R.I.O.T.S.
October 6, 2013 by warzan
So that's been an interesting couple of days. See why here: Important Announcement (GW Coverage)
First off a huge thank you to the community for your continued support. We're still trying to get through all the messages!
I would like to take a moment to remind everyone of R.I.O.T.S. or as we all may know it as:
Remember It's Only (Insert your choice of Expletive Here) Toy Soldiers!
There has been (to be fair, yet again) a huge outpouring of negative GW sentiment, and while that is not unexpected, it was obviously not the intention of our statement, no we will happily (and selfishly) admit we're are more concerned about the ongoing sustainability of our community.
Undoubtedly, there is a lot of pain out there these days. We have the leading company, who choose not to have a dialogue with its fans, and seem to think that the only way they can communicate with us is through imperium speak! (Never breaking the 40K illusion)
The reality is we are in (and hopefully coming out of) a time of austerity, and well, many of us are not children, and maybe find it a little patronising, when a company we care about, does little to demonstrate it's understanding of the times we are living in.
It looks out of touch, and it hurts.
It hurts because our hobbies are like lovers and family to us (yes perhaps even a drug), it's heart wrenching to walk away from, it's not as simple as if you can't afford it then that's your problem.
It hurts just like when we were teenagers, and fell in love with the most beautiful girl in our year, every day she was beautiful, perfect even, but she still didn't talk to us, or perhaps even notice us.
Feelings are feelings, and If you invest a lot of your self into something, deep down it does hurt if you suddenly feel the love is only in one direction.
But R.I.O.T.S
Games Workshop do care, they care hugely, and I know this because I know plenty of present and past employees of the company, and they are some of the finest individuals I have ever met.
Games Workshop like all of us are also living in these times of austerity, and they have the unenviable task of supporting thousands of families, by meeting the payroll, and ensuring they have built the sustainability of their community.
We may agree or disagree with how they are going about it, and I think it's fair to say I do disagree with a lot of their approach to building that sustainability, but I don't disagree with their ultimate goal, which is to be doing what they do, forever.
Live and let love
We have grown from 'the hobby' to today a thriving industry of many hobbies, and each and every one of them have a right to be here.
YOU ARE ALLOWED TO LOVE YOUR HOBBY, NOT MATTER WHAT IT IS!
I love Space Marines, Imperial Guard and Tyranids, I absolutely f****ing love them! There I said it, and guess what, I am allowed to love them. I also happen to love loads of other stuff in the industry and particularly Flames of War - Now I'm one of the best players in europe! 😉 (OK Im 12 from the bottom, but 'best' is a big wide term to me!)
If you love your hobby, just get on with loving it, and if you want to help your hobby, then when the opportunity arises (and without being an arse) show it off to people.
It doesn't matter which part of the industry you get your kicks from, because that is your choice, and if you enjoy it... then it's the right choice, if not... you are still spoilt for choice.
Our decision is based on integrity
I wasn't joking when I said the easy thing would be to walk away, and perhaps if I we're more of a 'brains' instead of a 'heart' guy we would have done just that.
But I am a 'heart' guy, and it's simple, if we're going to participate in this industry, then it has to include Games Workshop, otherwise what we are doing would be a false representation of our industry.
I understand that many of you haven't and wouldn't miss the coverage, but this is a much bigger industry than we often realise, and we'll I'll let Spock finish this for me...
So Remember It's Only Toy Soldiers, today is day 2 of quite an uncertain future for us here at Beasts of War, but we all realise and understand, that as hard as this is, we have to try and remember that a little job reporting on little plastic men, is infantesimaly small when compared to the importance of our friends and family and each other. (But yeah, we’re still gonna fight for this community!!)
Go have some fun today!
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
FOR TEH EMPRA! 😀
Huzzah!!
And to put it in perspective, no matter who we are buying our plastic minis from, they are all plastic, which is made from oil… Which has been bought (at considerable cost) from the oil companies, so in effect, buy anything with its base material being oil and you are supporting companies that trample over entire nations and destroy the planet itself. GW ain’t all that bad in the grand scheme of things.
Stalin killed 20 million jews. That makes Adolf a good guy in the grand scheme of things.
The weasel words people use to delude themselves their petty desires can be fulfilled without having to face up to their responsibilities.
So do you live in a tree? Do you make your own clothes and grow your own food? If not, you are as guilty as me for supporting a big evil company somewhere down the line.
Good point, even the electricity we are using right now to post on this very site is filling the coffers of a shareholder somewhere, but that’s acceptable 😛
Better living in a tree than with my head up my arse like some.
I never said I was a saint. But at least it is possible to try and mitigate the damage done.
