Boy it is a good thing that the stuff is too expensive for me to afford, or I might have been majorly bummed out.
my 2cents,
iblisdrax
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| Tau v3 http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1023 |
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| Author: | nealhunt [ Wed Feb 18, 2004 7:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
Hey Primarch: Unfortunately, I am afraid I must admit that you are dangerously close to being right with respect to GW's Epic release in the US. It appears that, at most, the GW stores will be carrying rulebooks but probably not, and independent stores are as far as I know unable to even do mail order. Apparently, Canada has different rules and the indies can order so that's something. Oz's problems are well-documented, of course. The UK is going to be the only market with a strong element of support. I hope it remains sufficient to continue marketing the game. I have to admit that I am the most pessimistic about EAs chances of acceptance that I have been since I started playtesting over a year ago. |
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| Author: | Hergrmir [ Wed Feb 18, 2004 7:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
Apparently the GW near where I live here in Canada will be stocking small amounts of everything available, at least for a little while. Supposedly that's what happened for Necromunda too, but that only had one shipment of rulebooks and apparently they can't get it in anymore for some reason. |
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| Author: | iblisdrax [ Wed Feb 18, 2004 8:13 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
Boy it is a good thing that the stuff is too expensive for me to afford, or I might have been majorly bummed out. my 2cents, iblisdrax |
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| Author: | darkone26 [ Wed Feb 18, 2004 8:32 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
hmmm where did that intel come from? Still US Mail order will just continue the way they did with the epic archives. Although inconvenient its still a source right? |
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| Author: | primarch [ Wed Feb 18, 2004 8:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
Hi! Neal, the few retail contacts I still have back your observations. Decisions regarding what non-core games will be stock in GW stores in the US, has always been, in my experience, highly dependent on the store manager. Remember thier job depends on good sales so taking shelf space or other resources to promote or sell a non-core game is risky. Many store owners dont have the guts for that sort of thing and play it safe and sell 40k or fantasy. Now the REAL problem is not what GW stores do. The problem is that it won't be available through anyone BUT GW. Too little exposure will be given to the game. Will UK sales and support be enough? Don't know, but my guess is no. Remember each GW region (US, UK, Europe, etc) makes thier own decisions regarding what they make available. If it does well in the UK, it may mean anyone who wants epic has to order to the UK, since GWUS may decide not support it. While it good for old timers to have it available, even when it means mail order to the UK, it will kill local interest to any markets outside the UK. Also, since independent stores in the US cannot get it, what incentive does the store owner have to let you demo the game in his stores? He can't profit from it, thus he wont be interested. GWUS is making a lot of dubious decisions of late. The ban on internet sales and such issues like with epic show that GWUS is concentrating on high profitability ventures like 40 or fantasy of LOTR's. Good for business..... ...not so good for epic. Primarch |
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| Author: | nealhunt [ Wed Feb 18, 2004 9:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
Quick update, according to a US retailer on the playtest boards, indies can get it, but they have to go through a different channel and the margins are considerably lower than on the standard retail distribution. Still, nearly the same. |
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| Author: | primarch [ Wed Feb 18, 2004 9:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
Hi! Hmmm....interesting. I try to get more information on that point. But profit margins buying from GW direct are already getting lower, to make them even lower AND adding another distribution channel separate from regular GW, means not many store owners are going to bother. I used to retail and beleive me too many distribution channels, besides being a hassle, mean more minimums to meet for each order and more money in shipping costs. It seems they are going out of their way to make sure only GW gets to sell it in the US. Bummer.... Primarch |
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| Author: | Legion 4 [ Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:20 am ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
Primarch has a pretty good record with this Epic/Retail stuff. As long as I can call the Trolls (as I have been doing for over 10 years) and get Epic delivered to my door, I don't have a problem with it. Very little G/W stuff is carried at the shops in my hometown, let alone Epic !  I don't think G/W believes E:A is going to be the "Main Event" or ever will ... Just so they give it enough support to keep it alive and I (we) can get it through MO, I feel is the best we can hope for ... 
