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Made in vn
Dakka Veteran




https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/11/19/the-imperium-is-driven-by-hate-warhammer-is-not/

This looks a bit too much and, as an Imperium fan and player across both tabletop and video games, I am a bit bashed by the company targeting my faction in particular. Apparently, some neo-Nazi entered a tournament and got a bit of fuss. I understand the reaction of issuing a statement against hate groups. If someone wants to convince me that Pol Pot was a good dude, I would fight them on the side of the street as well.

But why did GW target the Imperium of Man? What about Orks, Tau, Chaos? So the Imperium of Man is driven by hate but not Chaos? I don't get it. I don't see any correlation between people with radical ideas and playing a particular faction in Warhammer 40k.

Am I saying this because I don't take the setting seriously and just want to see people, aliens, and demons fight each other?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/12/15 04:25:39


 
   
Made in us
Warp-Screaming Noise Marine




I suspect that GW is trying to distance itself from authoritarian extremist ideologies like fascism. The imperium is an oppressive, authoritarian state with an inquisition that is radically intolerant of mutants, xenos, and even suspected heretics and witches. The entire thing is a satire of a military industrial complex on a galactic scale, waging wars of genocide against xenos and whose militaries are satires of ww2 Russian and German militaries, amongst other things. They are also radically intolerant of any ideology that is not the imperial truth.
I also suspect that there are those who take it way too seriously. I agree though, imperial guard and space marine et al. Fighting aliens, demons and demon worshippers in a desperate bid to preserve humanity is cool.

Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. -Kurt Vonnegut 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




bibotot wrote:
But why did GW target the Imperium of Man? What about Orks, Tau, Chaos? So the Imperium of Man is driven by hate but not Chaos? I don't get it. I don't see any correlation between people with radical ideas and playing a particular faction in Warhammer 40k.


Because the Imperium embodies a lot of fascist, or fascist-like ideology, and it's no surprise that it attracts a certain kind of person when GW presents it in media as something to be taken seriously.

bibotot wrote:
Am I saying this because I don't take the setting seriously and just want to see people, aliens, and demons fight each other?


The setting was originally intended to be fairly silly, and approaching it with irony or gallows humor seems to be the way to go. But imagine someone who takes the setting entirely seriously, and thinks the Imperium is the good guys. That kind of person probably doesn't have the best values system.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

The Imperium's a backwards hellhole intended as a satirical commentary, a totalitarian cargo-culting ethnostate enforced through brutal repression and outright genocide, but there seem to be enough fans who inexplicably missed the memo that GW felt a need to remind everyone that just because they're the protagonists doesn't mean they're good guys. Without that mutual understanding that this is satire and that the Imperium is a nightmare wholly of its own making, the setting is reduced to a literal fascist fantasy (one where 'turbo-authoritarianism is necessary actually' isn't just in-universe propaganda but actual ground truth), and unsurprisingly that interpretation attracts people that GW would prefer not to associate with.

As for why they targeted the Imperium: Because Orks, Tau, and Chaos don't seem to attract neo-Nazis who think they're rooting for the 'good guys'. They're all bad, some worse than others. The message isn't 'the Imperium alone is bad', it's 'the Imperium is bad too'.

   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

bibotot wrote:

But why did GW target the Imperium of Man?


They didn't target the Imperium. They bluntly reminded RL dumb- s the world over what it's always been.

bibotot wrote:
Am I saying this because I don't take the setting seriously and just want to see people, aliens, and demons fight each other?


No, you're saying it because you take it too seriously.
BTW, it's not your faction. It's GWs - to say whatever they like about it.
   
Made in de
Oozing Plague Marine Terminator





The Imperium is the Protagonist and focus point of 40K, most stories are written from its point of view. So sometimes it's necessary to remind ourselves what these shiny blue Marines are actually fighting for, they aren't Captain America, they're the Waffen-SS in Space.
When you look at Chaos it's usually quite obvious that you can't identify with them and the setting makes it pretty clear that they're actually "evil".
With Tau it might be more complicated, but they're a minor faction of little blue man.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




 catbarf wrote:
The Imperium's a backwards hellhole intended as a satirical commentary, a totalitarian cargo-culting ethnostate enforced through brutal repression and outright genocide, but there seem to be enough fans who inexplicably missed the memo that GW felt a need to remind everyone that just because they're the protagonists doesn't mean they're good guys. Without that mutual understanding that this is satire and that the Imperium is a nightmare wholly of its own making, the setting is reduced to a literal fascist fantasy (one where 'turbo-authoritarianism is necessary actually' isn't just in-universe propaganda but actual ground truth), and unsurprisingly that interpretation attracts people that GW would prefer not to associate with.


