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View Full Version : GW Bails on Warhammer...again.



Steinkügeln
2008-01-29, 07:33 PM
Games Workshop is cutting out Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay...again.

Even though Dark Hersey sold out in a day, and the RPG's are making a profit the last roleplaying book will be released this year.

The Black Industries website says they are going to concentrate on their (crappy) Warhammer world novels. Of course who is going to want the read mediocre writing about a game world when there's no game?

I know I won't.

SK

Prophaniti
2008-01-29, 07:55 PM
That's quite a shame. I really enjoyed the old copy we have of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I actually like the careers system better than the class system in d20. I'm totally excited for Dark Heresy and I think it would be cool if they did a good new edition of the Fantasy Roleplay as well...

I don't think I'm really angry about it, just disappointed.

Shhalahr Windrider
2008-01-29, 08:07 PM
The Black Industries website says they are going to concentrate on their (crappy) Warhammer world novels. Of course who is going to want the read mediocre writing about a game world when there's no game?
Oh, I'm sure it'll sell a couple of copies. :smallwink:

I know nothing of Warhammer in any incarnation, but this definitely sounds like a boneheaded move to me.

Ominous
2008-01-29, 09:09 PM
As I stated in the other thread that mentioned this, this really pisses me off. WFRG was one of my favorite systems and settings.

Mr._Blinky
2008-01-29, 09:38 PM
Really, I'm not surprised. GW puts out some truly outstanding products, but anybody in their company on the economics side of things seems to be a true idiot. Honestly, this is just the latest in a long list of things, among the most obvious being things such as pricing so restrictive that I'm sure they're actually making far less money than they could be. GWs line of thinking when something doesn't make x amount of money is to A) Jack up the pricing, B) Come up with some kind of a "new" game to boost sales (i.e. WH 40K Apocalypse), or C) Discontinue the product all together.

They're almost as bad as the people who run Fox's programming.:smallannoyed:

Steinkügeln
2008-01-29, 10:05 PM
They really got people jacked on Dark Heresy and the book is beautiful, but as people have mentioned elsewhere, its' really about one-third of an RPG.

I just recently got excited about WFRP again because we started playing one of the 2.0 campaigns. (Prophanti, you know that they released WFRP2.0 not too long ago right?).

There are so many city books and world stuff (Dwarves/Elves to name a couple biggies) that they never got to. I don't see why they'd put out Dark Hersey and then immediately say "that's it...sorry..." And knowing GW they will either not license the games to anyone else, or they will charge an enormous amount of money then micro-manage the thing out of existence. (You know, like waiting for 20 years to get Realms of Sorcery for First Edition).

It's such a great world, and such a great system, and it GW makes what they make off of their miniatures I suppose and that's that. Maybe when nobody is buying their incredibly mediocre novels, they'll have to publish WFRP again to get out of the red.

SK

horseboy
2008-01-29, 10:36 PM
IDK. I'd think the odds pretty high they'd just hand it over to Jervis at Fanatic. That's what they do with everything else that's cool, but they're bored with playing.

SurlySeraph
2008-01-29, 10:41 PM
Really, I'm not surprised. GW puts out some truly outstanding products, but anybody in their company on the economics side of things seems to be a true idiot. Honestly, this is just the latest in a long list of things, among the most obvious being things such as pricing so restrictive that I'm sure they're actually making far less money than they could be. GWs line of thinking when something doesn't make x amount of money is to A) Jack up the pricing, B) Come up with some kind of a "new" game to boost sales (i.e. WH 40K Apocalypse), or C) Discontinue the product all together.

The miniatures! Those damn, precious, incredibly expensive miniatures!

I love the WH40K universe, but I'd need to shell out hundreds of dollars t get a decent army for a game. They would get so many new players if they would just sell the damn things for a sane price! [/rant]

Tengu
2008-01-29, 10:58 PM
Damn, again? I still remember how disappointed was I when they discontinued the first edition... I don't like that system that much now, but it was my first roleplaying game so I'll look at it with fondness.

Fhaolan
2008-01-29, 11:04 PM
Games Workshop, like most RPG companies, hasn't been doing so well for the last little while. At least, it doesn't look like they are over here in Washington state at least. I've been noticing the GW stores in the area moving into smaller (read: cheaper) accomodations, reducing stock to the best-sellers, reducing their in-store playing space, etc. And since GW seems to sell the majority of it's stuff through it's own stores, if the stores don't want to carry the stuff, GW will stop publishing it.

