Upcoming BL Stuff 2024

[DukeLeto69]

At this stage GW need to announce that “due to unprecedented demand for the special edition of tEatD vol3, and knowing how many of our loyal fans have been unable to complete their SoT collections, GW have made the decision to produce another x thousand editions and we will announce these soon. You will need to apply in advance and we will record you in our database. You will be restricted to one copy per person/address...”

 

They could even make it a requirement that your advance registration requires a photo of your collection? 

[Nagashsnee]

We all know they are going to put out a group LE edition in the near future.  Might not be 100% copies of the current LE but they do it with all the popular stuff.  Its annoying to miss out on the day, and see others have the joy you should. But anyone saying the siege aint getting a fancy mega edition is fooling themselves. It will of course be scalped too and GW will still not care, but hopefully demand will be less by then. 

[Felix Antipodes]

I would be totally shocked if we don’t get a fancy slip-cased box of End & Death parts 1-3.  The only question in my mind is when.

[DukeLeto69]

1 hour ago, Felix Antipodes said:

I would be totally shocked if we don’t get a fancy slip-cased box of End & Death parts 1-3.  The only question in my mind is when.

There’s not enough paper left in the world!

[Taliesin]

14 hours ago, Sothalor said:

Is this whole scalper phenomenon most heavily concentrated around Black Library releases (in terms of GW items, not... worldwide or whatever)? It kind of seems that way to me, but I get that I'm probably coming at it from a particular perspective.

 

It's just that I don't see them having to do this with new models or rulebooks or even new editions. So what gives here?

 

 

It happens with models and even other books as well. For instance the Old World Rulebook sold out on the day of release, and after talking to GW about it, I heard that all of us waiting to order a copy will need to wait for a second printing, 6 or so weeks or more from now. GW consistently has too few products for almost every big launch, its widely complained about.

14 hours ago, Sothalor said:

 

It seems like they're leaving money on the table by keeping their print runs so low.

 

 

 

They are leaving tons and tons on the table. With most launches actually. Its staggering how almost every time, pre-orders sold out their stock, and then the wait is on for a second wave of stock. So the question is why do they knowingly leave so much on the table, again and again, with BL books certainly, but also many other anticipated releases?

 

Is it total incompetence? Is it an inability to manufacture enough product due to supply chain issues? Do they not want to hit the highest possible sales targets perhaps for internal reasons ( I have seen this happen in companies) ?

 

Clearly they could sell a lot more and are failing to supply the stock. Feels like an inability to produce and distribute has to be the reason.

14 hours ago, Sothalor said:

 

And in regards to things like amount of stock with Limited/Special Editions - I know this is about as likely to happen as spontaneous world peace, but I'd really like to see GW adopt a genuine pre-order model. Something like what we see with crowdfunded projects a la Kickstarters for specialty books. Actually announce upcoming titles and allow people to pre-purchase Special/Limited editions and then actually make that number to meet the demand.

 

But the way things are right now, it feels like they're just burning customer good will as fast as they can. And again, maybe I'm totally off-base here. I can only go by what I see anecdotally and how I myself engage with their releases.

 

 

 

I think an easier solution is to just increase production numbers of the LE books. Dont go for 2000 or 2500 for a release but do 5000 or 10000.

They will sell out for popular products. For some reason they chose not to do this, even though it still would be a limited edition.

 

But even more baffling is that they also treat the regular hardcovers as pseudo limited editions with tiny print runs. 

 

So why not higher print runs on the Limited edition and hardcover? My conclusion is that they dont, because they as a company are unable to make it, they cannot produce enough of their product, just as with the general GW launches.

[Ubiquitous1984]

I couldn't get to the store yesterday due to family commitments, but I did have six devices available to get the book (after only having four devices on the original release day).

 

Sadly I missed out again so my collection will remain incomplete as I won't fund a scalper.  What also bums me out is that a poll on BLN shows that there are 117 (at last checking) collectors who have every single SoT LE except the last one.  So it's not just me in this situation there are lots of other collectors who have missed out at the final hurdle (five years after Solar War LE came out - who here remembers that botched release?!)

 

This is probably the end of the road for me as a collector.  But I'm seeing it as a good thing.  I've spent too much money on this hobby over the past few years, and there is too much stress involved in trying to secure these 30K LE releases (which are the ones I truly want).  The purchasing process is too stressful and luck-dependant.  If it's not fun, why do it?  The amount of time I have spent trying to get this LE (the original release day, the 1000+ manual refreshes of the website waiting for an extra release that never came, and then the two+ hours spent yesterday preparing and in a virtual queue) is completely disproportionate to the pleasure in actually owning the book.

