[unofficial Weekender] Why is G'Wullu seemingly invincible?

[limburger 21692xp 0]

GW fixing mistakes ?
nah … they just release a new version, claim the mistakes are a feature and hope the existing fans of the old version have moved on to other products so they can fool a whole new generation of useful idiots 😉

Meanwhile other companies release version updates that do have a reason to exist beyond pure marketing bs.

 

[solarParticipant 2781xp 0]

People saying GW isnt in any risk I think are being a bit optimistic. GW can have one or two bad release cycles and they will certainly be at risk, and as I said before if they ruin the IP or drive away fans of the IP then they will also be in big trouble quite quickly. Businesses can be doing very well one year and then go bust the next. Im not saying that I want this to happen but to claim it cant or wont isnt correct.

One of the smartest things GW has done in more recent memory is use the IP for videogames, that has massively helped them but they only did that because they were struggling. If the videogame industry starts to dry up for them then they will probably find themselves in difficulty again

• This reply was modified 1 month, 4 weeks ago by  solar.

[limburger 21692xp 0]

But how bad would they have to ruin their ip?

Killing of the old world didn’t do any damage, but then that was a dead branch anyway even though the fans might not have seen it that way.

How much more can their customers swallow before they drop gw en masse?

And the 64k$ question: where will those folk go?

There is nothing even close to gw in terms of size in  (tabletop) gaming.

[sundancer 42942xp 0]

After reading all of your replies I’m going to try to get a distilled vibe from it. (But it will potentially go horribly wrong as my brain is foggy as flock)

GW has mad some (from a capitalistic standpoint) good decisions:

• own high street stores
• luring of new customers
• spreading the IP through various media to be seen everywhere
• forcing independent retailers to make most space for GW product “or else”.

Unless some venture capital company starts buying shares GW will remain the goose that lays golden eggs and they will keep it that way. There might come a day where either they speculate to high and loose a ton of money *or* some other company will have a success like X-Wing but then nurturing it to its full potential.

My personal takeaway: enjoy your hobby in any way you like (some expressed their fondness of GW minis) but try to support other companies.

I think I’ll go to bed early. Not feeling to well Mr. Stark.

[pagan8thParticipant 10851xp 1]

I believe his name was Tony Stank according to the postman that looked a lot like Stan Lee…

[solarParticipant 2781xp 0]

I agree with you @limburger Im more saying that even though GW is riding high right now that doesnt mean that things cant change rapidly. But right now I dont think GW is going anywhere but honestly anyone trying to guess over a period of say 2 years is really just guessing. Who knows what technological changes may be just round the corner?

 

Personally I dont want to see GW go anywhere, I dont really feel that it does our overall hobby any good if we lose them even if they are a bit too dominant.

[limburger 21692xp 0]

I’m not sure if technology is going to be the issue here.

Siocast didn’t bring the revolution, because the machines still not as affordable as classic resin/metal casting machines are, altough there are companies offering printing services (but then that sort of stuff also exists for resin/metal … and may simply be another service offered).

3D printing still isn’t ready for consumers and has limited applications for production so indie artists have an option that allows for the kind of small  print runs that are too small for the classics.
It is excellent as a means of prototyping. There’s scope for printing services, but then … shapeways is no longer with us and they were one of the original companies offering 3D printing services.

The only ones competing with GW in terms of tech are Wargames Atlantic and Archon Studio.
Heck … WA might stumble upon the perfect boxed game if they keep trying like they’re doing right now.

Both lack the highstreet presence and overal marketing power that GW has.
Maybe all one of them needs is a whole lot of luck and perfect timing to have exactly the kind of thing that explodes onto the market. and yeah … GW has to make a very costly mistake.

Still … McDonalds still exists and haven’t been defeated.

Maybe AMG or CMON could be the threat if they managed to get their logistics functional ?

Dystopian Wars might surprise us, but for that to reach the GW target audience there would have to be a movie franchise or insanely successful tv/streaming-series.

Far too much within our hobby is a niche within a niche wrapped in an enigma. It’s the kind of stuff that’s invisible to outsiders.

The industry really needs the tabletop equivalent of the Nintendo Wii and a way to capitalize on that sudden fame with long term plans.

ooh … just thought of one potential : Halo
According to Mantic it already is selling by the bucket load as preorders …

Imagine seeing that on the shelves in highstreet stores near Christmas.
If only MS hadn’t run the franchise into the ground with the recent releases there’d be potential there.

[sundancer 42942xp 1]

Maybe AMG or CMON could be the threat if they managed to get their logistics functional ?

AMG may have the hobby intentions but is already way in over their heads. So no.

The Website For Judging Peoples Paintjobs is already only in it for short term money bursts. Make kickstarter, sell like silly, abandon. Repeat. Even G’Wullus community building is way beyond that!