Not really that surprising as game stores in general aren't doing so well. Redmond, Washington has gone from four or five gaming stores to one that I know of. I can't find any in Monroe, which is closer to where I live.

Specialty gaming stores like the GW stores have to be getting hit even harder. How's the market over in England?

Matthew
2008-01-29, 11:24 PM
I know some of the smaller stores over here have stopped getting new D20 stock in until the future is clearer. There are two games stores literally within a stone's throw of one another in Newcastle, but they belong to larger franchises (Forbidden Planet, Travelling Man). I haven't been to the Games Workshop store in years, but I passed by this Christmas and it looked pretty much the same as ever, having always been a small establishment. Games Workshop's fortunes have been dipping ever since the last LotR's film came out, and the spectre of a world wide economic slow down has no doubt given them pause for thought.

Steinkügeln
2008-01-29, 11:54 PM
According to a poster on the Black Industries forum, Games Workshop was a couple hundred thousand pounds in the red on 50+million pounds of revenue. At this time last year they were a few hundred thousand pounds profitable. But the roleplaying books are all making money and profitable! The other parts of their company are losing money, but who do you think gets cut?

I've had one effed up week, and this is sure a topper. Maybe I oughta go buy a lottery ticket or something, I'm due.

thorgrim29
2008-01-30, 12:09 AM
Meh. I'm blazé with GW since the new orc book came out, no idioty they do can anger me anymore (well, almost no, the HE book pissed me off), I now just hope those morons at Nottingham die in a plane crash or something and talented people pick up the company, hell with 2 years of pre-college admin classes I could probably solve a lot of their problems.

Fhaolan
2008-01-30, 12:43 AM
I liked the old 40K Ork books, like Waagh da Orks, 'Ere we go and Freebooterz. Never did like any of the stuff that came after those. They showed a sense of humor that slowly got leached away with each edition.

Swordguy
2008-01-30, 12:47 AM
I liked the old 40K Ork books, like Waagh da Orks, 'Ere we go and Freebooterz. Never did like any of the stuff that came after those. They showed a sense of humor that slowly got leached away with each edition.

"No ma'am, we at Games Workshop do not have a sense of humor we are aware of."

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n294/wolffe42/039_26265Tommy-Lee-Jones-Will-Smith.jpg

horseboy
2008-01-30, 02:20 AM
You know, I really do wish game companies would get over themselves and realize that they're making toys. It's okay for them to be funny,

Artanis
2008-01-30, 02:31 AM
The miniatures! Those damn, precious, incredibly expensive miniatures!

I love the WH40K universe, but I'd need to shell out hundreds of dollars t get a decent army for a game. They would get so many new players if they would just sell the damn things for a sane price! [/rant]
<--- Case in point.

Warhammer and WH40K look like really neat games...really neat games that are MtG on CRACK. MtG is expensive as hell to do much anything with, but at least you can play at all for ten or fifteen bucks. A WH40K army costs what, $150 for a 500-point army?

mostlyharmful
2008-01-30, 03:48 AM
<--- Case in point.

Warhammer and WH40K look like really neat games...really neat games that are MtG on CRACK. MtG is expensive as hell to do much anything with, but at least you can play at all for ten or fifteen bucks. A WH40K army costs what, $150 for a 500-point army?

Ah, to live in the states where minitures are ridiculously cheap....:smallfurious:

And yes, this is anouther in their nearly unbroken string of "small child attention" span based marketing decisions.

Dhavaer
2008-01-30, 03:59 AM
The miniatures! Those damn, precious, incredibly expensive miniatures!

I love the WH40K universe, but I'd need to shell out hundreds of dollars t get a decent army for a game. They would get so many new players if they would just sell the damn things for a sane price! [/rant]

I've heard minis are more expensive in the US than Oz, despite GW having a manufacturing plant there. How much is it for a box of, say, skeletons?

GutterRunner
2008-01-30, 05:15 AM
From a quick look on the online store it seems to be £18 for the old-ish style 16-20 figure regiment boxes, but new plastics seem to be sold in boxes of 10 figures for £12.

When I used to play ( around 4 years ago now I think ), an estimate of 500 pts for £50 seemed to work for Warhammer. Thinking of getting back into it, considering I own all the skaven I'll ever reasonably need.

Stephen_E
2008-01-30, 05:40 AM
I thought Warhammer fantasy RPG was been supported by another company other than GW. GW leased the contract out to some 3rd party.

