Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2
Hey folks, SinSynn here.
We have a date now!
0_o
Games Workshop broke their infamously stoic silence to officially announce the forthcoming release of Warhammer 40k 6th Edition last week. It's important to emphasize 'officially' here, since this is the very first time GW has seen fit to give us any information regarding 40k 6th since the rumors and speculation began roughly a year ago.
A 27 second video featuring a flaming Aquila symbol and music from Codex Pictures (no chuckling, please, this is serious business. Keep it down to a snigger, or at most a chortle) finally gave us something real to latch on to:
23 - VI - 12
Despite the fact that the video makes no actual mention of 40k, I was able to piece together the truth with my keen Xenos mind (and a deeply involved Google search). Apparently, the two letters in between basketball legend Micheal Jordan's jersey number (23) and the last two digits reminding us of exactly how many inches are in a foot (12) are not really letters at all! They're actually some ancient Terran culture's method of expressing the numerical value of six in written form.
Oh, Games Workshop, you're so clever...I see what you did there.-_-
But, hey...now we know, right? As they say:
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| *I would link the video, but this is more amusing* |
Less than two weeks from now, Games Workshop's flagship franchise, the biggest and perhaps most important miniatures game ever, is returning. The previous Edition is widely considered to be the best version ever, and was so popular that big Tournament matches were broadcast live over the Internet.
Theoretically, Games Workshop has a sure-fire winner with 6th Edition.
Clearly, GW thinks so as well, since they invested dozens of dollars and several hours of unpaid intern time making the video heralding this landmark event.
Sigh.
In typical Games Workshop fashion, there has been no real hype, no dramatic build-up, no previews or sneak peeks. In our own typical fashion, 40k fans snatch at tidbits and invent wild conspiracy theories as to why GW has no interest in promoting 6th Edition.
Is it because they signed a deal with New Line Cinema to make the LotR and Hobbit games, and that contract required everyone at GW to cut their tongues and fingers off?
Do bloggers like myself do all their promotional work for them, despite the assumption that their core audience, the 'silent majority,' supposedly pays no attention to the 40k websites?
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| *And it's all kind of silly* |
Significant resources are spent developing and printing a new Edition. So if a 'word of mouth' advertising campaign for an event that occurs roughly twice every decade is good enough for Games Workshop stockholders, it's good enough for me, I suppose.
Waddayagonnado?
GW has been this way forever, and thus far it has worked very well for them.
Who this doesn't work out so well for is the independent retailers who carry their product. House of Paincakes own lovely, luminous Loquacious wrote one of the most interesting posts I've read in a long time in regards to this subject. Check it out HERE.
*Note- according to her contract, I'm also allowed to refer to her as 'Queen of the Universe and Mistress of all Hobby,' but that takes entirely too long to type.
Being the intrepid reporter I am (I have a hat, with a post-it note stuck to it that reads 'press'), I thought I'd hit her up for a little more info. As you know, Loquacious owns and operates an actual gamestore called Armored Gopher Games with her husband theDude, so she has an 'insider's view.'
I had a lengthy chat with her (always awkward, because no one is allowed to raise their eyes from the floor in her presence, and the hard tiles in her throne room hurt my knees), and here's what I found out:
- Until it was officially announced, 6th Edition was technically just a rumor. Since one cannot sell rumors, retailers didn't care about them. Independent retailers were still selling 5th Edition on Friday, and 6th was announced on Saturday!
40k fans sorta knew it was coming, because of the 'memo rumor'- Games Workshop stores were supposedly told to remove 5th Edition rulebooks from their shelves via a mysterious memo about a month ago. It was correctly assumed they were doing it to make room for 6th Edition's impending release, and that rumor turned out to be true.
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| *Yep, sometimes the rumors are true* |
- Since independent retailers were told the release date for 6th edition in the same way everyone was told (a 27 second video posted online), they've been unable to promote the product in any way until now. The first business day following the announcement should have seen GW distributors flooding the retailer's e-mails and fax machines with promotions, deals and order forms....