[solarParticipant 2781xp 0]

I think we are having two slightly different conversations and its probably my fault for not taking the time to explain properly. I agree with everything you are saying, Im talking about a vague timescale of the next 3-5 years rather than anything happening right now. The key things I can see potentially happening are:

1) Changes to GW IP that either drive away old fans or somehow reduce the amount of new fans / change the current fandom dynamic

2) Changes to tech mainly to do with 3d printing or multi-colour 3d printing. Colour 3d printing is coming eventually to the masses and that is going to be a massive game changer for the whole hobby. It may even result in miniature painting becoming much more of a digital hobby than actually putting paint on brushes (eventually).

3) A new IP comes along, similar to LoTR back in the day in terms of miniature gaming, that either GW can pick up or a competitor which could drastically change the market. I have no idea of what this IP could be but eventually there will be one sooner or later.

4) A big 3rd party comes along who can really exploit any or all of the points above and really shake up the market

5) IP exhaustion – the 40K IP no longer has the draw it once had, maybe due to over saturation in the video game market.

Im not saying that any of these things will happen soon but I do feel it is likely that all of the first 4  will happen eventually and probably in the next 5 years. Number 5 I think has a way to go as we havent had any live action stuff yet, but as Marvel Cinematic Universe and Disney Star Wars have shown even big IPs start to lose interest eventually.

All of the above doesnt mean GW cant or wont survive or even thrive but I think these points would also bring risks for GW and I feel in my gut that these things will occur.

[limburger 21692xp 0]

@solar

I’d say that IP exhaustion is unlikely. The entire GW product line expects people to get tired of the game and be replaced by fresh faces. That’s kind of why ‘Age of Sigmar’ managed to become a thing IMHO. And it may allow ‘the old world’ be successful (once GW starts selling content for the game … ).

My bet is on Halo being the next big thing if Mantic get things right and don’t get hindered by the IP-owner.
It would need support from a new Halo video game release to hit a proper home run, but the potential is definitely there.
Deadzone as a system is really effective and easy to run, but the lore can be a bit of an acquired taste.
Halo is big … or at least it used to be.

otoh … the last attempt to bring Halo to the tabletop failed. That may simply have been because the company didn’t understand that videogame fans are unlikely to ever get into the hobby side of tabletop gaming.

All one really needs is : timing, timing and a large dosage of luck.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19623xp 1]

Pledge: Start the hail of mail for Giftmas … the world is doing things and best to be ahead of it while I can

I’ve got just one more set of figures to finish up and I’ll be set to kick things out. Sorry all, I’ve been rather busy for a bit and there were hiccups in the execution of plans.

*looks around* well shit… it seems things have been busy around here too.

Quick response to the question of the week: Invincible, no. There are so many ways that GW is going with business it may be spreading thin their interests. Any downfall is likely in the competition from One Page Rules and others but we see that Apple is the same kind of business and works the same way. I think that the world of stuff, however, is really the problem as digital stuff can always be moved hither and you without issue of logistics.

As stuff stops moving so too does their profits until getting into the hands of buyers. On that note, my 1s and 0s collection needs to be actually used instead of collecting in a library I don’t even own. I also need to get to the post office within a week or two. Big things are happening.

Addendum:

[sundancer 42942xp 1]

It’s a bit slow that walker isn’t it? XD But having that kind of hobby money/space/time. Imagine!

[limburger 21692xp 0]

In a way one could say that GW has already failed … it failed to keep us as customers.

Somehow it’s one of those things that everyone dislikes and yet folk are still buying into.

Maybe more people are buying into GW products than they’d be willing to admit for fear of being considered ‘not true hobbyists’ ?

It’s not a thing in this community, but I do wonder if that’s helping GW stay afloat.

[sundancer 42942xp 1]

Apologies for the lack of a new thread. Let’s keep this one rolling because I have additional stuff on G’Wullu.

All the stuff they showed on the recent “Warhammer Day” (at least that stuff that has been posted here in the news) nothing really tickled my fancy. Not one mini really grabbed me. Nada. (Except the “limited Chaos Wizard” that had been shown prior to the show)

And then they revealed the Golden Demon winners at Essen. And I was like “yeah, nice paint jobs but nothing really making me go ‘wow'”.

Have I reached peak grumpyness? Am I Grognard Elite? All I see is “more of the same”. It’s good for my wallet though.

How about you lot? Have you seen anything at Warhammer Day or at the Golden Demons that made you go “wow”?

[pagan8thParticipant 10851xp 0]

Nope. Nothing screamed out and said buy me.

I’m not sure there is a ‘peak grumpyness’… not for me anyway!

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