Stephen

Leon
2008-01-30, 06:05 AM
Games Workshop, like most RPG companies, hasn't been doing so well for the last little while.

RPG isn't their main point, Table top Wargames is.
But none the less they have been waning

Hazkali
2008-01-30, 06:36 AM
When I used to play ( around 4 years ago now I think ), an estimate of 500 pts for £50 seemed to work for Warhammer.

It's shocking just how much the prices have gone up. When I started in about '98, you could work on the assumption of about £1/10 points, or less if you bought things like cannons which had a better price/point ratio.

Case and point are the new skeleton warriors against the old skeleton warriors; when I started you were looking at £12 (I think) for a box of 20 - 60p each. Then they upped the price to £15, then to £18, which works out at 90p each. The latest boxed set sells for £12 for 10- £1.20 a piece. In about 10 years, the prices have doubled. :smallmad:

And don't get me started on the miniatures themselves. I have bought cheaper miniatures that were generally better cast, and since the arrival of 7th Edition Warhammer and 4th Edition 40K, they seem to have tried to make the miniatures so crammed with details that they seem bent under the weight of their own poor composition. In many ways, I prefer the old miniatures from the 80s to the new ones.

horseboy
2008-01-30, 11:21 AM
I thought Warhammer fantasy RPG was been supported by another company other than GW. GW leased the contract out to some 3rd party.
Stephen
Hog's Head? They took it back from them like oh, three, four years ago.

Steinkügeln
2008-01-30, 02:58 PM
He might've been referring to Green Ronin, who did most of the redesigning and writing for the Warhammer 2nd Edition stuff since 2005. Their contract expired, and their 1000 Thrones campaign will supposedly be the last WFRP product.

Though GR handled the writing/design, Black Industries/Black Publishing, a division of GW did the Publishing.

A lot of people wish that Green Ronin could just carry the torch, but Games Workshop is always dis-interested enough to cease publishing, but not enough to keep from micromanaging other companies to death (like Hogshead).

Ah well.

Stephen_E
2008-01-30, 04:31 PM
He might've been referring to Green Ronin, who did most of the redesigning and writing for the Warhammer 2nd Edition stuff since 2005. Their contract expired, and their 1000 Thrones campaign will supposedly be the last WFRP product.

Though GR handled the writing/design, Black Industries/Black Publishing, a division of GW did the Publishing.

A lot of people wish that Green Ronin could just carry the torch, but Games Workshop is always dis-interested enough to cease publishing, but not enough to keep from micromanaging other companies to death (like Hogshead).

Ah well.

Yes, GR is what I was thinking of.

Unbelievable. You have a 3rd party willing to pay you to do the job and you'd rather close it down. But then GW has always hated any product that doesn't require the constant buying of significant mini figures. That's why they've always treated Bloodbowl so shabbily.

Stephen

Swordguy
2008-01-30, 05:29 PM
Yes, GR is what I was thinking of.

Unbelievable. You have a 3rd party willing to pay you to do the job and you'd rather close it down. But then GW has always hated any product that doesn't require the constant buying of significant mini figures. That's why they've always treated Bloodbowl so shabbily.

Stephen

Not to mention Necromunda, Mordehim, Battlefleet Gothic, Warmaster, Epic 40K, Rogue Trader, LotR...

Crazy_Uncle_Doug
2008-01-30, 07:50 PM
Ah. Warhammer gaming never changes. It's one of my favorite RPGs that constantly gets creamed by Critical Hits.

I just hope the system has a a Fate Point or two left to use.

SmartAlec
2008-02-01, 02:20 PM
That's why they've always treated Bloodbowl so shabbily.

Stephen

I was actually working on the shop floors of the company when there was a big Blood Bowl revival in... 2003? 2004? Something like that.

Anyhow, every third person, it seemed, used to walk into our store back then and ask, "When are you guys gonna bring back Blood Bowl?"

And we did!

And when those people came back, we said, "Look! It's back! We brought back Blood Bowl!" Boxed set and everything.

"Hurray!" They replied.

"So, are you going to buy it?"

"No, I already own it."

We did our best to get other people interested in it, but no-one ever really came to Blood Bowl nights. Why should they? They were having enough fun playing at home - or they'd put it aside. Hate to say it, man, but the smaller games are just that, small. But perfectly formed.

