Review of WH+ It's current state and it's potential

[Domhnall]

<SNIIP>

...I think it's possible for a team of five to bang one of these out per week. This is assuming, of course, that the team of five is entirely dedicated to this project. 

 

By release day, they should have had 4-6 episodes on deck, giving them 4-6 weeks of lead time, and that should have been enough to make the team into a well oiled machine. Remember, I'm suggesting a model where this is what they do- there is no "other job" - this isn't a passion project. It's 9-5, Mon-Friday. 

 

Sure, if you're splitting off members of the team to work on other WH+ projects, things get more complicated, and realistically, they probably are doing that. There are a lot of details we don't know, and I'm sure that everyone involved wants to do the best job they can. I don't know how much GW has invested, or how big their teams are; I don't know how they are managing the studio or how big it is.

 

<SNIP>

 

Either way, if more resources are required, more should be committed. Initial buy-in was probably significant due to curiosity and the promo models. But with the lack of content, they are going to hemorrhage subscribers, and they will not be able to sustain the platform. If they keep subscribers happy, they maintain their budget. Doubling up on batreps, even if they are as intensive as you claim, is likely easier than doubling up on animations.

<SNIP>

 

Note: This post turned out longer than I had planned! 

 

I think this is probably why there's only one (if one) a week, as you allow, they won't have a dedicated team at this just now unfortunately. They will be studio people from around the office who are charismatic enough for doing these, but this is not their main day job. So if someone is off doing something 'more important' then unfortunately this takes a hit. Also, I'm assuming each report will have an unspoken narrative they want to convey during the battle, eg. show off that new unit in battle, time is needed to plan for that etc. 

 

I remember reading many many moons ago in White Dwarf what was involved in making a battle report for the magazine.

Glossing over much of the details but as follows:

Day 1

1.1. Choose their army to compliment what they wanted to do

1.2. Play a game, taking notes (and photos) of what worked and didn't. 

1.3. Once finished, discuss and take more notes.

Day 2

2.1. Tweak the units if needed.

2.2 Play the game proper that'll be in the magazine, taking notes and photos of troop placement etc

2.3 Sometimes the dice rolls would be 'fudged' if there was a spectacularly unwanted outcome.

2.4 Finish game and write up post game notes. 

Day 3 (or at some point afterwards)

3.1 photo team get involved, going over photos and notes, then recreate what they want in the magazine with proper lighting and such so it's nice and shiny shiny. 

3.2 Write up report for magazine.

 

As WH+ is a GW product, I'd say it'd not be that much different, as day 3 would have video editing and such to do rather than photos/report. Other battle reports online will probably range from a couple of players in the garage and it's about as loose and budget as can be, up to (and possibly) surpassing what GW do. There's nothing wrong with any of these, but your end product reflects what time you put in I suppose. and as it's GW's own brand, they will probably spend more time on this than we would think. 

 

A dedicated team would be great, but where they are currently with WH+, they couldn't justify that as a cost outlay as that's 4/5 people that they need to pay (in all fairness at or slightly above minimum wage), all the benefits offers to other employees, pension contributions, redundancy pay if it all goes toes up. There are ways it could work, don't get me wrong (too much to go into here), but at the current standing of WH+, it's unlikely. 

[Noserenda]

I think from external ads we have seen the Battlereport team is one, maybe two guys? 

[Khornestar]

I haven’t watched any of them as I’m not a subscriber, but how reasonable a claim might it be to say the batreps are utilized more as a marketing opportunity than “just” showing a game and providing content for entertainment? I saw this mentioned by people who watched the Tau vs. RG battle report.

 

This wouldn’t necessarily change any points made about what resources are required, of course, but maybe the overall motivation for when to film/release them? Have they all been timed with new releases, or not necessarily? Apologies if I missed this in recent posts.

[RWJP]

I haven’t watched any of them as I’m not a subscriber, but how reasonable a claim might it be to say the batreps are utilized more as a marketing opportunity than “just” showing a game and providing content for entertainment? I saw this mentioned by people who watched the Tau vs. RG battle report.

 

This wouldn’t necessarily change any points made about what resources are required, of course, but maybe the overall motivation for when to film/release them? Have they all been timed with new releases, or not necessarily? Apologies if I missed this in recent posts.

Of the ones I've watched, there's a mixture. For example, using the Kill Team Bat Reps: One was timed with the release of the new edition and of course featured Veteran Guardsmen and Kommandos. One was themed around Angels of Death and got released towards the end of that series. The third was a Christmas themed game with a load of custom rules.

