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deano2099 wrote:
The economic impact of Coronavirus is weird.

GW probably have fewer customers - people have been made redundant, or furloughed on 80% pay and so lost much of their disposable income.

But then there's that other group of middle, the middle-class, 30-somethings who also make up a good portion of GW customers, who are still employed, working from home, and have a load of excess money at the moment because there's no chance of going on holiday this year, no gigs to go to, no festivals, no cinema, no theatre, no eating out, no travel costs - they've got a tonne more disposable income.

Those people can afford the increased prices (for now) and it might help bridge the losses from many people having to just stop buying hobby stuff entirely. It makes sense from that perspective.

Is it consumer friendly? No of course not. But honestly it's the most understandable GW price increase in years.

No no, that will be understandable for the NEXT price rise.

Companies the size of GW plan out their budgets way in advance. This isn't spur of the moment, likely these prices were pegged to be risen a year ago, and if anything outside an eye for greed influenced it, it would be insulating the company for Brexit.


Of course in the truly free market that some people think we have, I wouldn't have to say things like likely or usually, we'd have easy access to GW financials. Because a truly free market is reliant of easy access of information between two parties.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
Because one person mentioned that Mantic did a snarky "price adjustment" annoucement in imitation of GW but actually lowered prices by 15%, and this massively triggered people whose families were murdered by Mantic so we got a few pages of off-topic gakking on their quality.

Some people in this thread were acting like Mantic's announcement was the peak of comedic genius and really knocked GW down a peg. To some of us, it just came off like the nerdy kid in Stranger Things trying to show off for his girlfriend by talking back to the sheriff. One user snarkily remarked that all three Mantic players must really be proud.

I'm all for social justice and the redistribution of wealth but putting the onus on a manufacturer of plastic spacemen to start the revolution is a bit much. They're not exploiting the vulnerable. They're not extorting people for basic services. They're just selling some slighly expensive toys. Why shouldn't they charge whatever they think will make them the most money?


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stratigo wrote:

And this is okay with you that people who want to enter a hobby are barred from it by their financial circumstances?

I don't see how this could ever not be the case, barring some post-scarcity science fiction future. Things cost money, and people only have a finite amount of money. This is a hobby involving little plastic models. It's a luxury.

soviet13 wrote:
I'm all for social justice and the redistribution of wealth but putting the onus on a manufacturer of plastic spacemen to start the revolution is a bit much. They're not exploiting the vulnerable. They're not extorting people for basic services. They're just selling some slighly expensive toys. Why shouldn't they charge whatever they think will make them the most money?


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stratigo wrote:

And this is okay with you that people who want to enter a hobby are barred from it by their financial circumstances?

I don't see how this could ever not be the case, barring some post-scarcity science fiction future. Things cost money, and people only have a finite amount of money. This is a hobby involving little plastic models. It's a luxury.

Are you sure you're really for the 'redistribution of wealth? because it doesnt sound like you are. generally people who are for that sort of thing don't talk about' companies being able to charge what they like', or 'luxuries' Your views are all over the place.

Please keep it at least somewhat on topic. Thanks!

How surprising to find so many experts all in a single thread! :p

Now, I really *am* an expert in a lot of these areas (I teach marketing and management at a top10 university). I'm not going to respond to every single post here, but thought I'd just give a few summary points:

1) Things cost money.
2) GW doesn't *owe* you anything.
3) This is a hobby, not a religion.
4) There are a lot more costs involved in producing models than you may think.
5) GW doesn't want you to buy all of the products in one go. While volume is important, it's more about repeat purchases
5b) Also, don't forget the associated time and effort that individuals invest in a box of miniatures. It's not so simple as to say 'more sales = good, less sales = bad'
6) One person's personal experience DOES NOT = truth.

And finally (for now at least...), whatever your stance on GW pricing, I think it's fair to say there are now more ways to enter the GW Hobby(TM) than ever before -- and at many different price points. This is something GW has done really well of late, and has helped foster a resurgence in hobby activity, and has brought a lot of new people into the hobby from all sorts of angles. The part work magazines have been a great hit in drawing in a different breed of gamers (a friendlier, less beardy new audience), plus video games, funkopop etc. Remember: you don't need to buy a 2k point army before you start contributing to GW's profits.