As to the whole get-'em-young strategies, the company hasn't really done that kind of thing excessively since 2001 and the Year of the Yellow Rat, when Pokemon arrived. When I was a staff member, there was a discreet ban on selling anything to anyone under 12, and anyone between 12-15 was treated with kid gloves as far as the salesmanship went. We'd give 'em a few pointers, show them how to get started in some small way, and if we could, we'd tell them and the parents what this was all about. Sometimes, of course, there were the rare exceptions. The kid prodigies who could kick ass at 14. They were fine. But, in general, recruiting kids cold stopped being company policy by the end of 2001.

I believe you can still visit the blackened bones of the sales manager in charge of said policies back then, if you have permission from the current sales manager. He's kept in an alcove hidden behind the Tyranid cabinet in the company museum.

Crazy_Uncle_Doug
2008-02-01, 03:51 PM
I can see that. Blood Bowl was a fun game, and I bought the first and second iterations of that game. However, spending on that is limited. It's a simple game, and my spending on it was less than my spending on RPGs (which produce new material every 1-3 months), and much less than it would be if I played the mini-lines (which I haven't, as getting into that game can be prohibitively expensive. Plus, I wouldn't play 40k as there are no dwarves). I bought two teams, both editions I had (a Skaven team 1st, and a Wood Elf team 2nd). But I didn't see a need to buy more teams. If my friends wanted to play, they bought their own teams. It's been a while, and if it were re-released, I might buy it again, but once more, my spending on it will be limited.

Other games, like Talisman, will also be limited. Unlike many boardgames which tend to have more-or-less universal appeal, Talisman tends to appeal to a smaller niche group. That group has been growing as years pass, but it's still a niche that overlaps the RPG and Minis groups. Were I a game developer, I'd most likely spend more time developing the lines that are more likely to produce regular returns, than produce one-time games that produce lesser returns, and may even take from my other lines.

Business logic is a harsh mistress. They have to make decisions where the results of which could be months, often years later from when the decision is made. In the immediate term, we will be upset that one of our favorites is yet again getting the axe, but in the long term, who knows? WFRP, though never in regular release like DND, has remained in the gaming community for the past 20 years. This is more or less normal pattern, and it's likely that we will see it again in one form or another.

Stephen_E
2008-02-01, 04:59 PM
I know you'll not sell a lot on Bloodbowl, but supporting it is also quite cheap. I don't expect high level support, but IME things like BB leagues were alway run by other game shops (successfully). I don't expect GW to poor much resources into it, but the complete cold shoulder it generally gets from GW is self defeating. The result was a BB community that has little love for GW and has become seperated from GW such that loyalty to the game doesn't have any transfer to GW.

Stephen

horseboy
2008-02-01, 05:01 PM
Not to mention the rule books for Bloodbowl are free. All you've got to buy would be a team and the "special" dice. It's not like both of you need a mat.

Crazy_Uncle_Doug
2008-02-01, 05:38 PM
I know you'll not sell a lot on Bloodbowl, but supporting it is also quite cheap. I don't expect high level support, but IME things like BB leagues were alway run by other game shops (successfully). I don't expect GW to poor much resources into it, but the complete cold shoulder it generally gets from GW is self defeating. The result was a BB community that has little love for GW and has become seperated from GW such that loyalty to the game doesn't have any transfer to GW.

Stephen

I think SA's comment before mine was more to the lines that though there was stated demand for the product, when made available, there wasn't any demand at all. It's one thing to offer a little support for a product and see it selling well, it's another thing to offer a little support for a product and see little of it sell at all. GW would have to produce a certain amount to make its manufacture worthwhile, and if the amount sold isn't profitable, then they won't continue that product. If retailers are reluctant to put more Blood Bowl products on the shelves because the rest of their Blood Bowl stuff isn't selling, GW is not going to continue to make that product line.

Mr._Blinky
2008-02-01, 07:09 PM
It's shocking just how much the prices have gone up. When I started in about '98, you could work on the assumption of about £1/10 points, or less if you bought things like cannons which had a better price/point ratio.

Case and point are the new skeleton warriors against the old skeleton warriors; when I started you were looking at £12 (I think) for a box of 20 - 60p each. Then they upped the price to £15, then to £18, which works out at 90p each. The latest boxed set sells for £12 for 10- £1.20 a piece. In about 10 years, the prices have doubled. :smallmad:

And don't get me started on the miniatures themselves. I have bought cheaper miniatures that were generally better cast, and since the arrival of 7th Edition Warhammer and 4th Edition 40K, they seem to have tried to make the miniatures so crammed with details that they seem bent under the weight of their own poor composition. In many ways, I prefer the old miniatures from the 80s to the new ones.

