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Curious on the subs transferring. Since you subscribe for a given amount of issues and not a value that the issues are deducted from, I wonder for those that may have recently resubscribed if they would be entitled to the new magazine for the remainder of issues they are due regardless of the price increase.

I seem to recall that was what happened in past years if you subscribe. I had a 3 year one time I got at discount and then they raised the prices. I still got all my issues even though I hadn't paid the new cost for them.

Yeah, but when I buy an art book, at least I know I'm buying an art book....

 dsteingass wrote:
Yeah, but when I buy an art book, at least I know I'm buying an art book....

They're kinda making it clear by calling it visions and such. I don't think they are trying to fool anyone with it.

I never renewed my subscription after 2011 because I kept expecting to find innovation, terrain-building, and painting tips and realized I was just being stupid. Jervis' pure arrogance column also left a bad taste in my mouth. However, I did enjoythe occasional John Blanche column.

 pretre wrote:

 dsteingass wrote:
Yeah, but when I buy an art book, at least I know I'm buying an art book....

They're kinda making it clear by calling it visions and such. I don't think they are trying to fool anyone with it.

Quite, I think "Visions" is a clear indicator of what they intend.

It is just weirdly unfocused, as, despite the fact many people do hang on to their old WDs, a monthly publication in most cases would be considered a largely disposable format (piece collections etc aside) while an art book is very obviously a premium product with a commensurate price tag (mostly anyways)

So GW trying to fuse the two would be odd, as would them using an established naming convention for an art book series to produce something with a much broader overview in terms of content.

Just by a quick reckoning, to buy the weekly paper and monthly magazine combined is going to be approaching triple the cost of the monthly WD as it is just now, that is going to need a lot of extra content to justify.

I think whoever said that they want to kill the White Dwarf name in order to eliminate the comparisons has it spot on, and while I won't condemn this until we've had chance to see more of where it leads, I do have a bad feeling about this. (Well, as bad a feeling as someone who has bought about two issues in 15 years is going to get, I guess I mean I certainly don't anticipate starting a subscription anytime soon)

I like White Dwarf. I love the way it's done. I like looking at all the new minis.
I can't see how this rumor is true because they employed new people not so long ago.

Well, the studio, offices, and staff doesn't need to be different to re-brand your product. Corporations do insane stuff like this all the time. An executive is only as good as his/her last quarter. CEOs and Boards don't care about what happened before that, not one bit.

Oh no my poor heart, I can't handle it!

Sike. I'm fine. About time.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
They couldn't fill a massive magazine with enough actual content on a monthly basis, what makes them think they can do a weekly book and then a monthly one on top of that?

I was thinking exactly the same thing, if they are canning the Monthly magazine because of lack of sales, what on earth makes them think that 2 equally lacking magazines will do better?.

Who said they were canning WD for lack of sales? Did I miss that?

You rarely can a successful product.

 Theduke07 wrote:
You rarely can a successful product.

Not really canning it though, are they? They are splitting it into two.

 dakkajet wrote:
I like White Dwarf. I love the way it's done. I like looking at all the new minis.
I can't see how this rumor is true because they employed new people not so long ago.

I think we have an illustration of why the decision has been made right here.

You love WD? Fair enough, can't and won't argue with your opinion. But I notice from your profile you only started wargaming last year, and I, guessing from the vernacular in your posts you're not a "white wargamer" who has discovered the hobby late in life.

Assuming these two things are true (and if they're not for you, they will be for many) then you have absolutely no frame of reference for how far the quality of the magazine has fallen, and can't really assess the current form from the same perspective as those of us who have grown up with it over decades.

By changing the name and format, all that history and heritage is wiped out for all the people who get hoovered into the GW machine from this year onwards. Those people will probably like the new publications too (I do find that they're fairly visually appealing, even if it takes me less than half a good gak to read an issue) and if anyone brings up the subject, the Redshirt can simply say that the new thing is better than White Dwarf used to be (hell, there's a chance it might actually be better at this point, you never know)

Don't let any sort of recruitment or staff changes (especially recent ones) fool you either, this will still require a staff pumping out "content" as it does now, and anyone hired in the last year can be cut for no reason at a moments notice anyway, as unfair dismissal laws don't apply in the first 12 months of employment.