Well said. I think the only thing you might have missed is the specious "GW is a monopoly" arguments.

 scarletsquig wrote:
IMO, Necromunda re-release is the only GW release where they've done everything right recently.

Say what now??? Are you kidding me?

A drip-fed release, with increasingly contradictory rule books, all of which were invalidated once they were all out, and are being replaced again, combined with slow release schedule, gaps in the line that are still around from the first set of books, and constant problems with the rules.

Done everything right? Necromunda is the perfect example of when the "Early Access" model from Steam is applied to a tabletop game. Newcromunda's release has been a disaster almost right from the start.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 scarletsquig wrote:
IMO, Necromunda re-release is the only GW release where they've done everything right recently.

Say what now??? Are you kidding me?

A drip-fed release, with increasingly contradictory rule books, all of which were invalidated once they were all out, and are being replaced again, combined with slow release schedule, gaps in the line that are still around from the first set of books, and constant problems with the rules.

Done everything right? Necromunda is the perfect example of when the "Early Access" model from Steam is applied to a tabletop game. Newcromunda's release has been a disaster almost right from the start.

I'll give you lotr then. Stable rules, very good balance, all profiles in 2 books, rules in a 3rd, all expansions have valuable content and much of the content they even upload as a pdf on the site. Continuing releases of new models. The only downside is that some of the older models are sometimes not available for months. And a high amount of failcast, especially on the hobbit front.

 MJRyder wrote:
5) GW doesn't want you to buy all of the products in one go.

Um, yeah they do. Half the stuff they release sells out within a week or two, or six months at the most. The army models they release for 40k and AoS stick around, but every two army box, card set, dice pack, discount bundle, terrain set, and optional expansion do not. Go check out how many Kill Team products GW still sells. While you are there, check if they have the Warcry starter set or any Necromunda cards, Blood Bowl pitches, or board games before Blackstone Fortress. Do you like two army battle boxes? Too bad! They don't even make it through the entire pre-order period.

Edit: I'll be honest, if I could find GW products after release, I would have a policy to not get GW stuff anymore. If I could wait on stuff, saving up to get it, and then get it at my leisure (assuming I didn't find something better value elsewhere first), I could live with that. I'd buy less stuff, spend less overall, and be happier with the stuff that I did buy and the price I paid for it. But the pressure to buy now or forever miss out makes GW a permanent "miss out" for me.

soviet13 wrote:
I'm all for social justice and the redistribution of wealth but putting the onus on a manufacturer of plastic spacemen to start the revolution is a bit much. They're not exploiting the vulnerable. They're not extorting people for basic services. They're just selling some slighly expensive toys. Why shouldn't they charge whatever they think will make them the most money?


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stratigo wrote:

And this is okay with you that people who want to enter a hobby are barred from it by their financial circumstances?

I don't see how this could ever not be the case, barring some post-scarcity science fiction future. Things cost money, and people only have a finite amount of money. This is a hobby involving little plastic models. It's a luxury.

Perfect is the enemy of good. GW can't be perfect, but they can be better.

Sgt. Cortez wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 scarletsquig wrote:
IMO, Necromunda re-release is the only GW release where they've done everything right recently.

Say what now??? Are you kidding me?

A drip-fed release, with increasingly contradictory rule books, all of which were invalidated once they were all out, and are being replaced again, combined with slow release schedule, gaps in the line that are still around from the first set of books, and constant problems with the rules.

Done everything right? Necromunda is the perfect example of when the "Early Access" model from Steam is applied to a tabletop game. Newcromunda's release has been a disaster almost right from the start.

I'll give you lotr then. Stable rules, very good balance, all profiles in 2 books, rules in a 3rd, all expansions have valuable content and much of the content they even upload as a pdf on the site. Continuing releases of new models. The only downside is that some of the older models are sometimes not available for months. And a high amount of failcast, especially on the hobbit front.

HBMC hates lotr though.