GW has had enough material produced that forgets that, and assumes that turbo-fascist-authoritarianism is actually justified in the setting, to be free of culpability on that one.
   
Made in au
Longtime Dakkanaut




The problem stems from the fact that much of the fiction is told from the point of the SMs, Inquisitors, or other members of Imperial organizations who have a vested interest in the Imperium and its ideology. SMs get portrayed as power fantasies and action heroes and the Imperium could be mistaken for being good guys, especially when contrasted against their spikier counterparts the CSM and daemons.

If more fiction were say to be told from the POV of non-Imperial humans supporting such factions as independent pocket empires, secessionist movements, humans living under the Tau, then perhaps the view might be more balanced (only if the POV character doesn't do some sudden about face and side with the Imperium or ends up being some dupe of Chaos). We see such passing mentions of non-Imperial human societies such as the former human colonists of Taros who were given limited autonomy by the Tau and actually fought against the Imperial reconquest because their standard of living had improved under Tau rule.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




Sgt. Cortez wrote:
The Imperium is the Protagonist and focus point of 40K, most stories are written from its point of view. So sometimes it's necessary to remind ourselves what these shiny blue Marines are actually fighting for, they aren't Captain America, they're the Waffen-SS in Space.
When you look at Chaos it's usually quite obvious that you can't identify with them and the setting makes it pretty clear that they're actually "evil".
With Tau it might be more complicated, but they're a minor faction of little blue man.



This, basically.

What gw said was necessary.

They're the protagonists and 'most relatable' faction and most of the fiction and writing is
centred around their perspective.
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Yep. Lots of good points here, but Deadnight and Cortez probably summed it up best. Because so many of the stories and games are human-centric, and because some stories don't particularly drive home the idea that the humans are genuinely bad guys rather than a "necessary evil," the faction coded as facists and intolerant zealots kind of get presented as the "good guys." Like, sure the Salamanders have committed their share of genocides because someone with the right hat told them to, but look! This one sergeant protected a handful of civillians, so clearly space marines are actually good guys, right?

That sort of thing can get interpreted as 40k being sort of "friendly" towards real-world facist types, and you can see why GW would want to make it very clear that isn't their intent.

In contrast, fungal football hooligans, cartoonishly evil pain vampires, and robot egyptian zombies just don't have that same problem. They're not coded as groups that easily read as an endorsement of facist systems to real-world facists.

There's also probably a bit of crossover between people who like collecting IG tanks and history nerds who are just a smidge too interested in WW1 and 2 German tanks.


ATTENTION
. Psychic tests are unfluffy. Your longing for AV is understandable but misguided. Your chapter doesn't need a separate codex. Doctrines should go away. Being a "troop" means nothing. This has been a cranky service announcement. You may now resume your regularly scheduled arguing.
 
   
Made in ie
Battleship Captain





Deadnight wrote:
Sgt. Cortez wrote:
The Imperium is the Protagonist and focus point of 40K, most stories are written from its point of view. So sometimes it's necessary to remind ourselves what these shiny blue Marines are actually fighting for, they aren't Captain America, they're the Waffen-SS in Space.
When you look at Chaos it's usually quite obvious that you can't identify with them and the setting makes it pretty clear that they're actually "evil".
With Tau it might be more complicated, but they're a minor faction of little blue man.



This, basically.

What gw said was necessary.

They're the protagonists and 'most relatable' faction and most of the fiction and writing is
centred around their perspective.


It wouldn't have been necessary if modern GW weren't such terrible writers and they weren't trying to minimise the violence of the setting. The cartoony art they use in their advertising of factions all being friendly and having a good time together isn't really helping either

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/12/15 09:44:16



 
   
Made in gb
Barpharanges







The Imperium has always been bad.

The biggest indicator someone is a loser is them complaining about 3d printers or piracy.  
   
