more thoughts
I would like to first say that i finished my final first year examination in law school.. whoo and hoo... Now, down to the bid'ness:
"Imagine if GW one day stated:
Since our profits are dropping, we've decided to focus only on the things that are guaranteed to make money for us. It is for this reason that we are cutting WHFB, and will solely concentrate only on 40K. Additionally, the only armies available will be space marines and chaos.
How many pissed off gamers would there be?
I'm not trying to defend GW's dumb decision to support LotR, but this is kinda the mindset I imagine them having. They want to support the hardcore LotR flunkies out there, because if they just drop the game, then they drop those players."
Ok, Mobius, this isnt an attack on you at all, but the highlighted and underlined part says it all. flunkies. The lotr following may be small, hell it may be large, but apparently, its not biting. If the lotr game was selling SO well, it would be lowering the cost of production by providing GW with another avenue of positive cashflow, ergo, if they were smart and economically mindful of their consumers, prices would slightly downshift to increase the market.
This has not been the case, GW's prices have gone up every year consistently since LOTR came out, this is AFTER it went down slightliy in the late 90's when the plastics for many of the armies came out (Ive collected all things undead forever), their profit went up as the hobby got more popular. The target audience responded to their move there favorably. The opposite has happened with LOTR, it is a detriment to a company which i have devoted a lot of money to and honestly, that I used to love because to a certain degree they were customer friendly. I used to live right next to Tallahasee Comics and Games While attending sunny Florida State University the past 4 years. I spent EVERY sunday in the gaming shop to play with and against people there. I can honestly tell you that NEVER was there a lotr game being played, and as a matter of fact, the owner pulled the **** after the second year because it was NOT SELLING. AD and D figures got more sales and they were seldomly purchased.
The question that must be asked is this: Are te LOTR flunkies worth the loss of a loyal and consistent fanbase?
Im not saying that GW hasnt pulled complete abortions in 40K and fantasy (squats anyone?) with armies like the sisters of battle, that suck to the extent that they have to rig battle reports, but when an army isnt selling, and they arent getting good customer response (no offense, but theyve been pulled the DE off the shelves) ou cut your losses and go back to R and D. I may be annoyed when the mag is full of the latest army they are hyping, but you know what? I can deal with that, bc Ill either get to scoff at the SOB beating the 13th Company, or watch the brettonians/whomever get battered in a mega battle, or whatever. Sometimes those crappy armies make great models for conversion parts, there is room for interpretation, and worse comes to worse, they can either be killed of via a yearly worldwide campaign, just disappear ala squat, or get jacked up with better stuff and they sell...
Even if Fantasy was to flop for a while, interest wanes, whatever, there is still ways that it can be resurrected. I say this bc WH40K and WHFB are open universe games, meaning that anything can happen. The LOTR isnt like that, its closed universe, theres a specific, definite way everything went down, and honestly, after the third time playing the battle of fruity fairy forest or whateever, it loses its appeal.
My issue with GW is this, prices go up for ALL lines when LOTR flops, not just for that line of products. As such, WHFB and WH40K players suffer, the staple audience and customer of GW. I said before the GW consumer base is VERY limited, white middle/upper class prepube to young adult usually single, with disposable income. The second it gets too expensive, they do one of three things:
1. they go to ebay: GW gets no profit, and their product is sold at 1/2 value or less.
2. They go to a 3rd party distributer: Again, GW may make money off the initial distributor sale, but in the quantitiy that these guys sell, the range of their market and the client base they build, the distributer gets payed, the client gets his fiz and GW gets financially sodomized.
3. Kid abandons the hobby entirely: this is worse case scenario and best case. on the left, the kid goes into sports, gets a chick, etc. finds greener pastures, to the negative effect, the client is lost, probably not to return.
Either way, GW loses another customer, because in essence they are disrespecting their customer base, and selling out for a specialized markey based on a bubble that has long since burst. Its just business ethics, of which I regret to say, GW doesnt seem to have. But its to THEIR detriment. Let em be greedy, I dont give a flying F### either way, bc I ebay and third party and I am purely satisfied and get my money's worth, I suggest you guys do the same.
As a final point, if GW drops LOTR, good for them, theve pulled their heads out of their ass, if they dont, you know what, I feel no sorrow or compulsion to aid them, add to their income or anyhting like that, bc as we can see, GW obviously doesnt care enough baout their real essential fan base that built them up to treat them with dignity and respect.
PS: To be honest, I liked the movies, and enjoyed the books, Hell Ill even go as far as saying that when the magazine began to put in lotr stuff, i did not particularly mind as it was minor and not what it is now. It is pervasive, utterly and wholly pervasive. I cannot stand lotr nowadays, i cant enjoy the memories of being thirteen and reading the books, hell I cannot use my imagination for it anymore, as I used to because all I see is viggo f***in mortensen and steven tyler's hot daughter instead of what I always imagined as the people in the book. GW has honestly beat the horse to death.
