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.

Just looked at the back page of this months white dwarf, and was astounded to see a heads up as to what the next issue will include (storm of magic supplement, called night of 1000 arcane duels).

Sure its not much, but is this a small sign that GW are actually listening to us and dropping a bit of their secrecy policy?

Isnt the secrecy because of the Hobbit movie?
Arent they required to no release any details no more then 2 weeks an advance to prove they can keep a secret?
Or else they lose lord of the rings?

Id be doubtful that whoever has control over lotr can tellgw what they can and can't say about their products


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Lotr products, sure I can get that, but gw's own IP?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Lotr products, sure I can get that, but gw's own IP?

Well they dont want GW releasing stuff about the movie.
That i just a rumor i hear though.

kitch102 wrote:Id be doubtful that whoever has control over lotr can tellgw what they can and can't say about their products


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Lotr products, sure I can get that, but gw's own IP?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Lotr products, sure I can get that, but gw's own IP?

The Tolkein estate can and certainly does, they allow GW to use their IP under certain conditions, if one of those conditions happens to be "keep a secret", than GW has to prove beyond what the Tolkein estate believes is reasonable doubt, than that's what GW has to do, either that or drop the entire line of LOTR products, there is no 'middle area' as it were.

GW has licensing from 2 different sources. First is the Tolkien estate. The "owners" of GW are friends of the family so they aren't likely to pull that license anytime soon. The second license is from New Line Cinema. This is where GW gets the rights to the movie designs and actors faces. If New Line pulled the license, GW would have to discontinue any product that is an expression of what New Line did with the movies. They could still make LotR minis, but they would have to be all new designs that GW made.

Basically: Tolkien estate owns the names, New Line owns the pictures and art work associated with those names currently.

There has always been previews of upcoming WDs in the back of the magazine. Maybe not every month, but often enough.

One months warning isn't really dropping a secrecy policy IMO.

inquisitorlewis wrote:There has always been previews of upcoming WDs in the back of the magazine. Maybe not every month, but often enough.

One months warning isn't really dropping a secrecy policy IMO.

THey actually stopped it last year. I think the last one was the Dark Eldar flier preview, and it was a deliberate change.

Seems they're going back on it.

-Loki- wrote:

inquisitorlewis wrote:There has always been previews of upcoming WDs in the back of the magazine. Maybe not every month, but often enough.

One months warning isn't really dropping a secrecy policy IMO.

THey actually stopped it last year. I think the last one was the Dark Eldar flier preview, and it was a deliberate change.

Seems they're going back on it.

Ahh. I wasn't aware of that. I stopped buying WD before that.

This "heads up" isna't actually a new release or anything though is it? It's just an article.
Hardly a loosening of policy...

Lorizael wrote:This "heads up" isna't actually a new release or anything though is it? It's just an article.
Hardly a loosening of policy...

Depends. It could actually be a book. I'm sure plenty of people would have suspected Blood in the Badlands to be a White Dwarf article as well (well, it was in a way).

At one of the more recent Games Days (2011 UK I believe?) they came out and said that the policy of secrecy is something they're testing out to see how well it does, and if the fans don't like it it may change. There's a chance that's changing, but who knows really.

Brother SRM wrote:At one of the more recent Games Days (2011 UK I believe?) they came out and said that the policy of secrecy is something they're testing out to see how well it does, and if the fans don't like it it may change. There's a chance that's changing, but who knows really.

Yes it was at last year's Games Day. So, everyone get writing!

I was looking through some of my old WD from years back and in the sections at the start it often had images of product long in the future, in many cases part-scuplted greens!

Darn, hoped they'd gotten the message: Drop your prices and drop Finecrapst.

Ah well....

White Dwarf?


Whats that?


thanks again for getting my hopes up. I as well was hoping to read something to the tune of "We're lowering prices and rereleasing assorted models in metal and plastic."

Yeah, old WD couldn't shut up about future stuff, they were always shouting about it from the rooftops. Probably down to the editors of the time.

kitch102 wrote:Just looked at the back page of this months white dwarf, and was astounded to see a heads up as to what the next issue will include (storm of magic supplement, called night of 1000 arcane duels).

Sure its not much, but is this a small sign that GW are actually listening to us and dropping a bit of their secrecy policy?

They do actually listen to customer feedback. What they do with it is an entirely different story.

hotsauceman1 wrote:Isnt the secrecy because of the Hobbit movie?
Arent they required to no release any details no more then 2 weeks an advance to prove they can keep a secret?
Or else they lose lord of the rings?

This has something to do with New Line Cinema. My assumption is that GW has an ass-load of pictures and other goodies from The Hobbit movie and New Line Cinema doesn't want the stuff leaking before the movie launches.

