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Or even 100, or any other obscene amount of money, would you buy GW? What would you do with the company if money was no longer a factor? It's IP? Discuss.

No. It isn't profitable enough - you would get a better investment from sticking the money in the bank.

The question was if money was no longer a factor. I can rephrase the question to, we now live in a world wide socialist state, and you have been assigned to be the executive of GW. What would you do....?

Titans,Titans everywhere.

filbert wrote:No. It isn't profitable enough - you would get a better investment from sticking the money in the bank.

ummm

GW shareprice is up 25% in last 12 months with a respectible dividend yield of 4.2%.

Meanwhile - in the US -

1 year CD, MMA or DDA is yielding 0.69% to 1.10% (for deposits in excess of $25,000)

While I won't argue that some companies can produce higher earnings per share outstanding or that GW revenues declined recently - I will state that buying shares of GW with a portion of your billion has been more than a bit accretive to your portfolio in comparison to holding it in a traditional bank vehicle over the last 12 months.

Retcon all fluff that seems silly or nonsensical minus the orks. Stop each race from being a planet of hats, allowing more alliances and more interesting stories to occur, as well as allowing people to feel sympathetic for various races. Lower prices to destroy competition and gain new customers. Advertise. Hire competent writers to reinforce balance over shiny new toy. Modify the rules for larger games so that people will buy larger armies.

Keep remaining GW stores, but stock them with non-GW product from small minis companies, as well as more from the specialist games. If the miniatures from the small companies sell well, buy them out and sell the minis as kosher alternatives or another specialist game, keeping their designer as head of that project. I would also make ties with comics and forums such as this one to add more publicity.

Make movies and more video games, with a focus on more movies over more video games. Perhaps even a tv show, they generate a lot of publicity.

But my experience with business is one class at a community college, these could all be terrible ideas.

I wouldn't buy them, I'd probably start my own company making things I wanted.

If I had a billion dollars, I wouldn't waste it on buying the GW company-I'd buy a nice house, a couple new cars, give my family members each a million, friends each half a mil, then buy a game store. I feel that's more than reasonable. Half my wealth goes to charity upon my death. I'd of course have fun with my money, but not go crazy and use it all up.

timetowaste85 wrote:If I had a billion dollars, I wouldn't waste it on buying the GW company-I'd buy a nice house, a couple new cars, give my family members each a million, friends each half a mil, then buy a game store. I feel that's more than reasonable. Half my wealth goes to charity upon my death. I'd of course have fun with my money, but not go crazy and use it all up.

^ Definitely would be what I'd do.... maybe give a bit more to my parents but yeah

I'd rather have a nice life than buy GW lol!

SilverMK2 wrote:I wouldn't buy them, I'd probably start my own company making things I wanted.

This.

Although my own setting is more RPG based anyways. It would make a pretty good wargame, but its not where my focus is.

Not in GW specifically but I'd go to say showcase comics or another good longstanding store and offer to invest in them, helping to build satellite locations based on the same principles of business practices that has helped them succeed for so long. Hopefully allowing for bigger service and a more recognized name. I'd also go to privateer press and fow to ask for help advertising locally, driving up sales for both parties. I'd also press the stores to write one set of rules for all stores when it comes to comping tournaments and fw. Most of all, any miniature would be legal in any model as long as it reasonably depicts what the model is!

Of course I'd diversify my investments so that while this might be the majority it's all my eggs in one basket.


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Not in GW specifically but I'd go to say showcase comics or another good longstanding store and offer to invest in them, helping to build satellite locations based on the same principles of business practices that has helped them succeed for so long. Hopefully allowing for bigger service and a more recognized name. I'd also go to privateer press and fow to ask for help advertising locally, driving up sales for both parties. I'd also press the stores to write one set of rules for all stores when it comes to comping tournaments and fw. Most of all, any miniature would be legal in any model as long as it reasonably depicts what the model is!

Of course I'd diversify my investments so that while this might be the majority it's all my eggs in one basket.

DemetriDominov wrote:Or even 100, or any other obscene amount of money, would you buy GW? What would you do with the company if money was no longer a factor? It's IP? Discuss.

Having bought all the GW shares, I would take the company off of the public market and fire the current board of directors. Then I would give actual players and hobby enthusiasts creative control of the company. I would insure everything went through extensive playtesting before release.
In short, I would do everything possible to make a good product instead of doing everything possible to make a good profit.

