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I reckon many of us probably like to fantasise about this from time to time. If, somehow, you gained total control over GW, how would you run the business? What would you release, and when? What direction would you take the rules in? Would you bring out any new armies or make any big chnages to the ones out so far? I'm thinking primarily of 40k, but your wildest dreams about other systems are welcome too. Just wondering, just for fun let's hear your five-year (or 5 month, or 5 week) plan

I'll post some of my own crazy ideas this weekend, right now I'm off to

Poorly, and into the ground.

Elnicko5 wrote:Poorly, and into the ground.

This. I'd try to make sure I had enough money to invest heavily in whatever game system(s) filled the void left.

I'd rule with an iron fist from upon my throne of steel in the citadel of pure awesome.

I'd make all the rules tighter and employ proofreaders and exploit finders for every codex/army book. Lower prices slightly, support specialist games better (including bringing back SG models you can no longer get such as the escher plasma guner) and streamline the company to remove any unnecessary BS (such as multiple MEQ codecies).

Well part of my plan would be Movin the hq to an island and declarin gw its own country and gw shops embassies.
then when enough time has passed i declare war againts other game companys and nuke them.

1:
A new edition would not be released until codexes are ready to go.

2:
Aforementioned codexes are designed around that edition.

3:
Models are also ready to go along the same time as the codexes and the new edition.


4:
Forge World's prices for orders will have a static, built-in discounting system based on the cost of the order, and be readily available to stockists. This WILL mean upping FW's production staff.


5:
There will be, in my perfect GW, 3 Chaos armies with built-in synergy(Marines, Daemonic Forces, and Traitor/Renegade Guard) with a mirroring Imperium composition(Imperial Guard, Space Marines, and the Inquisition).

Now, you might say...
"Where are my Xenos?!"
Well, there's still plenty of room for them And in a good way, no less.

Eldar would become a faction unto themselves, "The Children of Khaine", with the Pirate Eldar clans/Exodites, Black Library, and the Eldar themselves.
Dark Eldar would also become a faction unto themselves, but be fairly close to the Eldar setup(Pirate/renegades, Black Library, and the Dark Eldar themselves. Perhaps called "The Tortured").

The Tau Empire would become...well, they're fine as is, really. The Farsight Enclave would get its own, smaller list since, frankly--it's not too different from the standard Tau list, just with a limitation on their allies and the lower tech/limitations on gear. Perhaps have a Kroot list also.

The Necrons and Tyranids are where I had the most trouble coming up with really good ideas. The easiest thing I could readily come up with was, again, 3 separate lists for them.
1: The main list(Tyranids/Necrons in the final assault phases on a world.)
2: The "cult" list(Genestealer Cults, C'Tan worshippers with Pariah/Immortals and a Necron Lord stuff like that for Necrons.)
3: The "vanguard" list(Genestealers infiltration force, Lictor characters, Ravener characters for 'Nids. The Deceiver, Wraiths, Pariahs.)

That's just what I'd do though...
Fantasy is quite a bit different story though.

elnicko winz the thread

Kanluwen wrote:3:Models are also ready to go along the same time as the codexes and the new edition.

Something I would add to this is to include ALL parts needed to make any and all variants of model kits. The Leman Russ model, for example, has 6 or 7 different variants in the new IG codex. Were it up to me, parts for all 6 or 7 variants would be included in the same kit.

Wait havent we had this discussion Before.

I would divide 40K into a 30MM small-unit skirmish type game with more detailed rules and a whole hell of a lot more variety in the codecies and a 15MM game that isn't that different than the current game, except that instead of individual troopers you would have squad elements of one to five troopers depending on their size and type. (Five gretchin/gaunts/guardsmen, three Orks/Genestealers/Space Marines, one terminator/ogryn/tyranid warrior) Forgeworld would be phased out in favor of more plastic kits. Superheavies would be available for the 30MM game, but just for special scenarioes, not massive battles, that's what the 15MM game is for.

I'd try to run it well, then end up going bankrupt through complete lack of corporate business experience.

So would we all.

Thread over.

garret wrote:Wait havent we had this discussion Before.

Sorry, I'm new here. It seems like everyone I know who plays Warhammer has ideas on what they'd do differently, so thought it'd be interesting to chat about. I should've realised this had probably been done already.

