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"We've contracted polio! This is great news..."

"Everyone you know has died! This is great news..."

"There's a meteor headed for Las Vegas and it's going to wipe out all life on earth! This is great news..."

"AIDS has mutated to an airborne strain resistant to all forms of drug therapy! This is great news..."


I think that the guy writing this copy could spin just about anything into 'great news'.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:
Id guess the collector terminology is another attempt to avoid the toy issues, and designs versus copyrights. In the same way they dropped the claim of making the 'Best toy soldiers in the world' claim from their website.

Yup, so I'll insert the evil laughter of our beloved chairman of the board, just because it sounds so insidious

 Grimtuff wrote:

 BryllCream wrote:

Or they did some market research and found out that having a load of regulars in the store all the time makes the place look tacky. They may be trying to "clean up" their high street image.

Yeah, an empty store when you're trying to sell a social hobby is a good idea.

Blue knights gonna blue knight.

I want nothing to do with the "social hobby". I want to game with my *friends*, not the sort of people who hang out in GW stores. You know what I mean those guys are offputting to normal people.

It's also cute that so few people follow politics/news that this is their first exposure to spin. Organisations do something bad and they put a positive spin on it...no need to wet your pants.

I just got back into Warhammer after a 20 year break. I don't even know if the friends I used to play with are still alive, let alone play Warhammer. My local store has an awesome group of regulars, and you can always get a game in on the weekends. If it weren't for those guys, I wouldn't be able to get any kind of games, ever.

That is just....*sigh*

Games workshop used to be awesome. Fun games which you didn't need to rush, able to drink and eat in and they provided paints and painting tables.

What now? Is games workshop going to eliminate painting instore as well, delegating that to be done at home? By the time they are finished, Warhammer will be a glorified placeholder game. Some places do not have clubs, or have clubs miles away, And then some gamers aren't able to use cars, or have parents drop them anywhere near a club.

Jervis has emphasized several times that the GW hobby is a collecting hobby, with gaming being a happy bonus. And, if one ignores the vocal minority (i.e. Everyone on DakkaDakka) he's right. The hobby is essentially acquisitive. If it weren't, we'd build our armies and then stop. But we don't: we keep buying new stuff that piles up in heaps far larger than we could possibly paint in outer limited hobby time.

Locally, I would totally support this move, not because it would be good for GW per se, but because it would force the GW store's population of lazy gamers to look beyond the tips of their noses at the larger community of games, miniatures, clubs and stores.

R.

 jonolikespie wrote:
So no more gaming in stores other than events run by GW...

Anyone else feel like GW have been shooting themselves in the feet recently and this policy is them moving up to kneecaps?

Not really since people in large numbers are still buying the stuff now and most likely will in the future, barring some major economic disaster. As was said in a recent youtube video, even if everyone that currently buys GW products were to stop, it wouldn't take the company long to have another huge customer base.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

TEC wrote:
Someone stole my gorram DakkaDakka username!!!
I had to make a new account....

I'll just go ahead and post this big enough for people to not miss it:

My local GW Hobby Center Operator points out that this message is for A SINGLE UK STORE,
NOT something that applies to GW stores in general.


A good point, especially since the closing lines mention trusting an individual.






SEE ABOVE.

 BryllCream wrote:

It's also cute that so few people follow politics/news that this is their first exposure to spin. Organisations do something bad and they put a positive spin on it...no need to wet your pants.

Lol you are a charmer there is a huge difference between organizations putting a positive spin on bad news with what GW just did... Its called respect towards people intelligence... or in this case the totally lack of it. But if you find it to be the norm on your little reality then yeah some people have what they deserve.

I dont care about what they say, but alas it was really poor form to the point of being idiotic and hilarious.

 Da Boss wrote:
It could be a strategy to deal with a particularly odious local group, you never know.

This is a fair point right here. I have a friend that owns a store where there was a group of the great unwashed that would be near the front on a table and saw a fair number of people come in, get a look at them and turn right around and leave, having come only a couple of feet inside the store. These guys would only buy something once in a while, but monopolize store space and tables.
The owner, a friend, finally got tired of losing business and told this group not to come into the store again until they had cleaned up their hygene and verbal act. They left and his place now gets more business.

Relapse wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
It could be a strategy to deal with a particularly odious local group, you never know.

