I'm sure you all have heard that Games Workshop has been going after many fan websites with cease and desist letters, claiming various copyright infringements. Librarium Online was even told that their 2 headed eagle was an infrigement. I wonder if the Christian Orthodox church will get a letter demanding they stop using the Imperial Auqila?

Anyway, it seems that GW has been really pissing off a lot of fans with these letters. Some sites have had to move or pull any GW images/fan rules etc. I'm wondering what you guys think of the situation and if it will affect you buying the limited Epic range during the Christmas rush?

FRakk G/W !!!     FRakk F/W !!!    Frakk G/W !!!    Frakk F/W  !!!     Frakk'm All !!!  

_________________
Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

There's mention of a C&D delivered to Boardgame Geek regarding its listing of Space Hulk &etc.

There have been several threads discussing it.

Mostly, GW is cracked.  They are over-reaching their IP rights in most cases, though they do have some legitimate complaints.

_________________
Neal

Face it the mature internet community is not their core sales target. So shutting down these sites, or even threatening to do so won't, in their eyes at least, hurt the bottom line.

Personally I haven't bought much from them in recent times, and rarely from one of their stores. I'm genuinely considering moving to the foundry paint system so that will leave me with just the washes to purchase from GW. Not that they will miss my tiny expenditure in any case.

If they had repositioned as a mainly on-line retailer, as it looked like they thought they could a couple of years ago, this C&D approach could have been a real disaster.

Uh oh, GW is in for it now! They just made the front page of Slashdot.

It could be worse, though, GW could have insulted Linux.

They ARE moving towards just that Meph~.

No blisters allowed for retailers (unless signing up for communist like rights for GW to go in, physically, and look at the shop's ledgers etc).
Only plastic sets for retailers and even there key products (like the hive city tile for Planetary Empires) only available through GW's own post order.

_________________
It would be nice to get lightspeed,
so far we can only reach slight speed.- Erik M
092b85658e746a91d343e53509d357744e56f641

Guess here in the UK we are in a better situation for GW stores than most. Not many (if any) were shut down in the last purge and reading this years financial statement GW are about to embark on a shop expansion in the US and Europe (I'm sure about the US, they talked about moving into strip mall locations rather than the large malls they used to target. I may have dreamed the Europe bit!).

While they have the stores to bring in fresh teenage blood and a large and fanatical following the company will survive. Shut too many shops and all bets are off.

I think that GW is crazy with their brick and mortar strategy in the US. Gaming stores in the US have to serve multiple markets in order to survive, which means CCGs, RPG books, tabletop minis (incl. clickies), and usually some other, non-gaming stuff. I've seen paintball, comic books, used video games, and plastic model kits in game stores before - all in an effort to remain in the black.

GW stores don't serve a big enough market, and don't serve their own market sufficiently (lack of table space, draconian rules for use of table space, lack of secondary model support - bits, SG games, FW, etc.).

I realize I could be wrong, but I believe they'd be better off focusing on wooing the independent retailers that already exist with better service and less restrictive policies on 'special' minis. A little prize support wouldn't hurt either.

Where'd you hear this?

_________________
Neal

I know that Maelstrom approached GW regarding stocking specialist games when they opened their new store. After initially encouraging signs GW decided not to allow them to stock SG after all.

I guess they only want independent retailers that can order high levels of stock so they don't have to distribute lots of small dispatches.

I think the biggest thing is that with GW distribution they eliminate a major "middle man" position.  Their stores end up with half again the margin of an indie shop.  Instead of 50-60%, they are 75-90%.

They also do a good job of running the stores, something you rarely see in independents.  You've been in both Game Depot and GameKeep.  If you ever went in Temple Games in M'boro, it was the same or worse.  Compare the atmosphere that Jim and Carl support and compare those to the light, family-friendly presence of the GW store.  GW shops support in-store gaming, run leagues and so forth.  Basically, they do a better job at promoting than any independent I've ever seen, with the possible exception of Keith at GameMaster when he was open.

Even the Opry Mills GW store, with its insane overhead/rent, had positive cash flow and had "turned the corner" (recouped all its initial investment) before GW shut it down.  It wasn't giving great ROI, but it was profitable.

===


They should have done this to begin with.  Game stores don't benefit from walk-by traffic nearly as much as the typical mall retailer.  They are primarily a destination retailer.  The high-rent deal GW made with Mills Corp hindered their earning potential.

Game shops need to have enough visibility that people know where they are, parking for patrons and access to food and drink, while keeping overhead reasonable.  Something like the strip malls that spring up near major malls or a major outdoor/walking mall should work fine.

_________________
Neal

The other problem I noticed with mall stores, at least the ones I was familiar with, was the size. One store that's now closed had room for only one table. Plus, if the store isn't close to an entrance, who really wants to lug his stuff through the mall?

_________________
"I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate." N. Peart

I say again ....

_________________
Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

There might be plenty of young ones to fill the ranks right now but just you wait. With all those lovely price worthy competitors of GW out there I'll be sure to try to nudge my future children in a certain non-GW way if they ever come to like tabletop games. (Said Karegak safe in the knowledge that all his epic mini needs are fulfilled... at the moment at least).

Problem with being a niche hobby though is that there are always new people... Well at least I have my soapbox.

_________________
http://diceatdawn.blogspot.se