 MJRyder wrote:
How surprising to find so many experts all in a single thread! :p

Now, I really *am* an expert in a lot of these areas (I teach marketing and management at a top10 university). I'm not going to respond to every single post here, but thought I'd just give a few summary points:

1) Things cost money.
2) GW doesn't *owe* you anything.
3) This is a hobby, not a religion.
4) There are a lot more costs involved in producing models than you may think.
5) GW doesn't want you to buy all of the products in one go. While volume is important, it's more about repeat purchases
5b) Also, don't forget the associated time and effort that individuals invest in a box of miniatures. It's not so simple as to say 'more sales = good, less sales = bad'
6) One person's personal experience DOES NOT = truth.

And finally (for now at least...), whatever your stance on GW pricing, I think it's fair to say there are now more ways to enter the GW Hobby(TM) than ever before -- and at many different price points. This is something GW has done really well of late, and has helped foster a resurgence in hobby activity, and has brought a lot of new people into the hobby from all sorts of angles. The part work magazines have been a great hit in drawing in a different breed of gamers (a friendlier, less beardy new audience), plus video games, funkopop etc. Remember: you don't need to buy a 2k point army before you start contributing to GW's profits.

XD "You don't need a 2k army to contribute to GW's profits" sounds like an ad from a corporate dystopia. "You may not be able to afford the full product, but you can still give us money for productlite!"

stratigo wrote:
HBMC hates lotr though.

Say what now?

 MJRyder wrote:


And finally (for now at least...), whatever your stance on GW pricing, I think it's fair to say there are now more ways to enter the GW Hobby(TM) than ever before -- and at many different price points. This is something GW has done really well of late, and has helped foster a resurgence in hobby activity, and has brought a lot of new people into the hobby from all sorts of angles. The part work magazines have been a great hit in drawing in a different breed of gamers (a friendlier, less beardy new audience), plus video games, funkopop etc. Remember: you don't need to buy a 2k point army before you start contributing to GW's profits.

I guess we'll discover if the Dark Imperium, Know No Fear and First Strike entry level boxes were considered a success if the same or similar is repeated with the launch of 9th.

I know I picked up all three but I loved the cute cardboard Bunker and Container terrain that came with the latter two.

Personally I'm hoping for a Conquest v2 at some point that uses the 9th starter models as the core. I consider the £640 cost of Conquest to be money well spent. When I say £640, I'm not including the extra issues I'm still buying. £7.99 Rhino hulls and £15.98 Plagueburst Crawlers were top value.

alphaecho wrote:

 MJRyder wrote:


And finally (for now at least...), whatever your stance on GW pricing, I think it's fair to say there are now more ways to enter the GW Hobby(TM) than ever before -- and at many different price points. This is something GW has done really well of late, and has helped foster a resurgence in hobby activity, and has brought a lot of new people into the hobby from all sorts of angles. The part work magazines have been a great hit in drawing in a different breed of gamers (a friendlier, less beardy new audience), plus video games, funkopop etc. Remember: you don't need to buy a 2k point army before you start contributing to GW's profits.

I guess we'll discover if the Dark Imperium, Know No Fear and First Strike entry level boxes were considered a success if the same or similar is repeated with the launch of 9th.

I know I picked up all three but I loved the cute cardboard Bunker and Container terrain that came with the latter two.

Personally I'm hoping for a Conquest v2 at some point that uses the 9th starter models as the core. I consider the £640 cost of Conquest to be money well spent. When I say £640, I'm not including the extra issues I'm still buying. £7.99 Rhino hulls and £15.98 Plagueburst Crawlers were top value.

I like the way you think.


All you can say is- BOHICA.

We have to adjust. Hope they have those smaller starter sets, but if not, I have more then enough to hold fast for a year or three.

I have to say though, GW... damn dudes. Of any time to spout off a dumb move- THIS ranks up there. How about a Kiss first, or even take us to Dinner before you bend us all collectively over the gaming table?

 Sqorgar wrote:

 MJRyder wrote:
5) GW doesn't want you to buy all of the products in one go.

