Monday, May 16, 2011

Re-post

Kirby from 3++ put this up and i agree with it entirely. Living in asutralia means i get the crap end of the stick when it comes to prices. Case example; (no pun intended)
price of a regular GW case in aus -$96
price of the same thing in us - $57

What the hell GW!
In any case here is the message to re-post all over the web, may our voices of outrage be heard

To Games Workshop,

Why? No seriously, why? I'm sure the excuse of cutting off Australasia and other countries (Canada, India, Korea, South American countries, etc.) to benefit the independent and GW store sales in Australia sounded good but unless you cut the prices here to not be a ridiculous 200% higher price than overseas, it's not going to happen. Let's look at this logically. You've stopped us from buying from stores like Maelstrom and Wayland with an embargo agreement in your Terms and Conditions (remember globalisation? how's that going btw?). Does this mean we are going to now buy at RRP in Australia or other countries? No.



There are other outlets overseas we can buy from which are still much cheaper (hi America), other companies which you cannot touch without raising a helluva lot of crap (hi ebay) and people who are willing to ship to us overseas (hello family and friends) without the 200% tax. We won't be getting as huge a discount as before but it's much better than buying here at RRP. The other option is of course going to be quitting which I imagine some people are going to do. Check out this thread on WargamerAU where a lot of people are indicating they are. The ultimate bottom line? Your bottom line suffers (more people leaving) and the retailers in Australia do not benefit.

Now I'm all for one in supporting the locals. I buy all my products such as spray paint, paints, plasticard, magnets, drills + bits, modelling putty, brushes, etc. from Australia. As an aside, do you actually stock good quality merchandise for all of those options? I don't see you selling plasticard, magnets, good sized drillbits, custom bases, etc. I'd be happy to pay a 5-10% premium on these objects compared to other stores to support your business but then again, I don't really want to support your business currently do I? The point of any business is to make a profit but the problem with your business model is you do not do this whilst concurrently supporting your customer base. We don't ask for much but a short list would look like...
  • not raising prices every year, without fail, regardless of the economic situation or inflation rates
  • basing prices around the world upon exchange rates (I wouldn't be averse to paying 20% more in Australia compared to the UK or America locally but I am adverse to paying twice as much) - there are circumstances in each country that make operating there more or less expensive but you need a base retail price for your product which is then translated by exchange rates at a given time (i.e. quarterly) rather than a price set many, many years ago. It's part of being in a global market.
  • regular and quick FAQs - you've done a fantastic job IMO of creating some pretty balanced books for 5th edition, fix the grey areas quickly.
  • official erratas - man up and admit you've made mistakes (hi Tyranids) and work on erratas that are official and re-print the books with these amendments. Admitting a mistake and fixing it isn't a problem and I'd applaud you for it. Ignoring a problem is.
  • fix Fantasy - you did it with 40k, why go backwards with Fantasy?
  • don't think your customer base is moronic - the resin re-cast to be cheaper than metals whilst hiking prices, not fooling anyone.
Ultimately people in Australia and other countries go overseas for their Games Workshop products for a reason: it's significantly cheaper (I.e. half price). What motivation is there to therefore buy from our locals when you aren't treating your customers with loyalty and support? People will walk away and your bottom line will hurt. A simple solution: care about your customers. Change the Australian (and other countries) prices so they are at least similar to the UK and US. This doesn't have to be the exact same price but some parity would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a quick example. If you could buy a similar product for $45 compared to $150, what would you do? How about if the product was the exact same but if you ordered it overseas it was $80 compared to $150 by the time it reached your door step? I'm pretty sure you'd want to take the cheaper option correct? For you as a company, you make your profit margin through the reseller regardless of where it is purchased. You may make more money off a direct sale at an Australian store compared to an Internet sale from the UK but you have already achieved the profit margin from the Internet sale already. The Australian stores may be hurting but this is down to the initial price you have set, not market trends. Simply put, you are alienating customers from a large and developing market.

I and many of the readers here obviously enjoy your game. We've played it through thick and thin (4th edition...) or come back thanks to an improvement game balance (5th edition) and don't want to leave. We will though sooner or later if you keep piling on idiotic choices on us. Other companies like Privateer Press did very well in the early to mid-2000s for a reason and people will migrate to other gaming systems if you continue to mistreat them and their loyalty.

As it stands I question why you do the things you do. Raising prices every year annoys me but I cannot complain too loudly as your products are a luxury item but you do not provide excellent customer service one usually expects with such goods. I certainly find minimal fault with your staff or when your product is damaged/faulty but your overarching business model seems counter-intuitive to maintaining a customer base. Even if you are getting a large amount of new customers imagine how much better off your company would be if you had maintained a significant portion of your repeat customers. The model you are running currently to me does not seem sustainable as your turnover rate in customers is just too high. I applaud your efforts in making 40k 5th edition a more competitive game but what you've done to Fantasy 8th edition doesn't bode well for the future.

Please, look to satisfy both the shareholders and the customer rather than just the former.

Kirby.