You are probably a lot younger than me so it is your future you are screwing with.
Negative karma was never more apropos sweetheart.
Rather my head up my ass than live in a deluded little left wing, liberal dream world.
Now boys. Fight nice :-).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWwUJH70ubM
xxxx
alright. That actually got me to laugh. Touche.
I always play nice cpauls1
When GW attacked Beasts of War
It’s members all said, “But what for?!”
Except for a few
Loyal fanboys so true.
Citadel’s grief is what they adore
I haven’t said much on here. Rather, I directed my angst where it belongs, and left a big burning bag of rhetorical dogsh*t on GW’s front porch.
Loyal fanboy to GW, yes, I am, I wont regret a hobby I love and I’ve yet to experience any grief from the company. Yet at the same time im still happy to support BOW as a backstager despite the grief i get on here for trying to defend my hobby. So I’m a BOW fanboy as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObDE74XD0OQ
Cheers! ..and green armyme RULE!
)) Seriously, an edit button would be worth paying extra for each month. ((
Wa dont needd kno eddit buttin 😛
Well said @warzan
Looking forward to what you guys bring us in the future and will be there with you all the way.
Cheers matey.
Thank F*&$ you’ve said this Warren. I’ve just been having this exact (and I mean exactly) discussion on another forum over what’s going on here. The feeling is that there is so much ‘hate’ going around that closed attitudes must be employed to see it off. It is genuinely sad to have that as the case but the single most important thing to remember is what we are actually doing. This is my fun and I am glad I don’t work in the industry. I want to keep it very separate from real worries and do not have the time… Read more »
But… you just got involved.
Nicely put, and may I say “were there is a will there is a way”.
You guys managed to start Beast of War from scratch and build it into what it is today (so this is good news that you guys can do whatever you set your minds to). You can count on my continuing support you guys wherever the future may take you.
Best of Luck
I really respect you guys for taking the more difficult path. I’ll admit, I still love GW’s stuff too. Well, not the actual games themselves (Specialist Games aside), but the background.
Come to think of it, I really like the games Fantasy Flight puts out using the Warhammer Fantasy/40K universes. So I do like Games Workshop games…that they don’t make.
Good luck guys whatever you decide to do. You have shown me such great alternatives to GW and that I am really thankful for. It was the ‘other games’ aspect of your site that drew me here and your enthusiasm and charisma in reporting on every little twist and turn in the hobby that had me stay. I do hope the new format allows you to bring back Darryl. The only guy I know that can get excited over some bases! Just keep him away from anything none GW please? I also home all the other games will see the… Read more »
I want Darryl back too!
And this, in a single post, is why I’m falling in love with BoW.
Perfectly written and I agree with you 100%. Keeping the door open to GW even if they choose not to walk through shows class and itelligence. Cutting thm off would cut off a major piece of the industry.
Amen, @warzan… I’ll keep playing Blood Bowl as it is the game that brought me into the hobby (although GW may have lost control of it to the profit of the community). I’ll also keep playing 40k as I hugely love my orks and the opportunities for conversion they offer. I wish you the best of luck with your Beasts of War project and I want you to know that this site is a big part of the hobby for me. I listen to the videos while working on my stuff and I post updates of my progress in the… Read more »
All good and well, I understand what you say, question is when the companies tactics and not their products disrupt your enjoyment of the hobby that is even unrelated to them, what should one feel? neutral?
At least from my part i see you clearly love this hobby and you are doing this because you really care about it, so i totally respect and support that. But i can’t agree with the R.I.O.T.S nor the austerity postures : 1 R.I.O.T.S : No, is not Only a Thing, many people puts their entire life, many hours, passion and love to everything we do and you know it ( because you do it! 🙂 ). So is the same to say to a ballet dancer that is only dancing, (s)he will kill you with a knife and rightfully… Read more »
By the way i will keep you supporting you even if you keep showcasing GW stuff or not, at least until something very bad happen ( yeah, i’m kinda Orwellian and i don’t want to change it 😛 ).
Well here’s hoping that BOW and GW can come to a mutually beneficial agreement about the coverage of GW products and services.
Just remember that all parties must be willing to talk to have a discussion. Keep extending the olive branch and hopefully GW will reach out and take it.
Well if we are going Ghandi style we a long road to walk but i would love to see that happen since i want to buy their stuff too without having remorse about it.
Personally I am ambivalent about GW’s games and I dislike the company, but I acknowledge that there are people out there who do enjoy their products and it must be disappointing for them to come here and find no real coverage for their particular part of the hobby. But I think this action sends GW the wrong message because it shows them that people still care enough about their games to bend over backwards in order to report on them. Perhaps I am too quick to cast them in the role of evil corporate overlord but since their lawyer team… Read more »
In fact if we are using relationship analogies, GW is like the bossy girlfriend you love and you can get on with okay as long as you always do things the way she wants them done.
