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Hi there,
I thought about how quickly a codex can become obsolete. I didn't bought at least one arguably old codex because of the fear to spend money uselessly on it. I'm sure others people think the same.
This is why I think GW should give us not only a physical copy of the codex when we buy one, but a digital one too.

I don't think people buy physical AND digital codexes, but only one, so this wouldn't change anything for them, but we would always have an up to date codex, without any Faq/errata needed, and GW could even make rule changes directly in the codex digital codex, without forcing people to buy a new one.

The "ultraviolet" label already do it in the entertainment.

What do you think about this idea ? Why isn't it a good idea and why won't it be implemented ?

I’d go a step further and suggest free codexes for everyone.

They do this for AoS. You can get all the rules to play your army for free. But they also sell the dead tree versions for those who want them.

In a similar vein, people will pay a premium price for the limited edition versions of codexes. We know there is a market for people who want a nice bound copy for the shelf. Or those who don’t want to go digital for whatever reason.

There would be some lost revenue from not selling books. On the flip side, by removing that barrier to start playing, you should get more fresh blood into the hobby. It also promotes players picking up extra models because they like the looks, or for fun. I know I’m not a big fan of allies, not for any ideological or thematic reason, but I don’t want to commit to buying yet another codex just for the rules. Adding $50 to the cost of a box, just to put it on the table is a non-starter for me.

I would be willing to bet money GW won't do this, simply because there are many avid fans who will buy both.

You have people paying $45-50 for a PDF codex...something which is absolutely unheard of in any other gaming community. If you price a rulebook above $15-20 for a PDF for just about any other setting/game you won't get much business.

GW, though, has enough loyal fans that I'm quite sure they can get away with selling both - and will likely continue to do so. While I do think it'd be a nice idea, I don't see it happening.

 Nevelon wrote:
I’d go a step further and suggest free codexes for everyone.

They do this for AoS. You can get all the rules to play your army for free. But they also sell the dead tree versions for those who want them.

In a similar vein, people will pay a premium price for the limited edition versions of codexes. We know there is a market for people who want a nice bound copy for the shelf. Or those who don’t want to go digital for whatever reason.

There would be some lost revenue from not selling books. On the flip side, by removing that barrier to start playing, you should get more fresh blood into the hobby. It also promotes players picking up extra models because they like the looks, or for fun. I know I’m not a big fan of allies, not for any ideological or thematic reason, but I don’t want to commit to buying yet another codex just for the rules. Adding $50 to the cost of a box, just to put it on the table is a non-starter for me.

^^This.

Perfect answer.

\thread

Buying new books winds people up.
Offer rules-only digital version, and we're good.

The AoS model is the best way to go. Want army specific formations? Gotta buy those. Want to just play? Just need the models since the rules are free.

It's cool to sell books, some people like books, but the App/Online stuff is the way to go anymore.

(Also, I bet profit margin is MUCH higher for the AoS model than the book stuff.)

A good middle ground could be offering all the rules for an army as a digital download for free.
But, still offer a physical book (with the rules, too), but also crammed full with painting tips, hobby articles, game strategy, etc. Basically shove every White Dwarf article from the past 15 years that has anything to do with that army into the book.

 Elbows wrote:
I would be willing to bet money GW won't do this, simply because there are many avid fans who will buy both.

Really? It'd be interesting to do a poll. I've never met anyone who buys both willingly.

I'm willing to bet that GW will eventually move to subscription-based rules.

Basically you pay some amount...$100 (or something) per year for access to the core game rules and faction of your choice, and you get continuously updated digital rulebooks and printable PDFs. $250 (or whatever) gets you access to everything.

Take it a step further and that subscription will also get you 3D printer templates for units in your army. It only took a decade for smartphones to be a novelty to being a worldwide standard, and 3D printing is likely to be next. Controlling the IP is also really the only way miniature companies are going to stay in business since recasting is now out in the open online. (I assume some kind of encryption will allow for limited-run, non-copyable 3D printing at some point.)

There will always be a market for the fancy hardcover books among some gamers, so they will always be around. I don't think they will be the preferred media for the game rules for much longer though.

It may be worth pointing out that all recent releases I have seen have had rules for the included models printed on the assembly instructions. This doesn't necessarily mean that GW is going to go to the AoS digital rules format next edition, but I kind of think they will.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 WhiteBobcat wrote:
I'm willing to bet that GW will eventually move to subscription-based rules.

Basically you pay some amount...$100 (or something) per year for access to the core game rules and faction of your choice, and you get continuously updated digital rulebooks and printable PDFs. $250 (or whatever) gets you access to everything.

Take it a step further and that subscription will also get you 3D printer templates for units in your army. It only took a decade for smartphones to be a novelty to being a worldwide standard, and 3D printing is likely to be next. Controlling the IP is also really the only way miniature companies are going to stay in business since recasting is now out in the open online. (I assume some kind of encryption will allow for limited-run, non-copyable 3D printing at some point.)