P.S. Anyone who agrees with this, I would greatly appreciate this being re-posted on your blog so we might actually garner GW's attention and hopefully move forward together. That is the ultimate goal, I want Games Workshop to succeed as a company so I can continue to enjoy the gaming systems I do but to do that, Games Workshop must look at altering their business model in the long run to maintain a steady customer base.

P.P.S. keep it civil in the comments kids and don't bitch, discuss.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Fallen Angels

For an upcoming party we will be playing some Killzone games. This is the list ive decided to use and I am hopeful it will work well. I will be facing all the people i have mentioned in my previous post about the bucks party.
Any comments are welcome and tips are appreciated. If Avetine is watching i'd leave to get some feedback on my fluff.
 
 
Fallen Angels – 250pts
 
Cypher – 50pts
Cyphers is The Fallen Angel. He is an un-knowable man who rarely speaks, except through his actions. He carries, but never uses, the Lion Sword which belonged to the primarch of the Dark Angels, Lion’el Johnson. He has assembled a small force of fallen angels over the period of several years and has now come to the Sheddus V sector, but for what purpose nobody knows.
Wargear:
Bolt Pistol
Combi-plas
Refractor Field
 
Skills:
Blade Master
 
Israfil – 41pts
Israfil is a headstrong astartes who frequently gets himself into dangerous situations. He uses his auspex to scan an area before blasting any concentrations of enemies. His name means judgement and frequently he is seen killing lesser allies for not upholding Cypher’s cause. He does not fear the Dark Angels which hunt him, for his goal is to judge each one of them for their betrayal.
Wargear:
Bolt Pistol
Plasma Gun
Auspex
 
Cassiel: – 36pts
Cassiel’s name means solitude, which is where he spends most of his time. He fights with Cypher and his brothers but when battle is not taking place he remains alone, in contemplation of the past. Of all the fallen in Cypher’s group he shows the most sadness for the things lost to the past. When he is “socializing” with the other members of the group he is frequently scalded by Hamael for having an impractical view on life.
Wargear:
Heavy Bolter fitted with Suspensors
 
Galgaliel – 45pts
Nothing stands in Galgaliels way. With his power fist he destroys man and structure alike without even breaking a sweat. He was coined by Israfil as the “remover of barriers” because of how he acts. He is selflessly devoted to Cypher’s cause because he knows that Cypher will redeem his name and he will be able to return to service with his brothers.
Wargear:
Bolt Pistol
Power Fist
 
Hamael – 26pts
When a problem needs solving the team turns to Hamael. He is a practical thinker and can determine the best course of action in any given situation. In the past he has helped get the group out of many dire situations including when they were pinned down by a land raider crusader on Juvian VIII.
Wargear:
Bolt Pistol
Bolter with Penetrator rounds
 
Munkir and Nukir – 52pts
A rare sight to behold these fallen angels were brothers before they were inducted into the Dark Angles chapter and after the fall woke up together and able to remember each other. They are justice incarnate and between them know right from wrong and what to do with those who choose to do evil. They are never far apart and often annoy Cassiel with their bickering.
Wargear:
Bolt Pistol
Bolter with Penetrator rounds

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Wargamming slump

So I havent posted anything for a while. Mainly because i haven't done anything for a while. My LOTR starter arrived yesterday which I was glad to rip into. Unfortunately I mean that literally,  I allready have torn one of the pages from the rulebook accidently >.>

I found after going to a mates place that he had a shoebox full of LOTR stuff someone had given him, so after squandering through i found another 24 goblins for my force and the goblin king. Im still going to buy the paint set and a goblin shaman  to add but so far im happy at about 415pts.

Other then that its been pretty busy at home and at work and as such i haven't gotten anything done. There is a light at the end of this tunnel though! in 2 weeks time me and 5 or 6 mates will be having a huge warhammer weekend in a shed for my bucks party. Needless to say im not sad enough to just be standing around a table for the party, but lets leave that off the interwebz, hey :)

The runners are
Stewnor - Space wolves/Daemons
Dustbag- Eldar/Grey Knights
Ramsay - Space Marines
Christafairy - Necrons
Aretokas - whatever he borrows
and I'll be bringing the pain with my bugs and dark angels.

Ill get some piccies to put up here after then event to show ya'll what we played and such, I might even get time to put up some scenarios today.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

More......

A strange thing has occured at the local GW, simaltaneously many people have picked up LOTR and decided to play it. While at first I looked at them in a strange way, I am now drawn to it aswell. It so much smaller and seems a bit more relaxing then 40k. War of the ring is a bit much for me at this point. But for $46 (Us Aussies are lucky enough to pay heaps more for our GW goodness) for a box of dudes and $22 for a captain of whatever, your set to go. You can play at that small of a scale.

Thats why I feel its a more relaxing game; you dont have to focus on as much, you dont have to worry about squads or anything, and its much more based on dice rolls.

If Warmachine/Hordes had ANY following on the sunshine coast i might have picked it up aswell, but for now its LOTR and I'm going to start my army off with the starter set for 24 goblins and a troll, starter paint set for another 12 goblins and the how-to-paint goblins, and just a goblin shaman or something.

Should be fun!