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Color me confused, I thought you could use Citadel miniatures in GW stores, are the LoTR figs not Citadel?

Interesting story... You could always ignore it, since it's not your usual store... if it was your usual place of play or business, I'd tell the manager. Games stores don't make a lot to begin with, and so I'm sure the manager would like to know why someone walked out of his store without buying anything, especially if it's a GW store, that can't pass up a sale like I can't pass up a good slice of pizza...

 Alfndrate wrote:
Color me confused, I thought you could use Citadel miniatures in GW stores, are the LoTR figs not Citadel?

Interesting story... You could always ignore it, since it's not your usual store... if it was your usual place of play or business, I'd tell the manager. Games stores don't make a lot to begin with, and so I'm sure the manager would like to know why someone walked out of his store without buying anything, especially if it's a GW store, that can't pass up a sale like I can't pass up a good slice of pizza...

You are not confused.

The employee was though, mixing up a "rule" which Games Workshop had for the Golden Daemon awards as I mentioned on the previous page. Any conversions featuring parts from 40k/FB on LOTR models (and vice versa) could not be photographed/published due to licensing.

You would not be disqualified, just could not have your models shown in WD/the GW website.

I would say that's stupid of New Line to not include that in the licensing agreement, but then again when you have a brand and an image (say Bilbo dressed as he is), and you have someone enter a contest where he paints Bilbo in a different color scheme, it messes with the imaging and branding you've set forth. Also cutting up your specific "image" and making it something else could also lead to confusion on the part of the regular person.

Sounds like the increase in rules may make for some interesting internet stories for the next few years regarding different IP properties being juggled by the same company...

 Alfndrate wrote:
I would say that's stupid of New Line to not include that in the licensing agreement, but then again when you have a brand and an image (say Bilbo dressed as he is), and you have someone enter a contest where he paints Bilbo in a different color scheme, it messes with the imaging and branding you've set forth. Also cutting up your specific "image" and making it something else could also lead to confusion on the part of the regular person.

Paint jobs, from what I remember, were not an issue.

Just conversions.
I do not know why it was an issue as I do not recall ever seeing it explained.

The simplest answer probably goes back to the reason why Mechanicam John can't keep his Beasts for his Dark Eldar army at his local GW... They're all GW pieces, using the undead wolves from Vampire Counts, a few other pieces, and I think bits from nids. They're so well done on the conversion front, that they look like they were meant to be assembled that way, and people kept asking the GW manager where those models.

It leads to confusion with your just off the street hobbyist that doesn't know what the model normally looks like, sees some cool conversion of a few Goblin pieces converted into a Chaos Spawn, and they want a Chaos Spawn, but don't like that they can't get the cool one that the OP might have made out of goblin bits... Or he wants Hobbit Goblins made from something else, and is upset that they don't look like what drew him in.

I say be careful when talking o the manager. I would feel bad if i cost someone a job. What he did was wrong, but it may not be enough to cost the guy his living.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I say be careful when talking o the manager. I would feel bad if i cost someone a job. What he did was wrong, but it may not be enough to cost the guy his living.

You could always say hey, I know I'm not in here a lot, but your staff member was really rude to me. *explain the story*. Your guy may have just been having a bad day, but it did not make me feel very welcome, and I did leave without buy the models I was going to purchase.

Firing the guy or not, by saying the employee cost the manager a sale, you're hitting him in the wallet, which is conveniently near the groin, and hurts almost as much. He will probably note this incident and see if it happens again, he may ignore it, or he may say something and hope the guy's attitude improves. Or the dude may have just been having a bad day.

I would have just pulled every large item off the shelves, put in on the counter, let him ring it all up, then try to pay with pocket lint or grocery coupons. When he asks about it or gets flustered just say, "I guess my conversion skills really do suck." Then walk out.

You owe it to the couple who run this place to let them know they have an employee who is negatively representing their business. Trying to spare them the pain of hearing about a bad experience and the thought they may have lost a customer as a result will only hurt them more.