See, this is exactly the kind of crap I'm talking about. They have to have an idiot running their marketing department, because even I could think of a better strategy. If you're loosing sales, you don't jack prices up, you drop them down. Simple business logic, and something that any high-schooler could tell you.

Take me for instance. I buy a squad once every three months, because they're so expensive. If they halved the price, I'd probably buy three times as many minis. Hell, I'd probably already be on my second army by now. Now sure, I'm probably not typical, but the number of people I've talked to who would collect if not for the price is about five times as many as the people who do collect already! Yes, I know that the molds aren't cheap, but at some point you've got to realize you're selling dinky little pieces of plastic for $3 a pop! What idiot ever thought that was a good idea?[/rant]

Demented
2008-02-01, 07:27 PM
What if they kept the price, but made them pewter figurines?

Mr._Blinky
2008-02-01, 07:44 PM
What if they kept the price, but made them pewter figurines?

Why would that help? Nobody really cares what they're made of, so long as they're durable and can be played with. If you make them out of pewter, it jacks up the price without being conducive to gaming. I suppose people who collect them just to paint and build them would be fine with it, but on the other hand I'm sure they'd like a price cut as much as anyone. Really, they could be made out of pink putty for all I care so long as they're durable, sculpted at least decently, and were cheaper. Honestly, it's like $3 for a 10 cent piece of plastic.

horseboy
2008-02-01, 07:51 PM
What if they kept the price, but made them pewter figurines?
Pewter figurines are illegal, it contains lead, and you haven't been able to buy "lead soldiers" since '92ish.
The metal minis are a LOT harder to convert. That's one of the main selling points of the plastics. They're a lot easier to model.

Hunter Noventa
2008-02-01, 08:07 PM
Pewter figurines are illegal, it contains lead, and you haven't been able to buy "lead soldiers" since '92ish.
The metal minis are a LOT harder to convert. That's one of the main selling points of the plastics. They're a lot easier to model.

Then why is the local game store wall covered in blister packs with really irritating to put together metal figurines?

horseboy
2008-02-01, 08:10 PM
Then why is the local game store wall covered in blister packs with really irritating to put together metal figurines?
Because that's no longer pewter.

Mr._Blinky
2008-02-01, 08:36 PM
Then why is the local game store wall covered in blister packs with really irritating to put together metal figurines?
Because of the aforementioned stupidity of GW.

Good products, crappy business.

Rutee
2008-02-01, 08:53 PM
Because of the aforementioned stupidity of GW.

Good products, crappy business.

Is that seriously the only reason they bailed on a product that sold out on day one?

Azerian Kelimon
2008-02-01, 08:56 PM
That or they don't want a 40K RPG to help settle the disputes in the Media forum.

Bastards.

comicshorse
2008-02-01, 09:09 PM
Is that seriously the only reason they bailed on a product that sold out on day one?

BI said it was because there is a higher profit margin on the straight fiction.

Darrin
2008-02-01, 11:29 PM
BI said it was because there is a higher profit margin on the straight fiction.

And, you know, when one of your flagship products sells out in six minutes... that means it just wasn't selling fast enough.

Rutee
2008-02-01, 11:36 PM
BI said it was because there is a higher profit margin on the straight fiction.

...This is a company run by monkeys! You don't use the same people to write an RPG that you would fiction!

SmartAlec
2008-02-01, 11:50 PM
One thing to bear in mind.

Every department in Games Workshop is behind schedule.

Every one.

When I worked there, I think Design was... about 6 months behind Sales's release schedule. Consistently. And it showed.

The thing is, GW is a lot of umbrella companies under one roof. As an example, the company that makes the games and produces the figures is not the same as the company that sells them. GW Sales buy the minatures and game designs from GW Design, and produce them. The Black Library, Fanatic, Warhammer Historical, Forge World, even Warhammer Music are all seperate companies owned by a parent company. TGD Limited? Something like that.

(Edit: This is why I got into the habit of referring to GW as a whole as 'The Company'.)

As an excellent example of how this works, there's a famous company anecdote about how Sales actually refused to buy the first attempt at the Chaos Defiler, because it sucked. It forced Design to come up with the version that's available now. But that took another 2 months.

Design aren't usually that picky, so it must have really sucked. Chances are, any borderline-sucky miniatures on the shelves are a result of a rush-job as Design scrambles to meet their deadlines. (Captain Cortez, I'm looking at you.)