[Orange Knight]

Just watched the 1st episode of the Exodite.

Very enjoyable. I liked seeing the Imperium annihilating a planet from the POV of the Tau, and the dread when the Imperium battleships approached. This is a conflict I am more interested in, and I think 40k is at it's best when humanity is fighting Xenos ahead of Chaos.

 

Unfortunately, the episode was extremely short! I think it will be painful to wait a week for these 10-15 minute segments.

[Marshal Reinhard]

Just watched the 1st episode of the Exodite.

Very enjoyable. I liked seeing the Imperium annihilating a planet from the POV of the Tau, and the dread when the Imperium battleships approached. This is a conflict I am more interested in, and I think 40k is at it's best when humanity is fighting Xenos ahead of Chaos.

 

Unfortunately, the episode was extremely short! I think it will be painful to wait a week for these 10-15 minute segments.

It was good to see the foul xenos squirm before the might of the righteous and pious imperial navy. (seriously, might be the best animated snippets of imperium warships we have?? I realize ithey're not the focus of the show, but its what captured my attention the most)

 

Also dohohoho at the "the Gue'la will be forced to recognise that we're fighting a needless war"

[Dark Shepherd]

My only complaint is also I wanted it to be longer. If we were getting something like this every week... :)

[Taliesin]

11 minutes seems extremely short, it just seems unlikely they'd keep airing episodes that short. Then again...

[The Neverborn]

If you're subscribing to it then you're sending a message to GW that whatever they're producing is good enough for what it's being charged at. 11 minutes or not.

 

I'm extremely interested in if year 2, 3, 4 and so on will be up or down.

 

There's no way it's going away even if there was only a few thousand they've got to keep it going. Would send the wrong message if they didn't. And there's no way it will ever dip below that figure.

[Kurgan the Lurker]

Clancy Brown on narration for The Exodite.

[m0nolith]

The Exodite was awesome.

That is all.

[Domhnall]

Unfortunately, the episode was extremely short! I think it will be painful to wait a week for these 10-15 minute segments.

 

Get married. That'll help condition you for that kind of thing 

 

Watched first episode last night and was very impressed (only gripe being the ships in space were far too close together, but I'm letting it pass because of cinematography reasons). 

[Kenzaburo]

Hm, as it seems from statements of GWs Social media team, there is no set date for the next episode of exodite. They replied several times, that they‘d keep everyone posted about when the next episode is going to be out  - sometime soon. 
 

I mean, what? How do you operate this service for crying out loud? You gotta have a plan and set deadlines in-house for shows to be finished. Sure, the pandemic is a thing, I know, I know. But you are making yourself look like an amateur with such lack of scheduling. Especially if your Fantasie has been wondering about the lack of content. I mean, sure, somebody might have gotten antsy and said „let’s release what we have then to calm the masses“, while not getting that you then show the lack of proper planning, scheduling and management of what you‘re offering. 

[Khornestar]

I think they legitimately consider announcements as content, if even for a WHC article, and will thus hold tight to the info as they seem to almost always do.

 

They seem to do this with minis to encourage sales of every release, perhaps they’re withholding this info so people don’t unsubscribe in the time between episodes.

[MegaVolt87]

I think they legitimately consider announcements as content, if even for a WHC article, and will thus hold tight to the info as they seem to almost always do.

They seem to do this with minis to encourage sales of every release, perhaps they’re withholding this info so people don’t unsubscribe in the time between episodes.

Thats a dangerous game to play though. Lost subs are also a high possibility without a formal time schedule. Then a lapsed sub will tell at least three other people its a dud service. (1 to three negative experience via opinion leader). In comparison, even smaller anime studios or young series will give a time frame, even if its 2-3 weeks between episodes because of the pandemic.

 

GW can't GW to Joe Public about mainstream things because they know better and different, they aren't a captive audience like tabletop wargamers. They will just move on to another streaming service for sci fi and fantasy content.

[phandaal]

 

I think they legitimately consider announcements as content, if even for a WHC article, and will thus hold tight to the info as they seem to almost always do.

They seem to do this with minis to encourage sales of every release, perhaps they’re withholding this info so people don’t unsubscribe in the time between episodes.

Thats a dangerous game to play though. Lost subs are also a high possibility without a formal time schedule. Then a lapsed sub will tell at least three other people its a dud service. (1 to three negative experience via opinion leader). In comparison, even smaller anime studios or young series will give a time frame, even if its 2-3 weeks between episodes because of the pandemic.

