However, what will the new year bring for our favorite hobby and game, Warhammer 40K? 2013 was a big and busy year for the 40K universe. Tons of new releases, complete with Codexes, supplements, models, and even 2 expansions. I suspect that 2014 will keep up that relentless pace. The constant releases will undoubtedly please some, and piss off others.
As for my own part, I have some concrete ideas and feelings about all these changes and their impact on our gaming community. This is just a slight rant on my part. In between these rants I will post some nice pics of my Daemon Prince of Khorne from Ultraforge for your approval...
1- GW wants to make money- it is amazing that some people get "offended" that GW wants to make money off releases. Of course they do. Escalation reflects their wish to sell Super-heavies, while Stronghold wants people to buy the terrain kits. Some are angry that GW does this- but this is what all companies do. You don't HAVE to buy anything (especially Escalation, as so many have said they will not play Escalation games).
2. We all need to "Chill Out"- some people go crazy when they see a particular rule, model, or supplement... in other words, people fear "changes". I look on BoLS and other sites and it is amazing how many people seem to freak out when a new army or expansion is released. The comments get quite negative, even hostile. Is this the kind of community we wish to be? Bitter and suspicious and even occasionally mean-spirited? Surely not. Therefore, I'd like to ask our gaming community to just take a deep breath and relax. Of course, share your opinions- but do it in a civil way, and try not to get too excited without having all of the facts or being nasty to those whose opinions are different from yours.
3. Let's Remember What Got Us Into The Hobby- whenever we talk about the meta, nerfs, WAACs, and all that jazz, we lose sight of what got us into the hobby to begin with. The storyline, the cool models, conversions, personalization, and fun, enjoyable games. There is more to our hobby than math-hammer and "broken" units. I hope that our community can look at all the good stuff with 40K. Yes, there are certainly "problems" with 40K too- I'm just saying that we should not ignore what's right about it. Now that is a perfect segue into my last point...
4. GW Has Responsibilities Too- The company needs to make sure that they balance their business side with doing good for their fans. For example, I wish that GW would continue to change the White Dwarf further, to include more modelling, conversions, and fluff. Also, I think that they need to be a bit more careful in their digital releases. December's Advent releases was just wild- so many dataslates and the like- perhaps it would be wiser for GW to slow that down just a bit, as their were things I would have bought but there were just too many. A little more staggered release schedule for digital releases would be better for us and GW. If the rumors are correct, the Tyranid release will see some dataslates released at the same time- perhaps a bit too much to buy all at once? If they scattered it over 2-3 months, would that make more business sense? It would allow people to buy at a better pace, and keep up excitement for the armies even after their release windows.
Well, at any rate, that's my New Year's Rant, for your consideration. Until next time...
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