This is a fair point right here. I have a friend that owns a store where there was a group of the great unwashed that would be near the front on a table and saw a fair number of people come in, get a look at them and turn right around and leave, having come only a couple of feet inside the store. These guys would only buy something once in a while, but monopolize store space and tables.
The owner, a friend, finally got tired of losing business and told this group not to come into the store again until they had cleaned up their hygene and verbal act. They left and his place now gets more business.

Exactly. These issues can be dealt with without dropping something like open gaming for everyone.

Relapse wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
It could be a strategy to deal with a particularly odious local group, you never know.

This is a fair point right here. I have a friend that owns a store where there was a group of the great unwashed that would be near the front on a table and saw a fair number of people come in, get a look at them and turn right around and leave, having come only a couple of feet inside the store. These guys would only buy something once in a while, but monopolize store space and tables.
The owner, a friend, finally got tired of losing business and told this group not to come into the store again until they had cleaned up their hygene and verbal act. They left and his place now gets more business.

Your friend obviously knows nothing about how to run a store!

Evidently what he should have done, as was pointed out by several people on this thread, was just ban ALL gaming from his store just to deal with this group, that is the right policy! /sarcasm

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
"We've contracted polio! This is great news..."

"Everyone you know has died! This is great news..."

"There's a meteor headed for Las Vegas and it's going to wipe out all life on earth! This is great news..."

"AIDS has mutated to an airborne strain resistant to all forms of drug therapy! This is great news..."


I think that the guy writing this copy could spin just about anything into 'great news'.

I know they're rare in these parts but the person that wrote the FB message in the OP is female.

She's female? This is great news!

Relapse wrote:

 jonolikespie wrote:
So no more gaming in stores other than events run by GW...

Anyone else feel like GW have been shooting themselves in the feet recently and this policy is them moving up to kneecaps?

Not really since people in large numbers are still buying the stuff now and most likely will in the future, barring some major economic disaster. As was said in a recent youtube video, even if everyone that currently buys GW products were to stop, it wouldn't take the company long to have another huge customer base.

Seriously? GW don't do advertising. Most people get into the game through other people they know, or because they see people playing in store and get interested. You can't push a social hobby without having a playerbase for it.
And yes, large numbers still play but sales are dropping and they are loosing their market share rapidly.

I thought this was going to be an early April Fools Joke. It's so ridiculous that a Miniature wargaming store would ban gaming.

I don't even know what to say anymore, besides that I'm happy there are no GW's in my state. The way they seem to be waging a literal war against a major portion of their consumer base (enthusiastic hobbyists/gamers above the age of 12) is mind boggingly stupid. I suspect that this is being done to prevent people with educations above elementary school congregating together and talking about "the hobby", which could prove dangerous for GW given their other policies.

Lord knows how the GW white knighters can defend this one.

Just reading some comments on the Independent Characters post about this, it's apparently done wonders for the events in the store like leagues, tournaments, etc...

It still sounds like a stupid idea... But we'll have to keep an eye on King's Lynn to see if it works or not.

PhantomViper wrote:

Relapse wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
It could be a strategy to deal with a particularly odious local group, you never know.

This is a fair point right here. I have a friend that owns a store where there was a group of the great unwashed that would be near the front on a table and saw a fair number of people come in, get a look at them and turn right around and leave, having come only a couple of feet inside the store. These guys would only buy something once in a while, but monopolize store space and tables.
The owner, a friend, finally got tired of losing business and told this group not to come into the store again until they had cleaned up their hygene and verbal act. They left and his place now gets more business.

Your friend obviously knows nothing about how to run a store!

Evidently what he should have done, as was pointed out by several people on this thread, was just ban ALL gaming from his store just to deal with this group, that is the right policy! /sarcasm

He's been in business for 26 years and grown while other game stores that have allowed this have come and gone. Tell me again how he doesn't know how to run a store.

 BryllCream wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:

 BryllCream wrote:

Or they did some market research and found out that having a load of regulars in the store all the time makes the place look tacky. They may be trying to "clean up" their high street image.

Yeah, an empty store when you're trying to sell a social hobby is a good idea.

Blue knights gonna blue knight.

I want nothing to do with the "social hobby". I want to game with my *friends*, not the sort of people who hang out in GW stores. You know what I mean those guys are offputting to normal people.

