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Just wondering. I've heard arguments from all sides.

Long-term notice, but not a fixed release calendar. They should use previews to build hype about new stuff, give you time to save up for what you want, etc, but being chained to a fixed release schedule is probably a bad thing. But pretty much anything is better than GW-style secrecy until the preorders are up.

I like the "one on, one off" schedule similar to how GW is handling 40K and AoS in the white dwarf.

it breaks up the time line and gives me time to get ready for new models if i dont use any of the ones from the current release.

I think that doing absolutely nothing to hype up their releases is incredibly foolish. I mean, virtually every other industry/company does previews and actual advertising for their products, so why shouldn't GW?

That being said, springing the occasional surprise model, supplement, or mini-dex on people could be a really good way to keep people on their toes. Really, I think a mix would be best. Advertise the frak out of their big releases (stuff like army updates and new codexes) while having smaller updates sort of be a surprise.

The way GW does it right now is slowed and goes against all conventional business wisdom.

Most other gaming companies have it right, show off models for the coming MONTH (not week) and talk about things that we might see in the near future even if you're unwilling to give a vague idea of when we'll see it, just saying we may see it is enough.

*Edit*
Privateer's last official podcast ended with the two hosts saying "Man that resculp for X looks great" "Yeah, I'd love to see a resculpt of Y and Z" "And that's where we'll say goodbye before we say too much and get fired."

That's doing it right.

I have no strong opinion either way. Interminable waits for things that keep getting put back is probably more annoying than new stuff popping up without notice.

I'm not sure I understand the psychology of the saving up for releases - is that really different to surprise releases that you then save up for? Does it matter if you have it on launch day or not?

Assuming they're competent, then a fixed calendar is best, though if a fixed calendar means they'll half ass it, then at least give us a few months notice.

Then again we have neither and it's still half assed when it comes to the game.

 Scott-S6 wrote:
I have no strong opinion either way. Interminable waits for things that keep getting put back is probably more annoying than new stuff popping up without notice.

I'm not sure I understand the psychology of the saving up for releases - is that really different to surprise releases that you then save up for? Does it matter if you have it on launch day or not?

It's simply that when something is shiny and new you want it more, and if you know it is coming yes, you do want it day one. That is easier to do if you know it is coming more than one pay cycle out, which is why almost no preorder windows outside of GW are as small as a week.
Other companies in this industry seem to average more like a month, outside this industry videogames will already have preorders up for games coming out in November.

If you don't have the money to buy the product in the first week or so you may well simply forget about it, or rethink your decision, or decide 'well i can get it whenever' and keep pushing it off forever.

 Peregrine wrote:
Long-term notice, but not a fixed release calendar. They should use previews to build hype about new stuff, give you time to save up for what you want, etc, but being chained to a fixed release schedule is probably a bad thing. But pretty much anything is better than GW-style secrecy until the preorders are up.

This is my feeling as well. I’d like previews, and some time to save. But I don’t want the sculptors to be rushed. If something runs late or just isn’t working out, I’d rather they take their time and get it right them just shove something out the door.

 Nevelon wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:
Long-term notice, but not a fixed release calendar. They should use previews to build hype about new stuff, give you time to save up for what you want, etc, but being chained to a fixed release schedule is probably a bad thing. But pretty much anything is better than GW-style secrecy until the preorders are up.

This is my feeling as well. I’d like previews, and some time to save. But I don’t want the sculptors to be rushed. If something runs late or just isn’t working out, I’d rather they take their time and get it right them just shove something out the door.

That's why you start things well in advance and give yourself a buffer as a company so that you you have that time to make corrections. Also working on multiple projects means you can say "sorry, blank was delayed, but here's this other thing in its place."

I mean Magic has a well defined release schedule and it never really needs to rush, despite how much content it produces.

 Tinkrr wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:
Long-term notice, but not a fixed release calendar. They should use previews to build hype about new stuff, give you time to save up for what you want, etc, but being chained to a fixed release schedule is probably a bad thing. But pretty much anything is better than GW-style secrecy until the preorders are up.