 

Anyway this isn't supposed to be a pity party or a cry for attention so apologies if it reads like one.  But it's felt cathartic writing it all out.  And it's helped make my decision.

 

Roll on Saturday because I'm looking forward to reading the ebook!  I will still listen to the audiobooks and read ebooks, but as far as physical releases are concerned, I'm out.

[son of the forest]

35 minutes ago, Ubiquitous1984 said:

).

 

Sadly I missed out again so my collection will remain incomplete as I won't fund a scalper.  What also bums me out is that a poll on BLN shows that there are 117 (at last checking) collectors who have every single SoT LE except the last one.   

Not sure where this poll is but you can include myself as someone who has all the Siege LE except for the last one

[DukeLeto69]

4 minutes ago, son of the forest said:

Not sure where this poll is but you can include myself as someone who has all the Siege LE except for the last one

Fraters I do not collect LE for that very reason but I am totally bummed out for you guys. That totally sucks!

[Taliesin]

1 hour ago, Ubiquitous1984 said:

 

This is probably the end of the road for me as a collector.  But I'm seeing it as a good thing.  I've spent too much money on this hobby over the past few years, and there is too much stress involved in trying to secure these 30K LE releases (which are the ones I truly want).  The purchasing process is too stressful and luck-dependant.  If it's not fun, why do it?  The amount of time I have spent trying to get this LE (the original release day, the 1000+ manual refreshes of the website waiting for an extra release that never came, and then the two+ hours spent yesterday preparing and in a virtual queue) is completely disproportionate to the pleasure in actually owning the book.

 

 

Its the best way to look at it really. This has become too stressful for you and others. I quit trying for the LE's around book 5 Mortis.

I still got the LE of Echoes just because I really wanted it.

 

Ordering the Siege of Terra LE's changed as the process went along, in that it became ever more difficult and more of a coin toss, or a near impossibility, to acquire copies.

With the first few books, my feeling was that as long as you were online on time and were quick, you had a fair chance of getting it. But then word got round, a few scalpers became many, and in the inadequacy of the GW websites issue came up.

[son of the forest]

Yea I'd already told myself that this one would be the last on I get anyway, due to the difficulty in getting the damn books but also due to the siege of terra being 8 books, oh now it's 9 books, actually it's 10 books fiasco

[tgcleric]

Yeah. I am missing EotD Vol 1 and now 3 collector editions. 

 

I don't really foresee myself dropping hundreds to get Vol 1 and 3. Maybe I'll sell my copies someday. But definitely a bit of a bummer. I just like having nice books to read - why I also grab Folio society when I can.

 

Real clusterf**** with this one.

[Felix Antipodes]

I initially started buying the BL LE books because I prefer HB over MMPB format and in the early days the LE were the only HB editions.  That they were nice looking (for the most part) was a bonus.  They were not hard to get being the expensive option and a lot of fraters stuck with the MMPB editions for shelf aesthetics (we all like uniformity when admiring our shelves ).  Once HB became the standard format, I stuck with the LE versions for much the same reasons.

 

There has been an increased interest in GW and its products since Covid arrived.  That upsurge in numbers, along with GW’s business policies and issues (FOMO, stock scarcity, etc), has attracted the scalpers to the low hanging fruit.  This isn’t just a BL issue, several of the recent box releases have also been targeted, especially the one and done releases.  For those of us who follow and buy the books it has been especially hard.  Now add onto that the new website update and its own issues.  It seems like we are living in the End Times indeed.

 

Reading, for me at least, is supposed to be for relaxing and enjoyment.  Between limited print run numbers (of ALL formats) and associated FOMO, scalpers cutting those availability numbers further, it is not relaxing and is curtailing my enjoyment.  So far, the scalpers have targeted the LE from the big names like Abnett and ADB.  How long before they realise that all BL releases are LE in all but name?

 

I won’t be quitting BL, but I also won’t be chasing the unicorns that LE have increasingly become.  I know that ebooks are the way GW prefers we consume their product, but I will not go that path until their ebook prices drop to a reasonable level…and I prefer paper anyway.  A couple of thumb drives just don’t look that impressive on my book shelf.

[Ubiquitous1984]

TBH I find the £10 price for an ebook fair.  But I’ve been indoctrinated in paying £40-£50 for every BL LE/SE so if you’re used to paying for MMPB I can see why it would feel expensive.  If you’re after best value, audible is for sure the route.  £120 for 24 books a year is a steal.  Especially when the VA quality is generally so high, and in recent times they’ve even started to incorporate audio-drama like production into the standard novels (e.g. voice distortion where appropriate in Sea of Souls).

