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How much longer will 7ed be around before we go to 8ed

at gw's rate probably we'll see 7.5 summer 2016 and then 8e at christmas in a desperate bid to increase share prices?

I cant claim to know anything about anything, but I would only assume 7th will be around for a while. My logic is they rapid fired out all new codex to get the armies up to date with a new edition very shortly after 6th. Now that everything is "up to speed" so-to-speak GW can focus on releasing campaign books and mini-armies with associated models like they are doing with Harlequins or Tempestus. Basically enticing us into buying more things.

It's hard to say. Previous cycles have been 4 years. 6th was only two but the reason often cited for that is that 6th was doing so poorly that they had to make a change. Personally, I don't think that's true because for all of the clarifications 7th made, it threw out any semblance of balance (something I think people were upset about with the age of "take super heavies to your 1500pt games!")

Given the speed at which rules are being put out for 40k and that rumors are coming out about a new CSM book on horizon (being a first re-making of a hardback book), I believe that 6th wasn't a fluke and we will now start to see new editions of 40k every two or so years. There's also questions about whether the WHFB's current End Times will serve as a prototype for the same sort of extreme event in 40k- that would certainly give them more reason to come out with 8th than the typical rule-shuffling. GW needs excuses to churn the rules; they obviously have no interest in improving the game's rule set, so they have to have big system changes that "necessitate" the production of 8th.

Accolade I hope you're wrong. If there is one thing 40k doesn't need right now it's any new codex save physical copies of inquisition and SoB. CSM are just fine where they are at.

What, no, no wayyyy. We're in such a good spot right now... Please don't GW ;-;

Pain4Pleasure wrote:
Accolade I hope you're wrong. If there is one thing 40k doesn't need right now it's any new codex save physical copies of inquisition and SoB. CSM are just fine where they are at.

I hope I'm wrong too, I certainly don't want these short rule cycles or the movement away from game balance for purposes of selling models. But going by Tom Kirby and his Krony Krew's impression of the the 40k community as a group whose main hobby is "collecting Games-Workshop miniatures (via the GW vs CHS court case), I unfortunately think this is the continued direction of 40k.

I think 8th will come along completely based on profit / dividends possibility.
Think of it as a means to allow GW to print money: put out an expensive item ALL users must buy.
Push that button every couple years as needed, rules revision needed or not.
I honestly do not see them feeling any pressure to release new rules with substantial changes.

It would take a change of management or a GW "end times" before a re-boot of the rules would happen.

I would say that anyone happy with the way things are now a new book release would mean little other than needing to spend the cash.

Honestly guys I'll be content if 7th can last a little longer than 2 years at the least. If it's shorter.. I'll play 7th a bit longer. My gaming group, luckily, has the advantage of having roughly 13 members.. so one of us who has the funds will purchase the update n everyone will use that one until we can acquire a few more copies. Blah I hate this..

I'm personally content with most things 7th has to offer. I just refuse to play against "that guy" who brings all Imperial Knights at 1500 points. And most leagues I've seen near me have actually put restrictions on what you can bring, which I like. So, overall a better ruleset than 6th, and we just don't feed the trolls of Super Heavies.

But I don't think I new edition will be out anytime soon. My prediction is more supplements, redoing a few of the 6th ed books that need it (CSM, Daemons, Eldar) and leaving the game as is for a good while. Though, there are things in 7th I'd like to see go away, but meh. I'm content with the current state of the game.

Not yet.

 Talizvar wrote:
I think 8th will come along completely based on profit / dividends possibility.
Think of it as a means to allow GW to print money: put out an expensive item ALL users must buy.
Push that button every couple years as needed, rules revision needed or not.
I honestly do not see them feeling any pressure to release new rules with substantial changes.

It would take a change of management or a GW "end times" before a re-boot of the rules would happen.

I would say that anyone happy with the way things are now a new book release would mean little other than needing to spend the cash.

A new edition coming out doesn't massively boost sales because the book itself has to be bought, it's more because people get interested when a new edition comes out and are more likely to buy more models to update armies and paint armies and whatnot. 4th and 5th edition both made less than $1.4 million in the first 2 years they were released (from Chapterhouse numbers), given the company as a whole needs to make $380 million over the course of 2 years to stay profitable, the book sales themselves aren't going to bring in massive money.

I think after 7th edition they'll probably find sales didn't increase over the entire range that much and the book itself is just a few drops in the river of money they need to be making, they may very well decide they need to make some significant changes. Though whether that comes in the form of changing how they do releases or changing the rules themselves, I don't know. I think it's actually quite likely that 7th will either hang around for a long time (because it didn't make a lot of money and GW will be scared to release another edition too soon) or else 8th edition will come soon and have sweeping changes (to take a risk and try and drum up sales across the whole 40k range).

It depends on if you think 7th is 7th, or is 6.5.

If it's the windows 7 to windows vista, then we're looking at a year or two before 8 comes out. If you consider 7 a stand-alone version, then it's going to be more like three or four.

zilka86 wrote:
How much longer will 7ed be around before we go to 8ed

It will release when the internet learns to stop feeding trolls.

Well, 7th introduced the good old LOW in standard games.
If I were a betting man, the next release will somehow make it so you need more models on the table or more big expensive models.

Mandatory fortification selection?
Mandatory character fielded in 1500 games or above?
2 LOW selections above 1500?

OR make you buy new stuff coming to a store near you!!!

Change standard bases from 25mm to 30mm or 40mm...
Mandatory unit cards for units rather than a codex... updates sold separately, placeholder set to be sold alongside new BRB.
Special unit / company / task-force configuration cards sold separately.