Aerethan wrote:GW has licensing from 2 different sources. First is the Tolkien estate. The "owners" of GW are friends of the family so they aren't likely to pull that license anytime soon. The second license is from New Line Cinema. This is where GW gets the rights to the movie designs and actors faces. If New Line pulled the license, GW would have to discontinue any product that is an expression of what New Line did with the movies. They could still make LotR minis, but they would have to be all new designs that GW made.

Basically: Tolkien estate owns the names, New Line owns the pictures and art work associated with those names currently.

Yep.

Younger members may not be aware that GW did a full range of LoTR models in the 1980s, which only bear a resemblance to the modern figures owing to factors like Gandalf is always going to look wizardy and beardy with a tall hat and a staff, etc.

They were very nice models, too.

hotsauceman1 wrote:Well they dont want GW releasing stuff about the movie.
That i just a rumor i hear though.

I have one question. Just one.

If they don't want people to know what is going to happen in the movie shouldn't they recall the book? I mean what will give away more plot details a release of a figure, of a game, that has the ratio of like 1/35 per store?

Has GW's message gotten through to the playerbase yet?

0.o How is telling people what they're going to release next month going to somehow mess with their ability to keep secrets? I know, I know, GW replaced its staff with semi intelligent monkies five years ago, but really..... a little common sence could go a long way down there.

Wyrmalla wrote:0.o How is telling people what they're going to release next month going to somehow mess with their ability to keep secrets? I know, I know, GW replaced its staff with semi intelligent monkies five years ago, but really..... a little common sence could go a long way down there.

Do a little bit of research first next time?

When the LOTR movies were coming out, GW released pictures of previously unknown parts of the movie by showing miniatures of them in previews (I believe it was the uruk torchbearer/bomb boy.) before the movies were in theatres. This was not seen as a good move by New Line. Hence, with the Hobbit they have been asked to keep a tight lid on things. Part of their good faith effort was to show that they could keep a lid on their own productions to show that they would be able to do the same for New Line's. They did this by instituting this 2 week policy that they have been under for a while now.

Now you know.

^^ What I'm saying is that this policy is a biy silly as I can't see how this would aid them in keeping secrets. Its not letting out sensitive infromation to show off some advanced orders at the start of each month, in fact I think that because they're now not doing is just causing a lot of negativity from the community.

Wyrmalla wrote:^^ What I'm saying is that this policy is a biy silly as I can't see how this would aid them in keeping secrets.

IT DOESN'T. Go back and read my last post. It is purely a good faith gesture to show New Line that they can keep a lid on things because one of their previous 'advanced order previews' released information it shouldn't have.

I understand what pretre is saying.

The only issue though is how the hell these rumors get started and because of the rumor mill thread we know things months before GW release them. Which is bad and good.

Damn, I hope they get a leak of the Hobbit out so they drop the whole line of LotR crap.

Smolo82 wrote:

hotsauceman1 wrote:Well they dont want GW releasing stuff about the movie.
That i just a rumor i hear though.

I have one question. Just one.

If they don't want people to know what is going to happen in the movie shouldn't they recall the book? I mean what will give away more plot details a release of a figure, of a game, that has the ratio of like 1/35 per store?

What happens in the book isn't always what happens in the movie. If you'd read the books you'd know.

For example, an early leak (I think it was a leak, I might be remembering wrong) from White Dwarf blew the reveal of Haldir and the Elves fighting at Helms Deep, which most certainly did not happen in the book and was meant to be a huge reveal for first time viewers.

This is the sort of thing New Line wants clamped down.

SlaveToDorkness wrote:Damn, I hope they get a leak of the Hobbit out so they drop the whole line of LotR crap.

If it wasn't selling enough to make money, they wouldn't carry it. It's not getting dropped until their license runs out or it stops selling.

-Loki- wrote:

Smolo82 wrote:

hotsauceman1 wrote:Well they dont want GW releasing stuff about the movie.
That i just a rumor i hear though.

I have one question. Just one.

If they don't want people to know what is going to happen in the movie shouldn't they recall the book? I mean what will give away more plot details a release of a figure, of a game, that has the ratio of like 1/35 per store?

What happens in the book isn't always what happens in the movie. If you'd read the books you'd know.

For example, an early leak (I think it was a leak, I might be remembering wrong) from White Dwarf blew the reveal of Haldir and the Elves fighting at Helms Deep, which most certainly did not happen in the book and was meant to be a huge reveal for first time viewers.

This is the sort of thing New Line wants clamped down.

Haldir and the Elves at Helm's Deep, the way they chose to do the Army of the Dead, the Uruk-Hai Berserkers were all things which accidentally got spoiled because of early postings from the main rulebooks.

Heck, I think even the Balrog did too but am not entirely sure.