Um, yeah they do. Half the stuff they release sells out within a week or two, or six months at the most. The army models they release for 40k and AoS stick around, but every two army box, card set, dice pack, discount bundle, terrain set, and optional expansion do not. Go check out how many Kill Team products GW still sells. While you are there, check if they have the Warcry starter set or any Necromunda cards, Blood Bowl pitches, or board games before Blackstone Fortress. Do you like two army battle boxes? Too bad! They don't even make it through the entire pre-order period.

Edit: I'll be honest, if I could find GW products after release, I would have a policy to not get GW stuff anymore. If I could wait on stuff, saving up to get it, and then get it at my leisure (assuming I didn't find something better value elsewhere first), I could live with that. I'd buy less stuff, spend less overall, and be happier with the stuff that I did buy and the price I paid for it. But the pressure to buy now or forever miss out makes GW a permanent "miss out" for me.

I'm sorry my friend, but I think you may have misinterpreted the meaning behind the point I was making. I didn't want to go into too much detail, as quite simply, it's a complex subject, and we have quite a range of different readers on these forums.

To put it simply:

The core 'product' that GW sells, is plastic miniatures used for wargaming or display purposes. Collecting, building and painting these models is what GW used to describe as 'the Hobby(TM)'.

Beyond this core product, there is the literary material and codexes/lore books that feed into the above. The BL novels also serve as standalone products in their own right

Some items (dice etc.), are very much about volume, and selling out quickly. These types of product are separate to the core 'product', but are a useful way of adding value to the hobby and generating additional short term sales.

Of course, the thing with the Hobby, is that while GW can certainly sell individual items to any consumer, the real value is in creating loyal fans who come back for repeat purchases, and who can also be persuaded to diversify into other game systems. This is why GW don't want you to purchase everything in one go, because a) you'll never be able to paint it all at once (which might inhibit you from wanting to buy more), and b) you're not exposed to the regular 'touch points' of marketing communications, and you're not connected to the GW community. One bulk purchase doesn't guarantee your future loyalty.

I can go into this in more detail if you like, but I hope you get the general idea.


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alphaecho wrote:


I guess we'll discover if the Dark Imperium, Know No Fear and First Strike entry level boxes were considered a success if the same or similar is repeated with the launch of 9th.

You can't judge the success of these boxes on sales alone. It's only really something you can measure in terms of long-term sales trends and the size of the customer base. The purpose of these boxes really is the give multiple entry points to new players, or to existing players who may want to dip their toes in a different game system.

I mean, just anecdotally, I myself have bought one of the smaller AoS sets as a way to get my hands on some of the great new minis and get a flavour for the game, but without spending so much money. Thing is, now I've bought that set, I now want to buy more... (which is exactly what GW wants).


[P.S. Also, I completely agree with you about the boxes -- this was a really nice way to make the most of the packaging and add to the experience of new players!]

Being priced out of a hobby is normal. You don't go to a yacht club and complain about how yachts should be available to everyone.

That said, I think most people complaining about being priced out of their hobby are actually priced out of their patience.

It took me almost a year to save up enough money to get everything I wanted from the orktober release, because I was having financial troubles in that time.
You might not be able to start a new army or stay on top of every release and meta-change if you're broke, but it's not hard to find enough money to just continue playing your favorite army.

If you can't afford a 30 GBP box, you also couldn't afford the 25 GBP box. It basically means you will be getting the box one month later. If you have less than 5 GBP to spend on 40k per month... sorry, but this is not a hobby you can afford with your budget.

I also think that it's insane that you are now paying twice as much for the exact same box of ork boyz are now than when I bought my first one. But GW has been rising prices every year, people should know what they have signed up for.

In the end, it's a very simple decision. If you no longer get an enjoyment from 40k that is worth its cost, you walk away from it. Models, especially decently painted ones, can be sold with almost no losses and you can start a cheaper hobby with the money you get.

stratigo wrote:

And this is okay with you that people who want to enter a hobby are barred from it by their financial circumstances?

It's called life. I would like to race car as a hobby. Too expensive for me though.

Economics are built on all not having same options due to money


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 posermcbogus wrote:
Fun fact: The Landraider is now effectively £117 in Japan!

For all of you trying to say "people still whined in the 90s that it was too expensive" should try to remember if it cost that much back then.

But if GW are still making profits overall, I guess it's fine, because only looking at short-term profits is a flawless system, and there have never been busts, crashes, or recessions in human history.

Second fun fact: I've only been able to get onto the GW website from June 1st, after the site was 'down for maintenance' since before the hikes were announced. The hikes were never announced in Japanese.

Swear to god it seems like some of the people so fervently defending GWs trash business practices are feeling personally attacked by people saying "yeah, this is a silly price for little space men, I think it isn't clever to pay that much money" while they themselves add another unpainted box of them to their pile, instead of doing something enriching with that cash.

And if GW profits drop they will do something even dropping prices if that's required. Profit is end goal for GW. Not high cost in box. They keep rising costs because that's proven to be best way to raise profits. When that doesn't work they won't do it.


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stratigo wrote:

But beyond the moral ideal, the prices GW is charging for their products are not a reflection of any level of social good, they could be lower and maintain a profit. Indeed they could be lower and probably garner MORE profit. I'd love to see the profits of forgeworld before and after they "equalized" (raised) prices for literally the entire world except UK. I suspect Forge world's growth.... slowed. So even without the utopian ideal, GW could strive to be more inclusive likely without sacrificing much, if any, profit.

Yes they could still be profitable. Of course if they halved prices they wouldn't even double sales(and exactly doubling reduces profits...You would need to MORE THAN DOUBLE sales with halving prices but guess what? It hasn't worked out for GW in practice when they tried to lower prices...) so would get less profits.

GW isn't here for "social good". They aren't doing it to make world better. They aren't in it for virtue signalling. They are in for one thing: profit.


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Sgt. Cortez wrote:
I'll give you lotr then. Stable rules, very good balance, all profiles in 2 books, rules in a 3rd, all expansions have valuable content and much of the content they even upload as a pdf on the site. Continuing releases of new models. The only downside is that some of the older models are sometimes not available for months. And a high amount of failcast, especially on the hobbit front.

LOTR is pretty good game though it too has now whole bunch of supplements so for some models you need more than 3 books. Price wise the LOTR armies are more reasonable as long as you don't go for heavy elite or OOP(100£ for shade...bloody....) models.

Can easily get multiple different forces for price of 40k/AOS army. One issue is some of the older plastic kits(rivendel plastic elves, moria goblins) being rather poor by today's standards. They weren't even top notch during release! And the scale creep with new models is bit annoying.

Hobbit armies are annoyingly expensive, balance wise isn't as good(tournament top lists tend to have at least elements of hobbit army book contents...) and annoyingly many of the hobbit armies are tied into having specific model for their army bonus which makes all the armies from those books look very similar. It's like tying Minas Tirith force so that you pretty much need to have Aragorn in it.

You all seem to forget the fact that even if GW lowered prices and saw a sudden short term increase in volume of sales, this wouldn't necessarily lead to better performance in the long run. This is because it still takes you the same amount of time to build and paint your miniatures -- a crucial bottleneck in the process of consumption when it comes to GW's core 'product'. It also doesn't really have that much of an impact on bringing in new players, so again, doesn't really benefit GW in the long run.

I think someone mentioned it before, but let's not forget here that GW is an *aspirational* hobby, whose hobbiests are collectors as much as they are gamers. GW doesn't owe any of you anything. It certainly doesn't have an obligation to make its products as cheap as possible. This isn't just because of economic reasons, but also because it uses the money it generates to reinvest in future models, new books, new sculpts etc. I really do find it funny just how many people complain on the one hand that the prices are too high, but then are also very quick so complain when GW doesn't produce anything for their own particular niche army.

tneva82 wrote:
GW isn't here for "social good". They aren't doing it to make world better.

Quite a few people argue that they are doing the exact opposite. By that logic, raising prices so less people start playing 40k might even be considered a good deed

 MJRyder wrote:
You all seem to forget the fact that even if GW lowered prices and saw a sudden short term increase in volume of sales, this wouldn't necessarily lead to better performance in the long run. This is because it still takes you the same amount of time to build and paint your miniatures -- a crucial bottleneck in the process of consumption when it comes to GW's core 'product'. It also doesn't really have that much of an impact on bringing in new players, so again, doesn't really benefit GW in the long run.

