BL current state - A discussion

[Helias_Tancred]

GW communicates with the player base a lot more now than in years past. Covid was a vicious punch to their organization, for reasons unavoidable and avoidable on their end, so be it. Warhammer+ is taking resources, and other things previously mentioned here. I take what they deliver and I like it. Overall its been far more good in recent years than bad, so there's that to be thankful for, especially the Siege of Terra series. Authors don't live in a little GW slave pen corral churning out novels, they do it from home ;) .....

 

When I'm out now new stuff to read I find that there is so much past stuff to go back and re-read, and enjoy all over again, or learn something new from.I appreciate what they produce. I don't sweat the other issues, and I like it.

 

I take what they are able to deliver and I like it.

[Knockagh]

@ Helias Tancred, most of the frequent fliers in BL forum take little if any interest in the game anymore.

It’s not really possible to play, paint and read most of the books. The time is just not there.

 

For readers who dip in and out of BL, spending most of their focus on the game they will see a GW that has vastly improved customer focus, but for those of us who solely engage with GW through books we are left feeling very much like the poor relative. Poor us

[DarkChaplain]

I haven't bought a 40k kit in ages. Closest I got was Combat Arena, the board game based on Gorechosen (which I also own). I collect AoS / AoS board games (and screw them for the Warhammer Quest: Cursed City disaster), but I'm utterly uninterested in actually playing 40k these days. The rules refresh has made it more appealing in a way, to be fair, but I just can't be bothered. Heck, I can barely bring myself to read the studio fluff anymore.

 

I'll do novels and shorts, and if a story arc gets dropped like Wrath of Magnus was, it's mightily frustrating. Especially when BL never even communicates any reasons as to why they decided to drop that book (and in this case, they had an author already commissioned AND the first half of the two-part supplement had a novel AND they had an 8-part serialized novel to bridge the narrative gap between the two, seriously, what's wrong with you GW/BL?).

 

As for authors not being GW slaves writing in pens... well, yeah, of course. However, GW/BL actually have to commission them, or pay them for pitches. If they don't, their veterans will just wander off to Aconyte in droves, and pump out Arkham Horror, Five Rings and what not. Heck, since Josh Reynolds left BL over disagreements, he's written SEVEN titles for Aconyte across multiple IPs. David Guymer wrote three, Robbie MacNiven's name is on 6 novels, and David Annandale's got two out and an Arkham Horror novel coming next August. Considering that Warhammer Horror has been a thing for three years now, with dropping prominence since the first year, it's particularly funny that two of their most stable Horror writers are writing Arkham Horror tie-ins for the competition instead.

 

So not only is BL not communicating well with the audience - with the outlier in recent history being the BL stream we just got - but it's also dropping a lot of their previous workhorses, or rather, losing them for greener pastures. Not a good look, and it really doesn't inspire confidence with me.

 

Anyhow, Aconyte's Arkham Horror books are seriously pretty (and judging by the cover for Wrath of N'kai, I wouldn't be surprised if the authors had actual input on their covers over there, because it looks very much like a Josh Reynolds novel) and HPL is my jam, so if BL isn't ready to commit to Warhammer Horror (or Crime, for that matter), I'm seeing myself growing a collection elsewhere in 2022.

[DukeLeto69]

I haven’t played or painted a mini since 3rd edition (I am THAT old). However, mad as it is I own every rulebook and every codex and every campaign book, imperial armour book and HH big black book since then. And I have bought and read an absolute tonne of BL novels etc.

 

My sole focus for c.20yrs has been the written word coming out of GW and I have spent a small fortune. A bit better comms would be appreciated ;-)

[b1soul]

I'm sure we're not privy to a lot of the challenges and obstacles faced by the lads at GW.

 

We don't have to be.

 

All we ought to do and all we really can do is this:

 

We judge GW by the quality (or lack of quality) delivered to their paying customers, compare that quality to what is delivered by the competition, and vote with our wallets. It's that simple.

 

I have read some posts in the past along the lines of "just be grateful" for whatever GW pumps out. That's not an attitude I personally subscribe to. As a customer, I decide my own standards.

 

GW's greatest asset is their incredible IP and the intense loyalty that IP commands (nothing they do or have screams above-average quality, apart from that rich, dystopian, galaxy-wide IP spanning millenia upon millenia) but any asset can be squandered with prolonged neglect or incompetence.

