would say that manager (insert name here) said x about the fan base and be explicit. An ex employee might be under an NDA about a product but not the opinions of staff members.

A company like GW is bound to have a grotty staff turn around. At some point people will join and think it'll be heavenly working in the industry and then they realise it's a job and they have to get on with it and increase productivity and profits. Look at what happened to WAR, everyone thought it was going to be the dogs nuts and then they realised they couldn't deliver what the investors wanted (a WoW killer) and then rattles got thrown out of prams. There are lots of people who work or have worked in the computer games industry who say it sucks. I would be surprised if there wasn't people who leave GW and are upset by the company's policies. It happens in every other job sphere so why should GW be all love light and happy thoughts?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Howard A Treesong wrote:The relative of a friend of mine works for GW and wasn't very complimentary about the new resin when asked. I can't say who they are but they aren't just your common redshirt, ok?

Point is, the more senior GW staff know the product is poor, they aren't deluded up in HQ.

Anybody with any sense would look at what GW are trying to do and know that there are going to be problems. As long as GW are exchanging the duff minis then I don't see a reason to complain. At this point I'd expect intelligent people to either not by the product or inspect it before buying it or at least before they leave the shop. It's not like I haven't bought bad metal minis in the past. Buying a multi part metal figure you have to reinforce by pinning joints is a blatant admission that the metal figure doesn't do what it should be designed to do (go together with no problems).

This is the thread Kroothawk, Doctor-Warlock claims to be ex GW staff from management level. SirAngry in the thread also claims to be ex GW staff.

http://www.infinitythegame.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5052&page=10

The interesting stuff is from page 10 onwards, Doctor-Warlock has a few noteworthy things to say on page 13 and 14.

Obviously you can only take at face value as I said, but when you add this to other things we are hearing, its starting to show a bleak picture.

Guess you mean these quotes, which are quite gross, but fit what the leak said:

Doctor-Warlock wrote:Seriously, I have attended pricing meetings - its not so much "whether the market can take it" its more a case of "what can we get away with"
(...)
No, thats what they actually say - no market research, no debate over market prices - just a really REALLY cynical "how much can we rip the geeks off for"
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY CALL THEIR CUSTOMERS . . . . .
(...)
THE SOFTER NAMES THEN - Geek, Gomer, Sheep, and Pleb.

Pretty damning stuff, if true. Surprised this hasn't found its way onto the internet sooner, to be honest. Even if I was the most corporate of shills, I would find such language pretty offensive, I have to say.

How would a staffer in Nottingham HQ feel, if he actually loves and plays the game and some superior from law school mocks his kind openly.
Not the best atmosphere to work in, I guess.

Kroothawk wrote:How would a staffer in Nottingham HQ feel, if he actually loves and plays the game and some superior from law school mocks his kind openly.
Not the best atmosphere to work in, I guess.

Not in the slightest and one's loyalty to an employer would only stretch so far. Hence why I am surprised rumour hasn't already surfaced, unless this is a relatively new direction/modus operandi that GW hierarchy are taking? Who knows...

Kroothawk wrote:How would a staffer in Nottingham HQ feel, if he actually loves and plays the game and some superior from law school mocks his kind openly.
Not the best atmosphere to work in, I guess.

It's the way it goes sadly, I work in the video games industry and loads of the highers up here don't play games, some are even scornful of them. It's sad and it's why great games are only made by companies where everyone (or at least the decision makers) truly are involved in their own product and eat their own dog food.

This dont make me sad, this make me feel like betrayed. 4 Weeks ago i had decided i would never buy another GW product. 1 Week later i decided i was being to harsh, and whyle i coul buy less, i could still buy what i like...

Now i feel sick for thinking like that... I am starting my Dark Eldar collection, and bought 2 DE BFs for that, my first 40k collection. Now i just wonder if its not better to wait for Warpath...

...


Come on guys, it's not like we haven't know what scumbags GW HQ management have been for years...

Hell, look at this except from their management handbook...

How is that excerpt "scumbag" in any way? It's intuitively obvious to the point where I'm surprised that they even have to print stuff like that-- everyone should know it already!

Fetterkey wrote:How is that excerpt "scumbag" in any way? It's intuitively obvious to the point where I'm surprised that they even have to print stuff like that-- everyone should know it already!

Because it shows that they're more worried about employees fitting with GW than they are about the success of the product. If they are in the bottom-left, the worst possible square, they can move via training. If they are competent at the job but don't fit with GW, they are fired. It should be the other way around.

Scarey Nerd wrote:

Fetterkey wrote:How is that excerpt "scumbag" in any way? It's intuitively obvious to the point where I'm surprised that they even have to print stuff like that-- everyone should know it already!

