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darkcloak wrote:
I am completely awed by your estimates. One thousand dollars to play 40k is your "reasonable" expectation? For that much money I could buy a pretty darn good computer, and still have enough money left over to buy whatever games I wanted. Now all the PC buffs are gonna come screaming in here and kill me because they spent 3k on their gaming rig, and there is no way anyone could be satisfied with such a cheap PC but I digress. For that much money, and that much yearly investment you could do any number of things, important things too, like for example if I had a "reasonable" amount of money right now I'd pay my rent in advance and probably buy my wife something nice. If I had $900 on hand and I said to my wife (or anyone for that matter) that I was going to spend all that money on little plastic toys I would get shipped to a hospital immediately to be checked for a brain malady. And that has nothing to do with the stereotypical "toys are for kids" attitude that most men adopt in their later years, that's just good sense. If you said to me right now "Darkcloak, I am going to spend $900 on an army!" I would say "Talys, no! Don't do it" and I would try to talk you down.

I think you misunderstand me.

IF you want to enjoy 40k as a hobby AND game, a reasonable budget to build an 1850 point army, the typical size that is played, the range that I provided of $500-$900 is probably what it will cost. If you go into it expecting it to be less, unless you're buying used models, this is an unreasonable expectation, and you will be disappointed, because you'll get halfway there and run out of money.

I'm not saying it's a reasonable price. That's for each person to decide based on their financial situation.

If some people go to their wives and say they're going to spend $900 on a tennis racket, a pair of skis, one golf club, or whatever, their wife might think they're cracked, because that's the mortgage payment for the month. Or not, because they might have just bought a $300 pair of shoes and a $900 purse or a $1000 set of hair extensions. I make no judgment. However, given what you have said, I think engaging in 40k as a game would be a terrible idea for you, because you'd resent the amount of money you'd spend, your wife would, and you obviously have better things to spend it on.

If someone asked if they should spend $900 on a toy that they wanted, I would ask, "Would you have to give up something else important to you?" if they said, no, I'd reply, "Then why not?". It hardly matters if it's a Surface Pro 3, an iPad, an Xbox, surfboard, violin, or an autographed jersey.

I go back to what I said earlier. The justification for a hobby is that it makes you happy. Whether that's building models or gardening or cooking. Things that you can afford in life that give you happiness and don't harm other people are things you should do, because at some point after 25,000 or so sunrises that you're likely to see, give or take, there won't be any sunrises anymore. So enjoy those little things while you can.

Edit: Be happy that you don't live in Vancouver. A friend is looking for rent, just a 1 bedroom apartment, though preferably 2, and not nearly in a super ritzy part of town or anything. Nothing at all less than $1,200. Anything he wants is close to $1,800. Average price for a single family detached home in Vancouver is $1.4 million, and $2.9 million for the expensive part of town. No joke -- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/vancouver-detached-homes-reach-record-high-price-in-may/article24761542/ My point is, all things are relative.

Hey! You're a canuck!

Never mind then. Solidarity and snow!

I guess... You...

...are...

...right.

Cost and worth are subjective to the individual. I just feel like its a bit needless. Especially when you look at other kits, WFB may be a bad example right now but you can get 10 bloodthirsters for $35, and there are still lots of kits in this price range. I'm just shocked at the difference in price.

I really didn't know just how much money I had spent until I looked at it as a whole.

What am I gonna do now? Well staying competitive and up to date is obviously outside my capabilities, so I guess I'm just going to have to find ways to enjoy the hobby as opposed to trying to force enjoyment out of the game.

This isn't to say I'm giving up the table entirely, but the focus of my passion has definitely changed.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And as for the Vancouver thing... I live in Nanaimo and its not really that much better here. Housing isn't as bad as across the strait but there isn't enough work here, so it balances out! Lol

Oh Nanaimo...

I checked out the gaming store there once when I lived in Comox. Seemed like a good place, shame I was an hour and a half away.

[quote=Talys 651670 7901014 9af500060f50ff35eb7ee790e4e5e62f.jpg Stuff.

 Massawyrm wrote:

Commissar Benny wrote:
Whoever at GW decided it was a good idea to screw over FLGS & try to isolate all sales via their online site or GW stores completely f'd the future of their company. They should have done the exact opposite. Give incentives for FLGS to carry their products, give them discounts, get as much exposure to the hobby as possible.

That decision, sadly, was made by the players when they began buying their models from online retailers (many operating out of their garage) offering 20-25% discounts. Once the FLGSs were no longer the primary source of 40k sales, and in store games were no longer the best advertisement for the game, they shifted toward being the main source themselves. This wasn't GWs doing, it was the gamers looking for a bargain.

