Top 5 - 2011 Retrospective

Its that time of year again... here's my pick for the Top 5 wargaming products for 2011 (as well as long-winded retrospective).

TOP 5 - Top Five things GW could do to make WHFB sell better

Let's face it: WHFB 8th edition ain't perfect.  Nowhere close.  But, its a fun game, its the only game of its scale (28mm, large fantasy army battles) with its market penetration, and its got a great IP.  That said, its been losing market share for some time, playing 2nd fiddle to its cousin with 39,999 more warhammers and now to Warmachine.  How to stop this?  Here's five realistic things GW could do to get Fantasy back on track.

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5.) Fix 8th edition's magic phase.  Given GWs recent willingness to release FAQs, fix the big spells (Dwellers Below, Purple Sun) that have inadvertainly become problems.  Make miscasts deadlier. Fix Teclis and the Book of Hoeth.  Fix Slaan (i.e. - tweak the "Now you get my miscast" item).  These are massive game breakers at a competitive level and even someone who wants to have "fun" with lots of magic quickly realizes a single level 4 mage with the right wargear can break the game.

4.) Set realistic price goals.  The world economy isn't doing so hot right now.  Releasing a game with a $75 core rule book (or cheaper rulebook that comes in a $100 boxset), $37.25 army rulebooks, and $29 core troops that customers ought to want to purchase in blocks of 30+ isn't a smart idea.  Its losing you money, both anecdotally and statistically. 

If you want players to play at 3000+ points, give them a bone.  How about $200 army deals for all armies that include troops, a hero choice, a plastic elite option, and a big rare (Steamtank, Dragon, etc etc)?  Sell at a reasonably discount (e.g. - 25% off what you'd pay if you bought each box) and market it as an army entry point (which the Battalions are doing a poor job pretend to be).

Why Don't You Love Me, GW?

3.) Put some play support into the Specialist Games that compliment your IP.  Bloodbowl's got a reasonably popular video game that uses the same IP as Warhammer Fantasty.  Why aren't you releasing "Hobby Articles" highlighting how to play?  Don't put money into new sculpts; but pay a design for 2+ hours of work to make BB's Living Rulebook look modern.   Pimp some of this to the fan community.  On that note...

2.) Stop Sueing the Fan Community.  Go after recasters.  Go after companies that are stepping on your IP (Chapterhouse, etc).  Don't sue forums for using the name "Blood Bowl" in their title.  You want to protect your IP?  Then license them a fan kit with a list of what they can and can't do.

1.) Learn how to Market using the Web.  A dev blog that exercises almost no brand discipline is not having a web presence.  Letting us know whats in the pipe two months before you release it, followed by actual previews the day of pre-order isn't working.

Get a forum and control it appropriately (see Privateer Press' forum of an example of how to do this).  Interact with fans via the Web.  Control your brand message actively, rather than passively releasing it and letting warseer/dakka dakka run with it.


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SPAYZE MUHREENs will keep GW's doors open for a long time.  That said, Privateer and Mantic are really doing a number on their North American sales.  Moreover, GWs revamped all but 1 Space Marine line in the past 5 years...they're running out of easy wins.

What's it going to take to get GW to right their ship?  This, mayhaps?

I am Title Nineicus, Lord of The End Times!!!



Top 5 - Jerky Things I can't wait to do at International Steampunk Festival

 

I don't think its any secret, but I'm a complete jerk and I hate Steampunk.  Don't get me wrong, fabrication art is really cool, but when you slap goggles on anything and suddenly its "Stheampunk" and magically hip, sorry, I'm probably going to hate it. 

 

 

Look at this f$#%# hipster

 

See this guy?  This is Jules Verne.  He wrote a lot of fiction that's decidedly Steampunk (e.g. - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea).  He would probably choke you for housing your iPod in a pocket watch.  You know why?  Because he was a big fan of technology.  You've got a phonograph and every wax record in existence in your pocket, and you'd like to pretend that you're totally too cool for that.  If Vernes ever met you, he'd probably probably kick you in the junk.   Scratch that, he'd get you to give him the cure for Polio, then kick you in the junk.

 

Plus, its tired.  The little suburban town I live in is hosting International Steampunk City.  You know when a suburb is hosting an International Day of anything, its not chic anymore.

Mr. Snugglekins was so tragically hip

 

Seriously though: Goths who discover brown, love zee goggles, and expouse neo-Luddite nonsense are the worst.  On that note, here's the Top 5 Jerky Things I can't wait to do at International Steampunk Day.

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5.) Ask people about "Zee Goggles" and their functionality.  As in, what "zey do" and whether or not it is "nussing".


4.) Ask someone why they are so many fans of the movie Wild, Wild West out and about today?  Also, ask if they would, in fact, like to get jiggy with it.


3.) Wear my "Type O Negative - Everything Dies, even Peter Steele" shirt.  Count the number of people who scoff.


2.) List the annoying college kids' apartment down the street as a hot spot for cos-players on Craigslist.


1.) Walk down Moody St. with popcorn.  Watch local flavor and Stheampunks interact.  Lulz ensue.

 

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Yes, this is a joke.  No, I'm not going to probably do any of the above (accept 1 and 5).  Yes, I dislike Steampunk, but mostly because its tired and I don't get subcultures whose only unifying thread is dressing funny and old fiction.

Clearly, a miniskirt and corset are appropriate work attire for the bowels of steam engine.  But at least they didn't forget their safety goggles! OSHA were so strict 110 years before they were enacted.