DukeLeto69 Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 In my opinion it does seem as though GW and BL have got their mojo back. 2016 has been the best year for GW/BL for quite while. I can only assume this is because (for the most part) that GW has a new(ish) CEO and finally hired a Marketing Director who are taking the company in a better direction. I cannot really talk about the gaming side with much authority as I have not played a game or bought a model in over 20 years. I am a fluff/lore junkie who has stayed in touch (and remained an active large spending customer) through an avid consumption of BL books, codices, rule books (for the fluff content) and Forgeworld books. However, on the GW side we have seen the company finally re-engaging with the community and getting back into the tournament scene. Getting active on social media. Releasing fanboy dream codices such as Harlequins, Skitarii, Deathwatch, Genestealer Cults and soon Traitor Legions and Imperial Agents. That has got to be seen as positive and exciting? In terms of BL it appears that they are once again being allowed to pursue being a publishing house as opposed to JUST being a marketing arm for the GW product. The Beast Arises series was a great experiment with sequential series and I really hope it was successful and they do more of these to flesh out key entries in the full 10k years of the timeline between HH and 40k. The HH releases have been so much better in the last year starting with Pharos (according to reviews, I only buy these in MMPB so eagerly waiting to catch up). We also have the return of the "coming soon" section...a key marketing tool that is generating much excitement and debate amongst fans. The fact that we will be getting what I would expect to be more mature books dealing with more mature themes that are not purely bolter porn is really exciting. Inquisition stories coming from two authors! The superb (and I do mean really superb) Genestealer Cult novel by Peter Ferhavari really ploughed a more mature writing style and tone. Only mistake there was to brand it a Legends of the Dark Millennium book and clear tie in to the codex...it undersells it's brilliance. It appears to me that GW have realised that by diversifying their products to cater for different audiences, they can extend their reach and maintain sales with customer groups who might normally migrate away from their offer. IT IS LIKE THEY HAVE FINALLY REALISED THAT WE ARE NOT ALL TEENAGE BOYS! GW definitely need to grow a new customer base BUT they must also ensure they nurture and maintain their existing customer base. I can't remember the exact figure but a well known marketing truism is that it costs something like 10 times as much to win a new customer as it does to keep an existing customer. You also generate more income per head from existing customers than new...but you need to know how to cross sell and up sell to that group by providing products they want to buy. Not everyone wants to play with toy soldiers. The biggest asset GW actually has is the incredibly rich IP that keeps people like me as a customer, not the cool kits that a I will never again buy. To keep people like me they need to provide books rich in lore and written in a more mature way with more complex mature themes. I do believe GW/BL have woken up to this which is great and very encouraging. I do wonder (as a non gamer these days) whether GW should go down the route of splitting W40k into Basic rules (simplified to allow for quick and easy gaming and newcomers) and Advanced rules (to include all those expansions such as Stronghold or Death From The Skies etc) for the more experienced gamers and tournament scene? Anyway, I wonder what others think? Has GW and specifically BL turned a corner and are they getting their mojo back? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronDrake28 Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 I think GW proper has turned around significantly, but as for BL I don't really read a lot of novels. From frequenting this section of the B&C to read discussions I get the feeling novels lately haven't been handled the best, like with The Beast Arises series. But again, I just lurk mostly so I may be wrong. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4574830 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyriks Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 It sounds like the problems with TBA were borne out of the fact that it was a really ambitious move by an editing team with little experience doing things like that. People seemed to have good responses to each individual book, just the way they interact was not that coherent. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4574852 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkChaplain Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 TBA suffered a lot from having been started many years ago, been put on ice, and then changed over the course of its run due to various reasons, and the schedule proving a nightmare for that. Books had to be written parallel and then didn't match up so well. In general though, it was a pretty good series with problems, but still an enjoyable ride. I think GW proper has turned around significantly, but as for BL I don't really read a lot of novels. From frequenting this section of the B&C to read discussions I get the feeling novels lately haven't been handled the best, like with The Beast Arises series. But again, I just lurk mostly so I may be wrong. They actually released some of the best books in 10 years this past year since turning things around. Authors are free to pitch fresh ideas again, the glorified marketing feel is a thing of the past again, the Horus Heresy has been consistently good all of 2016, and they're publishing more Fehervari stories like Genestealer Cults. HECK, they're even selling their ebooks on Amazon for Kindle now! Something they have always adamantly refused doing. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4574870 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 TBA suffered a lot from having been started many years ago, been put on ice, and then changed over the course of its run due to various reasons, and the schedule proving a nightmare for that. Books had to be written parallel and then didn't match up so well. In general though, it was a pretty good series with problems, but still an enjoyable ride. I think GW proper has turned around significantly, but as for BL I don't really read a lot of novels. From frequenting this section of the B&C to read discussions I get the feeling novels lately haven't been handled the best, like with The Beast Arises series. But again, I just lurk mostly so I may be wrong. They actually released some of the best books in 10 years this past year since turning things around. Authors are free to pitch fresh ideas again, the glorified marketing feel is a thing of the past again, the Horus Heresy has been consistently good all of 2016, and they're publishing more Fehervari stories like Genestealer Cults. HECK, they're even selling their ebooks on Amazon for Kindle now! Something they have always adamantly refused doing. 'They actually released some of the best books in 10 years this past year since turning things around. Authors are free to pitch fresh ideas again, the glorified marketing feel is a thing of the past again, the Horus Heresy has been consistently good all of 2016, and they're publishing more Fehervari stories like Genestealer Cults'. - so true. But at the same time they released a lot of short stories trash - like Legacy of Russ or Red Path. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4575505 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkChaplain Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Neither of which are short stories, but serialized novels. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4575513 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Neither of which are short stories, but serialized novels. They were made to be shorts - and later made for you to buy as a serialized novels, lol. Which doesn't change fact - that they are crap. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4575531 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyriks Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 At least with the Legacy of Russ stories it seems like a lot of people came around on them after a bit. They might not be your taste but that doesn't make them crap. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4576250 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 At least with the Legacy of Russ stories it seems like a lot of people came around on them after a bit. They might not be your taste but that doesn't make them crap. They are - in the same league with Red Path and all Kyme wrote Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4576586 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeLeto69 Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 Hmmm interesting...over the weekend GW published their interim trading statement. Profits for the half year are at £13m up from £6.2m for same period last year. Early days but seems to support what I say in my opening post! The new Marketing Director should be in line for a nice bonus this year!!! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4582853 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 Hmmm interesting...over the weekend GW published their interim trading statement. Profits for the half year are at £13m up from £6.2m for same period last year. Early days but seems to support what I say in my opening post! The new Marketing Director should be in line for a nice bonus this year!!! Age of Sigmar has nothing to do with it. Again - mainly HH sold as usual, but BL outdid itself with amazing list of HH novels (this year is one of the best since 2006 so far) and W40K much more cause some good releases and campaigns and Genestealers. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/328228-gw-and-particularly-bl-have-got-their-mojo-back/#findComment-4582939 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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