Made in ca
Skink Chief with Poisoned Javelins




Michigan

The Imperium of Man?

More like the Imperium of Jerks
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




 Sim-Life wrote:


It wouldn't have been necessary if modern GW weren't such terrible writers and they weren't trying to minimise the violence of the setting. The cartoony art they use in their advertising of factions all being friendly and having a good time together isn't really helping either



I disagree. It's necessary. Now more than ever.
A message needed to be made that this is a fiction; it's a satire. Not something to aspire to.

And it's got nothing to do with modern gws writing or 'minimising' the violence.

Mate, gw have always been poor, literally speaking.

As to minimising the violence - I mean, yeah. This is Saturday afternoon entertainment. Pre watershed. There's moms and dad's and kids here. I'd rather the violence and gore was sanitised, kept to a distance and described in broad strokes (and I think they achieve this fairly well, with a cross between horrible histories and old black and white ww2 movies or documentaries) and none of the other unsavoury acts that accompany thst kind of thimg presented and revelled in. We want a scenario where more folks of all ages can partake in it (this is a hobby for everyone and, not just us jaded grognards) and enjoy it without trauma or getting physically sick rather than some kind of glorified war porn like the old phoenix force books.

Putting that stuff in is self defeating. It will turn a hell of a lot more people off the setting and the hobby altogether rather than act as some kind of 'nazis aren't welcome here; the Imperium is hellbad m'kay' signal. Hell, that kind of glorified crap has every chance of absolutely attracting the wrong kind of people in the first place if you ask me.

And that's why you need the accompanying statement. Its to those mom's and dad's and kids saying that crap don't fly here. Not in our stores. Not in our name. I absolutely support it.

And I also happen to like the cheerful cartoons with orks and Space Wolves and tau around a table smiling and rolling dice. There's nothing wrong with some self aware, light hearted irreverence and play on the social side of it.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/12/15 11:51:06


 
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






Because people need to be reminded not to emulate murderous, hateful, xenophobic (in the modern sense not space aliens), fascist, theocratic states. The full context behind it is that an individual showed up to a Grand Tournament wearing fascist/Nazi symbols, then all the sympathisers came out of the woodwork to defend said fascist/Nazi and started spouting about how Warhammer was the last bastion of masculinity and other such BS that the fash like to roll out. GW basically said "don't be fascists/Nazis" then the fash/Nazis lost their minds at being told not to be human scum. All in all the article provided an occasion to exercise the old block/report on many a forum/social media platform.
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 Sim-Life wrote:
Deadnight wrote:
Sgt. Cortez wrote:
The Imperium is the Protagonist and focus point of 40K, most stories are written from its point of view. So sometimes it's necessary to remind ourselves what these shiny blue Marines are actually fighting for, they aren't Captain America, they're the Waffen-SS in Space.
When you look at Chaos it's usually quite obvious that you can't identify with them and the setting makes it pretty clear that they're actually "evil".
With Tau it might be more complicated, but they're a minor faction of little blue man.



This, basically.

What gw said was necessary.

They're the protagonists and 'most relatable' faction and most of the fiction and writing is
centred around their perspective.


It wouldn't have been necessary if modern GW weren't such terrible writers and they weren't trying to minimise the violence of the setting. The cartoony art they use in their advertising of factions all being friendly and having a good time together isn't really helping either


Oh I'm pretty sure it would have been necessary either way. Knuckelheads find ways to justify anything.

But it would probably have been less necessary.
   
Made in ie
Battleship Captain





Deadnight wrote:
 Sim-Life wrote:


It wouldn't have been necessary if modern GW weren't such terrible writers and they weren't trying to minimise the violence of the setting. The cartoony art they use in their advertising of factions all being friendly and having a good time together isn't really helping either



I disagree. It's necessary. Now more than ever.
A message needed to be made that this is a fiction; it's a satire. Not something to aspire to.

And it's got nothing to do with modern gws writing or 'minimising' the violence.

Mate, gw have always been poor, literally speaking.

