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Hello out there!!

Does anyone out there have some SOLID ideas on what can be done to improve White Dwarf?

Here are soem suggestions...

1. Drop ALL LOTR material. I could care less about Frodo and his buddies....If I want to be bombarded by LOTR, I'll tune into TNT on any given weekend and watch for FREE...

2. Quit loading it with STATIC photos. We can go to the website and check out all the latest models in a 360 degree rotating view...Again for FREE!!!

3. Start using the space for ACTUAL GAME MATERIAL!!! I work for ESPN the Magazine and I am going to clue these guys in on a little trade secret....the paper magazine world is DEAD!! People can check out all thier information online now. The ONLY reason for the paper publication is for the 4% of people out there that still actually read paper publications and we are trying to SELL ADVERTISING!!!!! GW uses thier OWN SPACE to hype their own in store product rather than generating revenue. JUST PLAIN STUPID.

4. Try utilizing the contracts made with the Role-playing guys that support your table top games.. I remember in the 80's you could buy a dwarfer and get D&D adventures, WFRP adventures, I remember a cross over scenario involving Paranoia and a bunch of ORKS, there was an actual modeling workshop that taught us how to make terrain and different models out of existing kits, ALL KINDS OF STUFF WE COULD USE!!! Now all we get is half written articles that hype their product!

The last issue I bought was the one with the Flyers for 40K. Before that it was the issue that had the Spearhead info in it. Now check my numbers, but im pretty sure thats 2 issues in 3 years...I purchased less than 6% of the Dwarfers sold in 3 years? Does that say that 94% of the publication was WORTHLESS??

Lets hear some feedback on this, I cant be the only person who thinks this way...

Andyman

EDIT: Sorry guys, maybe I should have stated point # 2 better....I could care less to see a bunch of pictures of a model in one pose when I can easily go to the website and check it out in a 360 degree view.

Seriously? They're two issues in and you're already complaining?

1. Lord Of The Rings will not go away any time soon. GW makes a lot of money on the property license rights.
2. Unless you've developed the technology to have a magazine with moving pictures like in Harry Potter, this isn't happening, either. The photography in the first new issue was a huge improvement.
3. The intent is to increase actual GW game content.
4. With the state of copyrights and corporate culture, a catch-all gaming magazine would have to be independent of a gaming company almost entirely.

And finally, complaining on an internet discusssion page does little to no good, unless you are certain that GW spies frequent these pages.

Maybe you might want to read the entire statement...I am just saying that in 3 years, Ive bought 2 issues... And its not a complaint session, im just giving you guys my thoughts as to why I am saying what im saying. I want to hear your thoughts on how we can give some constructive suggestions.

And BTW Solo, you completely missed the point of the thread... The internet has those crazy things you call moving pictures...And the purpose of ANY company is to MAKE MONEY. If your average consumer only purchases 6% of your product, as a company you might want to consider changing your product. And dont fool yourself into thinking that GW cant use their own intellectual property in thier own publication, so your last statement ( 4 ) holds no water. And IF the intent of the last 2 issues was to increase GAME CONTENT, unless your cutting out those cool new pictures and pasting them to cardbaord stands and using them in your game as proxies, there was ZERO actual game contenet in either of those mags.

Actually your point two was pretty much saying that the paper magazines should have moving pictures in it. This obviously made no sense whatsoever and is what I thought the moment I read this.
Oh, you don't like LOTR? Well, Ill be sure to to contact GW to tell them one person doesnt approve of LOTR and better stop making money from it immediately. Again, sense?
I could keep going, but meh.

Please, keep going... If you have an actual constructive idea..

The "new" White Dwarf is a slight improvement but not much else, I also dislike the new cover art. I liked the older drawn quality pictures rather then the models on the cover that we get now. Look at the November issue with WOC to see what I mean....

They aren't going to stop putting up Lotr stuff until it stops making them money, and they definately won't take it down before then because people like you think they should.

And also, not everyone is going to have access to a computer like they do to a magazine, you can't go on the internet as easily as you can just turn a page. People really aren' often going to go on the computer just to see the wonderfuly crafted side of that one model you like.

Its certainly a step in the right direction and I think we'll see a few slight experiments until they're happy. My moan is this; do we really need all the stockists worldwide section? It is just a waste of space, this info can surely be accessed on GW's website and has no place in the magazine.

I hear ya Harriticus, lets see some orignal artwork, not just more photos of their figs!! I guess what Im getting at here is what would make you guys out there buy the mag? Or better yet what would make you drop over a hundred bucks to pick up a subscription? How cool would it be to be able to log into the website and plug in your "Inquisition code" and get access to content available exclusively on-line that no-one else gets. How cool would it be to have your voice ACTUALLY heard by the production team. How neat would it be to be able to download a campaign map for subscribers?
Or an actual On-line campaign that the results could only be entered by subscribers? Those are the types of services that we offer at ESPN to our Insiders. GW could take a page out of our playbook on that one...





Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hey Robot,

What year do you live in? Look at your demographic... If you are between the ages of 14 and 45 and you dont own a computer, chances are you live under a rock.

Exclusive content is pretty much redundant in the world of the net....

If sites like this (and others) are stuffed full on pictures from the latest issue of WD even before it's out, the same would happen with website content

Good point. At ESPN we have tech guys that have to try to stay one step ahead of "hacks". But you get the idea, cool stuff that you could get by being a subscriber. I think an online campaign that wasnt the victem of a flood of ... questionable.. results would be cool. I remember the "Third battle for Armageddon" worldwide campaign from GW back under 3rd ed. The idea was really cool, but the website got swept with guys sending in less than honest amounts of games being played. But the idea was still REALLY cool.

What do you guys think?

FarseerAndyMan wrote:
Please, keep going... If you have an actual constructive idea..

You make an OP that's not constructive at all but can easily be reduced to "LOLOLOL THE WD IS SO BAD!!" and ask others to be "constructive"? That's plain hypocrisy to me. I don't really want to even have a look at your mag now.

All that "bohooo print products are dead" stuff can easily nibble on my banana, "for realz". You think it's dead? Fine, you're entitled to your opinion. Don't enforce it on others. Some still like to read written products. Not to mention taht often enough, print articles have a higher quality (not true in the WD case) than online ones...just to remind you of stuff like theescapist taking bribe money from EA to advertise their stuff (e.g. Dragon Age 2) or stuff like IGN.

On behalf of a better WD...it needs to be a hobby magazine again. I love the new "discussion" parts. What made the old WD awesome were all the building tutorials e.g. for landing pods, terrain, conversion ideas etc. Since GW changed to just selling everything on their own, that's not coming back so I'm not going to buy a print version. It's simple as that.

Saying that "paper magazines are dead" is as wrong as anything could ever be. Just have a look at science and tell me print is dead. Thanks.

The reason why print is dead is this post right here....

Can you go to your favorite PAPER MAGAZINE and say what you want?.....NOPE!

But you can get on your computer and share your thoughts with the entire WORLD.

Prove me wrong.

FarseerAndyMan wrote:

EDIT: Sorry guys, maybe I should have stated point # 2 better....I could care less to see a bunch of pictures of a model in one pose when I can easily go to the website and check it out in a 360 degree view.

COULDN'T care less! If you're going to make a point, at least use the correct term. What you're saying is meaningless as a phrase. Here's David Mitchell to explain it:



Now that that is out the way...

Onto WD. Thing is, It's never going to be back to the way it was in the days of yore. No Quarter (WD's nearest equivalent) just outshines it everywhere. Although they're trying to improve, it's too little too late IMO. The ship has sailed and WD's reputation in gaming circles as being something that should be available in two-ply () is just something that is too hard to shake. The phrase "polishing a turd" comes to mind.

Hey Grimtough,
I can't wait to check out that rant..I guess I had better watch my phrasing?
Its just too bad we dont get something cool to look forward to every month anymore.
And guys, its not to be a hypocrite, I was just voicing my thoughts on why I was disappointed in the mag as of late.
When I was a kid, I got a paper route so I could save up and get that White Dwarf without having to bug my parents for money. I just have fond memories of a great magazine that taught me how to paint and model and had fun things to do with our models.
And some of you guys get it out there, I think No Quarter is on the right track. They might not put out a monthly, but what they do put out is WORTH BUYING EVERYTIME!!

The best magazine GW ever put out was probably the Black Gobbo series
that existed once upon a time on their website. I looked forward to new content
all the time. I think I'd be more interested in White Dwarf if it had:

Scenarios
Less Jervis telling me that game balance doesn't matter.
Fluff pieces
Adventures for the RPG (I know, I know)
Maybe reports from events that tell me more about how games were played rather than just who won.

I like it....

Yeah, battle reports that actually instruct you on how to use your army.....good idea!!

And YES!!!, RPG adventures that you could easily turn into some really cool table top scenarios!!!!

Keep em comin!!

FarseerAndyMan wrote:
The reason why print is dead is this post right here....

Can you go to your favorite PAPER MAGAZINE and say what you want?.....NOPE!

But you can get on your computer and share your thoughts with the entire WORLD.

Prove me wrong.

Your car cannot fly!

THE ERA OF CARS IS GONE! DESTROY ALL CARS!

Just wow. Quit the trolling and stick to actual criticism alone...because your argumentation skills are terrible. Thanks.

