Pet Peeve

It's been a while since i've posted an update on the blog, owing to a combination of slight hobby burn out, real life commitments and rioting in the UK.

I had an idea for an update for this week that would have hopefully included a Warmachine battle report and some photos of my opponents armies showing a couple of rather spectacularly painted forces. Sadly this was completely scuppered by the recent civil unrest this past week in the UK.

I live in a small town called Huyton, which is part of Liverpool. To get to my FLGS in St. Helens, i have to pass very close to another town called Warrington which was the scene of several violent incidents as rioters made their way to the larger city of Manchester. And as much as i love my games of 40k, Warhammer and Warmachine they arent really worth risking a mugging to play.

So that article is postponed until next week, when hopefully the scally scum responsible for this disorder have been dealt with.

In the meantime i would like to comment on a growing peeve of mine on the Internet: The continued persecution of Matt Ward.

It seems like it is impossible to go anywhere hobby related without seeing at least one insult directed his way and really it is completely unacceptable.

I can understand not liking his work, i can understand being irritated that your latest update isn't what you would expect. I can even understand why a heap of Astartes players are annoyed when a codex tells them they have Ultramarine envy. All are fine reasons to criticise the work.

What they are not an excuse for is making disgraceful personal comments about Ward. They arent an excuse to spam the internet with vitriolic hate towards the man. As i've said to others :Hate the product, don't hate the man.

Those of us who have been around have of course seen this all before. Before Ward, Gav Thorpe was the repeated target of absolutely horrible comments and insults, none of which he deserved. And i'm sure once Ward does leave the company, he'll be replaced by another scapegoat.

But in the meantime i do ask that anyone who does read this blog not to indulge in reckless hate against Ward. Can you imagine how you would feel, or a loved one would feel, if the same comments were made about you? If only for politeness i hope the Internet community can tone it down.

/end rant.

So that's why my order was three weeks late...

So Wayland Games have come out and declared they won't be stocking Finecast because of its quality issues, all the while presenting themselves as the heroes of the hobby.

Bullcrap.

Some of the "issues" they declared were absolutely laughable, a stray air bubble here or there, some of the "issues" appear to actually be part of the sculpt themselves - jagged armour plate on an Orc and some of the "issues" were just plain ridiculous. I don't care how you present it, a stray hair in the packaging is not a fault nor is it grounds to drop the range.

I'm sure those who were kept waiting three weeks for their orders while Wayland pissed about taking pictures of miscellaneous man hair are absolutely delighted for the reason for the delays. And no doubt they were equally delighted when it took days for any reply to our enquiries was made and that several items were dropped from orders without explanation, all of which had nothing to do with Finecast.
Perhaps Wayland before you criticise other companies practices you should get your own house in order.

As for their supposed status as "Hobby heroes", again bullcrap. This was nothing but a publicity stunt to save face when GW stops supplying them after their public flaunting of GW's new international sales policy.

So drop whatever you want Wayland Games, criticise whatever company you want, but i certainly will be recommending to my friends and fellow gamers to stay clear of ordering from you, because of your shoddy dispatch times and your absolutely terrible levels of customer service.

Times they are a changin'

So in my continuing efforts to catch up with several months worth of hobby developments, i've been reading back dated news from the various hobby sites like Bell of Lost Souls and Beasts of War.

The main thing that has caught my eye isn't the launch of Citadel Finecast but rather their new policy on international sales via third party internet retailers.

Now as i live in the UK and fairly close to a GW store, this doesnt really affect me in any way. But i am concerned about the effect it will have on the hobby as a whole and its expansion into new areas.

From what i understand of it the move has been made because GW believes online retailers are having a negative impact on the growth of their retail stores abroad as well as their own internet sales.

Now i can see where this arguement is coming from after talking to several GW store managers here in the UK, who have found big releases undermined in store by web companies offering large discounts and so losing sales. The Stompa for example was an absolute flop in sales at the Grimsby branch thanks to online offers.

But, and this is a fairly big but, i cannot fathom how this action will benefit GW in the long term.

Hampering online stores may force customers to use GW's own service, but the market that is savvy enough to rely on online companies is also savvy enough to be able to go elsewhere for their wargaming needs.

All this change is doing is driving those who use these companies into the arms of the competition and causing a backwash of resentment amongst the online community, even amongst players who won't be affected at all. No doubt Mantic, Privateer Press and others are rubbing their hands in glee at the potential foreign sales that are likely to result.

All in all it feels like GW cutting off their nose to spite their face.

This is just one of several changes in policy i've seen emerge at GW over the last few years that has caused me concern. Having worked for a company that was driven into the ground by rash decisions by executives i really don't want to see the same happen to Games Workshop, a company whose products have provided me with a huge amount of enjoyment over the last 16 years.