 

On the BL side of things...apart from the weak communication, my main worry is whether BL treats its authours well enough to retain quality talent. I think the next three years will be particularly telling as the Horus Heresy finally ends and BL will have to generate revenue outside of this marquee series. Will BL maintain at least a semi-serious commitment to literary quality...or will the focus be on fiction as tabletop marketing? How long will Abnett, Wraight, ADB, French, Brooks and other top-talent authours remain more active at BL...or will we see an exodus to other IPs a la McNeill and others?

[Knockagh]

I’m sure some authors are treated exceptionally well, others not so much. I would imagine Abnett and one or two others pretty much write their own cheque. Newer authors will struggle I’m sure.

My brother in law is a graphic designer and a few years ago his firm was asked to do some work for a premier league club, they actually tried to pay him in match day tickets for his first few jobs, trying to tell him what a privilege it was to work for them and how others would work for free. Where firms that have fans, like sports or GW, the division between fans and workers is often exploited for the corporate benefit. I doubt in BL it’s any different.

Something is afoot, we know that.

[cheywood]

I’m sure some authors are treated exceptionally well, others not so much. I would imagine Abnett and one or two others pretty much write their own cheque. Newer authors will struggle I’m sure.

My brother in law is a graphic designer and a few years ago his firm was asked to do some work for a premier league club, they actually tried to pay him in match day tickets for his first few jobs, trying to tell him what a privilege it was to work for them and how others would work for free. Where firms that have fans, like sports or GW, the division between fans and workers is often exploited for the corporate benefit. I doubt in BL it’s any different.

Something is afoot, we know that.

 

I remember earlier this year there was a discussion on Twitter about how little GW pays its employees, but I’m not sure that extends to the authors. I doubt every book makes for a huge payday, but based on what the authors I have said I think BL is paying well enough by the standards of freelance IP work. Reynolds was pretty open about how his relationship with BL ended and, as far as I remember, the issue had little to do with pay.

 

What’s afoot? The coming soon page shows the schedule finally on track and most of BL’s established authors seem to be actively writing new fiction. It’s been a somewhat frustrating couple of years but, long term communications issues notwithstanding, I think things are looking up.

[DukeLeto69]

It’s like anything where art and commerce converge (think music industry, actors/film stars). The more successful you are (ie the bigger sales you generate) the more negotiating power you have to up your advance and royalty rate.

 

Abnett will be paid a significantly higher advance and royalty rate than Fehervari. That has no reflection on quality, it only reflects sales generated.

[Scribe]

I'm sure we're not privy to a lot of the challenges and obstacles faced by the lads at GW.

 

We don't have to be.

 

All we ought to do and all we really can do is this:

 

We judge GW by the quality (or lack of quality) delivered to their paying customers, compare that quality to what is delivered by the competition, and vote with our wallets. It's that simple.

 

I have read some posts in the past along the lines of "just be grateful" for whatever GW pumps out. That's not an attitude I personally subscribe to. As a customer, I decide my own standards.

 

GW's greatest asset is their incredible IP and the intense loyalty that IP commands (nothing they do or have screams above-average quality, apart from that rich, dystopian, galaxy-wide IP spanning millenia upon millenia) but any asset can be squandered with prolonged neglect or incompetence.

 

On the BL side of things...apart from the weak communication, my main worry is whether BL treats its authours well enough to retain quality talent. I think the next three years will be particularly telling as the Horus Heresy finally ends and BL will have to generate revenue outside of this marquee series. Will BL maintain at least a semi-serious commitment to literary quality...or will the focus be on fiction as tabletop marketing? How long will Abnett, Wraight, ADB, French, Brooks and other top-talent authours remain more active at BL...or will we see an exodus to other IPs a la McNeill and others?

 

Great post.

 

I can tell you right now, if not for my desire to see the HH finally end, there is nothing GW's doing outside of the Crime side, that sparked anything for me.

 

I certainly am not here for the Dawn Series.

[Knockagh]

Certainly the change has given me cause to read more widely and I’m grateful for that. BL reading was a rut of got into, still love it but have regained an appreciation for other things.

Recently managed at long last to read Guy Haley’s Crash which had been lost on a shelf for a few years. Superb.