I would have a looooong chat with the chief staff and trade department and ask them to deliver a solid clear answer to the following question.

What do we want to be? A mass producer of toys, operating around the world and stuffing as much boxes as possible into every boys (10 to 16) home? Or do we want to be a Veterans pet producer of unique extremely high quality low demand, high price luxury producer of wargaming miniatures.

After this question is answered I would set up the company ACCORDINGLY. No ridiculous bad "half between the two" management as company wise these are mutual exluding! Decide what we want to be. Luxury brand or mass producing brand. Not the half of everything xxxx they are doing right now.

hotsauceman1 wrote:Titans,Titans everywhere.

I would build an actual Emperor Titan. And then...


... I'd take over the world.

If I did buy GW, I would drop prices by 26%, but not drop wholesale prices and laugh as everyone back flocks to GW direct thinking they are getting a good deal!

After about 6 months of that, I'd make up new rulesets where everything is playable.

deathholydeath wrote:

DemetriDominov wrote:Or even 100, or any other obscene amount of money, would you buy GW? What would you do with the company if money was no longer a factor? It's IP? Discuss.

Having bought all the GW shares, I would take the company off of the public market and fire the current board of directors. Then I would give actual players and hobby enthusiasts creative control of the company. I would insure everything went through extensive playtesting before release.
In short, I would do everything possible to make a good product instead of doing everything possible to make a good profit.

You'd be bust within a very short time.

If i had a billion dollars.....i'd have way too many orks

Not sure if i'd buy GW. I think i'd be more inclined to start my own wargames company focussing on rules/scenarios, and leave the minature making to them, and other companies.

If I ran GW I would, fire Ward. Then decrease prices. Then not shove Space Marine stuff down peoples throats. Put the paint in dropper bottles. Replace old model sculpts. Combine GW and Forgeworld. Profit.

I have had this plan for a while. I would buy a large warehouse and convert it into a workshop with the state of the art casting and CAD machines. Hire top staff and pay them lots and then create my own company. Also i would buy Forgeworlds catalogue, several times over...

deathholydeath wrote:

DemetriDominov wrote:Or even 100, or any other obscene amount of money, would you buy GW? What would you do with the company if money was no longer a factor? It's IP? Discuss.

Having bought all the GW shares, I would take the company off of the public market and fire the current board of directors. Then I would give actual players and hobby enthusiasts creative control of the company. I would insure everything went through extensive playtesting before release.
In short, I would do everything possible to make a good product instead of doing everything possible to make a good profit.

Although there is more I would add to this, that is more or less what I wanted to say

marielle wrote:You'd be bust within a very short time.

It would take a herculean effort to burn through a billion dollars though..

If i bought out GW heres what would go down, firstly put everything back into tin as tin prices are dropping and becomming afordable as plastic prices increase. Metal figures are heavy, so i would debate if plastic shipping costs are cheaper then tin and compaire base materials to movement of materials to have the lowest possible expense; from raw material to product to create a direct competive selling enviorment. I would then bring out as many boxed sets as i could bringing troops and transports back together at a lower cost than the items seperate, because in all reality people will spot if they really need that 1 item. I would then bolster up the battle forces with even alittle more them to pack their price. Like another 10 man guard squad in the imperial one, or another rhino in the space marine ect.

And i would then make the editions more interactive then the current ones by having writters advance the plot of the 40k universe. The "emperor" dies out, a hire comes ect. Just so things change and it inst the internally and ungodly slow end to the imperium. I would also have narritive wars in the books that players could play out that follow the fuff, and off a part in each war for all the races.

Lastly i would partner/ leave open for 3rd party to sell things that work with warhammer models at a 8% of the profits stright to GW as a liscense/partner expense. And of course improve my shops! holy feth i would go prize support and painting gak days. Dear god bring the hobby support back.

Aside from the obvious - house, investment to pay comfortable interest, life sized land raider as my car etc.

I *would* buy GW.

I'd then make it a non profit orginisation - reduce prices, slightly increase wages. Re-introduce specialist games with an emphasis on converting a box of existing plastic troopers - eg mordheim had the freestate people and so on. IG for necromunda or whatever.

Release space-hulk as a non limited edition item, dreadfleet too.

