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My latest article is about the lightning fast sell out and lack of availability to more customers of the Glottkin End Times II book and the negative effects that has for the release and the hobby in the long run. This is not the first time GW's short-term profit maximization strategy has cut sales and customer growth short and it sadly probably won't be the last.

How many more people might have bought models to go with this release if they could have purchased a book? How many people who did get it will have fewer people with whom to play games and share it because of the lack of books available? How much shorter will the active gaming life of this expansion be because of this situation?

Read all about it here:

http://spikeybitsblog.com/2014/10/glottkin-sellout.html

Agree 100%. It boggles the mind that they would make RULES limited edition. There is no reason other than to perpetuate the myth that they are rare collector's pieces that only a select few can partake of.

There are some who claim that the fact it sold out means that GW must be doing things right since there is such a demand that it goes in a few hours. I disagree though and find the fact that rules are even allowed to sell out to be ludicrous.

I think you need to make clear you're talking about GW hurting GW (and I think you're right)


not GW hurting the mini wargaming hobby as a whole

They're messing up their long term viability in favor of short term profits, but the sad thing is, if they worked on the long term, they'd get far more money in the end.

It's not that capitalism is at fault like some have said, but that GW doesn't quite understand how a free market works that's the problem.

 MWHistorian wrote:
They're messing up their long term viability in favor of short term profits, but the sad thing is, if they worked on the long term, they'd get far more money in the end.

It's not that capitalism is at fault like some have said, but that GW doesn't quite understand how a free market works that's the problem.

I think it's more that they need to validate the image they want to project, that of a boutique company producing high-quality collector's pieces and lavish books.

Or maybe they are just having low print runs of books to cut costs.

I wasn't aware of that. Didn't the rules appear in WD?

Anything can sell out if you produce far less than demand. It suggests several things; that you don't really know the size of your market or lack confidence in the product so play very safe, or perhaps that you don't wish to invest in stock and storing that stock for any length of time, so under produce to shift the product and get the cash in fast. That's why Space Hulk was a flash in the pan. That's why they keep pushing the downloads, because there is no investment in stock. Other than the costs in writing and design/typesetting etc, there is no investment in stock or risk. They seem to only be interested in getting a quick return on investment in physical stock and ensuring its all gone so that the next new thing is turned around asap. They aren't keen on trying to have products which endure. That's why they won't do specialist ganes again, they want to invest only in a limited release, sell it all in a weekend, money in the bank. Rinse and repeat. That doesn't look like a company that is confident in its future or in its current standing.

Shareholders innit.

Seriously though, it is a strategy designed to please shareholders and to try bring more adults into the game, even if ultimately they don't play or go on to ditch the game. As others mention, one aspect is that physical supplements are becoming limited release backed by permanent digital releases which themselves largely target the IOS user base, in itself a tactic designed to target those most likely to buy digital.

It's the end of targeting small children with money rich/time poor parents.

 TwilightSparkles wrote:
Shareholders innit.

Seriously though, it is a strategy designed to please shareholders and to try bring more adults into the game, even if ultimately they don't play or go on to ditch the game. As others mention, one aspect is that physical supplements are becoming limited release backed by permanent digital releases which themselves largely target the IOS user base, in itself a tactic designed to target those most likely to buy digital.

It's the end of targeting small children with money rich/time poor parents.

Lol i always wondered why they couldnt do a good freaking epub. The format on their digital products is god awful.

I realy want to buy their digital editions, its more practical, but for the life of me, the ones ive "borrowed" i just cant read.

their ios based stuff, the enhanced editions, are formatted beautifully...
the other stuff, including the digital White Dwarf Weekly on iBooks, is horrible...

i am more than happy to pay a little extra for the enhanced edition of a Codex or Army Book...
they are beautiful, and very interactive, with audio, zoom, 360's, and pop up references...
i really like the format, and have gone completely off of the print books, since i can't get them here in Mexico easily anyway...

as for the Limited Edition rules selling out fast, that just shows me that people are still buying...
the critics say that GW is screwing up when their LE's sell out, and scoff when they are still available after a week...
GW is in a no-win situation from the critics...
obviously, the products are still in demand, though, as new releases continue to sell...

the word is that the End Times books will be getting softback releases anyway, so it's not as if the sky is really falling...

cheers
jah

 jah-joshua wrote:


as for the Limited Edition rules selling out fast, that just shows me that people are still buying...
the critics say that GW is screwing up when their LE's sell out, and scoff when they are still available after a week...