Anyway - So the thing about the Black Library is, yes, they were using the same people to write the RPG as they were for writing the fiction, 'cos that's all they have. And someone somewhere must have looked at the board and thought, "Yikes, either we produce 12 novels this year, or we produce 2 RPG supplements." Can't borrow people from Design to help out, not too much - because they're all behind schedule and overworked as is. And with the BL also being behind schedule...

Frankly, I'm amazed. I think it's a freaking miracle this RPG got released at all.

horseboy
2008-02-02, 12:20 AM
Anyway - So the thing about the Black Library is, yes, they were using the same people to write the RPG as they were for writing the fiction, 'cos that's all they have. And someone somewhere must have looked at the board and thought, "Yikes, either we produce 12 novels this year, or we produce 2 RPG supplements." Can't borrow people from Design to help out, not too much - because they're all behind schedule and overworked as is. And with the BL also being behind schedule...

Frankly, I'm amazed. I think it's a freaking miracle this RPG got released at all.

:smallconfused: BL has writers other than Abnett? I mean, I know the joke is BL is actually 11 clones of Abnett and Abnett, but wow, Now I definitely am going to have to get a copy of this.

Steinkügeln
2008-02-02, 03:43 AM
If "the company" would pass the torch to Green Ronin or something, they could make everyone happy, but as we know from history, they either refuse to license altogether or micromanage stuff out of existence. (I'll never forget how excited I was that Realms of Sorcery was "coming soon" back in 87 or so, hehe)

I just don't think people are going to buy the novels in nearly the same numbers now that the game is being shut down again. They will just dig a bigger hole.

The LOTR stuff was bound to taper off. Maybe the Hobbit films that are coming out will give them a boost, but they should know it's going to be temporary and plan for it.

bosssmiley
2008-02-02, 09:05 AM
If "the company" would pass the torch to Green Ronin or something, they could make everyone happy, but as we know from history, they either refuse to license altogether or micromanage stuff out of existence. (I'll never forget how excited I was that Realms of Sorcery was "coming soon" back in 87 or so, hehe)

Yep, and it was eventually released about the time GW took the licence back from Hogshead. And it pretty much sucked... :smallannoyed:

I can see the business logic of GW discontinuing their RPGs. Same as it was the last two times they put a stungun to WFRP's head and pulled the trigger:

"People can play this game with just the book and a couple of old miniatures, or with cardboard cut-outs like we used to include in the games, or (*horrors*) with other companies models. This cuts into our primary source of revenue: WH40K minis sales. This is not a good thing for us..."

Sure, WFRP *could* have taken the WOTC route and gone for a 'minis battle game-minis skirmish game-RPG' continuum, but why should they bother? Just cut off the least profitable areas and job done.

comicshorse
2008-02-02, 10:14 AM
The LOTR stuff was bound to taper off

Actually I think the LOTR stuff has been a huge loss maker for GW and is part of the reason they are cutting stuff back in order to minimize expenses


This is a company run by monkeys! You don't use the same people to write an RPG that you would fiction!

Well no arguments about the first bit, but you may not use the same people but you do use the same printers. And if one product shows a bigger profit than another what do you use the printers time for ?

Selrahc
2008-02-02, 01:31 PM
Actually I think the LOTR stuff has been a huge loss maker for GW and is part of the reason they are cutting stuff back in order to minimize expenses

As far as I know* they got some kind of horrible horrible deal with Lord of the Rings. Initially they made money, but now there is little demand and they are legally obligated to keep producing figures, to give those figures shelf space, and to keep doing it for another 5 years.

Oh, and for some reason the contract has a kick in the teeth for gamers, in that the scale of the models had to be different from Warhammer and 40K. Just so that people couldn't use bits from other systems to represent or replace LoTRs models. Which seems to ignore the large crossover market that could be gained if they were the same scale, as people could take Lord of the Rings models, and use them to convert 40k or Fantasy models.

The whole thing seems like a really bad deal for Games Workshop. Not that they really deserve nice things to happen to them, but it might have given them a bigger surplus to finance the RPG books if they could stop the insane comitment ro LoTRs.

*Also known as "I can't remember where I heard this, so take it with a pinch of salt"

Artanis
2008-02-02, 01:39 PM
In about 10 years, the prices have doubled. :smallmad:
Doubling in ten years is actually pretty close to the rate of inflation (or is in the US, at any rate). That just means that if prices are absurd now - which they are - then they were absurd a decade ago too :smallfrown: