I want to talk about today the shift in how GW has been trying to sell to us and the changes since 7th came out. Honestly I really Like where they are going and I think they are on the right track. They have done a couple of different things since 7th that are slight but important changes, and importantly bring more value to the game. Is it perfect, no. But its better.
The first really is in how they are releasing formations now. A lot have complained about so called Day 1 DLC, and while I personally had no huge issues with it, it seems that GW has listened or at least its a coincidental change. Now they are releasing the Main codex with formations included. I like this. Arguably the Militarum Tempestus Codex is truly the first 7th codex, after seeing the ork codex, their layout is almost exactly the same down to the inclusion of formations. In essence, you are getting more value for your purchase, instead of getting a 50 codex and then 5-15 dataslate immediately after its release. I am also liking the supplement codex's that are being released in the same release window, such as the ork Ghaz supplement and the upcoming SW one. Neither are needed to make the army playable, but add a lot of different fluff and rules to play. Honestly I prefer supplements to dataslates, as the added fluff is something I enjoy.
The next thing I really am liking is the linking of releases through campaigns. I loved GWs old campaigns, and while I'm not expecting a return to the heyday, this is still a good step. The Sanctus reach has good fluff, has lots of formations, and has good missions and rules to add variety to your games. And the fact that they are using them to tie in different releases is a very smart move, and again I am a fan of this. I would have loved an IG themed release after its codex, though you could argue that sanctus reach was nice enough to include some IG love (some good love too). The best part about this is that it is in no way necessary to play, you could never pick this up and not lose anything for it.
Instead of releasing stuff that you kind of need, so you have to buy more than before, now its a focus on optional things, that are good but not needed. You are getting more in your codex (finally) and have the option of getting more goodies if you want to. Having new campaigns adds more to the game in the right way, not necessary units to play, but new scenarios, fluff, and rules that add to the game.
And I love the limited campaign army boxes. They are a good deal, include good rules, even have formations and special characters, and have special models. I picked up Krom Dragongaze because he just looks awesome. Will I use him as Krom, maybe, but he makes a great wolf character either way. And to complaints about getting a hold of it because its limited. Check ebay, there are still a ton of sanctus reach stuff online, and really there is only a few unique things in their like the mini rule book, campaign rules, and the limited characters. I like this as you aren't really losing out a whole lot if you don't pick this up. If you do then you get a good deal on models, get a mini rule book, have campaign and character rules to play with, and formations.
Overall, GW is going more towards actual deals in their boxed sets, which I love. The models are not cheap, and have the main company return to actual savings in the boxes instead of bull shit one click "deals", and they do still have those. Hopefully this trend continues, but I seriously doubt they will stop, it lets them sell stuff that doesn't sell well by including it in a box and still giving you savings. Everybody wins.
The direction is good, and hopefully it keeps on going. I look forward to new campaigns and to see how they tie in other armies in releases. Done right, this could make 7th one of the best editions of the game.
GG
I agree it is defiantly a move in the right direction, not that I've had a problem with how things were, there just better now. The one click deals are a little useless, and if think they should have a discount, even if it's just 10%.
ReplyDeleteI still think that the starter set should be reduced slightly, I believe it's called a loss leader or something, not in sales so don't really have a clue about these things. And maybe single army starter sets.
Why do a loss leader when they can still sell tons of the boxes and make a profit off the bat?
DeleteI don't know if a loss leader is really necessary in 40k. The point of a loss leader is to lose money on the product itself, but drive more sales. The only thing GW produces that could be an effective loss leader is a Codex, as they are going to drive the purchase of models. The problem is that Codexs can go so long before being redone, it really doesn't work as some people can hold on to their codex for 5+ years, and it will only drive so many sales after a while.
DeleteBoxed sets are great win/wins. There are always models that don't sell as well, so you can package them with ones that do, price cut it so the value is seen by the customer, and they get to move product that normally sits and the customer gets a good deal.
The fact that those who work at GW receive a huge discount indicates that this is no loss leader. The plastic chars would have sold far more often as seperate models, but the current sales experiments crank out lots of limited plastic chars, so that's probably no loss anyway.
DeleteThis box targets impulse buyers (limited supply), collectors (limited chars), gamers (first mini rulebookfor 7th), fluff fans (campaign) and those low on money (great discount). In short, everyone in the hobby. Besides good PR impulse, this simply sells so well they can make lots of money even with the discount.
So maybe loss leader is the wrong term to use, I'm not in sales so don't know the lingo, but when you look at other game systems, starter sets are generally cheaper. They're a way to get new blood in to the hobby, and also provide good deals for gamers, ie rule books. I believe that making them cheaper would have an impact and not affect profits, as would single army starter sets, for some of the reasons stated above. I maybe wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.
DeleteIn theory, the problem with 40k is that there is more than enough people willing to spend the money. Don't get me wrong I would have no problem if they did a true loss leader, but from a business standpoint stormclaw proves that they don't need to. It shows that they can make just about everyone happy and make a little money on top. Profits prob aren't huge with storm claw, but more than enough to justify more. Not harping on you btw :p
DeleteLol, no worries, just having a sensible discussion, one I wouldn't put on nafka cos you wouldn't get sensible answers. Stormclaw was good for GW, but I'm not sure it appeals to new recruits but to collectors and vet gamers, it's the starter sets that I think need some adjustment, but yes I realise there is little incentive to reduce the price when people are willing to pay the current price.
DeleteThe new direction is definitely positive. In 6th edition, the only deal boxes available were far outdated,, the one click bullshit didn't interest anyone.
ReplyDeleteNow they updated the army boxes with newer stuff, and the limited campaign box was a full success. I was present when the local GW store delivery came, and there were roughly a dozen boxes pre-ordered, more than with any army release I've seen. Even people without Orks or SW ordered, sometimes for the awesome plastic characters, sometimes for the rulebook, sometimes just for bitz, and split it with those who need the other stuff, because it's a lot cheaper than buying individually. Hell, when the box contents and prices leaked, the community couldn't believe it to be true, it just sounded too good.
That's the way to make money, not this stupid one-click-shit that is rather an insult, as some were even worse than buying seperately. GW probably made a lot of money with Stormclaw, the fans are happy, that's how it should be.
I'm off, building more Alpha Legionnaires with the SW bitz...fur makes great hydra scales btw.
Ooohh, great tip about the SW fur, I am a big Alpha fan.
DeleteYeah it really is a great deal for all, you get rules, cool models, great fro starting out or bitzing. Its good for GW because really they only made two new models, the special characters, the rest were already existing sprues so the cost is lower for them to keep doing things like this, and I love seeing it and hope to see other army box sets like it.
If you collect any army in 40K you should like the the fluff of it as well not just there table top stats. I like the fact they are giving IG names and identity again because they are not just meat shield, yes they are not super soldiers with meter thick power armour but that's what makes them a lot more fun to read about in the books or play on the table. Real men wear flak armour.
ReplyDeleteOr no armor if you're from Catachan.
DeleteWho needs armour when you've got a red bandana!
DeleteArmour is important, big biceps is importanter... ;-)
Deletewell said :)
Delete"Instead of releasing stuff that you kind of need, so you have to buy more than before, now its a focus on optional things, that are good but not needed. "
ReplyDeleteI think this is an excellent point. The internet (who is actually a minority in this instance) rages on and on about all the extra stuff constantly coming out...as if you have to buy each and every thing to be competitive. At the same time, most of the blogs cover the supplements, telling you about the formations, extra bits, etc. You can make very well informed buying decisions now based on the available info.
Though I agree on some points (why isn't some of this stuff in the main codex), if GW HAD put it in the main codexes, and charged 2x as much, and we had 400 page codexes, the net would complain about that.
Just tends to show you over time that the existence of the angry net peoples, and the real life peoples, are drastically different.
Couldn't agree more, but it's the internet minority that shout the loudest and it affects new players. :-(
DeleteI think all the options are good, you can play any number of ways you want now and none of it but the basics, rule book and codex, are compulsory.
Besides codex and rulebook, you don't really need anything to be competitive (except for maxing tournament lists). Codex is affordable, rulebook is available cheaply in starter boxes and now even campaign (=army) boxes (never would have expected that), the whole formation stuff is...well, maybe for themed lists, but in no way necessary.
DeleteAs for the dataslates/supplements, the huge fluff in the Cypher slate is awesome, the price tag is mostly for the fluff, not just the profile, which made whiny people whine again. Players wanted to play him again, with fluff and model around for a long time, so here it goes.
And if you want to play something but don't want to pay for dataslates, all the info is on the net anyway as the rules section is compact anyway.
I know about the Ogryn and Tank formation.. what other ones did I miss?
ReplyDeleteNothing IG related, we're just talking generally in the game. Although more IG formations would be good, maybe an infantry one.
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