This is my feeling as well. I’d like previews, and some time to save. But I don’t want the sculptors to be rushed. If something runs late or just isn’t working out, I’d rather they take their time and get it right them just shove something out the door.

That's why you start things well in advance and give yourself a buffer as a company so that you you have that time to make corrections. Also working on multiple projects means you can say "sorry, blank was delayed, but here's this other thing in its place."

I mean Magic has a well defined release schedule and it never really needs to rush, despite how much content it produces.

Lot less moving parts and things to go wrong for CCGs, but I see your point. A company should be able to manage it, but I’d rather the artists have more impact in the release schedule then the marketing/bean counters.

I don't need to see a company's complete portfolio for 2016 on Jan 1st. I would like a month's or so heads up on what's coming out, miniatures and/or rules wise.

It would definitely be nice to be able to go to the GW site or pick up a WD and see "Here's what we have planned in the coming months . . ."

As others have said, a strict release calendar can be detrimental to product quality if thing start getting rushed out (just look at some of the video games that are being released now), but saying "We are working on a new codex for army X that we expect to be done in Q3" would give us something to look forward to.

I voted for other for a small reason. For example, when I go into my FLGS I go in with a dollar amount in mind that I can spend if I see something that strikes me as something I want/need for my armies. Its not quite an impulse buy, as I have a limit to spend, and more often than not, I just pick up my magazine subscriptions I get through there, but when things happen that I absolutely know an army I play is getting updated, I don't even window shop.

When I found out Tau was getting updated last year (around May the rumours got real enough for me to believe it was coming) I quit buying gaming stuff because I knew I was going to spend a good bit on Tau. Now, lets talk about what that did for me, versus what it did for my FLGS and the gaming companies I play games for. For me, that meant I quit spending my gaming money at my FLGS. I'm not saying I was saving it, because I can find other things I could/should be spending my plastic crack money on, but it wasn't going to my FLGS, and it wasn't going to GW or PP either. By no means do I believe the loss of my sales alone hurt anything with either company; however, if say 1000 people who all play Tau did the same thing, and assuming we all spent $50 a month on those gaming products, and we didn't spend money on gaming between, lets round up, to June to October, meaning we were spending in October, but not September, that would mean that $50,000 was lost each month for 4 months. Thats $200,000 lost revenue to the associated companies. Now, when the Tau do drop, they make that funding back up in one big chunk, maybe. Lets say when the update did drop and I saw what came out, I decided I didn't like it. So I bought one of the new hotness models, that cost $70.

With that being said they lost $200 from me alone, and when October came around, and I would have spent $50 anyway according to the budget I've set out here, they only got back $20 of the $200 they lost. This model of sale spikes through out the year doesn't help them as much as a steady income with spikes around release times. Maybe the spikes won't be as high, but the overall amount they make through out the year will be greater, and that will please investors more.

Now, if I had only heard about it say 2 weeks in advance, I might have not spent $50 in September, depending upon when I heard about it I may have already done so, and I would have ended up spending $70 in October for the model I wanted. In this case both my FLGS, and the company whose model I bought, made an extra $20 in sales.

So the delema, having a posted update cycle that says "hey we're updating X army in the next 3 months" can actually hurt their sales. However, giving some form of offical notice a few weeks in advance of what is actually coming out, seems to me to be effective. However, I wouldn't mind a "calendar" per say, that says something like "hey, we're going to update 5 armies this year, 3 are 40k, 2 are AoS, we're going to release 2 supplimental armies for 40k, and do 1 campagin book with minor additions to two existing armies" which is vauge enough to keep me intrested and informed. That mixed with the 2 week or so update would be enough to keep me intrested, and still spending my gaming budget on the things I like.

Nocturus wrote:
Lets say when the update did drop and I saw what came out, I decided I didn't like it. So I bought one of the new hotness models, that cost $70.