Have a rules/FAQ team so that faqs are updated somewhat regularly.

Make new codex releases a priority and have SoB redone.

This should mean the company operates and expands and gains more custom, hopefully becoming more accessable.

1. Drop LotR, fold resources over into 40k and Fantasy
2. Either expand ForgeWorld into a larger company with a second production center in the US(and as such US pricing online) or fold Forgeworld into GW completely, allowing all items to be sold on the GW site, and making Imperial Armour books 100% official
3. Fire whoever decided that Finecast was ready to ship. Redesign the entire line of production to proper resin casting like everyone else on the planet. 2 words: pressure casting.
4. Put out teasers and previews for upcoming models 1 month before release.
5. Release an official release schedule for 18 months ahead, of course stating that things may not happen on time.
6. White Dwarf changes to having some articles written by people NOT in the company, subscribers get it before stores, battle reports that aren't bunk/advertisements.
7. Advertise. Anything is better than what they are doing now.
8. Veterans rewards program.
9. License 2 proper movies to be made: 1. The Horus Heresy(not sure if we can fit this into 3 hours or not) and 2. Storm of Chaos
10. Some sort of feedback system from the playerbase
11. Prices to be based on production cost instead of how many of X you use in a game.
12. Fire Matt Ward, I don't need to explain why here.
13. Have a single person write fluff for all army books, making no radical changes to existing canon.
14. Have a team of 3 people write and design army and unit rules together.
15. EVERY WFB will have the following kits: General/BSB kit, like HE and Empire have, Dual mage kit with options for 2 on foot or one on foot and one on a mount.
16. All generic HQ options available as multipart plastic kits.
17. Revamp Blood Bowl and Mordheim.
18. Shut down GW stores that are in the same city as LGS' which properly support GW products and offer gaming space.

I'll post more if I think of anything else.

The first thing I'd do is close every single under-performing GW store in the US and Canada. I would not open any more and I would implement tools for local gaming stores to promote GW products. Perhaps I would bring back the Outrider program. I would then re-evaluate income vs expenditures and adjust prices (downward), and spend some money on advertising. Tighten schedules so that no army goes 10+ years without a codex/army book update; ideally, no more than every few months should see a new codex or army book (none of this almost one year between an edition and the first book for that edition nonsense. I'm looking at you, WHFB!), with priority given to oldest books first, unless a new edition severely breaks a younger book.

If feasible, I would provide more support for Specialist Games and take the company private.

I wouldn't retcon anything, and, even if some of it's silly, I'd try to ensure that no more retcons occur. I might advocate some serious evolution of the storyline.

Granted, a billion dollars is a lot of money, so most things are probably "feasible" to at least try, and if they wind up losing quite a bit of cash, it's not really a big deal.

I certainly wouldnt buy GW. What I would have is an exponentially larger supply or unbuilt & unpainted minis that I do now. However instead of work getting in the way of building and painting, it would be travel and enjoying fine sports cars and other such things keeping me from the minis.


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RatBot wrote:The first thing I'd do is close every single under-performing GW store in the US and Canada. I would not open any more and I would implement tools for local gaming stores to promote GW products. Perhaps I would bring back the Outrider program. I would then re-evaluate income vs expenditures and adjust prices (downward), and spend some money on advertising. Tighten schedules so that no army goes 10+ years without a codex/army book update; ideally, no more than every few months should see a new codex or army book (none of this almost one year between an edition and the first book for that edition nonsense. I'm looking at you, WHFB!), with priority given to oldest books first, unless a new edition severely breaks a younger book.

If feasible, I would provide more support for Specialist Games and take the company private.

I wouldn't retcon anything, and, even if some of it's silly, I'd try to ensure that no more retcons occur. I might advocate some serious evolution of the storyline.

Id say that no new edition be realeased without the ability to have ALL new codexes for that edition ready at the time of release, and released withing 90 days of the main rulebook.

I would launch a Codex: Bronies with a complete range of models in polystyrene. They would be a kind of Space Centaur and ally with the Space Elves and Space Tau.

I would buy GW no matter what it cost.

Fire Matt Ward.

Then sell GW for a profit =]

I would bring back Squats

One doesnt fire mattward, you give him an embarrassingly humiliating job. Like put him on the paint team and see what happens.

I'd have them make a Mordian Codex.