Where I am going with this is GW forcing you to buy "anything" they make that is different than what you have now and make it mandatory.
That is a way to force new sales rather than just finding stuff on ebay.

They seem to be leaning toward "micro-transactions" so anything that promotes regular purchases from GW is key.
Making old models the new hot item will probably do nothing since so many are out there.

Anyway, I really think 7th is 6-1/2ish so 8th will be a tweak to sell more, or an overhaul to sell even more extra stuff and acknowledge that not just model sales bring in revenue.

I've had it in my head for years that GW might release some sort of naval/aquatic theme in the future.
They have already done super heavies, air combat, LoW, unbound etc.
They could release Ork submersibles, IG attack boats, SM gunships and release naval themed RoBG boards to go with them.
Missions could include beach assault, naval engagements and coastal landings.
???
Profit.

IMO, I don't think 7th will go any time soon but it will be all about profits and the long term health of the game (for the company - not the health of the game for players).

Personally I don't like 7th and the direction of 40K so I hope GW suffers financially in such a way that they come to the realization that balance and good rules are important and do a massive reboot of 40K with 8th edition. If they aren't going to do a massive overhaul of the game then coming out with a new edition 2 years after 7th will be just another kick to the groin and I think can only hurt them and interest in the game.

Of course if 8th edition is the regular "messing around with some rules, take this out, add this in" haphazardly as in the past and they increase the rulebook cost by 50%, and while some players grumble enough buy it anyways why wouldn't GW do this if it makes them more money then staying with the current edition.

Look how long it used to be waiting for armies to get a new book. It was too long but GW has gone crazy in the other direction in updating dexes quickly (unfortunately quality is not an issue) and throwing out piles of other add-ons. Once most stuff is updatedwhy not start the cycle over again if GW thinks it will make money even if players are bitter about books/rules that have a short life. It all comes down to whether GW thinks (right or wrong) it will make them money in the long run.

Maybe if the people that really don't care for 7th, the direction of the game and/or GWs practices they all stopped buying product then GW might realize that players want quality products and a balanced game (which is good for all types of players).

8th edtion will be here mid April. At that time all your models will no longer be usable and you will have to sell them off and buy new ones.. I'm currently buying old models at .01% MSRP.

I don't see 8th coming in until at least next year. There are plenty of codices still to be updated before 8th drops.

 Ratius wrote:
I've had it in my head for years that GW might release some sort of naval/aquatic theme in the future.
They have already done super heavies, air combat, LoW, unbound etc.
They could release Ork submersibles, IG attack boats, SM gunships and release naval themed RoBG boards to go with them.
Missions could include beach assault, naval engagements and coastal landings.
???
Profit.

Now you are appealing to all us D-day freaks who love a challenge...

 Talizvar wrote:
Anyway, I really think 7th is 6-1/2ish so 8th will be a tweak to sell more, or an overhaul to sell even more extra stuff and acknowledge that not just model sales bring in revenue.

6.5? No, 7th is really 3.4.

4th edition=3.1
5th edition=3.2
6th edition=3.3

Everything has really been tweaks not new editions. 2nd is different from Rogue Trader so can be categorized as a new edition. 3rd edition is different from 2nd edition so can be categorized as a new edition. 4th, 5th and 6th is basically 3rd edition with just tweaks.

As for will 7th edition be out of date soon? Who knows, we are in unchartered waters with GW now. My guess would be yes, 2016 will come "8th edition" so 2 year cycles instead of 4.

Honestly if we see another slapdash patch ruleset this year or next I'm probably going to start selling armies. I love the models but I'm not going to keep plunking down fifty dollars for a unit that's going to become useless six months later, I lose the mental energy to keep up or care that I can't keep up with the pace of rules releases.

I feel that mixing in capains to slow releses whilst redoing the hardback books to 7th and what with harliquins could we perhaps see the long awaited dreame of a brand new army.

Now you are appealing to all us D-day freaks who love a challenge...

You know you want it. I mean you know Kirby wants it

Talizvar wrote:Mandatory

That's not really the direction this arc of the rules has been going in. No longer is taking units from a single codex mandatory - you have allies. No longer is an HQ and two troops mandatory - you have unbound. They're moving in the direction of less-strict, more options, not the other way around.

In any case, they're not going to redo 40k until they finish redoing WHFB. 40k often trails fantasy by an edition. We'll know for a lot more certainty where 8th edition of 40k is going to go once we see where 9th edition of WHFB does.

But it's going to take at least a couple of years while GW lets fantasy players do the play-testing for them before any of it winds up in 40k.

I think 7E has thrown all preconceptions about 40k release cycles out the window. It came out two years early, incorporated and changed rules for things released just six or seven months earlier for 6E,

Given how....hasty 7E feels, I would hazard it was pushed out for business reasons. Work on it would have had to begun just a few months after 6E's release for all the layout, artwork, buildup of inventory, etc.

If GW is releasing editions now on that basis, it's entirely possible we'll see 8E next year.

It's just personal opinion, but I find the ruleset less fun currently than I ever have before, (still having fun, just less so,) so I would be a-ok with another spin on the wild-n-crazy edition and codex design wheel.

Naval Strike peeps, Naval Strike is coming.... :p

I'm of the opinon GW may be hoping for a stable edition so they can produce new stuff. problem with a new marines codex is most of the time players have their armies they might buy the new unit or two, but not big sales. however an entirely new army (like say... Harliquins) will likely see people starting new armies.

 Da krimson barun wrote:

zilka86 wrote:
How much longer will 7ed be around before we go to 8ed

It will release when the internet learns to stop feeding trolls.

Exalted, I thought I was the only one that remembered the OP.