As to minimising the violence - I mean, yeah. This is Saturday afternoon entertainment. Pre watershed. There's moms and dad's and kids here. I'd rather the violence and gore was sanitised, kept to a distance and described in broad strokes (and I think they achieve this fairly well, with a cross between horrible histories and old black and white ww2 movies or documentaries) and none of the other unsavoury acts that accompany thst kind of thimg presented and revelled in. We want a scenario where more folks of all ages can partake in it (this is a hobby for everyone and, not just us jaded grognards) and enjoy it without trauma or getting physically sick rather than some kind of glorified war porn like the old phoenix force books.

Putting that stuff in is self defeating. It will turn a hell of a lot more people off the setting and the hobby altogether rather than act as some kind of 'nazis aren't welcome here; the Imperium is hellbad m'kay' signal. Hell, that kind of glorified crap has every chance of absolutely attracting the wrong kind of people in the first place if you ask me.

And that's why you need the accompanying statement. Its to those mom's and dad's and kids saying that crap don't fly here. Not in our stores. Not in our name. I absolutely support it.

And I also happen to like the cheerful cartoons with orks and Space Wolves and tau around a table smiling and rolling dice. There's nothing wrong with some self aware, light hearted irreverence and play on the social side of it.


I want to respond to this but there's just so much going on here that I don't want to expend the effort. I strongly disagree with basically everything you said and I'm not going to get drawn into a debate about it because it would be fruitless.
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba






bibotot wrote:


But why did GW target the Imperium of Man? What about Orks, Tau, Chaos? So the Imperium of Man is driven by hate but not Chaos? I don't get it. I don't see any correlation between people with radical ideas and playing a particular faction in Warhammer 40k.


Because IIRC weird political groups have never, for example, made gigantic parade floats of Ghazghkull Thraka but with a political leader's head, the way that theyve done extensively with The Emperor and Guilliman to try and argue how fantastic it would be to live under the rule of one single all-powerful despotic ruler.

obviously, a lot of this is GW fething around and finding out, because theyve ALWAYS had a problem with portraying space marines (and other, space marine related groups like custodes) as separated from the more satirical elements of the imperium. The imperium, generally, for the most part theyre good with maintaining the sense of dramatic irony and doing gak like singing the praises of the emperor but the guy speaking is like a fat, pimpled, cybernetically altered, leering human blob wearing a bishop hat and waving a flamethrower. But space marines have been portrayed as the goody-goods so straight for so long that obviously some groups with ideas about "ze ubermench" were gonna latch onto that gak.

"Got you, Yugi! Your Rubric Marines can't fall back because I have declared the tertiary kaptaris ka'tah stance two, after the secondary dacatarai ka'tah last turn!"

"So you think, Kaiba! I declared my Thousand Sons the cult of Duplicity, which means all my psykers have access to the Sorcerous Facade power! Furthermore I will spend 8 Cabal Points to invoke Cabbalistic Focus, causing the rubrics to appear behind your custodes! The Vengeance for the Wronged and Sorcerous Fullisade stratagems along with the Malefic Maelstrom infernal pact evoked earlier in the command phase allows me to double their firepower, letting me wound on 2s and 3s!"

"you think it is you who has gotten me, yugi, but it is I who have gotten you! I declare the ever-vigilant stratagem to attack your rubrics with my custodes' ranged weapons, which with the new codex are now DAMAGE 2!!"

"...which leads you straight into my trap, Kaiba, you see I now declare the stratagem Implacable Automata, reducing all damage from your attacks by 1 and triggering my All is Dust special rule!"  
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba






 Sim-Life wrote:
Deadnight wrote:
Sgt. Cortez wrote:
The Imperium is the Protagonist and focus point of 40K, most stories are written from its point of view. So sometimes it's necessary to remind ourselves what these shiny blue Marines are actually fighting for, they aren't Captain America, they're the Waffen-SS in Space.
When you look at Chaos it's usually quite obvious that you can't identify with them and the setting makes it pretty clear that they're actually "evil".
With Tau it might be more complicated, but they're a minor faction of little blue man.



This, basically.

What gw said was necessary.

They're the protagonists and 'most relatable' faction and most of the fiction and writing is
centred around their perspective.


It wouldn't have been necessary if modern GW weren't such terrible writers and they weren't trying to minimise the violence of the setting. The cartoony art they use in their advertising of factions all being friendly and having a good time together isn't really helping either


I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

The first image below? That's a satirical over-the-top gonzo sci-fantasy setting where weve all gotten together and agreed that nobody is the good guy, nobody is the bad guy, we're all gonna be over the top bad guys and just indulge in some crazy heavy metal album cover grimdark awesomeness.