And this is likely GW's reason for their secrecy: they have no confidence in their products, and they're afraid that if you have any real time to think about your upcoming purchase before handing over your credit card you'll back out and decide you don't really like the new stuff after all. A better company doesn't have the same problem. They're going to recover that "missing" $200, and they're likely to get more sales because of the marketing hype generated by well-done previews.

Also, consider this: what happens when you don't buy anything in a particular month? For most people that $50 (or whatever their budget is) goes to some other expense. I don't have a separate 40k budget set aside, I have a total entertainment budget that 40k comes out of. If there's nothing to buy for 40k I'll buy some X-Wing stuff, rent a plane for a couple hours, go out for a nice dinner date, etc. But if I know that GW is going to release something I want in the near future I'm going to set aside the money to buy it and not let any of my other (non-essential) expenses touch it. So GW gives up some of the uncertain chance that I'll impulse-buy a kit just because I'm in a store and have money in my pocket, in exchange for locking in a commitment to spend a significant amount in the future.

Finally, consider the demoralizing effect of new releases coming out without any warning when you can't afford to buy them right away. You have to put up with your friends playing with the awesome new stuff, looking at painting threads about it, etc. And you don't have any of it for yourself. Too bad GW didn't give you time to save up money for it, huh? Maybe X-Wing and its far-in-advance previews is starting to look a little more appealing than putting up with more GW stupidity?

@Peregrine, and that is a very valid point as well. I believe both my reasoning and yours have their merits, as they describe two different types of shoppers and for me, GW is my primary hobby, I buy a little bit of Warmachine stuff, but not often enough to make a difference. Problem is GW as a company doesn't have a decent advertising department to generate said hype. We, the gaming community, are their advertisers in the form of the rumour mill which is un-reliable as far as saving my money up for a release. I have banked on updates before due to rumours, saving my cash, and been sorely disappointed.

Now I don't think advertising X-Wing is really good comparision for a different reason. Unless you live under a rock, you've heard of Star Wars before in some fasion or another. With that being said they had a fan base BEFORE they put out their game, GW doesn't have the media presence to compete with that, and therfore can't take nearly the risks. The Star Wars franchise can take plenty of failed experiments that they hype the snot out of and let fall on their face. Every attempt at a toy, model, video game, board game, or minature game doesn't have to be a major seller, where as GW's finances are stretched so that they can't take a risk at a failure.

And if you don't think thats true, the Star Wars franchise just made 2 billion dollars on ONE movie. I believe that if you look at GW as a company they are barely worth 10 million or so. So what I guess I'm getting at is that I'm not sure they have no confidence in their products, but they know they can't lose that steady income, just incase they do have a flop.

 Nevelon wrote:

 Tinkrr wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:
Long-term notice, but not a fixed release calendar. They should use previews to build hype about new stuff, give you time to save up for what you want, etc, but being chained to a fixed release schedule is probably a bad thing. But pretty much anything is better than GW-style secrecy until the preorders are up.

This is my feeling as well. I’d like previews, and some time to save. But I don’t want the sculptors to be rushed. If something runs late or just isn’t working out, I’d rather they take their time and get it right them just shove something out the door.

That's why you start things well in advance and give yourself a buffer as a company so that you you have that time to make corrections. Also working on multiple projects means you can say "sorry, blank was delayed, but here's this other thing in its place."

I mean Magic has a well defined release schedule and it never really needs to rush, despite how much content it produces.

Lot less moving parts and things to go wrong for CCGs, but I see your point. A company should be able to manage it, but I’d rather the artists have more impact in the release schedule then the marketing/bean counters.

Nope, wrong. A card game has to release a functional set that works for multiple formats, works as a stand alone limited format, and more.

A minis company can have a release calendar that's more general and then months in advance start spoilers for product that's ready. Heck they even have the luxury of releasing kits individually, as opposed to a full army, unlike a card game which has to do a set at a time.