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2018/11/08 03:42:05
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
Skinnereal wrote: Has anyone mentioned that Tom Baker voices the 2003 Fire Warrior computer game alongside Brian Blessed and Sean Pertwee?
I now sort of really want to get that game just for those voices!
Tom Baker has been sort of kicking around in computer games for a while and has done Heretic and Knights of Honour as well as a few others.
Trust me you don't. Taht game was Crap - even back than. And to get it to work today is ... well lets say I would rather get all teeth pulle without anesthesia and get kickt in the balls afterwards than trying it again.
2018/11/08 11:13:58
Subject: Re:Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
Eh, Fire Warrior was an average FPS at the time, hardly competing with good games but still easily an enjoyable game. The bigger issue is the shooter premise, with a lone Fire Warrior slaughtering dozens and dozens of Marines. But given GW's modern background, if you can overlook that, Fire Warrior will hardly be a problem.
No idea with compatibility issues with modern computers, though. That can always be a problem.
Nehekhara lives! Sort of!
Why is the rum always gone?
2018/11/08 11:23:08
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
BrookM wrote: Only thing you need from Fire Warrior is the intro voiced by Tom Baker, the rest is utter and forgettable drek.
Totally disagree
Love the game, love the book
I AM A MARINE PLAYER
"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos
"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001
Fire warrior the book was pretty awesome. Remember that one time when the book gave us an intimate portrait of a guardsman or deckhand, from childhood through his current struggles, with motivations we can all relate to, and then in the next scene Kais blew his brains out with a single headshot? Remember that?
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Fire warrior the book was pretty awesome. Remember that one time when the book gave us an intimate portrait of a guardsman or deckhand, from childhood through his current struggles, with motivations we can all relate to, and then in the next scene Kais blew his brains out with a single headshot? Remember that?
The firewarrior novel is actually one of my favorites, despite being forced to follow a FPS game - the author did really well.
2018/11/28 12:57:45
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
Samples from the first two books are available in PDF form:
Warhammer Adventures is a series of action-packed stories arriving in bookstores and on Audible in February 2019.
The Realm Quest and Warped Galaxies are on their way, and right now you can get a FREE Book 0 for the series!
Book 0 features extracts from each of the first books in the series, City of Lifestone written by Tom Huddleston and Attack of the Necron, written by Cavan Scott.
Steeped in adventure, the books feature epic heroes, mighty armies and terrifying monsters who clash against the backdrop of magical landscapes while superhuman soldiers battle inhuman horrors and mighty spacefleets war for the fate of mankind.
One issue that I'm seeing is that I can't see any way to pre-order print versions of the books. I hope I'm just not seeing it, because Middle Grade isn't a good genre for eBooks (at the moment- once Ereaders get cheap enough that people give them to 8 year olds, Middle Grade on Ebook will be more viable).
2019/01/28 18:29:51
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
That has to be an oversight. Surely there will be paperbacks of these books distributed to chain stores where they can catch the eyes of the uninitiated and actually generate new customers for GW.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: That has to be an oversight. Surely there will be paperbacks of these books distributed to chain stores where they can catch the eyes of the uninitiated and actually generate new customers for GW.
Right?
Alternatively, they're meant to be read by children of gamers (my daughter is 7, and she's been playing Space Crusade with me, so I think we have found the target audience).
But she doesn't get an eReader. Yeah, I think it is a huge waste if there's no paperback release. Even a print on demand release would suffice.
2019/01/28 23:02:42
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
digital format most likely for initial release. paperback will follow later on - Black Library have started following this trend lately.
Digital distribution has a much shorter lead time than paper production.
"Courage and Honour. I hear you murmur these words in the mist, in their wake I hear your hearts beat harder with false conviction seeking to convince yourselves that a brave death has meaning.
There is no courage to be found here my nephews, no honour to be had. Your souls will join the trillion others in the mist shrieking uselessly to eternity, weeping for the empire you could not save.
To the unfaithful, I bring holy plagues ripe with enlightenment. To the devout, I bring the blessing of immortality through the kiss of sacred rot.
And to you, new-born sons of Gulliman, to you flesh crafted puppets of a failing Imperium I bring the holiest gift of all.... Silence."
