Just to be clear about this, this is not going to be a post with harsh language about GW or anything. It really is just me sharing a little anecdote with people who can actually appreciate it.
SOOooo, last week I had a vision, I saw something which interested me A LOT :
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I just realised the new Tempestus Scions models come with loads of arms all equiped with wrist devices, reminding me of Fallout's Pipboys :
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| Yeah I know thta's the new version... |
It just happens I was looking for a way to make such devices for some project of mine recently and the kit seemed to be coming with an insane number of bits I could put to good use.
That and I needed bases like any good oldhammerer...
Sooo, I decided to go and get the stuff. You have to know in the city I live in, there are 3 very good hobby shops, one being above the others with Golden demon winners in the staff. Not only are these guys competent when it comes to holding a brush but they are really nice lads on top of that.
Well it just happens that these guys opened their shop right next door to the local GW store. Short story, they litteraly drained the clients and the GW store had to move somewhere else from the city centre to a street in the middle of fast-food restaurants and asian grocers...
Well it just happens that these guys opened their shop right next door to the local GW store. Short story, they litteraly drained the clients and the GW store had to move somewhere else from the city centre to a street in the middle of fast-food restaurants and asian grocers...
This resulted in independant shops having hard time to stock any amount of GW products apart from paint.
Now you can understand that most times I will go to my beloved hobby shop but this time I actually was compelled to get my ass to the GW store after many years of abstinence.
The following will be plain and pure facts, no judgement whatsoever :
- I had to wait until saturday because there was no day the shop was open during lunchbreak
- when I enterd the shop, it smelled sweat and cold cigarette, I mean it was really strong and unpleasant.
- the shop was actually full with 2 games being played (one WHFB and a 40k)
- only ONE unit (hih elf lancers) was actually nearly painted in all the 4 armies on the tables, the rest beig just bare plastic or even half built finecast...
- the shop seemed empty from models. There was a time when GW stores were like a treasure cave with walls covererd in blisters but there, only starterboxes and boxes of recent releases were out.
Another thing which amazed me was to actually see people gaming. I have not played neither 40k nor WHFB in the last 4 years so it was actually nice to see some gaming. Unfortunately the method must have changed a lot in those 4 years...
Here is a sample of what I heard (quite representative of the whole 2 games really), you may have to insert some missing data but I really couldn't remember those names.
"player A : With this unit I'm charging your unit here
player B : You REALLY want to charge my best unit in the rear with your heavy cavalry?, the champion has (insert the name of a superpowerful item here) and (insert the name of another superpowerful item here) which means I get a +4 to combart resolution which means you have (insert statistics) chances of winning BUT my sorceror has a spell which (insert lenghty description of superspell here) which means I 'll get you in the following turn with a (insert stat) chance of winning the round?
You really want to do that?
Player A : Hum, no let's move on to the shooting phase..."
There was also that discussion on the 40k table where one of the players ended with "Gawd, I really should have bought (insert name of supplement) to get this special unit which has that special bonus !"
Once again, I'm not judging anyone here... It is clear that I have another vision of gaming than this but who am I to judge people on how they want to play?
On the other hand there was something that really half annoyed me and half made me laugh...
I was talking to the store manager (only staffer anyway).
"Staffer : Hi, can I help you?
Asslessman, Hi, I'll take that box (handles the new scion Tempest thingee) and some bases, what do you have?
Staffer : round or square?
Asslessman : 25 mm round and squares
Staffer : well we have just bags of differents sizes or I can order some if you want...
Asslessman : I'll take the round bases bag but not the square one, why isn't there a 50mm base in it?
Staffer : 50mm square bases, Does that even exist?
Asslessman : Erm...yes?
Staffer : I don't know, you tell me! What would it be for?
Asslessman : Seriously? Erm, how about greater demons ? or maybe you want me to tell you what is based on 50mm bases?
Staffer : oh yeah right..."
And this is how I left the store and got back in the tramway to get back home.
I will do a review of what I found in the box because there is quite a lot to ay about it and I should soon have another thing to review the opening of (expect something worthy here)...
Let me just spoil some of the fun by saying I was very happy by what I found inside the tempestus scion box.
I am actually painting exclusively for My Slaanesh warband right now and the deadline being one week away I have a LOT of work ahead left... I've switched for drybrushes and washes where I can, avoiding super blendings where possible but this will be a hard challenge...
If you ordered over £40 you could have had it delivered free to the independent hobby store and collect from there. That'll be funny.
ReplyDeleteSure, that would have been the best way (you can easily reach the 40£ by joining moultiple orders) but impatient me wouldn't hear anthing on Saturday ;)
DeleteThanks
Very interesting to hear what your local GW store is like. My local store is Warhammer World, and not very typical I guess. I used to be a regular at WW and knew most of the staff by name, however I go in very infrequently now, meaning almost every visit I have a conversation which goes:
ReplyDeleteStaffer: Hi, what are you working on?
Me: Blood Bowl / Confrontation / random skirmish stuff.
