Games Workshop - Leaks and Player Shopping Strategies

[Dark Shepherd]

Remember that time they accidentally leaked the GSC models months before Tooth and Claw because someone took them from the heavy metal team and put them in with stuff going on display in Warhammer World?

 

Anyways, they tell their own staff they very much do not do leaks. Even if you dont believe them you can well believe they want all the traffic through their sites and pages to impress shareholders and so we dont plan our purchases and buy the latest releases across their systems

[jaxom]

 

 being the leaker on the wrong side of a NDA is.  

 

Also playtesters leak stuff, inevitably. If you want good playtesting, you have some competitive players do it (and apparently they have been doing so for quite some time now). These players are VERY invested into the hobby and the community, they leak stuff every time they think they can get away with it. 

 

I've not been part of a playtest cycle for GW, so I can't speak for GW's relationship with their playtesters, but I have for other major table-top game companies (RPGs and card games). Some did include competitive players who became friends with designers through interactions at cons, play events, and online. The NDA is very real, but more importantly the trust is very real. No one wanted to be the one to betray the trust placed in us, regardless of how much one's internet cachet might skyrocket. I'd hope that would be true for the people GW would tag for their playtests, but humanity is a many-headed hydra so who can truly say?

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

 

I am offering a counter view. Otherwise it gets quite circular plus never enough can be said in praise of an open mind versus group think.

Since I no longer have an antagonistic relationship with you, I'm going to agree that having an opposing view point can help with those who get over zealous about these rumors. To temper their expectations a bit.

 

The reason I disagree with you on Angron is because this comes from Vals source who called Templars. Also, while not specifically saying Angron, that big leak that has been 100% so far said WE in the pipeline, and called Eldar and Chaos which seem to be getting teased hard in the rumor engine

 

Not a knock by any means but Valrak said Angron and Fulgrim would release back during eighth edition so while he’s often right his track record in not impeccable. Also there is the concurrent rumor regarding a daemon Primarch for HH and that muddies the water.

[MegaVolt87]

Remember that time they accidentally leaked the GSC models months before Tooth and Claw because someone took them from the heavy metal team and put them in with stuff going on display in Warhammer World?

 

Anyways, they tell their own staff they very much do not do leaks. Even if you dont believe them you can well believe they want all the traffic through their sites and pages to impress shareholders and so we dont plan our purchases and buy the latest releases across their systems

 

I'll say it every time I see it posted. What GW wants and actually happens are far apart in reality. No one is going to buy new releases that don't interest them and many people DO plan their purchases because they see nothing worth buying/ waiting for something else. Leaks don't make a difference, they only re-affirm such peoples decisions to wait- because they were always going to wait regardless. GW and the internet downplay the spending discipline of many in the community. The best thing GW can do is have a faster release turn around and road maps. BT, Eldar, SM supplements, Tau and HH are what many are waiting on or were. With ever increasing prices, GW only hurts themselves by walling off its own side shows because people know they might not be able to attend the main event if they see the others. 

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

Yeah I completely agree with MegaVolt87, I've played for over twenty years now. I would say that I didn't make a single purchase from GW in more than half of them. It's always cracked me up a bit when people talk about boycotting them because it's pretty normal for a lot of their customer base to go long stretches between purchases.

[Dark Shepherd]

I should also add (the caveat of) they dont want their planned promotional efforts disrupted

[Redcomet]

Yeah I completely agree with MegaVolt87, I've played for over twenty years now. I would say that I didn't make a single purchase from GW in more than half of them. It's always cracked me up a bit when people talk about boycotting them because it's pretty normal for a lot of their customer base to go long stretches between purchases.

A lot :D

 

Yeah must be why they rake in the huge sales numbers

[Halandaar]

A lot

 

Well, it could be "a lot" in absolute terms, while still being a relatively minor proportion. Both things can be right here, i.e. 100,000 people who only buy once every couple of years is a lot of people, but dwarfed by 2million annual unique customers.

 

(Disclaimer - Numbers are completely made up)

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

 

Yeah I completely agree with MegaVolt87, I've played for over twenty years now. I would say that I didn't make a single purchase from GW in more than half of them. It's always cracked me up a bit when people talk about boycotting them because it's pretty normal for a lot of their customer base to go long stretches between purchases.

A lot

 

Yeah must be why they rake in the huge sales numbers

 

 

I responded to this in the other thread, but I don't think GW is hurting or anything. I just think they have a large player base and most of us tend to make larger purchases when its relevant to us, and when it isn't we go for long stretches without buying anything. 

[MARK0SIAN]

I can only speak for myself but the lack of a clear road map definitely costs them sales from me. At the moment I’m waiting on the new Leaked plastic heresy box set which we know is coming next year. Now I’ve deliberately held off purchases just to make sure I’ve got the spare cash if they suddenly drop it on us in January or February, especially given the rumoured prices for the box. Now if they released a a road map saying it was indeed coming in January or February I’d still obviously be saving my purchases but if they’d said it wasn’t coming until April/May for example I’d definitely have bought more stuff recently.