[Kelborn]

Call me a heretic and naive one but....

 

What if they just send x numbers of LEs to each of their store instead of this flaws Pre order mess they call a functioning system?

 

Implementing a system which prevents you driving from store to store. I don't know what. Tell your registered e-mail from your account, which you'd need to get a LE, which is then marked in the system as checked or something?

 

Would be at least more fair than this queue disaster they're doing for years now.

 

2500 LE ÷ around 400 stores = 6 copies for each store

And those left in the shelves can then be sold online?

 

Just rambling, cause it's frustrating to read and see the incompetence and seemingly incapacity of fixing the scalpers issue. Take away the online factor -> success? *shrugs*

[theSpirea]

3 minutes ago, Kelborn said:

Call me a heretic and naive one but....

 

What if they just send x numbers of LEs to each of their store instead of this flaws Pre order mess they call a functioning system?

 

Implementing a system which prevents you driving from store to store. I don't know what. Tell your registered e-mail from your account, which you'd need to get a LE, which is then marked in the system as checked or something?

 

Would be at least more fair than this queue disaster they're doing for years now.

 

2500 LE ÷ around 400 stores = 6 copies for each store

And those left in the shelves can then be sold online?

 

Just rambling, cause it's frustrating to read and see the incompetence and seemingly incapacity of fixing the scalpers issue. Take away the online factor -> success? *shrugs*

 

That would horrible customer experience for many fans and a logistic nightmare for the company.

 

For example, the closest GW store for me is 4+ hours away. I know people who have it even further. Driving 10 hours to buy a book? I have better things to do on Saturdays, not to mention gas costs.

Afaik some countries don't even have GW stores. What about those people?

 

If the store doesn't sell all their copies, they will put it back online and ship it how? The whole website would have to be adjusted to take into consideration the location of individual leftover stock. Some stores don't have enough employees to be running to the post office/ordering pick up of LEs. GW invested a lot of money into warehouse and automation. This would go completely against it.

 

 

I've mentioned it before, GW can implement a system to track not only IPs but also MAC addresses. They can also implement a system to allow LEs purchases to be done only via physical debit/credit card tied to one billing address. So no vouchers, PayPal, virtual cards etc. This is extremely hard to go around. Even if people apply for additional cards with their bank or other banks, it's not that easy to have multiple billing addresses associated with them.

 

We have this system at the company I work for and it works great. Sure, there are customers negatively impacted by this as well (mainly the payment options) but from all the systems I know this is the one that works the best, doesn't require that much manual work, and the least number of customers are negatively impacted.

[Kelborn]

I see.

Thanks for pointing that out. :)

 

move along with the topic

[System Sound]

In other news.

 

Graham McNeil is no longer working at Riot Games.

[Felix Antipodes]

I wonder if this will affect other ex-BL alumni at Riot?  I believe there are several others on their payroll.

[burnside986]

55 minutes ago, System Sound said:

In other news.

 

Graham McNeil is no longer working at Riot Games.

Saw the Riot news yesterday on Reddit and made me wonder if he saw it coming, hence us getting him on Lords of the Lance recently.

[cheywood]

1 minute ago, burnside986 said:

Saw the Riot news yesterday on Reddit and made me wonder if he saw it coming, hence us getting him on Lords of the Lance recently.

Lords of the Lance was probably finished late 2022/early 2023, given BL’s usual gap between final draft and publishing. I don’t think its existence has much to do with Graham’s job. 

 

14 minutes ago, Felix Antipodes said:

I wonder if this will affect other ex-BL alumni at Riot?  I believe there are several others on their payroll.

Ian St. Martin is gone, Anthony Reynolds is still at Riot. No word from Goulding.

[skylerboodie]

Sad for them if didnt get a choice (Graham's emoji would indicate not in his case), but it would be nice to see them do more BL fiction moving forwards, if they have more scope to do so as a result.

[aa.logan]

Ian St Martin is absolutely the one that got away from BL for me; Steel Daemon and Angron are both exceptional books and I’m gutted that he didn’t do (much) more for them. Here’s hoping he drifts back…

[Ubiquitous1984]

According to the BLN page there were eight people queuing outside WHW at 9pm tonight.  It’s bloody cold here in the UK too.

[aa.logan]

6 hours ago, Ubiquitous1984 said:

According to the BLN page there were eight people queuing outside WHW at 9pm tonight.  It’s bloody cold here in the UK too.

So glad I didn’t have to resort to that this time…

[Ubiquitous1984]

2 hours ago, aa.logan said:

So glad I didn’t have to resort to that this time…

I always think of you when I read these posts.

 

There were 29 people there by 6am.