- Mortarion, The Death Lord, The Reaper of Men, Daemon Primarch of Nurgle
5300 | 2800 | 3600 | 1600 |
2019/01/28 23:53:59
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
This isn't like releasing to their current target market where ebooks can work well because people are already interested. This is a new product line and aimed at new gamers as well as casual association and children of gamers. I think GW fully realises that physical books will likely outsell digital for this product line.
NurglesR0T wrote: digital format most likely for initial release. paperback will follow later on - Black Library have started following this trend lately.
Digital distribution has a much shorter lead time than paper production.
Huh. I hadn't been following that trend. My expectation was that publisher intentionally delay eBook releases so that they can funnel sales to the hardcover version (generally, if you want to support a book release, the best thing is to buy it from a physical book store during the first week). Because you're right- once you've got your files finished, you could start selling eBooks at the same time that your printer is printing them out. It is also why there's no reason not to publish an ebook version, even if you don't expect many ebook sales.
I was very much weirded out that the pre-order link took me to the digital and audio book (also digital) rather than somewhere that I could order a physical copy- because I think the physical books are definitely the primary product.
I haven't checked out the sample chapters yet- anyone have anything to say about those?
2019/01/29 17:34:50
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
Yeah I would have thought that the case, with physical copies etc.
What examples are there of BL doing ebooks before anything else?
Everything Coming Soon is ebook and hardback straight off, or paperback where relevant
2019/01/29 18:35:51
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
Back when I was in the (upper) range of 8-12 years, there were no children's version of 40k. I don't think there even was any Black Library. And I didn't need a children's version either. And I'm still painting plastic minis 20 years after. Why would children today need warhammer adventures?
2019/01/29 18:43:02
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
Baxx wrote: Back when I was in the (upper) range of 8-12 years, there were no children's version of 40k. I don't think there even was any Black Library. And I didn't need a children's version either. And I'm still painting plastic minis 20 years after. Why would children today need warhammer adventures?
Because GW would like to have more than the handful of kids who randomly chance upon the hobby or have parents who do it already. They want to reach out and capture the interest of more kids so that there's a greater chance of a larger market of people buying GW products. Especially now in an age where hands on toys are declining in sales significantly and digital are taking over - esp in geeky circles.
Lego has kind of held on but isn't anywhere near as popular as it once was; Meccanno is pretty much gone; Hornby lives off its older generation fans. GW realises that they've got to compete early and got to keep interest up high otherwise they will get overlooked. Miss a few generations and suddenly you've got a generational gap that's harder and harder to fill.
The books are definitely aimed at inviting younger gamers into their audience, and I think they're necessary. I also think that they're aimed at making the rising generation of players feel less like it is an 'all boys club.' The protagonists are split between boys and girls fairly evenly- in 40k there's an extra boy, and in AoS there's an extra girl.
Baxx wrote: Back when I was in the (upper) range of 8-12 years, there were no children's version of 40k. I don't think there even was any Black Library. And I didn't need a children's version either. And I'm still painting plastic minis 20 years after. Why would children today need warhammer adventures?
When I was that age, I bought a copy of Space Crusade and started playing 40k games from there. That game definitely features a lighter version of the 40k fluff, so this doesn't seem so blasphemous to me (even though it does look more Kim Possible than Space Crusade ever did).
Space Crusade was definitely 40k for a younger crowd- no question. GW hasn't had that for a while. A lot of folks blamed the price increases, or the changes to the fluff (at very least, the presentation is much darker than it was twenty years ago) but they've lost lot of younger gamers. When i was younger, there were plenty of older gamers at the game shop, but there were also a lot of teenagers playing. Now, it seems like the average age of players is closer to 30 than 16.
GW can definitely use a good entry point like Space Crusade once was. These books are part of that, and from what I can tell, that's the reason why GW has been emphasizing the "free form" games as the standard for AoS and 40k, with point balanced games as secondary. I think that they're trying to make their games very friendly to younger gamers.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I just checked amazon, and you can pre-order the paperbacks for 8.99.
- So, yes, Warhammer Adventures will be available in the form in which middle grade books are read, and not only as ebook/audiobook.
- They REALLY ought to link that on their website.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2019/01/29 21:03:39
2019/01/30 01:17:34
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
The late preteen and early teenage years are a massive influence on long term gamers. It's the most likely period in time, by far, that people are going to pick up on Warhammer games. Thereafter there's fast diminishing returns; with a lingering element in the young adult (uni) age brackets and then fast vanishing as people get older still.