It's also cute that so few people follow politics/news that this is their first exposure to spin. Organisations do something bad and they put a positive spin on it...no need to wet your pants.

Good you have enough friends who play that you don't need a central point to meet new or even regular opponents.
I think this is another reflection of US vs. Europe environment.

From what I've read over the past 20 years, gaming clubs and the like are quasi-common in Europe.
In the US, they're less common so pick-up games with whoever might be at a local store are what GW is able to bring to the table.
If I have a recurring gaming group available (obviously at someone's house or a gaming club) you can darn sure bet GW's arms-race rules wouldn't be our choice for the common thread.

YMMV.

Not really pursuant to this thread, so much as inspired by the several comments concerning the different gaming cultures between the UK and US:

US historical gamers have, for decades, formed associations and clubs to arrange games and provide a common space for social gaming. Why does this seem to not be the case with speculative gamers? And what, exactly, is stopping speculative gamers from doing the same? I know you have churches, schools, community centres, town halls and other hirable private spaces, many of which might also offer a limited amount of storage space for an additional fee.

So surely it can't be any more complicated to start a club than it is on this side of the Pond?

R.

Relapse wrote:

PhantomViper wrote:

Relapse wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
It could be a strategy to deal with a particularly odious local group, you never know.

This is a fair point right here. I have a friend that owns a store where there was a group of the great unwashed that would be near the front on a table and saw a fair number of people come in, get a look at them and turn right around and leave, having come only a couple of feet inside the store. These guys would only buy something once in a while, but monopolize store space and tables.
The owner, a friend, finally got tired of losing business and told this group not to come into the store again until they had cleaned up their hygene and verbal act. They left and his place now gets more business.

Your friend obviously knows nothing about how to run a store!

Evidently what he should have done, as was pointed out by several people on this thread, was just ban ALL gaming from his store just to deal with this group, that is the right policy! /sarcasm

He's been in business for 26 years and grown while other game stores that have allowed this have come and gone. Tell me again how he doesn't know how to run a store.

Did you really not detect the sarcasm that was so heavy my monitor collapsed?

 precinctomega wrote:
Not really pursuant to this thread, so much as inspired by the several comments concerning the different gaming cultures between the UK and US:

US historical gamers have, for decades, formed associations and clubs to arrange games and provide a common space for social gaming. Why does this seem to not be the case with speculative gamers? And what, exactly, is stopping speculative gamers from doing the same? I know you have churches, schools, community centres, town halls and other hirable private spaces, many of which might also offer a limited amount of storage space for an additional fee.

So surely it can't be any more complicated to start a club than it is on this side of the Pond?

R.

It isn't and that (or playing at home is the manner in which most people play miniature games). The numbers make it hard to imagine any other way. Even just looking at 40K which has around $50 million in sales in the US - you would need 50,000 people paying $1000 a year to get to that number (or some variation there of...though the 50,000 is likely the smallest the 'base' might be). Split evenly between the 2500 some odd game stores in the US - that would mean that each store has to have facilities for 20 people to game. The majority of stores have 1 or 2 tables tops - while even the biggest stores can barely squeeze in 20 tables for large tournaments (of which there are maybe a dozen in the whole country). While I guess you could say it is possible that they do game in stores predominantly - the numbers become improbable when you start actually looking at population splits and the like...and it doesn't even begin to address the smaller games like those produced by PP, Wyrd, Corvus Belli, Reaper, Catalyst/Iron Winds, FFG (with their X-Wing entry) or any of the hundreds of other games...not to mention historical gamers which have long since left the LGS (or rather the LGS had left them in most cases).

 Gentleman_Jellyfish wrote:

Relapse wrote:

PhantomViper wrote:

Relapse wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
It could be a strategy to deal with a particularly odious local group, you never know.

This is a fair point right here. I have a friend that owns a store where there was a group of the great unwashed that would be near the front on a table and saw a fair number of people come in, get a look at them and turn right around and leave, having come only a couple of feet inside the store. These guys would only buy something once in a while, but monopolize store space and tables.
The owner, a friend, finally got tired of losing business and told this group not to come into the store again until they had cleaned up their hygene and verbal act. They left and his place now gets more business.