 

GW can't GW to Joe Public about mainstream things because they know better and different, they aren't a captive audience like tabletop wargamers. They will just move on to another streaming service for sci fi and fantasy content.

True that. Streaming/online content in general is a highly saturated market these days. Companies are rushing to turn online shows back into the old cable TV model and people are not having it.

 

Although it is unlikely many Average Joes even signed up for this in the first place. The CEO said they now see W+ as a club for their dedicated members, which is as good as confirming that the normies passed this one by.

[Khornestar]

 

I think they legitimately consider announcements as content, if even for a WHC article, and will thus hold tight to the info as they seem to almost always do.

They seem to do this with minis to encourage sales of every release, perhaps they’re withholding this info so people don’t unsubscribe in the time between episodes.

Thats a dangerous game to play though. Lost subs are also a high possibility without a formal time schedule. Then a lapsed sub will tell at least three other people its a dud service. (1 to three negative experience via opinion leader). In comparison, even smaller anime studios or young series will give a time frame, even if its 2-3 weeks between episodes because of the pandemic.

GW can't GW to Joe Public about mainstream things because they know better and different, they aren't a captive audience like tabletop wargamers. They will just move on to another streaming service for sci fi and fantasy content.

I’d certainly agree. Can only speculate. Nothing original or profound in the thought but seems straightforward enough to assume whatever the real strategy is on paper it’s designed to squeeze every possible dollar out of the fan base. Not a “GW is greedy or bad” accusation, just business. Edited February 17, 2022 by Khornestar

[The Neverborn]

Getting your customers to pay you to advertise to them. I mean crikey

 

I know Sky run adverts while you're paying a Subs feed, BBC advertise their programs and promote the license on broadcasts. 

 

Even by those caveats this this feels .... Orwellian is the only word i can think of

Edited February 17, 2022 by Battle Brother Abderus

[Shovellovin]

I am interested in Warhammer+ and watch it for the animations. When the model and voucher were announced I thought that I should subscribe for a year because those two items were worth the cost. I enjoyed AoD. H&B is, IMO, not good. The Exodite looks to be  a good show but 11 minutes of animation for a week’s content is insufficient, to say the least. Further, what’s with the gap in animation releases? Why an unnecessary mid-season pause for AoD? 
 

When Warhammer+ was announced, the hype was focused on all the animations. So yes, Warhammer+ is more than animations but it was hyped as a platform that would include a plethora of them. Further, the lack of battle reports and content in general has turned me off to resubscribing. If anything, I may sub for a month once a year to watch the animations. I won’t be renewing my annual subscription.

Warhammer+ could be a huge success but GW does not want to put forth the effort to do so. Some may defend Warhammer+ by stating that GW doesn’t have the resources of Netflix, Disney or Amazon. I agree, but at the same time, I don’t care. If GW wants to provide a streaming service, then it needs to step up and provide what is expected. If Warhammer+ is thought of, in-house, as a membership for existing customers then GW really needs to rethink how the service is presented.

 

Don’t hype what you can’t deliver.

[chapter master 454]

GW didn't think it was this much effort I believe and lets just look at the evidence: Their digital presence.

 

They are chronically bad with anything digital and have been barely keeping head above water in this regard. I will stress that while no-one could predict the pandemic, the decision as it ramped it up to continue with axing E-Pubs was one of the most hilariously bad decisions, I mean...every other company was scrambling to get to digital, getting online, get us online! But GW decided to not heed what was just sensible concepts and killed their E-Pubs and now look where we are. We had Custodes and GSC delayed because of issues getting their books sorted and pretty sure that won't be the last time such a thing happens.

Not saying E-Pubs are the only thing they should do but why they axed the option without offering a replacement proper was daft. No the app does not count in any form or sense of it. The difference? I have to order the hard copy book (which costs more) online, wait for it to arrive (which may be delayed by shipping issues) and then whats the point of the app? I have the Codex in physical form...I mean why use some clunky app to look through the codex I have right here.

If it were an E-Pub. I could be lying in my bed, in my power armoured onesie, scroll through a web page, pay for the digital copy on the website (which btw the E-Pubs were cheaper) and then the wait time was because I was watching a youtube about the latest GW leak from my preferred youtuber and then after I remember I was downloading a codex I can now read the book there and then, never having left my nurgle shaming pit I call my bed!