The second image? i think, if you squint, you can figure out who the artist was trying to set up as the good guy in this picture. SOMEONE, I mean its hard you really do need kind of a degree in art appreciation to figure it out but SOMEONE in this picture is being portrayed as good, i'm sure.
[Thumb - 7vqjle8st9371.jpg]

[Thumb - MU-_-WHI-POWH432__0-zoomed.jpg]


"Got you, Yugi! Your Rubric Marines can't fall back because I have declared the tertiary kaptaris ka'tah stance two, after the secondary dacatarai ka'tah last turn!"

"So you think, Kaiba! I declared my Thousand Sons the cult of Duplicity, which means all my psykers have access to the Sorcerous Facade power! Furthermore I will spend 8 Cabal Points to invoke Cabbalistic Focus, causing the rubrics to appear behind your custodes! The Vengeance for the Wronged and Sorcerous Fullisade stratagems along with the Malefic Maelstrom infernal pact evoked earlier in the command phase allows me to double their firepower, letting me wound on 2s and 3s!"

"you think it is you who has gotten me, yugi, but it is I who have gotten you! I declare the ever-vigilant stratagem to attack your rubrics with my custodes' ranged weapons, which with the new codex are now DAMAGE 2!!"

"...which leads you straight into my trap, Kaiba, you see I now declare the stratagem Implacable Automata, reducing all damage from your attacks by 1 and triggering my All is Dust special rule!"  
   
Made in de
Longtime Dakkanaut





 the_scotsman wrote:
[SOMEONE, I mean its hard you really do need kind of a degree in art appreciation to figure it out but SOMEONE in this picture is being portrayed as good, i'm sure.


The French?
   
Made in us
Focused Fire Warrior




Les Etats Unis

I can't tell you how much I want to live in the alternate universe where GW instead feels forced to release a statement about how Chaos Space Marines are supposed to be a satirical representation of an ideology and not a faction to model oneself after. It would certainly be leagues more interesting than what's going on in politics right now.

Dudeface wrote:
 Eldarain wrote:
Is there another game where players consistently blame each other for the failings of the creator?

If you want to get existential, life for some.
 
   
Made in fr
Been Around the Block





I came in the hobby almost 2 decades ago because i found the models were cool and I enjoyed painting.

But what really stuck to me was the gritty grim and satirical excess of 40k.

You can't just say "it's for moms, dads and kids so it has to be sanitized". Why ? it doesn't have to. Warhammer has never been a christmas theme movie like franchise where sex, drugs, violence and horror have to be toned down if not removed to make 8 yo Timmy's parents want to buy him minis.

This desire by GW to go mainstream is hurting the franchise a lot.
If 40k looses its grim and insanity, then it just becomes Star Wars but bigger (and much more complicated), and it's gonna ruin the fun for a lot of people, especially old fans.

So no, 40k doesn't have to be made or even facilitated for children, it just doesn't. If their parents think it's too dark for them, there are plenty of other miniature games out there, or hell, even Bloodbowl is on the more lightsided and fun side. So little Timmy can go play that and then come back to 40k when he's a little older.

Let adults have their fun.
   
Made in ie
Battleship Captain





 Flipsiders wrote:
I can't tell you how much I want to live in the alternate universe where GW instead feels forced to release a statement about how Chaos Space Marines are supposed to be a satirical representation of an ideology and not a faction to model oneself after. It would certainly be leagues more interesting than what's going on in politics right now.


It would be genuinely amazing if GW was capable of the subtlety needed to make Chaos appear reasonable in comparison to the Imperium. Having a truly insidious, slowly corrupting Chaos would be so much more interesting than "hey I have a cold I should pray to Nurgle OH SWEET NOW MY INTESTINES ARE ON THE OUTSIDE AND I HAVE A GUN THAT LITERALLY FIRES GAK" Chaos.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/12/15 13:08:01



 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




 Mr Raptor wrote:
I came in the hobby almost 2 decades ago because i found the models were cool and I enjoyed painting.

But what really stuck to me was the gritty grim and satirical excess of 40k.