...or at least they should have gotten a phone call, right? Somebody, somewhere up the chain, should want to get the ball rolling on this thing, right?
Nope. Retailers are scrambling just to find out anything.
It looks like Games Workshop is expecting everyone to buy 6th Edition sight unseen, barring a 'leak.' Oddly enough, I fully expect this to happen!
Those books are in transit, and one of 'em is gonna fall off a truck somewhere, I think. I haven't forgotten what happened in the handful of days prior to 5th Edition's release. Pictures of pages from the book found their way onto the internet and confirmed things like True Line of Sight and 4up Cover Saves.
Rumors confirming rumors...and it's all part of some masterfully orchestrated ninja-like advertising scheme by GW, and it's happening again...
My head hurts now.
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| *And the more confused I get the more I think. It's a vicious circle* |
Gotta say the latest rumors (including a supposed 'leaked' press release) are following the same pattern- 'confirming' things that have long been hinted at. Random charge lengths, challenges, interactive terrain and 5up Cover Saves, for instance.
I'll wait to see the pics before I believe it.
;)
As for me, the title of this post pretty much sums up my feelings about 6th Edition. None of the things I've heard are making me want to play 40k again, sadly. A new Tau Codex doesn't look to be happening any time soon, either.
At this point, I'm not like, 'mad' at Games Workshop. I've simply lost interest in playing their game.
Now when I say 'their game,' I don't mean 40k. I still love 40k. I'm currently re-reading the Eisenhorn trilogy, I'm leveling up my character in the Space Marine game for XBox, and I still love Dawn of War on my PC.
I still love 40k.
No, when I say 'their game,' I mean I no longer have interest in dealing with Games Workshop, and their way of doing things. However, I still have one final hope. One final straw to cling to.
My wishlist.
- Sweeping change!
It's long past time for GW to step it up in virtually every department. It's time to stop having their customers fix everything for them. Seriously. We shouldn't have things like the Inat FAQ or Comp in tournaments, because we shouldn't need them.
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| *We even fix their models- this Storm Talon actually looks like it can fly! Check out more at Red's Corps, it's awesome* |
It's time for frequent updates for their games, some level of interaction with their fanbase, and time to say goodbye to the glacial release schedule and the silent treatment.
Enough, already, Games Workshop. Get with the times.
- Give Us A Break!
I'm sorry, GW, but I won't spend 75 bucks on your rulebook unless I hear it's awesome. Honestly I can't really afford your product the way I used to. I understand you need to make money, but...damn, those yearly price increases are a real turn-off. You do things like switch to Finecast to save money, and don't pass those savings onto us. After a while, your treatment starts making your customers think you hate us.
Do you hate us, Games Workshop?
*sniffle*
We're sorry...we just really wanna play your game. Y U hurt us?
- MOAR XENOS!
Sheesh, does Games Workshop love themselves some Space Marines, or what? WHERE ARE THE ELDAR?
The Eldar are one of the premier forces in the 40k universe, and now...
-_-
...and don't think I haven't noticed that the Xenos books you released during 5th either flat-out sucked (Tyranids...woe is me), was underpowered and rapidly eclipsed (Dark Eldar), or was given some wacky, unnecessary facelift and still left slightly underpowered (Necrons).
No outrageous Psyker powers and abundant Melta for you, Xenos!
....yeah, I saw that, GW.
Blah.
Do I have hope that Games Workshop will fulfill any of these wishes?
Sigh- not really.
As it stands right now, I'll most likely find out everything I need to know about 6th Edition when the reviews start coming in, and I expect to be disappointed.
There is a little, teeny-tiny, itty-bitty spark of hope that maybe I'll have a reason to dig up my Tau someday, but with GW's current track record, I dare not nurse it.
Waddayagonnado?
Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!
-SinSynn
P.S.- Special thanks to Loquacious and Frontline Gamer for their help with this series, thanks to Redscorps for the Storm Talon pic, and an extra special thanks to everyone who made the comment sections so interesting in parts 1 and 2.
Yer all da awesome! Big, sloppy, wet tentacle hugz for all of ya!
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