Your friend obviously knows nothing about how to run a store!

Evidently what he should have done, as was pointed out by several people on this thread, was just ban ALL gaming from his store just to deal with this group, that is the right policy! /sarcasm

He's been in business for 26 years and grown while other game stores that have allowed this have come and gone. Tell me again how he doesn't know how to run a store.

Did you really not detect the sarcasm that was so heavy my monitor collapsed?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qzeflmJvEU

My mistake.

 precinctomega wrote:
Locally, I would totally support this move, not because it would be good for GW per se, but because it would force the GW store's population of lazy gamers to look beyond the tips of their noses at the larger community of games, miniatures, clubs and stores.

R.

Yeah, which is exactly OPPOSITE to GW's best interests. Which is why this should be lambasted as a really bad business move.

Edit: As for clubs for specualtive gamers; US nerds are solitary creatures.

This is great news.

I'm actually serious, it means more people giving up GW for other gaming systems.

I went into the local store up here in New York City (i'm visiting the area) and the redshirt there said that this is flat out not true. I know that GW has done some dumb things, but the manager there said that one store did this and that it was by no means a GW wide policy and that the rumor has spread out of control. I guess time will tell.

 squall018 wrote:
I went into the local store up here in New York City (i'm visiting the area) and the redshirt there said that this is flat out not true. I know that GW has done some dumb things, but the manager there said that one store did this and that it was by no means a GW wide policy and that the rumor has spread out of control. I guess time will tell.

One store did it this time - though if you look back through the past year...you will see a couple dozen or so "one stores" which have done this in the UK, US and Australia. Likely in other countries that GW has stores in, but they tend to gripe in their native language forums. While it is not an across the board action right now (as in all stores stopping) the trend does point towards all stores stopping gaming eventually (barring a few flagship stores which might be kept...).

Gaming clubs are not "common" in the UK at all. The only gaming club I know of within an hour's drive (and i don't even drive) is...Warhammer World!

Maybe it's an age thing, I mainly play at my friends' houses since most of them have moved out and have the space to game.

I find it hard to empathise with people over this. My experience of trying to game in GW (Derby) involves being told that I can't yet there always seem to be screaming 12 year olds getting in the way of me getting to whatever box I want to buy, and insisting on commenting/talking about it. Which I find incredibly irritating.

Maybe there are GWs out there that are full of polite, responsable adults gaming away and not getting in anyone's way or commenting loudly on things. But if there is, I haven't been to it

 BryllCream wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:

 BryllCream wrote:

Or they did some market research and found out that having a load of regulars in the store all the time makes the place look tacky. They may be trying to "clean up" their high street image.

Yeah, an empty store when you're trying to sell a social hobby is a good idea.

Blue knights gonna blue knight.

I want nothing to do with the "social hobby". I want to game with my *friends*, not the sort of people who hang out in GW stores. You know what I mean those guys are offputting to normal people.

Thanks for missing the point so dramatically. Your blatant obtuseness is becoming something of a habit.

One of the GW HHHOBBY's biggest selling points to the mums and dads was the fact it was NOT something you do in isolation. In addition to getting little Timmy into reading more, developing maths skills (from making army lists) and their hand-eye coordination through painting, it is also something that GETS THEM OUT THE HOUSE and not sitting in front of their XBox. I've seen staff sell the game this way numerous times to skeptical parents and the fact that they can potentially see this in action right in front of them (preferably on a Sunday, where there will be kids of the same age playing the same game their child wants to get into).

THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU. No matter how much you try and make it out to be. Personally, I could not give a flying feth about my local GW's instore gaming policy as I too play at home, but this is about GW stores losing their entire shtick, one of their MAJOR hooks for parents, take the vast cash of the bank of mum and dad away and you'll kill the hobby as the new blood will dry up fairly quickly as they'll play at home (not every club allows children in, as they'll have to be CRB checked, which costs money) or dump the game when they find a new thing to get bored with.

Someone must be in cloud 9 to think that FLGS are keen to encourage GW games to play in their stores,

wildger wrote:
Someone must be in cloud 9 to think that FLGS are keen to encourage GW games to play in their stores,

??? The FLGS nearest me sells GW, Magic the Gathering, and board games. They have 3 tables set up for 40k. They're moving to a larger location to have more room for 40k.