Tell them that you know them, and you have always appreciated them, but this guy was not the experience you have come to know from them.

 Mattlov wrote:
No, that should be reported to his manager. That is ridiculous. AN employee should never treat ANY customer like that unless they are personal friends and they know your skills.

That employee lost his business money by giving a baseless opinion with foul language to a customer that didn't know him. I'd say he needs fired.

+1 Although I don't know that the employee needs to be terminated, just reprimanded and trained. If the behaviour continues then he needs to be fired. In any case the manager/owner needs to be informed of his employee's atrocious behaviour.

I've had similar experiences so often among the socially inept trolls who often work in gaming stores that it's become a running joke. I typically just laugh at them, and then ignore them from that moment on.

A symptom of the worst game store (and retail in general) employees is this; they forget they're providing a service and they aren't your best buds. It is not their place to be brutally honest or provide an opinion to you, unless asked for about a product. It is their job to a)SELL b)Help you BUY.

This guy utterly failed at both. It seems common and maybe too easy to fall into the "I'm your buddy" trap when working at a game store. And I can understand that, because I've worked selling things I was really passionate about, and I've had to bite my tongue before.

Talking to the manager would not be uncalled for. If you're frank but not recriminating you could teach the employee a lesson that he clearly needs for his own good, and save another customer similar troubles in future.

 Kanluwen wrote:
It is a misunderstanding brought about by something which was part of the Golden Daemon competition.

It used to be that if you had a conversion with any LOTR parts, they could not publish the photograph because of licensing restrictions. It did not prevent you from winning or anything, just prevented them from publishing the photos of your entry on their website or in White Dwarf.

That's actually only half of the story.

When the lotR range was first released, GW did have a rule on their legal page and in all of their event information that you could not use LotR miniatures in WHFB or 40K for licensing reasons. This lasted for a few years, and then when the LotR bubble started to shrink, it was revised to 'We won't take photographs of any 40k or WHFB entries that include LotR miniatures or components'. IIRC, this was also scrapped, around about the time that GW started to wind down their own events.

It may or may not still be a rule for Golden Demon, I haven't bothered looking.

 WaaaaghLord wrote:

and that the LOTR/Hobbit miniatures couldn't be used in WH40k because of licencing laws".

Clearly this employee had been eating an eclectic collection of paint chips. Almost as if he is assuming you're heading to Golden Demon with your conversions. I had a similar experience myself recently with a local FLGS employee getting his nickers in a twist because a friend and I chose to play 40k over Warma/hordes that night. The off color comments cost the store plenty that night. The guy recently was fired for the worst Racket I've ever heard of. The FLGS buys old comics and resells them. He would go to the boxes and pull out a pieces and resell them to the store and pocket the money. Exceptionally easy to spot considering the things he was reselling are often unique.

hey great! we needed another "I have no idea how to deal with interpersonal situations" thread!

if the guy was rude, deal with it. if you're so incensed about the situation, ask to speak to the manager/owner or just never go there again.

Hey wow! There's no need to be such an arse about it, I was merely looking for some insight into what other people would do in this situation.

If you don't like a topic, deal with it. If you're so incensed about said topic, don't comment and just never open the thread again.

This case is a bit like if someone cooks you a bad meal. You don't go moaning, screaming and shouting about how bad it is, you try to keep it quiet, and maybe help them improve it next time. Don't go complaining to the manager and tell him how awful his staff are, Tell him that there could be some improvements made, and explain to him what they are. If he listens and takes in your advice his company will become more welcoming and friendly, therefore bringing more customers in.

 progreen10 wrote:
This case is a bit like if someone cooks you a bad meal. You don't go moaning, screaming and shouting about how bad it is, you try to keep it quiet, and maybe help them improve it next time.

Or you just make a decision to call it a learning experience and not eat there again.

 kronk wrote:
Report the incident to the store manager. No salesman should talk to their customers like that. He'll either learn to hold his tongue or be on unemployment.