Oh, and she doesn’t like your other friends very much so she would prefer it if you stopped seeing them! 😀
And you have to pay for everything… yeah to summarize it perfectly.
to -> that -.-. BoW, can you please add a edit button with history or something for the brutes like myself ? Thanks.
Damn and I thought you were calling for a Riot.
oh well maybe future owners of GW will have a different attitude. Just think they could be reading this. They may be only 12 years old now but they are out there, somewhere.
“Games Workshop do care, they care hugely, and I know this because I know plenty of present and past employees of the company, and they are some of the finest individuals I have ever met.” As was said on the other discussion their is a separation of staff from the corporate entity. Those in charge of the latter clearly don’t give a squirrel’s poop about the game of and for itself. They clearly do not care for the people than invest a fortune in both cash and emotion into the hobby. Doesn’t matter which air freshener you use the stink… Read more »
Yeah, pretty much this….
Agreed. They won’t get my money anymore. Wouldn’t surprise me if the corporate gurus opened up a clothing factory in Bangladesh to make up the shortfall.
For all the anti-evil company type people, you all buy plastic miniatures, which are made from oil… Which is owned by the big evil oil companies. So by buying anything made from plastic you are supporting companies like shell and bp, who are all known for basically trampling over everyone. Don’t want to support big evil companies? Don’t buy ANYTHING containing oil at its source. Good luck.
http://act.greenpeace.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=18&ea.campaign.id=23002&ea.tracking.id=rus01&utm_source=GPIArctic30
Well said. This is why I love you guys. It has to be about the entire hobby, not just certain aspects of it or the stuff that a few people really love and play. Your approach shows an integrity and class that I would expect from the professionals I believe you are showing yourselves to be. Keep up the great work! You’ve opened my eyes to a hobby much broader and more varied than I could ever have imagined, and I’m forever thankful for it.
40K got me started me in this hobby when I was a kid (many, many moons ago) and I will always love it for that. I still read all the fluff and watch the odd game (I even brought the film… Oh well). Sadly I no longer play it as I don’t really get on with the new rules… if I did I dare say I’d be more sympathetic to GW as a company. Having said that I also run my own businesses so can vaguely understand where they are coming from on occasion. I wish they’d go about certain… Read more »
I said what I meant in the announcement video comments, but it will not change my visits to BOW if you still cover GW. I will watch, because you guys are pasionate about what you are doing, and it shows day to day. Thats what I’m here to see.
I almost joined backstage in response to the video, but will not do so for the same reason I haven’t in the past. I couldn’t care less about GW games and figures. I’ve never owned any, never been tempted to play any, and cannot give my money to support their coverage. People point to their pioneering of our hobby, but for every positive in their past there are many negatives in their present.
Gamers need to bolster other systems before GWs parasitic hold on this hobby causes the closure of more FLGS’s.
I kinda agree with what you said and your reasons, but i supported BoW now because i feel this is one of the few places that people have for knowing other stuff rather than GW and the fact they showcase GW stuff will bring some of those people to here.
I would love to see BoW leaving completely the GW stuff aside ( or show only FF, Forge World and alternative miniatures stuff ).
I think you guys are doing a great job. You will not walk alone.
Loves from Moscow.
What a fantastic attitude, great post, glad you are sticking with it all even though it may be an uncertain path for you guys. I really do hope the contacts you no doubt have built up will be able to leverage a way forward that excites you in how you can pursue maintaining the community here and serving it in the ways you do.
good luck warren and co. as soon as i have the money spare i will buy BOW a muffin and coffee every month 🙂
This made me think about my motivation for b ashing GW, It isn’t so much I care about the company but this site I come on daily for my war gaming news and shiny minis introduction. I can see why you want to avoid alienating the community however you play a dangerous game with being frank as your reporting is and how GW will respond to that. If the legal stuff starts again how long will you be able to sustain the site before being bankrupt you are forced to end. Worse case scenario I know but in reality who… Read more »
It’s only toy soldiers… that can cost people their jobs and livelihoods and/or get them dragged off to court. The company just isn’t cool and seeing the people that we, as consumers and hobby fans trust and rely on, who are our friends, treated poorly isn’t ever going to garner them any fans or get people to just shrug and say “Well, it’s only toy soldiers.” We only have 2 voices in this matter, after all: our wallets and useless bitching on the internet. Hey, I don’t fault anyone for liking their stuff. Personally, I think their product has been… Read more »