For the record, here's some of mine:
I'd update armies on a rota, oldest first. Whenever there's an update, it's nearly always the most out-of-date army that gets the attention. The next 3 releases would be Dark Eldar, Necrons and Inquisition.

I'd still have event releases, but instead of first wave/ second wave, I'd do a first wave and then release the rest of the army's units gradually, like one boxset every other month, to keep people's interest and so players don't have to get bored and frustrated with nothing being released for their army for years.

There'd be loads of variant codexes and army lists (harlequins, lost and damned genestealer cults etc), even some rules for lesser Xenos like Hrud and Slann in White Dwarf. Maybe a boxset each for some of these races, with lots of conversion tips on the website.

Everything would be plastic.

There'd be special offers.

Everyone would get a bit of extra love as soon as I took over (well as soon as possible afterwards, even if I had to do most of the rules work myself. I might not be the best games designer in the world but everything would be playtested anyway. For example, Chaos would get a supplement book for traitors and cultists and legions. Eldar would get exodites and harlequins. Basically just stuff to fix player's major grievances as soon as possible.

When Space Marines finally got updated (they'd be near to last on the update list because they're currently up to date) they'd be done in truescale. No-one would be required to use the new miniatures, that would be unfair. I'd try to juggle the release schedule slightly so that Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines and Grey Knights get truescaled at around the same time.

I'd do a Horus Heresy expansion sometime after the truescaling.

I'd bring back Chapter Approved.

I've got even more where they came from lol. Maybe another time.

I'd fire everyone responsible for the Blastscape Debatical.

Samus666 wrote:If, somehow, you gained total control over GW, how would you run the business?

Properly.

I'd leave all codexes in the now and work on updating every single one and a new rules set all at once. Then release them with a new set of models for older model ranges like Dark Eldar. Then Once it is all up to date expand the bit ordering service and get nicer people on the phones. Once that's done make sure you can purchase in one way or another every single option in any codex (mostly through bit order service). Then lower all prices by about 10-15% The prices they have now are ludicrise and is just making people want to buy less.

Do you mean running the company or running a LGS?

*I would make the codex half price of what they are ( $15 instead of $30 )

Because:

-its cheap enough most people will buy them instead of dling them off internet
-its cheap enough people would buy them just to know more about how their opponent plays
-because of ^ it can very well tempt them into new armies.

*would also get rid of the LOTR items from the game store.
because honestly , there isnt enough storage room anymore. Im tired of going into the shop
to see 30% of my shop list item out of stock.

*Would re organize the lay out of the store.
All battalion / army boxes should only have 1 on shelf , the extras store back down under the game table
because we dont need the giant boxes all over the wall while the blister packs are nowhere to be found.

No music in store! not everyone likes what they play

(many more but too lazy to point them out , not like GW will care lol )

Well...

sculpting
- I'd fix the size of human infantry in the 40 universe
- I'd mandate fixed model sizes so that scale "creep" stops

releases
- I'd place 40k, Apoc, WFB, and WotR on a clearly-defined 4-year schedule for new editions
- I'd publish a coming-year themed release schedule
- I'd be a lot more transparent as to where the game is going

Army Books & Codices
- I'd stop the race to be "broken" that seems to have run Fantasy off the deep end
- I'd formalize "official" (standalone printed) vs "unofficial" (WD PDF) lists, with a clear disclaimer that "unofficial" lists state they are by permission and not designed for tournament play

tournaments
- I'd shrink things back to GT Baltimore (1500 pts 40k, 2000 pts WFB) and use these strictly as data-gathering exercises.
- I'd work with major indies and let them do all of the heavy lifting in terms of comp / balance / FAQs

pricing
- I'd let the web run wild. If B&M dies, too freakin' bad.