This.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kanluwen wrote:

Paint jobs, from what I remember, were not an issue.

Just conversions.
I do not know why it was an issue as I do not recall ever seeing it explained.

Simply put - it was about New Line not wanting people to use Warhammer models to proxy into LOTR games, and vice versa. Perhaps they were paid royalties on volume of sales back in the first wave of Fellowship products? That's also why LotR were initially much smaller than GW's figures and close in size and proportion to true 28mm. Since then there has been some significant scale creep, especially on things like SKODA and stuff taken from the books rather than the films... Not sure of The Hobbit figures have reset the scale back to true 28mm.

as an ex GW employee i would tell you now to report him to the manager of that store.

in my first few weeks we where always told to be polite make the person feel as though their ideas are cool and should go for it and not to express your personal opinion too heavily.

as we could always give are opinion but saying it like this
''but yeh dude thats sounds awesome you should defintly go ahead with this idea but have you thought about...''

this staff member is bang out of order to even insult you on your modelling skills is a HUGE NO.

i think you should report this to the manager as see what happens from there as this person should not be working for games workshop.

I refuse to go to my local store for some what similar things. He has said I hate gw and refuse to stock their products he will order then charge you shipping and charge full retail. Also he randomly closes or won't show up to open on the gaming night. So I stopped going there over a year ago and have told any new players in the area to avoid it all costs unless you want to meet the Internet trolls/haters in person.

If I had an employee do that to a customer, I'd be furious. Part of the job description of working at an FLGS is to be friendly to the customers, and even if you disagree with their conversions/army list/etc. You offer constructive, non-abusive, advice while still giving them a pat on the back for having a different idea.

Just call and ask for the owner. Tell him that he lost out on a sale because of the attitude of the employee. There are way too many game stores that don't deal with this kind of behavior from the staff, and that really should change. Game stores are a place to have fun, not get insulted because you have a unique and different idea.

From my personal experience, here's a possibility:

That young-ish employee could very well have a low-incidence autism spectrum disorder and the owners are taking him on as either a favour, or really caring about him and a way to try to ease him into the workforce.

He might have a really hard time about reading social cues and carrying a conversation because he's been shunned or abused all his life for his differences.

Telling the manager in a polite, open and "problem-solving" attitude could have been a great way to resolve this and come out ahead.

I'm not saying you did wrong, maybe you're not trained to pick those out and react. All I'm saying is it is a possibility to entertain, and yes, I'll come flat out and say it: we should give them more opportunities, because they are not going away, and we need to tap them as much as we can.

ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha


the above comment made me cry with laughter ahahaha

What does that have to do with this conversation? Perhaps a little explanation as to why it made you cry with laughter...

I confess to being just as confused by the laughter.

And before anyone says it: Laughter is generally self-generated by autistic individuals, rarely is it due to a joke or social context neuro-typical individuals would perceive as funny.

So if it was an attempt at trolling, it was a poor one.

im laughing at how you where saying he was basically slowed
wait sorry

''That young-ish employee could very well have a low-incidence autism spectrum disorder and the owners are taking him on as either a favour, or really caring about him and a way to try to ease him into the workforce. ''

Dextertt wrote:
im laughing at how you where saying he was basically slowed
wait sorry

''That young-ish employee could very well have a low-incidence autism spectrum disorder and the owners are taking him on as either a favour, or really caring about him and a way to try to ease him into the workforce. ''

More and more people are being diagnosed with autism spectrum "disorders" every year. It's always a possibility.

Dextertt wrote:
im laughing at how you where saying he was basically slowed
wait sorry

''That young-ish employee could very well have a low-incidence autism spectrum disorder and the owners are taking him on as either a favour, or really caring about him and a way to try to ease him into the workforce. ''

You're not funny.

I don't mean to be the internet tough guy but... EDIT: Yeah, that's about as far as you can take that sentence while staying within Dakka's rules. -Mannahnin