Staffer: Oh, cool. Have you ever tried 40k?
Me: Yeah, I used to play but don't have time/inclination now.
Staffer: Oh, well X army has just been released, why don't you pick up the codex/new box.
I don't mind them trying to sell stuff, but I used to get people being a lot more excited about my projects rather than their new stock, which in turn often led to sales as they could suggest suitable figures for conversions or whatever. The focus has definitely moved away from customisation and cool little warbands to big stuff straight out of the box.
I visited Montreal's GW and I got that exact same speech as what you write. LIke you I totally understand they have to sell, I've been a commerical engineer and I know what it means to have figures to make by the end of the month. It's just annoying to get an automated speech when you just want advice (and when you have to teach the manager that 50mmbase do exist...)
DeleteIf I want a real discusison though my independant hobby shop provides me with such. When I told them about my projects they gave me bits to help and they started digging some old lead to follow me.
Oh and did I mention they sell Glanzer for those who like to strip minis :)
I'm friends with my local GW store manager, what's nice is that he plays other non-GW games and actually knows what's going on and has been in the hobby as long as I have (if not longer) He's not into the Oldhammer thing though. Now the GW one town over is run by a nice guy.. but is dumb as a brick. If I was aged 9/10 today I wouldn't get into GW.. prices would be too high.
ReplyDeleteI'm not throwing stones at anyone here really, in my previous town, I used to go to the GW store just to chat to the manager who really was a nice bloke even though we didn't have the same view of the game. But at least there was discussion, no "learnt by heart" response.
DeleteReal pity are prices and the poor choice of models in the store, when I was 10 I could spend a whole day in the store just salivating in fornt of all the blisters...
I think you're being a bit harsh on the gamers. I used to play a guy who sounded exactly like the fist guy when I played 3rd ed. Warhammer at GW SHeffield in the late 80's. Always quoting statistics and telling everyone why they shouldn't do stuff.
ReplyDeleteAs for the 2nd guy. If we insert 'Slaves to Darkness' or 'The lost and the Damned' into his sentence, it could be taken straight out of the era we all love.
As for the staffer, he's clearly just not very good at his job :)
I'm not really harsh, I'm just describing another way to game. I really don't mean it as a judgment and I don't consider my view better or anything, we just love the same thing for totally different reasons the way I see it.
DeleteI've even played with friends who are like this and I have enjoyed it because they're friends and I don't give a thing about if it's a good move or not.
For the second guy, I do not fully agree with you, the RoC warband system is deeply unfair to begin with the way I see it. That said there have been people who want to win from teh very start so every era has his lot. Main difference is that RoC books can and still are greatly appreciated 25 years after for the graphic and well-written goodness in it, I'm just not sure you could say that about escalation or apocalpyse, but once agin that's just my own opinion and I could very well be wrong.
Regarding the staffer, well, we all make mistakes and he's alone to do the job so I won't be a dick with him and will be just as friendly when I go back there to get my bases ;)
Mais c'est trop cool l'ambiance des centres zobby avec le "New GW Way of life" !! Serieux ça donne sérieusement envie de pousser la porte... Que le samedi passke le midi c'est fermé (XD)... Et on sait qu'on est chez les mecs, les vrais, qui transpirent et puent la clope et tout et tout... Aaah... Quelle saine ambiance de franche camaraderie masculine où, sur le papier t'es déjà niqué avant même d'avoir bougé un socle... Hum "you touch my tralala" comme dirait Gunther...
ReplyDeleteEt en plus tu dois apprendre au manager son boulot ?? Mais en est on VRAIMENT arrivé là ? Misère de misère...
La prochaine étape c'est quoi ? Comme au Japon où il est possible, en entrant dans une boutique, de se trouver en face de rangées de distributeurs automatiques où tu peux acheter ton sandwich, un slip pour ta copine (authentique) et une paire de pompes merci au revoir et bonne journée ?? Je vois bien la boutique GW avec les distrib' de boites d'un côté, blisters de l'autre et un écran plat dans un coin qui montre les meilleurs moments d'une partie entre X et Y avec pub des produits toutes les 30 sec...
Bah...
Merci pour la minute de Mister Blague mon Cher Asslessman XD
ben maintennat an lieu et place des blisters t'as un grand ordi pour commander tes figs.... comment dire... passons.
DeleteJe me disais en y allant "tu vas voir le type, tu vas discuter un peu et tout" mais en fait non, les gens étaient à bloc... bon ben voilà j'ai essayé mais je pense qu'à l'avenir si je dois leur reprendre des produits je les commanderai à mon magasin adoré avec des vrais gars bien même si je dois attendre un peu. Au moins je pourrai passer un bon moment....
Ce que je ne m'explique pas par contre c'ets pourquoi les gens à ma boutique habituelle sentent normalement alors que c'est censé être la même population?
