Re: [GZG] Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi!

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l put Beth and agreed on every point. This fits the local model as well.

-Eli

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: <Beth.Fulton@csiro.au> 

> G'day, 
> 
> > The teleporting commandos of doom are now gone.... 
> 
> And this is where my main objection to GW comes in I think. My very 
> first thought response to this is "but for how long?". In the 16 years

> Derek and I have been together now I can't say how many editions of GW

> products I have seen come and go. That is true of many products 
> admittedly, and it seems a perverse aspect of human nature that many 
> people can't say "oh that's nice but I'll stick with the one I like 
> actually....". With GW in my experience the push to new has been 
> exemplified. Whether that is because they are trying to entertain a 
> younger audience I'm not sure. Now as a marketing tactic I can 
> understand where they are coming from, but as a consumer this is a
brief 
> summary of what grates with GW (I'm not flaming just stating the 
> irritants for me, which may not hold for many others): 
> 
> 1) Non GW figures are persona non grata.... That idea has been so
firmly 
> shoved into the masses heads it even holds in the majority of club or 
> "friendly" games. Not only that even last editions figures aren't good

> enough. On so many levels that just feels wrong to me. Whether its
from 
> my ecofriendly/pragmatic side of "if it still works why toss it away" 
> right through to the sole income earner in a family of 5 I find it an 
> affront to be "told oh no you need the new $20 leader figure to be
able 
> to do that and no you can't make do with the old one" (or the $3 GZG 
> figure). The only upside to this is that when the edition changes you 
> can pick up old stuff much much cheaper... Which means that Derek has
a 
> lot of elves and I have many battle sisters in my Nuns with guns army,

> but even then the "old prices" really only brought them on par with 
> other decent manufacturers (Perry twins aside). 
> 
> 2) As a female and a mother I actually really dislike the images 
> presented in the background world for W40K. They are not nice
basically. 
> 
> 3) The special rules drive me nuts (as does the "army of the month" 
> mentality that has gripped GW for so long) 
> 
> 4) It is usually very easy to dismantle the rules in to impossible to 
> beat combos which are then boring 
> 
> 5) They don't support squats and any one who has been on this list for

> any time knows what I think of men with beards ;) 
> 
> 6) The majority of the figures don't do much for me (mmm I wonder what

> large guns and oversized bulging muscles are replacement for ;P) 
> 
> 7) The majority of the "serious" GW gamers I have played with aren't 
> pleasant.... They are either (i) excessively opinionated teenagers who

> are shocked (and often aggressive or insulting without provocation) 
> about the fact gaming extends beyond GW; or middle aged men who have
had 
> to be so defensive about sticking with GW they can't be any other way 
> now. This in combination with the whole "you MUST have the EXACT
correct 
> figure" thing makes gaming with them unpleasant as they can only
discuss 
> one topic and are rules obsessed (scoring points over mistakes rather 
> than teaching newbies being a particularly grating feature). That is
not 
> to say that is universally the case, I have played some quite
enjoyable 
> games some close friends and family but beyond that circle ouch (mind 
> you that can be said of many other genres too). 
> 
> 8) They claim to like imagination (in the magazines), but if you show 
> any the rules don't have (or didn't any rate, maybe this is not true
of 
> the later editions) the flexibility to represent it. You played their 
> lists and characters and that's it. 
> 
> 9) Outside of Warhammer and W40K you can't be guaranteed a game will 
> continue to be supported for more than the batting of an eye. Which 
> should be fine if people could get past the faddishness often
associated 
> with GW (again some can, but many can't). I can't count the number of 
> times Derek, Lachy and I have basically been vilified at clubs over
the 
> last decade for turning up and (gasp) daring to play a GW game like 
> Necromunda that wasn't actually supported anymore. 
> 
> 10) The shop front bully boy tactics of the GW company itself used to
be 
> disgraceful (holding up shipping to people supplying competing chain's

> lines etc and effectively financially bullying people into towing the
GW 
> line and nothing else). That may well have changed in the past decade,

> but it can take a long time to live down such ma reputation down. 
> 
> 
> So what attracted me to GZG? It brings in brains (e.g. the whole
morale 
> things mean you have to actually think about what you're doing) and 
> imagination and flexibility and generally a nicer bunch of people and 
> its fun and cheaper and overall simply a much nicer thing to be doing.

> Thus endth the sermon ;) 
> 
> Beth 
> 
> 
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