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| Author: | Mojarn Piett [ Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:08 am ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
The local independet store here isn't going to stock any Epic minis. They got a couple of copies of the rulebook and that's it.  Of course, it's no problem for me to order from GWUK, but I was hoping to see _some_ activity around epic. I won't be seeing any. I don't know whether the GW store in Helsinki will be carrying Epic but I doubt it. And I don't much care; it's not going to save me much in postage over ordering direct from UK.I guess I'll try to cut my losses and try to buy any epic I can from locals who used to play it. 
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| Author: | vanvlak [ Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:36 am ] | ||
| Post subject: | Tau v3 | ||
Same here - the two local stores who get GW stuff seem to be uninterested. MO it will have to be - 2nd hand epic is practically nonexistent here. |
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| Author: | CrimsonFury [ Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
While Epic obviously won't sell as well in places without in-store support, IMO it will still do well enough for GW\Fanatic to continue producing and selling it (even in the US). I read some interesting points about GWs marketing strategy in the Appendix of their 2003 final results. You can find the full article here: http://investor.games-workshop.com/Resu ... endix1.htm Here are some quotes from the article (underlining added by me on points I thought were interesting) In short the model is that of a niche business and the story is that it appeals to a relatively small number of people devoted to the Games Workshop Hobby. Niche businesses are not widely understood. They do not, generally, follow accepted business norms. Much of what is written about business is written about varieties of mass-market activities; most of the day to day experiences we have are with mass-market companies. A niche business is a tightly focussed activity that knows that what it does is not for everyone, but for a narrow group of individuals. It knows that quality is more important than price, and that respect for the customer is paramount. It knows that mass-market advertising is expensive and for niche businesses ineffective compared to the power of word of mouth. These are a few examples of the differences, there are many others. | |
| Author: | iblisdrax [ Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tau v3 |
What I cannot understand is the convultated system that GW has for internet sales. Two different sets (Internet/Mail Order) with different sites and products, is inherently confusing and misleading. I can understand having different sites for GWUK and GWUS, but why have a Mail order at all? In my mind, it would be more efficent just to put it all under internet sales and forget about it. And why, if it is going to be availible only by mail order anyway, the delay for Epic in the US? It should have been launched simultaniously. Confusion reigns. my 3-1 cents, iblisdrax |
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| Author: | Jimbo [ Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:55 pm ] | ||
| Post subject: | Tau v3 | ||
of course the report is referring to Warhammer FB and 40K! Specialist Games is a tiny niche segment of a niche market. I suspect GW has successfully done their marketing analysis towards Epic, I also suspect SG will successfully achieve its sales targets of Epic, but this doesn't mean that Epic is a success from the point of view of the players which is why everyone is complaining!!! GW has one POV on if Epic will be a success. Epic gamers have a different POV on what makes a "success". I suspect most people here expressing a point of view want Epic to achieve the same level of "success" as WHFB and WH40K. It ain't going to happen now, today or tomorrow! It did once I realise that, but once Fivestar (enter name of other poo pop group eg Steps) were in the charts, ain't going to happen again! stay cool |
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| Author: | CrimsonFury [ Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:23 pm ] | ||
| Post subject: | Tau v3 | ||
Yes the report was mainly about Warhammer FB and 40K. Specialist Games is indeed a niche segment of a niche market. Good point about the 2 different definitions on what a "success" is from GW\player POVs. I was thinking of the Epic meeting GW definition of success, and thus continuing to make the models and release new armies for many years to come. As opposed to many people claiming they won't succede and that E:A won't be around long enough to ever see Tau or Necron armies released. I agree it won't reach WHFB\WH40K leaves with the current marketing strategy, and I don't think GW wants it to (although i'm sure Jervis and all the Epic players would love that, myself included). What is possible is that if the current incarnation meets their sales expectations (which I think it will) the next edition (2008 onwards) will have much stronger support (eg small quanties in stores worldwide for the first few months), model ranges for all armies available at launch etc. Of course thats too far away for most people to care about, but theres not much we can do about that :\. |
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| Author: | netepic [ Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:53 pm ] | ||
| Post subject: | Tau v3 | ||
You mean STEPS ain't big anymore? My world is all ascew .
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