Domo arigato Morikun
Aaahh... T'as rien compris : en accord avec le fameux (et fumeux) retail codex de St Kirby "Si un travail vaut la peine alors il mérite qu'on meurt pour lui" le manager GW et ses "alliés" sont bien conditionnés et pensent que "la mission est sacrée" c'est pourquoi ils ne pensent qu'à ça et font fi des contingences bassement matérielles comme l’hygiène corporelle par exemple XD
DeleteSi ça ne sent rien chez ton revendeur indépendant... Ben c'est la preuve :
- Qu'ils n'ont pas le feu sacré
- Qu'ils ne font pas partie des élus qui bossent chez GW...
Juste pour l'exemple, voici l'annonce de candidature de remplacement du GW Bordeaux :
" Dernier appel aux candidatures pour mon remplacement 3 semaines fin Juillet début Août.
Merci de m'adresser vos lettres de motivation, c.v et c.v Hobby avant la fin du mois d'Avril
Oui, vous pourrez porter le mythique polo noir "
Bah, fut un temps où le polo était rouge ou bleu et me faisait rêver... Maintenant il est noir et ne me fait absolument aucun effet... Et donc on va prendre n'importe lequel des passionnés-foufous, le bombarder "Manager du centre zobby" (pas difficile d'être manager quand vous êtes tout seul ^^), y en a qui ne vont pas cesser de mouiller le slip avant longtemps... Et là je rejoins mon postulat du début... ça va sentir "le mâââââle" un moment hin hin hin
Je suis cynique ? Hum oui peut être XD
Serviteur,
Doitashimashite ALM-kun ^^
Ceci dit derrière l'humour il y a un fond de vérité, j'avais lu les règles intérieures de GW (visibles sur leur site) et c'éatit assez révélateur (et très assumé) En gros si tu bosses pour eux tu ne remets rien en question et tu dois être toujours au top car c'est une super opportunité de bosser pour eux. Ca faisait assez froid dans le dos...
DeletePrécision : je sais pertinemment que cette attitude kikoulol n'est qu'une façade : on a du lire les même annonces de recrutement (et certainement les même extraits du retail codex publié par Backstab) c'est même plus une question de froid dans le dos là, ça fout grave les boules quand tu vois que le service événementiel français (qui a pourtant toujours fait son boulot et plus qu'honorablement) se soit fait lourder sans autre forme de procès...
DeleteJe donnerai cher pour savoir si les concernés ne se sont pas d'un coup sentis beaucoup d'affinités avec les space marines du chaos en se rendant compte que "l'Empereur de Lenton Kirby" leur avait mis une quenelle aussi grosse qu'un titan...
En même temps, aujourd'hui, les mecs qui signent ne peuvent plus dire qu'ils ne savaient pas où ils mettaient les pieds hein...
Tiens je dépose une gerbe de fleurs de plus sur la tombe du côté "passionné" de GW... (et ce ne sera malheureusement pas la dernière)...
Je te rejoins entièrement, je persiste à penser que c'est assez mesquin de lâcher un pan entier du hobby comme çà,
DeleteD'ailleurs j'ai appris que de nombreux termes ne seront plus traduits (on semble avoir droit à un livre d'armée wood elves...) que ce soit pour les races et les unités et là aussi, ca fait un peu radin. Ca doit être pour faciliter la vie des machines qui doivent reconnaitre leurs produits...
I think what we can see from the gamers conversation is fact that everything sounds like it's close to some unmovable mechanics depending just on objets and skills. I mean people is now oriented to just get the better and bigger all the time , no room for history , visuals , the care for a singular mini you have....
ReplyDeleteThose books mentioned above were just the oppossite , they were full of options , even "bad" options! And also a way to play and enjoy this game totally different.
I agree with you, I know I'm always happy to roll "bad" mutations if I find them funny !
DeleteAnd even if my opponent explains and proves to me that he is going to win on the paper, I will just do what I feel right so if you have the stoe of BLABLABLA or the magic ring of Tralala, well, I don't give a shit, I'll just charge you anyway if I feel it's right even if I have 99% of failing... ;)
Every one has his owntake on the thing and it's actually a good thing.
I see the curse of weird GW opening times has hit France now then!
ReplyDeleteYou know sillyness is the thing people share the most in this world ;)
Delete"Let's open when people work", I wonder if GW is managed by ancient post office managers sometimes...
Darn it, Mr. ALMan, I was hoping your title header: "So I went into a GW store.." was going to be finished with: "riding a giant rooster and I tipped my hat and inquired if anyone played Confrontation and the manager put down the Chaos Dwarf Juggernaut he was painting and said, "well, of course, you are just in time for this week's retro release and everything is half price and then...and then..." Ah, I miss my GW store. It used to be like a Cheers episode, you'd walk in to a room full of games and painting and everyone would know your name and you could talk freely and truly about your latest obsession. Ah, that seems so long ago now. The poor overworked bloke who struggles there now is just doing his time until he can complete his fireman training and then is out of there. I don't think he even games anymore. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI share the same empathy for the staffer actually. Maybe they need me to come up and get my 3rd ed book out to play with my rooster knight and a couple of giant frogs...
Delete