Because it shows that they're more worried about employees fitting with GW than they are about the success of the product. If they are in the bottom-left, the worst possible square, they can move via training. If they are competent at the job but don't fit with GW, they are fired. It should be the other way around.

Um, no? If someone is truly a poor fit with the organizational culture, their presence will cause trouble regardless of how good they are at their job. People who are highly effective but don't fit are dangerous because they can push the organization in undesirable directions, whereas people who are less effective are less likely to cause trouble and therefore time can be taken to train them, build their skills, and move them into more desirable categories. I don't see this sort of thing as even remotely controversial and I'm surprised that people are taking issue with it.

Fetterkey wrote:

Scarey Nerd wrote:

Fetterkey wrote:How is that excerpt "scumbag" in any way? It's intuitively obvious to the point where I'm surprised that they even have to print stuff like that-- everyone should know it already!

Because it shows that they're more worried about employees fitting with GW than they are about the success of the product. If they are in the bottom-left, the worst possible square, they can move via training. If they are competent at the job but don't fit with GW, they are fired. It should be the other way around.

Um, no? If someone is truly a poor fit with the organizational culture, their presence will cause trouble regardless of how good they are at their job. People who are highly effective but don't fit are dangerous because they can push the organization in undesirable directions, whereas people who are less effective are less likely to cause trouble and therefore time can be taken to train them, build their skills, and move them into more desirable categories. I don't see this sort of thing as even remotely controversial and I'm surprised that people are taking issue with it.

We'll need to agree to disagree on that. In my humble opinion the effectiveness of the employee is the most important thing, if they push the company into a new direction it will be a good one by definition, because they are good at their job. It's creativity, not trouble-making, as far as I see it. It'd be easier and cheaper to let those people unleash their talent than take people who are already poor at their job and spend resources on training them.

hmmm

This is all about power

I am losing money , my profits are dwindling therefore i shall do everything in my current power to um ...exercise that power...er um ...for the sake of doing something easy rather than doing something hard.

Like cut the price of plastic , give all my rules away for free , and eploy the best artists and game designers on the planet so each and every game , character & race becomes an ICON that your grandmother in Bali would recognize.......nope , we shall go the easy route , stop being creative , hold on to the past , get annal exclusive and price ourselves out of existence




what are the odds of GW going belly up in the next decade , being bout out by walmart and then bludgeoned to death with our hobby.

Next time you do yourself a bowl of frosties watch out for the milkdiving space marine. On the other hand , if they start handing out tyranids with burger and fries i can see nerds raiding the dustbins in the street outside for abandoned tyranids.


loool , i do hope that some how some way this post makes it to the next shareholder meeting




i have to admit , that whinging about GW is fast becoming an entertain hobby in itself ...most of the sniper shots wound , and no one from GW is here to roll for the saves.

Here's another blow from GW designed to drive customers to the stores, but also guaranteed to drive customers who don't live near stores bonkers. If you look carefully at the release policy on the latest Advance Orders, the ones for Storm Of Magic, advance orders that customers have shipped to addresses other than their local shop (i.e., their home address) will no longer be shipped in time them to have the order by release day. Instead, they will be shipped the Friday before the Saturday release day, guaranteeing that the item will not arrive till at least a couple days AFTER release date.

Yeah, I saw that...so I no longer have any reason to pre-order anything ever again it seems.

The benefit would be that you'll be guaranteed to get it, whereas it might be sold out if you don't pre-order? I don't know.

Kroothawk wrote:Guess you mean these quotes, which are quite gross, but fit what the leak said:

Doctor-Warlock wrote:Seriously, I have attended pricing meetings - its not so much "whether the market can take it" its more a case of "what can we get away with"
(...)
No, thats what they actually say - no market research, no debate over market prices - just a really REALLY cynical "how much can we rip the geeks off for"
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY CALL THEIR CUSTOMERS . . . . .
(...)
THE SOFTER NAMES THEN - Geek, Gomer, Sheep, and Pleb.

Remember what I said a couple of weeks about about a corrupt company that showed nothing but contempt for its customer base?

Well...

I imagine the management for every corporate entity like this probably thinks the same way about their customers, and that it isn't unique to just GW. But still...

I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that this ain't going through. Although we knock GW, surely they keep a tab on the community via Dakka ar the other forums, as we hear a lot of stuff that sounds bad, we windge about it, and then it doesn't happen.

I think they're paying more attention than we give them credit for.

Maybe this is all leading up to the crescendo of Kirby liquidating the company?

Doubtful and unlikely in my mind, but an inkling at the back of my head. So he and the majority shareholders can make a cash grab and sit pretty in hawaii.

Maybe this is all leading up to the crescendo of Kirby liquidating the company?

One favorite corporate tactic for people like that is to build up the value of a company and then sell it off for big bucks. It's a game for the CEO types out there with no thought to the long-term future of the companies they play around with.