I think someone mentioned it before, but let's not forget here that GW is an *aspirational* hobby, whose hobbiests are collectors as much as they are gamers. GW doesn't owe any of you anything. It certainly doesn't have an obligation to make its products as cheap as possible. This isn't just because of economic reasons, but also because it uses the money it generates to reinvest in future models, new books, new sculpts etc. I really do find it funny just how many people complain on the one hand that the prices are too high, but then are also very quick so complain when GW doesn't produce anything for their own particular niche army.

Not to mention profit margin of kit at 50£ is lower than at 100£. Expenses stay same. From 100£ more is pure profit.

That's why you need to increase sales more than you reduced. Halve the price? Better more than double the sales! And unless they get tons of new players they run into issue you mention. Would I buy more sisters if prices were halved? Yes. Double? Unlikely. I could not paint fast enough...I'm already barely staying float with my pile of shame...

Don't forget if you half the cost you don't just need double the sales. Half the cost for double the sales means that you've made the same profit for double your production investment. You'd have to sell many times the amount to actually make an increase in your overall profits.


Not forgetting vast increases in sales can trigger a need for expansion, which comes with a direct cost. More product shifting means more production capacity needed - for GW that means buying land, building factories, training staff, more staff in the long term which means higher running costs.


So now if GW is already at capacity (or very near too it) then an aggressive market expansion campaign that triples model sales is just not feasible for them. They can't meet such a demand without a massive investment. For GW that means using profits to invest in that since they don't take out loans (which is what a lot of other firms do to expand really quickly - which can come back to bite them hard when the market slows down).

It's simple to think that more volume of sales can result in reduced prices per unit and greater profits through volume. However that assumes you can scale production without cost. When you start to factor in costs to expand as well the values start to shoot up. Like I said a lot of other big names on the highstreet mask over this by taking out big loans early on. This allows them to maintain their price point ,whilst investing vast sums into more production, staff, facilities etc... It raises their running costs considerably, which is fine when they are the hot name on the street and when the market is doing well. Then when you hit a slump those debts can kill them off just as fast because now their running costs end up greater than their income.

On the flip side, those who want to sell some of their models would now get more money as their collections have increased in value.

stratigo wrote:

deano2099 wrote:
The economic impact of Coronavirus is weird.

GW probably have fewer customers - people have been made redundant, or furloughed on 80% pay and so lost much of their disposable income.

But then there's that other group of middle, the middle-class, 30-somethings who also make up a good portion of GW customers, who are still employed, working from home, and have a load of excess money at the moment because there's no chance of going on holiday this year, no gigs to go to, no festivals, no cinema, no theatre, no eating out, no travel costs - they've got a tonne more disposable income.

Those people can afford the increased prices (for now) and it might help bridge the losses from many people having to just stop buying hobby stuff entirely. It makes sense from that perspective.

Is it consumer friendly? No of course not. But honestly it's the most understandable GW price increase in years.

No no, that will be understandable for the NEXT price rise.

Companies the size of GW plan out their budgets way in advance. This isn't spur of the moment, likely these prices were pegged to be risen a year ago, and if anything outside an eye for greed influenced it, it would be insulating the company for Brexit.

I disagree. While I'm sure a price rise of some sort was planned, the one that has be announced would have undoubtedly been informed by the current situation. Yes, there would have a been a budged plan for a price rise to happen by the start of the year but all those budgets would have been revised as the true impact of the situation became apparent. The factory was closed for a month. That alone means everything needs to be reforecast and re-planned.

The hobby is miniature wargaming and it is really, really hard to bar anyone from that hobby on a financial basis through pricing. Being barred from a particular brand? Sure. But the hobby itself? It can be so cheap.

In the early 2000s when I was struggling with a pile of student debt and then had a health issue that cost me my job, I still managed to stay in the hobby even though I sold all my warhammer brand stuff to pay bills.

Today the situation is even better with the huge amount of gamer crafting youtube videos about making terrain and monsters from recycled (ie free) and cheap dollar store materials. With so many free rules. My games of Grimdark Future and Age of Fantasy have both been more balanced than 40k and Age of Sigmar (and I have very few balance complaints about 40k).