I started wargaming in 2003 at the age of 13 with LotR SBG. Back then I thought White Dwarf was bloody fantastic, and it was, relative to today. Decent, detailed battle reports. Painting, conversion, kitbash and terrain guides and tutorials. Detailed fluff (the entire reason I got into 40K 5th Ed in 2008 was because of an Index Astartes character spotlight type article about Kayvaan Shrike and the guerilla warfare tactics of the Raven Guard). Campaigns, scenarios, new and original rules profiles made up by the design using converted models...

LOTR was fantastic for this, with detailed fluff, profiles and conversion guides for units like Warriors of Carn Dum, Orcs of Minas Morgul using looted Gondor armour, Morannon Orcs, Uruks of Dol Guldur, evil undead spirits, Duskwraiths...Warhammer had rules for fighting in swamps, jungles, frozen plants and Daemon worlds. Profiles and kitbash ideas for original units like Cybernetic constructs, Cyber wolves, native beasts of Death Worlds.

We don't see that anymore in White Dwarf.

I'm now 22 and have bought maybe 3 magazines in the last 3 years. And regretted it each time.

 azreal13 wrote:

 dakkajet wrote:
I like White Dwarf. I love the way it's done. I like looking at all the new minis.
I can't see how this rumor is true because they employed new people not so long ago.

I think we have an illustration of why the decision has been made right here.

You love WD? Fair enough, can't and won't argue with your opinion. But I notice from your profile you only started wargaming last year, and I, guessing from the vernacular in your posts you're not a "white wargamer" who has discovered the hobby late in life.

Assuming these two things are true (and if they're not for you, they will be for many) then you have absolutely no frame of reference for how far the quality of the magazine has fallen, and can't really assess the current form from the same perspective as those of us who have grown up with it over decades.

By changing the name and format, all that history and heritage is wiped out for all the people who get hoovered into the GW machine from this year onwards. Those people will probably like the new publications too (I do find that they're fairly visually appealing, even if it takes me less than half a good gak to read an issue) and if anyone brings up the subject, the Redshirt can simply say that the new thing is better than White Dwarf used to be (hell, there's a chance it might actually be better at this point, you never know)

Don't let any sort of recruitment or staff changes (especially recent ones) fool you either, this will still require a staff pumping out "content" as it does now, and anyone hired in the last year can be cut for no reason at a moments notice anyway, as unfair dismissal laws don't apply in the first 12 months of employment.

Anyone who has ever worked for a big company knows that the grunts (in this case artists and writers), have no say on the product, it all comes from the big wigs on the top of the food chain, as slowed as those decisions might be. So whom ever is on the staff, is essentially irrelevant.

I seriously doubt this change is to preserve the reputation or rebirth the magazine, it is clear that feedback from older gamers is essentially equivalent to talking to a wall, they dont care if older gamers consider it crap next to past issues, and newer gamers cant make the connection, so there is no real point in rebranding under that scenario. The only reason that makes sense for such a change is actually sales issues. And to be honest, unless they drastically change the direction of the mag, i dont see how this is going to help them.

I utterly disagree.

I think GW are much more keenly aware of the criticism levelled against them than you give them credit for (even if their attempts to assuage it are generally clumsy and poorly implemented) and I could cite such things as the production of supplements and bundles with an actual discount as evidence of them reacting to criticism.

What better way to take the "WD was better in the old days" stick away from the critics than to kill WD completely?

I doubt the sales of the mag are stellar, but even within this thread you are seeing plenty of posters who claim to read, enjoy, even subscribe to WD, and if you can get even some of your customers to pay you to advertise to them, you're on to a winner.

Could someone please tell me when this 'Golden Age of White Dwarf' was?

I've been reading white dwarf for over 20 years, and it's ALWAYS been a big catalog for GW stuff. I'm not complaining per say, that's what I wanted and expected from it. But really it's expanded into much more than when I first started reading it. Sure there were editorials, and discussions on elements of the game. But I really think the content is more diverse now than it was back in the day. I miss all the cool mini's they'd show from games day in different countries every issue. But the lack of that isn't their fault and more GW's for shutting down almost every games day worldwide.