 

I mean...there has to be something I am missing about their business strategy for these complete failures to be made, the removal of E-Pubs, the less than quarter of a rear end attempt at W+, the single intern level of attention to the 40k app (actually, I believe if it were a single intern it might of been better to be fair). I refuse to believe there is such a lack of brain at the company. Like...bring back E-Pubs would be a great move and super cheap and not even a loss in costs (not like pirates lost pace. With how the leaks are these days we basically have a pirated copy of the codex before it is even out so...great job there). Give us an army builder and not some quarter way bridge app that is just some vague codex COMPANION. Again, you are competing with Battlescribe here, the bar of expectation for the UI is a tripping hazard in Tartarus. You could charge 10 bucks a year for the app and you would be a reasonable competitor vs. Battlescribe.

 

At this point, Warhammer+ is dying slowly and only sustained by forever how long they can make good models for it in which case that's just going to your elbow through your knee, just make the models as cool limited time things and sell them outright. I mean, at this point you are putting more money into a sinking ship...why bother? Cut losses and do what works:

 

More Primaris releases! (haha...oh god that hurts because its true...)

[Charlo]

Exodite ep1 was pretty fun.

[Lexington]

Finally got around to the first episode of The Exodite.

 

That was...legitimately impressive. Just gorgeous from every angle. Solid, engaging and a joy to look at. Bravo to the whole team.

 

I haven't been too impressed with W+ and its offerings so far, but if this keeps up, it'll be worth the price of admission.

[MechaMan]

I don’t think Warhammer+ was ever intended to compete with streaming services like Disney, Netflix and Amazon. If that was their ambition it would have been utterly unrealistic, but I don’t think it was. Nor do I think it is aimed at Joe Public looking for a fantasy/sci-fi streaming service.

 

It’s described as a ‘hub for hobbyists’ and the subscription does a fairly good job at providing that, a diversified ensemble of stuff - animation, tutorials, bat reps, Warhammer Vault.

 

Perceived value varies depending on what you engage with. If people are only getting Warhammer+ for the animations then they might be disappointed, but they’re equally paying for a diversified service while only wanting one element of it - so it’s not the most economical approach.

 

As a hobbyist, I think it’s a good hub. The painting tutorials are good, I’ve wanted ‘Eavy Metal to do video tutorials for ages and now they finally are. Warhammer Vault has tons of content on it, getting 5 White Dwarfs covers the £5-a-month fee easily for me.

 

I never expected this to compete with Amazon, or even things like Funimation. Never thought that was the product I was being sold frankly. Despite Warhammer+ containing less content than other streaming services I’m subscribed to - like Netflix - I engage with it more because almost all of the content on the service appeals to me.

Edited February 18, 2022 by MechaMan

[Isengrin]

Getting your customers to pay you to advertise to them. I mean crikey

 

I know Sky run adverts while you're paying a Subs feed, BBC advertise their programs and promote the license on broadcasts. 

 

Even by those caveats this this feels .... Orwellian is the only word i can think of

Orwellian is the last word that would come to my mind.

 

(snip)

That's a good point, one that should be reiterated. The streaming episodes are simply one of many components to provide existing customers with value and by assuming the whole strategic setup of Warhammer+ is as a customer retention bonus club it's not bad. The episodes are one small tool in the much bigger sales toolbox.

 

Warhammer TV still being unavailable in my region? Now that's an issue...

[Domhnall]

Update on WH+ on warcom:

 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/03/02/the-exodite-episode-2-is-arriving-a-little-later-than-planned-but-theres-more-to-look-forward-to-on-warhammer/

 

 

Episode 2 of The Exodite was set to go live today. Unfortunately, due to a convergence of circumstances beyond our control, it has been delayed for a few days.

 

We’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready – we know loads of you are keen to see what happens next to Shas’vre Lako’ma’s intrepid Stealth Team. Rest assured we’re working to bring you Episode 2: Inferno really soon.

 

We also wanted to let you know that we’ve been listening to all of your feedback. You want more shows, releasing regularly, and to know what’s coming further in advance.

 

Good news – we’re taking steps to increase our Warhammer TV content across the board. It won’t be long before you’ll begin to see the pace pick up, and over the next few months you can look forward to a more regular and robust line-up for Warhammer+ subscribers.

 

Soon you can look forward to a new animation episode every other week, with no big breaks between shows. We’re gradually increasing episode lengths as well. Battle Report, Loremasters, Citadel Colour Masterclass, and other non-animated shows will ramp up as we move towards one of each show per week. We’re also looking at expanding what types of shows we make, and we’ll be looking for your thoughts on that in the near future to make sure you’re getting the Warhammer hobby programs you want to see.