From atop a throne of gold to be worshipped as a god, while my loyal servants work ceaselessly in an effort to reunite all FLGs with the GW stores and create a convoluted and needlessly complicated "organization" to stop all deuchebaggery by the redshirts and TFGs by being deuchebags to them and escalating with TFGs from nearby stores until they are driven from the store and acceptable behavior can be reestablished. All of this feuled by the slave labor of thousands to produce cheaper minis and better more balanced codexes that have all been published and intended for the same edition that we are currently in. In addition to this there will be half machine half men beings designed to serve us who painstakingly remodel the crappy models such as the entire dark eldar army and the mutated human offshoots known as catachans. All metal models would be recast in plastic until another suitable more cost effective medium is discovered, most likely made from the bones of the slave labor. All who disagree with these new guidlines of their God-CEO would be deemed heretics and be violently purged from the company by the security staff who have unlimited authority over the rest of the company serving myself only.

iamthecougar wrote:From atop a throne of gold to be worshipped as a god, while my loyal servants work ceaselessly in an effort to reunite all FLGs with the GW stores and create a convoluted and needlessly complicated "organization" to stop all deuchebaggery by the redshirts and TFGs by being deuchebags to them and escalating with TFGs from nearby stores until they are driven from the store and acceptable behavior can be reestablished. All of this feuled by the slave labor of thousands to produce cheaper minis and better more balanced codexes that have all been published and intended for the same edition that we are currently in. In addition to this there will be half machine half men beings designed to serve us who painstakingly remodel the crappy models such as the entire dark eldar army and the mutated human offshoots known as catachans. All metal models would be recast in plastic until another suitable more cost effective medium is discovered, most likely made from the bones of the slave labor. All who disagree with these new guidlines of their God-CEO would be deemed heretics and be violently purged from the company by the security staff who have unlimited authority over the rest of the company serving myself only.

Now there's a company we can trust! All hail the God-CEO and the Imperium of GW!

For me, the biggest problem right now is the codices, so I'd sort that out:

1) Update out-of-date codices. This could be as simple as a PROPER PDF update with things like revised costs, etc., for many of the codices that are out of date. The existing PDF FAQs are laughable. Update, even done this way, would mean GW would sell more models. Personally, I would buy at least 1 of each of the Land Speeder Storm, Land Speeder Typhoon, AND Thunderfire Cannon, within the next few months, if I could use them for my Dark Angels army; there's no fluff reason why I couldn't. I'd probably pick up at least 5 TH/SS Terminators too, if the DA rules were up-to-date. So, that's, what, £50 to £100 that GW would get out of me that they otherwise wouldn't? How many other people are in a similar situation? Not just DA players, but, you know, Ork players who'd buy Captain Badrukk if updated Flash Gitz were a bit better (just give them "More Dakka" for free, and they'd be in at least a few lists...).

2) Make all the rules (but not the fluff & pics) from each codex available at a very low price as PDFs. £3/$5 per codex would be fine for this. Most people would happily pay this rather than pirating the books; indeed, most serious players would buy ALL the codices / army books. You only need the fluff, painting guide, etc., for your own army, but it's worth having all the rules.

3) Pay professional writers & game designers to do the codexes, rather than underpaying "enthusiasts". GW currently have a vacancy for a "trainee writer" -- "attitude more important than skills" (yes, it really does say that in the ad). It's a good thing that rules writing isn't that skilled a job, eh?!? I would far, far rather have someone in the GW studio who plays Ultramarines but can't write or balance rules for toffee, than a skilled, literate game designer, after all... NOT!

OK, once the codices are sorted, time to address the retail side of things:

4) Take a long, hard look at the retail sites, and close all the ones that don't make a profit.

5) Use the money saved to encourage & support independent GW retailers to have dedicated gaming space, offer painting/modelling tips, run special events, and all the other stuff that GW shops do. In these days of the internet, even GW's target market of kids can find eBay, and internet retailers, and even independent retailers who are cheaper *and often better* than GW. They will. It's inevitable. So don't fight it...

Oh, and for far better PR, and because it would actually be useful:

6) When someone comes up with a fan-made 40K film, or a really cool, useful piece of computer software that's 40K-compatible, DON'T send them cease-and-desist letters; offer them a job, and a payout, and a salary.

LunaHound wrote:*I would make the codex half price of what they are ( $15 instead of $30 )

Because:

-its cheap enough most people will buy them instead of dling them off internet
-its cheap enough people would buy them just to know more about how their opponent plays
-because of ^ it can very well tempt them into new armies.

I can't say, but I don't know of many people downloading codexes off the internet. You end up having to spend just as much money on paper, ink, etc printing them off in the end. You also cannot be guaranteed to find a torrent, etc.

*would also get rid of the LOTR items from the game store.
because honestly , there isnt enough storage room anymore. Im tired of going into the shop
to see 30% of my shop list item out of stock.