Basically GW knows that their core recruitment market is young gamers. Old gamers are important too, but that's about maintaining market not getting new market. GW wants to make sure that they sink their claws into gamers early so that they've got you for life! Plus they are clearly well aware that if they sit back and don't target that market they will end up with an ageing gamer scene which will only ever dwindle and trying to recruit more in that age bracket will be tricky.
Baxx wrote: Back when I was in the (upper) range of 8-12 years, there were no children's version of 40k. I don't think there even was any Black Library. And I didn't need a children's version either. And I'm still painting plastic minis 20 years after. Why would children today need warhammer adventures?
Agreed,
We had Choose Your Own Adventure, the Tripod Trilogy, 2000AD, Hardy Boys/ Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, Fangora, Rue Morgue, Heavy Metal, Marvel, DC, etc.etc.etc. The middle school market that GW is eyeballing was strong, and Dungeons and Dragons ruled pretty much every kids pocket, until the market started picking up and Scifi games started picking up.
Alongside Palladium, FASA, GDW, Avalon Hill, TSR were running around like crazy people getting into other genres and 40K was just starting out when we were kids, and when it first came out it relied HEAVY on Scifi tropes of the 80's. THE biggest scifi game that was out and had the market was both Shadowrun, and FASA's BattleTech.
40K was not worthy of it's own book series, because it was part in parcel of the 80's. 40K was not for children, and still isn't, until they fix that ridiculous price entry point.
I would be a millionaire if I had a dollar for every look that a parent has had when they picked up a box of a 40K or fantasy product and looked at the price tag.
The late preteen and early teenage years are a massive influence on long term gamers. It's the most likely period in time, by far, that people are going to pick up on Warhammer games. Thereafter there's fast diminishing returns; with a lingering element in the young adult (uni) age brackets and then fast vanishing as people get older still.
Basically GW knows that their core recruitment market is young gamers. Old gamers are important too, but that's about maintaining market not getting new market. GW wants to make sure that they sink their claws into gamers early so that they've got you for life! Plus they are clearly well aware that if they sit back and don't target that market they will end up with an ageing gamer scene which will only ever dwindle and trying to recruit more in that age bracket will be tricky.
GW is only interested in that first hit.
They want to cash in fast on the initial entry with expensive basic product, then try to fleece the kids with "ABSOLUTE ESENTIALS" that are top tier price and bottom tier quality. The reality is GW relegated itself to boutique markets for the rich and spoiled with one to two man shops with one to three tables, as opposed to the obligatory 5-7 with a staff of 3 or 4 and organized play. Kids get run off because mommy wants to let little jimmy sit in the GW as a free child care shop, and goes off to buy her stuff, and then comes back and can't figure out why the stuff costs so much.
Secondary market of half finished GW stuff, and real world experiences are my references for this opinion.
No "Kid" worth their salt goes into a game system that tops out at over 3,000 bucks. Sorry.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2019/01/30 14:31:39
At Games Workshop, we believe that how you behave does matter. We believe this so strongly that we have written it down in the Games Workshop Book. There is a section in the book where we talk about the values we expect all staff to demonstrate in their working lives. These values are Lawyers, Guns and Money.
2019/01/30 14:30:36
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
Because the children of 20 years ago are not the same as the children of today. Today they have far more options for entertainment and far easier access too it. If these books can catch their attention on the shelf of a bookstore, supermarket or whatever, that's one more avenue of possibly getting them into the hobby. Especially when most GW's aren't usually directly on the high street but usually off to the side somewhere not everyone is going to see. It's logical business sense. And I never understood this 40K is not for children nonsense. It's always been aimed at 10-12 year olds initially and i'm sure that's the age a great many people started. And it's certainly what I see regularly enough.
2019/02/03 11:59:52
Subject: Warhammer Adventures - adventure stories for younger readers.
They certainly invested a fair amount in their school groups. Sign up as a school group and they'll send you $100+ of paint and starter sets.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Which is kind of a mistake, actually. Board games with high replay, group dynamics and a lower barrier entry would be better, like the warhammer quest clones. Very few after school clubs can play full games of AOS or warhammer, just due to time and space.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/02/03 12:01:37