If you're referring to the 70's/80's White dwarf as being 'the good times'. Well, are you surprised after 30 years that it's changed? In those 30 years games workshop has become a multi million dollar company, with more than enough of it's own product coming out that it doesn't need to do news and reviews of other companies stuff. What do you want them to do, review the latest PP book? showcase new infinity miniatures? I purchase No Quarter (well, I used to, but that's another mag which has it's own problems), you don't see any GW stuff in there, are they wrong to do that?

I wholeheartedly agree that changing the name is STUPID! especially since the company was started on that magazine.

I can only hope they do more on forgeworld stuff in these new issues (if true) I enjoy seeing the landscapes and battle scenes they create at the (few) shows they do every year.

Ive collected White Dwarf since issue 181, which first started me on this long road of GW, and i belive it needs a massive update the issue recently havent held my attention for long and though i have still bought it i find myslef not returning to re read unlike earlier eras such as paul sawyer being editor. Maybe this is a good thing in a way but i will wait and see.

White Dwarf in the early 90s was a lot of fun with almost complete roleplaying adventures and all sorts of useful "hobby content", yeah it was still a sales rag... I didn't care.

- J

Ok, due disclosure, I buy White Dwarf more out of habit than anything else, and despite the internet, I do enjoy it, particularly Blanchitsu and Jervis Johnson's columns. Armies on parade is also pretty good, as well as kitbash and paint splatter, just for a bit of inspiration. Is the magazine definitely worth it? Probably not. However, I know I'll keep buying it every month, just as I have (with a few breaks) for the last 20 or so years.

Strange thing is, I never got a subscription, until 5 minutes ago, when I realised that if I am going to buy the monthly magazine for whatever inflated price, I might as well get my 12 month subscription in now while it "only" costs £55.

Simples.

I look forward to my first ever copy of whatever it is that arrives in my mailbox, whenever that happens to be!

Hazrat

 Theduke07 wrote:
You rarely can a successful product.

You're missing the point.

Q: Why would they want to make a weekly (or biweekly?) magazine/announcement pamphlet?

A: Because they wanna release stuff more than just once a month.

That's kind of an interesting idea too. They have been accelerating releases. Can they accelerate them even more?

Given the amount of digital stuff that they're pumping out right now, and how easy it is to miss all of it...

On a the other hand, maybe they are wanting to slow down to releases, instead of having a big drop at the start of the month then 'other stuff' midmonth, you instead get 1 or 2 kits a week, that can come with the weekly restocks.

Hopes aren't high.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
GW have sold pretty much 'pure' catalogues from their very early days such as the Citadel Compendiums

eg http://www.solegends.com/citcomp1/


(with helpful holes punched in at some point if I remember right)

Back then though at least in the US the catalogs came with a coupon for their cost in bits. I used to get them for that reason as I'd place a yearly bits order and get the book for free.

 Compel wrote:
On a the other hand, maybe they are wanting to slow down to releases, instead of having a big drop at the start of the month then 'other stuff' midmonth, you instead get 1 or 2 kits a week, that can come with the weekly restocks.

Either way. I think the weekly miniature-show-off-magazine is what Games Workshop "wants". As they cannot (or don't want to) do "hobby articles" every week, those get shelved into a different publication, which in turn is probably under "close scrutiny" from the management for "financial viability".

I doubt that GW's distribution schedule will be changed at all. If there is one thing they generally do right, it's the logistics end of new product distribution.

Hazrat..really? you like Jervis' column? I think he's completely full of himself! But maybe that's just like, my opinion man....

 dsteingass wrote:
I doubt that GW's distribution schedule will be changed at all. If there is one thing they generally do right, it's the logistics end of new product distribution.

Weren't the Tau and Eldar releases complete disasters as far as getting the products in stores was concerned?

I dunno, I wasnt interested in those or the 10-fething billion marine releases so I guess I didn't pay attention