Not easy to make that call, given the variable popularity of various factions and the contracting numbers of LE offered, the last End Times book LE was only what, 500 copies worldwide?

I wouldn't criticise any one book based on how quickly it sells out or doesn't, the whole concept is flawed, offering a LE of a game aid that by definition has a limited shelf life. Then going ahead and restricting availability of other things such as power decks and objective cards is also daft. Remember, GW also offered the Apoc templates, something absolutely critical to using many of the units you'd want to play Apoc in order to field, as a limited availability! Now, if you want to buy them, you have to buy the old style, which you can still pick up.

There is absolutely a market for LE GW product - rulebooks ain't it.

Not a bad article. Thing is, you fell for the GW trap.

You are promoting GW for free. You are giving GW free advertising, and that is why GW does what it does.

Hook, Line and Sinker. Free GW promotions.

I find it funny the author asks "How many people would have bought the mini if they could have bought the book?". The question I ask now is "How many people did the author just stir up to go out and be the first in line to buy some GW stuff tomorrow?"

Clearly the limited releases are a move towards a strategy of a pseudo-semi-collectible game. If you are a Tyranid/Ork player, you must grab the new unit and rules before supplies run out.

This suits GW who can accuratenly predict their production cost, sales and profit in the individual release.

It is good for players who are keen GW fans, but it is a bit rubbish for everyone else.

It is too early to say if it will be a successful long-term strategy.

I didn't read the whole thing. Is the plastic kit limited release too?

IDK but logically if a book is limited release the associated model would be as well.

Honestly I love the concept of LE stuff in this hobby.

I think Corvus Belli (and probably others, they are just the first example I thought of) are doing it perfectly. I love the idea that if I preorder something from them I can get a cool mini like the one they made of the girl cosplaying for them at GenCon, or the Bounty Hunters they've done, or the Civilian model that came with the preorders of Operation Icestorm. Or the alternate head and arm variant of the WarCor model that the people in their WarCor program had access too.

None of these models are anything more than a cool little bonus, not at all needed in game if they even can be played in game. But they are great models none the less.

The way GW are executing it is awful. Things that are integral to the game as LE is just bat gak crazy.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
I think you need to make clear you're talking about GW hurting GW (and I think you're right)

not GW hurting the mini wargaming hobby as a whole

I think these situations hurt both GW and the growth of the hobby involving their products. The editorial was pretty explicit about that. Anything that hurts the long-term growth of the hobby involving their products hurts their profit potential down the road. Expansions that get played a lot for a long time do more for GW and the hobbyists than those that are unpopular or that are popular yet nearly unobtainable. GW is big about trying to get return customers, yet the past 4-5 yrs. they've done little to gain new customers while a lot of existing customers have left through natural attrition, feeling priced out, feeling disillusioned, etc.

I unashamedly love GW's products (most of them) and I enjoy having their stores around. I'd hate to see them drive themselves to extinction through lack of attentiveness to customers. I like my store operator (and the one before him) and I feel bad for them when I see them struggling to make their sales quota, especially when people walk in to buy certain products and they have none to sell thanks to GW Corporate's short-sightedness. And of course, as a customer it's frustrating for me when I can't even support the store and get the product I want when I'm making a special effort in some cases to do so.

Hope you enjoyed the editorial. Thanks to you and everyone else who read the article and or commented for your interest!


----------------------------------------------------

I didn't read the whole thing. Is the plastic kit limited release too?

You might want to read the whole article, but no, the kit is not limited. And another printing of the book (also mentioned in the article) will surely come down the road, maybe a paperback, maybe a full collection of all End Times books after they are all released. The problem is that by the time you see that the release will no longer be "hot" and sales are usually much more modest at that point as interest in expansions like this tend to wane over time. All this and more is covered in my editorial.

Its almost as dishonest for customers as it is for GW's stock holders.

A standard release is a distinct possibility. So, the rules are not special. The artwork will be the same so all a buyer has is a hardbacked book instead of softback/digital. Which for gaming use isn't that great.

If another run is coming how will early consumers feel? is the cachet of '1st' good enough for them?

I

I think anyone who buys any GW rules nowadays has to consider the possibility that they will be obsolescent in a couple of years.

That's why I only get the mini books from the starter set.

 MWHistorian wrote:
They're messing up their long term viability in favor of short term profits, but the sad thing is, if they worked on the long term, they'd get far more money in the end.