Store problem, not GW problem.

*Would re organize the lay out of the store.
All battalion / army boxes should only have 1 on shelf , the extras store back down under the game table
because we dont need the giant boxes all over the wall while the blister packs are nowhere to be found.

No music in store! not everyone likes what they play

(many more but too lazy to point them out , not like GW will care lol )

You can't really designate a focused layout of the store, without standardizing the sizes of the stores, period.

And on another note:
I don't know how your GW does it, but the few I've visited always break the boxes into color coded systems, with the matching blisters being on a rack opposite with the same color coding system.
The general reason, I'd assume, they have the bigger boxes on the shelves on the wall is, frankly, they draw attention more than a tiny blister would. So unless GW moves from blisters to making everything in boxes, I don't see that changing.

I'd make the Loyalist's cry.


hehehehe

As a gaming company instead of a model company. I don't know how many times I've heard GW state that they produce models and the rules are just an add-on so that we can play with our pretty toys. IMO, gaming stisfaction through well written rules would improve the sales of the highly over-priced models cause more people would want to play!

Kanluwen wrote:All the things that I was going to say and more... and better written

Wow, are you like... some better version of me?

I would certainly include in the design of the new rules large scale beta tests of the new rules. Build up a whole load of the new models, rent out a hotel for a weekend, invite the top tournament players to attend, give them a copy of the new rules and a day or so to go through and discuss them, play a few games with the above models, then discuss the rules.

Repeat this a few times to really thrash them out and then hopefully, you will then have rules that a) can't be broken by a 4 year old, and b) are not horribly skewed towards one thing or another.

Get rid of the manditory

"HI WELCOME TO GAMESTOP"

every time I walk into a GWS store....look you know me, you know im just here to play like I am every god damned tuesday, you know im not going to buy anything because the LFGS down the street sells your stuff at 20% off...so just leave me alone and dont scream your sales pitch at me every time I walk in...

I like the idea of beta testing but I would expand it beyond just top tourny winners. You could either send some to approved retailers with gaming tables for play testing and to simply show off stuff or let people register and pay to be part of the "beta-testing" club. This would make some possible extra dough for GW as i'm sure many people would jump at the chance to play test something new. Just make them sign and return a clause that they will not resell the product until/if the product goes mainstream or after a set number of years pass (or face a lawsuit).

Codices should not be updated haphazardly. I agree when it was said that they should be updated with each edition. At the very least you should not have the issue where one codex has been update 2 or more times while others are outdated and broken (Daemonhunters for instance) with no hope of an update in the forseeable future.

Simplify the boxed sets. The idea of including all variants in a boxed set is nice but I could see people ending up with all sorts of bits that they may not need or want. If I want a rhino, I don't necessarily want all the bits for a whirlwind, or a razorback. Sell the base kits and sell the "upgrade" pack that would include all of those fancy extras. Same with the basic footsloggers. The command squad box set is a waste IMHO. Just have basic SM boxed sets and allow for the "upgrade" sets for assault or command.

Lastly, and for grins, break down the figure kits a little more for ease of customization. Maybe have hands separate from arms, forearm from upper arm, more arm and leg stance variations, etc. Call me lazy but i'm tired of having to cut and GS joints so not all my SM look like chess piece zombies in the same pose.

Kanluwen wrote:1:
A new edition would not be released until codexes are ready to go.

2:
Aforementioned codexes are designed around that edition.

3:
Models are also ready to go along the same time as the codexes and the new edition.

So you'd only release new stuff every 3-4 years (when a new edition comes out)?

What would you have to put in White Dwarf?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kanluwen wrote:
The general reason, I'd assume, they have the bigger boxes on the shelves on the wall is, frankly, they draw attention more than a tiny blister would. So unless GW moves from blisters to making everything in boxes, I don't see that changing.

I still find GW stores look a little wierd. When I started every wall was racked out in blisters. The only things in boxes were a few starter sets and larger models.

For starters I would make sure that every state had at least 3 GW stores located in every city over 100000 people.

I would then release new codexes for every Army at one time, and make sure new models are always in stock, not just for direct sale. All previously released models would be made availiable at Christmas time (once a year).

Forgeworld America would be built.

Servicemen/women would get a 25% discount, and I would finally get one of each Imperial Guard model ever made.