You can't just say "it's for moms, dads and kids so it has to be sanitized". Why ? it doesn't have to. Warhammer has never been a christmas theme movie like franchise where sex, drugs, violence and horror have to be toned down if not removed to make 8 yo Timmy's parents want to buy him minis.



Why not? Its for everyone. I've seen everyone from kids to grandparents enjoying the hobby. If I had kids I'd love to share this hobby with the.

Maybe I presented wrong.

I've been in the hobby as long as you Raptor and I also appreciate the grit, grim and satirical excess of 40k. Favourite stuff of mine goes back to 2nd ed.

40k has never been a Christmas movie. Never claimed it was. Ive never asked for th violence to be removed or toned down - Its been a horrid nightmare since day one.i said sanitised. And 'kids' is anyone short of 18. Or when you're my age, college. :p And in fairness, I'mnot asking for something 'new'. I'm saying gw already does this and should keep on doing it because it works.

Its one thing to talk about krpytmans genocide of a thousand worlds to stall leviathan, or to talk about the millions dead at vraks or the horus heresy and how the 'galaxy burned'. Its suitably epic. Its also impersonal. Its distant. Its like an old black and white movie or a ww2 documentary. Its another thing entirely to take it literally into the realm of saw or hostel, for example and obsess about the blood and guts or to glorify and revel in the violence like the phoenix force books of old - even the bolter potn novels don't take it anywhere near there. (Read an extract to see what I mean. It's just not necessary). Or to focus in on the other reprehensible things that follow in the wake of war. What we have is a game where Things 'die' and you take a model off the board. You don't have litrral guts splayed all over the board, you don't have kids screaming for their moms as they hold the stumps of their limbs and slowly bleed to death. You don't see the mental trauma and nervous breakdowns of severely broken survivors. You dont see close-ups of terrified parents holding their kids close or see their thoughts as their kids starve due to deliberately imposed famines. You don't see what happens to the women and kids in the wake of the victorious rampaging armies marching through. Things are sanitised for a reason and frankly I don't disagree with that. You don't need these things included to maintain the grit, grim or satire.

 Mr Raptor wrote:

This desire by GW to go mainstream is hurting the franchise a lot.
If 40k looses its grim and insanity, then it just becomes Star Wars but bigger (and much more complicated), and it's gonna ruin the fun for a lot of people, especially old fans.
.


Not bothered about 'going mainstream' - I think gw are doing a decent job of keeping 40k's soul intact- but I tend to agree, more or less that if it loses its grim and insanity it won't be 40k any more.
I actually think they're a bit better at the grim and the satire and the dark.humour now than they were a few years ago (regimental standard etc) in the kirby era, or at least more open about it- but that just might be my age/perspective shifting a bit.

 Mr Raptor wrote:

So no, 40k doesn't have to be made or even facilitated for children, it just doesn't. If their parents think it's too dark for them, there are plenty of other miniature games out there, or hell, even Bloodbowl is on the more lightsided and fun side. So little Timmy can go play that and then come back to 40k when he's a little older.

Let adults have their fun.


I'd still argue theres a difference between 'made for kids' and 'sanitise the violence and atrocities'. They already do The latter and it doesn't necessarily detract from 'adults having their fun' if you ask me whilst still allowing the 'youfs' to take part. I'm all for retaining the grim, grit and satire. It's what makes 40k what it is. And I think gw are cleverer than most in this and i give them credit for presenting this whilst not going overboard as its an ip that can cater to this in various ways, that can have the heavier denser stuff (forgeworld imperial armours and horus heresies etc) at one end, warhammer adventures at the other end of the scale and everything in between.

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2021/12/15 14:32:49


 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




While telling a joke, if you have to tell someone what the joke is than it wasn't a good joke. Same goes for satire.

Now there will always be the too dense and intentionally dense and that is a part of the problem here. However, if you look at any of the introductory/entry point pieces, there really isn't any satire, they hard play up the heroic good guys, and down play the problems of the imperium. Just adding "and there is only war" at the end doesn't even begin to address this.

Having a "everyone is bad, even our main characters" is self-defeating for the mainstream audience; the average person isn't picking up heavy satirical literature for entertainment. However, if GW wants to play that card for plausible deniability, than they need actually have it.

This holds especially true for something targeting a high school audience.