I do not believe GW has any duty to price people into our out of the hobby. They are just one brand. They are not barring people from the hobby in the same way people can't afford race car driving or yachting.

The problem is people that think GW is "The Hobby™". I am currently in a pretty good position, financially, and i don't mind dropping money on GW product so long as it's actually models that I like, but you can absolutely participate in this hobby for cheap.

In 2011 I was not nearly so fortunate, I was unemployed and ebaying off my collections just to pay rent, painting for hire where I could. I still managed to play Warmachine just fine. I had to get creative and made a nature themed Circle Orboros army that was half unofficial models. Close-enough stand-ins (or thematically consistent stand-ins) like Confrontation Wolfen in place of Tharn Ravagers and beastmen Ungors in place of Tharn Bloodtrackers, wood elf spearmen in place of Wolves of Orboros. Actual rocks for Standing Stones etc. It wasn't kosher for tournaments but everything was well painted and based and well themed, so my friend's had no issue playing against them.

The price increase sucks, A LOT, but there's always other options if you can't afford new GW. Buy 2nd hand, convert, or just be proactive and push your friends into other games that are less expensive (and often better written). Rule of Cool goes a LONG way towards people's acceptance of conversions and counts-as, because while people may turn up their noses at your He-Man action figure "Warhammer Giant" if you just plop one down as-is on a square base made of cardboard, they often won't really mind at all if you go through the effort of puttying in the joints, greenstuffing on some tattered clothes and painting it up real nice. If it looks like you put real effort into scratchbuilding your Ork Battlewagon, people recognize and respect that. If you plop down a cheap dollar-store truck toy as your Battlewagon, not so much. But even then I've seen that exact thing happen down at the FLGS game night. I've also seen people with hand-drawn guardsmen (was actually kinda impressive) and I've seen a full 3,000 point game of Warhammer Fantasy played with just cardboard rectangles cut out of boxes to match what the unit footprints would be, the guys had a heck of a good time crossing out squares as units lost "models" and ripping them up if the units died or routed

There are ways to play 40k without using any 40k models, albeit you are limited to not being able to play at GW stores or the top tables of major tournaments. For >99% of players both of those aren't issues.

People have every right to complain about being priced out of a hobby. Just because GW doesn't "owe" them anything doesn't mean they don't have a right to feel sad and angry that they can no longer engage in the hobby they like because they can no longer afford to do so. It's like saying if lightning strikes your house and burns it down and you lose everything, you shouldn't be angry or sad, because "that's just life" and nature doesn't owe you anything. It is missing the point.

I've never understood the strange way some people think that "it's the free market" is a response to a moral argument. The fact that GW doesn't care about anything besides making money is not a refutation of someone's charge that they are behaving badly; if anything, it is a confirmation of it.

It's also dishonestly talking out of both sides of your mouth, because GW very much presents itself as being in the "hobby" business, not as a faceless multinational behemoth interested only in extracting as much money as it can from each customer. You can't on the one hand try to excuse GW's behavior because it's a profit-seeking corporation while on the other hand overlooking all the ways it tries to convince people it is not just a profit-seeking corporation but instead a friendly part of the hobbyist community.

 Kalamadea wrote:
The problem is people that think GW is "The Hobby™".

It that a problem? I know that became a tagline for GW articles during 7th edition (alongside forging that narrative), but I never met anyone who actually believed it. And few that didn't mock or ignore it.

If someone finds themselves priced out of a particular brand but they mistakenly think that they need that brand in order to participate in the hobby, then it's actually their own thinking that is standing in their way.

You could say the same thing about getting your leg chopped off. If that makes you sad about what you've lost out on the ability to do, then it's actually your own thinking that is standing (ha, ha, I crack me up!) in the way, because there's still plenty of other things you can do even without a leg.

It's not wrong, but it's silly and inaccurate to the extent it seeks to portray a loss as not a real loss. One can overestimate the importance of a loss, but a loss is still a loss. Being unable to afford a brand you used to be able to afford is a loss even if you can still afford a cheaper brand, and it's reasonable for someone to be sad over that loss.