[DarkChaplain]

It's my one regret about Haley being so prominent at BL/GW now: He's not writing (much) original content anymore. Crash was great, as were Richards & Klein (which got a very cheap omnibus edition this year!) and Champion of Mars. I'll also never not be mad about Tor canning his post-apocalyptic zombie fantasy novella series. There's more he wrote, too, including a (hard) fantasy trilogy under a pseudonym (which I'm not sure is okay to name specifically, although it looks like Track of Words confirmed it earlier this year in a Rapid Fire, wink wink nudge nudge) - which is incredibly dense and rich in world building right off the bat.

 

Thinking on it, I suppose I'm more annoyed by BL "losing" authors to a competing tie-in publisher for whatever reason, rather than have those same authors depart to do their own original thing again (I'm still waiting for a follow-up to Gethsemane Hall, Annandale!)

 

And in more happy news, as I mentioned it earlier in regards to GW's communication: They just announced today that Warhammer Quest: Cursed City will be back next year, with expansions. Now IF ONLY they had a marketing outlet that could've mentioned this at some point since it launched in April...

[byrd9999]

So much of the bad will generated by GW over the fanbase gaslighting (the pivot to claiming it was a limited print run was particularly stupid and stuck in the craw of many, even me, and I managed to get a copy!) that went on over Cursed City could have been alleviated by announcing supply chain costs/disruptions, and that they are aiming to have it back in print at a later date...

 

Comparisons with BL...?

[theSpirea]

I have noticed a few posts in the past few days people complaining about the the recent Volpone Glory Special Edition print quality, mainly the paper. They say it's the same paper BL now uses for the regular hardbacks (cheaper paper, not the usual smooth/creamy paper they use for LEs/SEs and Siege of Terra hardbacks). Does anyone have a copy to check? If that's the case, I'm done with the LEs/SEs as the paper they now use for regular hardbacks is way too cheap.

[Ubiquitous1984]

I have noticed a few posts in the past few days people complaining about the the recent Volpone Glory Special Edition print quality, mainly the paper. They say it's the same paper BL now uses for the regular hardbacks (cheaper paper, not the usual smooth/creamy paper they use for LEs/SEs and Siege of Terra hardbacks). Does anyone have a copy to check? If that's the case, I'm done with the LEs/SEs as the paper they now use for regular hardbacks is way too cheap.

I have just opened my SE to check for you.

 

The paper indeed feels a little 'rougher' than usual.  But tbh there is no real material difference to every other SE/LE that I own in terms of quality.  It feels 'different' but not necessarily 'worse', if that makes sense?

 

I checked my regular edition Warhawk hardback, and that paper does not feel the same as the Volpone SE.  But this is all very subjective and I want you to understand that I am not an expert on these things, so a discerning user may have a completely different take on it!

Edited December 21, 2021 by Ubiquitous1984

[skylerboodie]

Yep I received my copy today and noticed the rougher quality paper; the whole book feels noticeably lighter too. It's a 400 page book, so I wonder if that played into it at all, but they've done thick editions before. Perhaps couldn't get their usual printers, but I hope it's not a sign of things to come. The annoying lack of gilt edging on the pages may be linked to the paper choice.

[Sothalor]

As a weirdo luddite who enjoys the tactility of handling books, I miss the paper they used for hardcovers circa 2018-2019. I'm pretty sure that was the same grain/construction/coating as what they're still using for the Siege of Terra hardcovers.

 

That paper was smooth, thick, with a nice degree of stiffness that made turning pages quite pleasant. The edges were also more resistant to crumpling, bending, and discoloration from hand oils.

[Knockagh]

I didn’t buy the volpone limited ed but the early gothic style limited books, while they looked stunning, were awful quality. The guilt would never survive a reading. BL replaced 4 of them for me due to the guilt designs coming off with a single read. Since then quality has been generally very good.

[theSpirea]

As a weirdo luddite who enjoys the tactility of handling books, I miss the paper they used for hardcovers circa 2018-2019. I'm pretty sure that was the same grain/construction/coating as what they're still using for the Siege of Terra hardcovers.

 

That paper was smooth, thick, with a nice degree of stiffness that made turning pages quite pleasant. The edges were also more resistant to crumpling, bending, and discoloration from hand oils.

 

I'm there with you. The paper was very smooth and of higher quality. The paper will look the same 5-10 years from now. They still use it for the Siege of Terra hardbacks, at least the latest Warhawk edition, but not anymore. It seems they changed it for the regular hardbacks last year and now they are pushing it for the Special Editions.