It's not that capitalism is at fault like some have said, but that GW doesn't quite understand how a free market works that's the problem.

It's a failing not limited to GW. Many (if not most) corporations will do anything to increase profits this quarter, and anything that happens beyond that is beyond their ability to see.

As someone who is a pure collector, I haven't much to gripe about, I buy the Codexes and Army Books and the Rules Books for a jolly good read and as guide to how to put my collection together.

As for this GW is doing a great job, producing great models and reading guff. Plus I get great deals on both via the internet, saves me a packet on GW retail, although recently I have purchased two Devestators and one Tyranid Termigant Brood kits from GW retail.

As I needed the kits, also I got the latest 40K rules retail, because it was my birthday.

So GW gets from me.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Anything can sell out if you produce far less than demand. It suggests several things; that you don't really know the size of your market or lack confidence in the product so play very safe, or perhaps that you don't wish to invest in stock and storing that stock for any length of time, so under produce to shift the product and get the cash in fast. That's why Space Hulk was a flash in the pan. That's why they keep pushing the downloads, because there is no investment in stock. Other than the costs in writing and design/typesetting etc, there is no investment in stock or risk. They seem to only be interested in getting a quick return on investment in physical stock and ensuring its all gone so that the next new thing is turned around asap. They aren't keen on trying to have products which endure. That's why they won't do specialist ganes again, they want to invest only in a limited release, sell it all in a weekend, money in the bank. Rinse and repeat. That doesn't look like a company that is confident in its future or in its current standing.

Of course the problem with this plan is that you have to gamble on each new release being successful. If you fail then not only does your new release lose money (or at least make a smaller profit) you also give up the sales you could have had if you'd used that release slot on a product that you know people like. Consider the Dreadfleet disaster: they tried to do another Space Hulk, and it failed miserably because nobody wanted the new game. GW would have been better off abandoning the "limited edition" tag on Space Hulk and selling it as a permanent item instead of trying (and failing) to duplicate it consistently. It's just annoying that the company is run by people who think that market research is something only idiots do, and no longer have the ability to consistently make products that people will want to buy without the "limited edition" gimmick.

The new edition of Space Hulk -- a couple of months ago, I mean -- apparently was a success.

This is one of those rare occasions where I leap to GW's defence.

People are forgetting about print runs and productions costs. Take Space Hulk for example. It's a lot of components to put together from more than one source (overseas printers and moulders for example) and if you overestimate or underestimate, then you could be sitting with too much stuff in the warehouse, or you sell out quickly and annoy people. Also, please remember that it takes more than 5 minutes to rattle off 500 copies of Space hulk. I'm no expert, but I'm sure somebody said you had to plan months ahead with these kind of things.

The counterpoint to that is GW should be sitting on decades of sales figures as well as reams of market analysis which should be more than sufficient for those qualified to estimate likely sales very accurately.

If they aren't, which, let's face it, they've told us they aren't, then it is no surprise that we get Dreadfleet one minute and the Glotkin book the next.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
This is one of those rare occasions where I leap to GW's defence.

People are forgetting about print runs and productions costs. Take Space Hulk for example. It's a lot of components to put together from more than one source (overseas printers and moulders for example) and if you overestimate or underestimate, then you could be sitting with too much stuff in the warehouse, or you sell out quickly and annoy people. Also, please remember that it takes more than 5 minutes to rattle off 500 copies of Space hulk. I'm no expert, but I'm sure somebody said you had to plan months ahead with these kind of things.

That really supports what I was saying. Larger production runs mean more money but also a greater profit margin per sale as you benefit from economy of scale. No one wants stock not selling, but GW either don't feel they can afford a large run or that they can afford warehouse space for more than a couple of days on a product, or they just don't have confidence in it selling because they don't know the market. They are playing it far too safe, when all the product flies off the shelves and becomes unavailable in the span of a weekend it's safe to say there was a failure to meet anywhere near the available market. A lot of this seems to tie into the way they just don't advertise or attempt to engage players. Wizards of the Coast just announced a MtG board game and went to Essen, the world's biggest board game event, to show off their product to tens of thousands. GW need to pull their head out their ass.

Azreal, Treesong, are you seriously saying that something as radical as market research might be the answer and allow GW to estimate demand for a future release?

Such a thing would be otiose in a niche.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Such a thing would be otiose in a niche.

The things that have come out of that man's mouth are often so ludicrous, you'd think someone made them up as a parody of the company!