Most, if not all, of 40k's satirical elements were set decades ago but haven't really been added to or deeply expanded since. Beating the same notes on the same drums over a long period of time deteriorates your point with each generation. 40k is a fun, grim dark setting, and that's ok; it doesn't need to be satire to enjoy it. But if they don't maintain the satire, than they don't get to play that defense.
   
Made in us
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The Great State of New Jersey

bibotot wrote:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/11/19/the-imperium-is-driven-by-hate-warhammer-is-not/

This looks a bit too much and, as an Imperium fan and player across both tabletop and video games, I am a bit bashed by the company targeting my faction in particular. Apparently, some neo-Nazi entered a tournament and got a bit of fuss. I understand the reaction of issuing a statement against hate groups. If someone wants to convince me that Pol Pot was a good dude, I would fight them on the side of the street as well.

But why did GW target the Imperium of Man? What about Orks, Tau, Chaos? So the Imperium of Man is driven by hate but not Chaos? I don't get it. I don't see any correlation between people with radical ideas and playing a particular faction in Warhammer 40k.

Am I saying this because I don't take the setting seriously and just want to see people, aliens, and demons fight each other?


Because chuds, fascists, and right wing types that are polluting the hobby with their politics, etc. all flock to the Imperium in particular (contrary to your assertion) and view the Imperium as being aspirational and inspirational rather than as the satirical dystopian warning it was intended to be. It has nothing to do with "playing" a particular faction, and everything to do with the fact that these people go around referring to one another as "Brother" (in the style of the Astartes) and adopting imperial slogans, phrases, etc. as mantras (such as "suffer not the unclean to live" - except referring to real world groups of people).

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




 BertBert wrote:
 the_scotsman wrote:
[SOMEONE, I mean its hard you really do need kind of a degree in art appreciation to figure it out but SOMEONE in this picture is being portrayed as good, i'm sure.


The French?


I laughed even if no one else did.

Although I am now wondering what a political ideology that brought giant cardboard cut outs of Ghaz around with them would be about. Dictatorship of Millwall fans perhaps.
   
Made in de
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience






Nuremberg

Everyone's basically nailed it here already, but I wanted to pick up on one thing - GW regularly describes other factions in negative terms as souless monsters or savage brutes or degenerate lunatics, it's no big deal that they said the Imperium is also bad and you shouldn't take it so seriously, it's not an attack on you. I play Orks and I've never felt that negative depictions of Orks meant GW thought I was a bad person, since the Orks are obviously supposed to be bad, the same as the Imperium.

   
Made in ie
Battleship Captain





chaos0xomega wrote:
bibotot wrote:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/11/19/the-imperium-is-driven-by-hate-warhammer-is-not/

This looks a bit too much and, as an Imperium fan and player across both tabletop and video games, I am a bit bashed by the company targeting my faction in particular. Apparently, some neo-Nazi entered a tournament and got a bit of fuss. I understand the reaction of issuing a statement against hate groups. If someone wants to convince me that Pol Pot was a good dude, I would fight them on the side of the street as well.

But why did GW target the Imperium of Man? What about Orks, Tau, Chaos? So the Imperium of Man is driven by hate but not Chaos? I don't get it. I don't see any correlation between people with radical ideas and playing a particular faction in Warhammer 40k.

Am I saying this because I don't take the setting seriously and just want to see people, aliens, and demons fight each other?


chuds,


I didn't realise people used this word unironically.


 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Being honest I feel conflicted about GWs message. I like the message itself and agree with it. There's a few issues though.

I cant help but feel like GW got swept up on dumb drama from a single player. I'm active online. I'm active in stores. I'm not seeing this wide spread nazi issue some people are claiming. Some people joke online being for the emperor but that isn't an issue within itself. The dude in Spain was an idiot. I hope he gets banned from anything he partakes in. But a company wide message? Feels like karma point farming more then anything.

My other big issue is I agree that the imperium is bad. But where in recent media are you seeing it? Space Marines and Sisters are heroes of humanity in every trailer and image any more. It seems like GW isn't connecting with its other divisions and it's a mess. If you want the imperium to be bad stop making them good to the masses all the time.

It's a strange feeling complaining about the article. Again I agree with it over all. It just feels ingenuine and a move from a young social media manager who took it upon himself to PR for the entite company.
   
 
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