This comment is completely outrageous. Really, how dare you blame the consumer for GW strangling the FLGS and having a completely ludicrous online shopping policy. Do you know what the ACTUAL answer is? It is simply over the top greed to please shareholders. Its not the consumer, the places that were discounting (as it carries on REGARDLESS to this day). Its GW MANAGEMENT that said lets do this because we need a higher bottom line. They gave no thoughts to watering the flower that were these vendors that were actually selling things. If they had any brains they would PROMOTE SALES (as Benny said) rather than hamper them just to get better margins. If they didn't like it, then simply offer something at your webstore TO MAKE UP FOR THE EXTRA PRICE (i.e. raise value, limited edition figs [without getting butthurt over collectors or ebayers selling them]) They are simply TOO greedy to get over themselves. In the US, they could easily be in the major hobby chains like Michaels or Hobby Lobby, BUT, the margins are not as kind (nor would those chains put up with such a small companys BS on any front) therefore they wouldnt even give it consideration (yet the long term of more players never crosses the mind) This company is COMPLETELY insane in its practices, and the amount of people that choose to ignore this are staggering.

I am fascinated by fictional 'evil' corporations like Omnicorp, Umbrella, Weyland-Yutani, In-Gen and the like, and while GW practices are far from these entities, the complete DISDAIN for the consumer by this company just makes you want to see them react when things start to unquestionably come crumbling down.

darkcloak wrote:
And as for the Vancouver thing... I live in Nanaimo and its not really that much better here. Housing isn't as bad as across the strait but there isn't enough work here, so it balances out! Lol

Ooooo Nanaimo!! I really like the Comox area, was there just last fall You know what I think we can agree is a rip-off? FERRY TICKETS!!!! I mean, seriously, wtf, lol. $55 for a vehicle, one way, and that doesn't include the driver or passengers! Another $17 for each person. I think the last time we crossed it was almost $100 each way.

I mean a ferry taking a car but not including at least the driver is like selling a box of space marines with no arms.

I get the spirit of what you're saying, though, I really do. It would be wonderful if miniature hobbies were more accessible and more 'pocket change' than 'luxury goods'.

@ultraatma - sadly, even with things that are cheap, the Internet has totally wrecked profit margins for brick and mortars. Once upon a very long time ago I owned a retail store, but I would never go down that rabbit hole now, with the Internet and commoditization. Even though I'm as guilty as the next guy for checking on Amazon before buying something in a store, I hate that mentality, because I do value brick and mortars.

As to GW specifically, I buy stuff from so many companies I dislike now that I'm just totally desensitized to it, unless they have really terrible manufacturing practices like employing child labor or wrecking the environment.

My god yes!

No one will ever know true wallet violation until they take a ride on a BC Ferry.

Heaven help you if you're taking a U-Haul or RV on there! Friends just came over from the interior and got dinged an extra $250 for being like a foot and a half too big with their truck.

And the food once you get on? It's worse than cartoon high school cafeteria food but it costs so much you'd think there was FW resin mixed in!

At any rate, GW ought to recognize the need for an accessible entry point for hobby and capitalize. Three now defunct games in particular come to mind, and who isn't secretly hoping they come back?

Of course if this were to happen it would just be Space Hulk all over again.

I would totally pay as much as an old battlebox for a certain game, but we can safely say that THAT game will be closer to the $400 mark...

I think single plastic figures at £18 a pop was when they went right over the edge. You'll be hard pressed to find any company asking that much for a single plastic 28mm in any medium let alone plastic. You can get Forgeworld characters for less than that and they'll be vastly superior to regular plastic. I don't know what they're thinking with these prices other than their customers will pay seemingly anything.

To put it in perspective, I can get the Dark Angel guy for $30au or I could buy a 1/48 scale Star Wars AT-ST for $31au that stands as high as an Imperial Knight and is much much more detailed and fully articulated.

That's what I don't get when someone claims GW is a model company, compared to actual model companies the prices are crazy.

GW prices suck, but Space Marine infantry kits are pretty bad example. First, as said they come with lots of stuff and new ones are better than old ones; second, their prices have not really been increased all that much over the years. When I began the hobby in some 6-7 years ago, Devastator kit costed 35 euros, then it was dropped to 30 euros, now new kit costs 36 euros. Not too bad really, especially by GW standards.

Now if the OP had complained how much Space Marine vehicle kits cost these days, or single-character sprues, then yeah, I would have agreed with that.

This hobby is expensive, yes. Why do people feel the need to compare it to other hobbies. It is painfully obvious that some hobbies are more expensive, and some hobbies are less expensive.

Comparing and bickering about which hobby is less or more expensive is.... well it is just being plain stupid.

Yeah I still fondly flick through the very old WD's and see when Rhinos used to cost £5....

Back when you had to post your order form.

And when they released 3rd Edition.

"Don't worry that we've halved the points values for EVERYTHING so youll have to buy twice as much for any points scale. Everything new's going to be PLASTIC and everything will be cheap!"

Oh now nieve I was as a teenager....