There will always be a market for the fancy hardcover books among some gamers, so they will always be around. I don't think they will be the preferred media for the game rules for much longer though.

One day, this may be viable , but 3D printing still has a long way to go both the quality and cost make it viable at the consumer level. This could potentially drag this thread pretty far of topic, though, so I won't press this particular debate.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Elbows wrote:
I would be willing to bet money GW won't do this, simply because there are many avid fans who will buy both.

Really? It'd be interesting to do a poll. I've never met anyone who buys both willingly.

Sorry, that quote of mine sounds completely wrong. I don't mean people are buying one of each, I mean I bet both sell. I am sure there are some people who may buy both editions of a single codex, but I'd imagine that's relatively rare.

Playing Tyranids, it is very frustrating compiling all the rules for my army. I have formations in multiple digital books, individual unit rules that are only located in white dwarf articles or special releases. A codex. A supplement... And I'm not even using allies!

A complete digital copy of all the relevant rules to an army would be great! Thankfully, BattleScribe (indirectly) does this for me. I just have to fact check it occasionally.

They should just have free rules online and sell codexes as a combination rulebook/hobby guide, where the codex has the backstory, painting guides, conversion guides, and catalogues in addition to the rules.

This way for people that just wanna play the games, they can spend more on the models and be more confident with their purchases (no more going on websites and being afraid of asking for specific builds and whatnot) and those that want to dip into the hobby can have a one-stop-shop for all their hobby needs in addition to a handy reference guide for the rules. I would certainly buy the codex for that purpose, and it would make rule updates a hell of a lot easier for them too (rather than print revisions in campaign books and causing inconsistencies everywhere like they do now).

Why do that when they can make money, lots of lovely money? They are a business after all and in the business of selling toys to people.

 Fenrir Kitsune wrote:
Why do that when they can make money, lots of lovely money? They are a business after all and in the business of selling toys to people.

But, they won't buy the toys if the books cost too much...
Cheaper toys, free books, more money overall.

 Skinnereal wrote:

 Fenrir Kitsune wrote:
Why do that when they can make money, lots of lovely money? They are a business after all and in the business of selling toys to people.

But, they won't buy the toys if the books cost too much...
Cheaper toys, free books, more money overall.

Sounds like AoS, where they did away with books and people still wanted to buy one.

 Fenrir Kitsune wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:

 Fenrir Kitsune wrote:
Why do that when they can make money, lots of lovely money? They are a business after all and in the business of selling toys to people.

But, they won't buy the toys if the books cost too much...
Cheaper toys, free books, more money overall.

Sounds like AoS, where they did away with books and people still wanted to buy one.

Let them, but don't force them to.
Stuff like Guildball seems to do well enough with free rules, and even printable tokens for the models. They will still sell a hardback rulebook and a team to almost every player though, and a new set every year when the new season starts. Even though it is all available for free.

When 8th edition drops my wishlist would be that they put out the BRB in similar fashion to 7th. A multi book edition with Core rules, Fluff book and then a Basic rules book for all factions.

This way everyone has the core rules/ statlines and points values for all factions right from the start. basically everything that can be used in a CAD.

The new releases then would then be Codexes or expansions that include new formations, new units, forts, missions, fluff ect. Maybe even Forgeworld units.

Everyone is under the assumption that 8th is going to simplify the rules...who knows. But if this is the case then everyone should have access in the BRB of all factions.

And yes I agree...every hard cover book should come with a free digital download. Similarly like buying vinyl records now a days which includes both the physical version and the digital one.

I just wish they weren't so overpriced. I mean €40 for a book? I'm willing to pay maybe €15 for a hardback, & digitals should be even less! I guess I'll just stick with the free PDFs for now.

Absolutely they should. Their books for the page count are ridiculously priced.

I'd prefer a system where you bought the codex once digitally, and got new editions as an upgrade for a lower cost (and FAQs for free). That seems reasonable to me.

 Jimsolo wrote:
I'd prefer a system where you bought the codex once digitally, and got new editions as an upgrade for a lower cost (and FAQs for free). That seems reasonable to me.

They did that for Black Legion and Crimson Slaughter.

 Zimko wrote:
Playing Tyranids, it is very frustrating compiling all the rules for my army. I have formations in multiple digital books, individual unit rules that are only located in white dwarf articles or special releases. A codex. A supplement... And I'm not even using allies!

A complete digital copy of all the relevant rules to an army would be great! Thankfully, BattleScribe (indirectly) does this for me. I just have to fact check it occasionally.

Aren't all the white dwarf rules now found with their respective unit online? Especially for nids, I've downloaded just under half a dozen free unit rules and stats of the GW site itself. There's even a couple on the FW website where older units haven't been upgraded.