Print magazines are absolutely necessary in certain areas, mostly science. The WD, in its current iteration, certainly is not worth the ridiculous price as about 50% of it are plain advertising. I would happily pay 6€...maybe even 8€ for the old White Dwarf with the new visual quality. More articles, less advertisement, more army list discussions, more gaming reports, add in terrain / conversion tutorials. Suddenly, a good WD.

Not going to happen though.

I tried responding to the OP's items point by point but the level of unrealistic expectations he had made it fairly pointless. He starts off by wanting them to drop all LotR stuff simply because he doesn't like it and then later on bemoans the fact that they don't do stuff with external partners like they used to. I guess irony is lost on him. He also bitches about static photos yet all photos in any magazine are static by definition. The only salient point he made is that GW needs to have less advertising in the magazine and more content that is useful to the purchaser. The problem with that is, we've been asking for that for years and GW still hasn't done it.

 Sigvatr wrote:

FarseerAndyMan wrote:
Please, keep going... If you have an actual constructive idea..

You make an OP that's not constructive at all but can easily be reduced to "LOLOLOL THE WD IS SO BAD!!" and ask others to be "constructive"? That's plain hypocrisy to me.

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed this.

 Sigvatr wrote:

FarseerAndyMan wrote:
The reason why print is dead is this post right here....

Can you go to your favorite PAPER MAGAZINE and say what you want?.....NOPE!

But you can get on your computer and share your thoughts with the entire WORLD.

Prove me wrong.

Your car cannot fly!

THE ERA OF CARS IS GONE! DESTROY ALL CARS!

Just wow. Quit the trolling and stick to actual criticism alone. Thanks.

The future is a LIE! Where is my jetpack? Where is my meal in pill form? Where is my plucky robot companion? HEAD FOR THE HILLS!

Thats more like it...

So far we have..

1. More game goodies.
2. Less advertising.
3. More modeling and painting ideas.

Now, would you be opposed to only getting it every other month if it had more "Crunch" and less "fluff"

Sums it up nicely.

Especially the latter part is unlikely to happen though as GW wants you to buy their stuff directly...could you imagine another drop pod tutorial when at the same time, GW wants to sell theirs at a hidious price?

It's a pity.

FarseerAndyMan wrote:
The reason why print is dead is this post right here....

Can you go to your favorite PAPER MAGAZINE and say what you want?.....NOPE!

But you can get on your computer and share your thoughts with the entire WORLD.

Prove me wrong.

Uh yes I can actually, I must say I just smile when I read ragefilled posts like this. I would recomend laying of whatever form of stimulats you are currently using and reposting when you have had time to calm down. And beside you gain more attention by behaving ina civilized manner and not acting like a Ogre in a porcelen shop.

I know its asking alot sometimes, but boy oh boy I wish my car could fly!!

I hear what you guys are sayin, and we can all agree that we want a better product.

And sometimes its easy to be taken literally when all we see is the written word.

The whole point is not to just sound like Im complaining, but more along the lines of....

If, ( and its a BIG IF ) someone out there in the GW team sees this post, maybe it'll catch on and we might get some cool stuff down the line...

Who knows?

Honestly, it needs to be a bi monthly magazine.

Every month simply means they rush around every month trying to be creative and what not and it falls flat.

Give them more time to create a better product with more content. It wont happen cause most tards buy it even though it was a steaming pos for the last 10 years andf they can make money off of it.

Don't count on it.

Thing is, the White Dwarf has been through so much these days, if you really, REALLY want it to work, kill it off. Kill it off and start over with a new name, the old one is tainted now.

FarseerAndyMan wrote:
I work for ESPN the Magazine and I am going to clue these guys in on a little trade secret....the paper magazine world is DEAD!!.

This is absolute and complete gak. Hard copies of magazines still far outsell digital copies, yes the amount of digital material that is sold is not insignificant but it is a vast overstimation to say that it has killed the paper magazine industry, as it is still larger. How many people do you think own tablets, and how many of those people do you think buy their magazines on them?

so, are we not happy that there is now a digital White Dwarf, that includes the 360 shots AND video???
seems like the future is right now...

cheers
jah

 jah-joshua wrote:
so, are we not happy that there is now a digital White Dwarf, that includes the 360 shots AND video???
seems like the future is right now...

cheers
jah

Not at all, I'm happy that they're expanding into the digital publishing market, but for the OP to say that the paper publishing market is dead is just plain wrong. Digital has not been the all encompassing apocalypse for paper magazines that many thought it would be, at least not yet anyway. Maybe as the tablet market grows as more and more firms enter the market, then we will see a rapid growth of digital, but that has not happened yet.

Not to mention their digital products can only be bought by people who own apple products.

Needless to say most apple owners need to be beaten with a large rubber dildo.