Deus Magi wrote:I'd have to disagree. I think it is. In 1988 it was £1.50, now it's £2.99, I don't think the price has gone up that much comparatively to the smaller size that it is now, considering it's very slick, well produced and has great artwork. it's very affordable. I picked up a comic the other day and it was £2.50.
Devils advocate now,..... how much is GQ, Cosmopolitan? A fiver? Yes they are bigger magazines, but if you take out all the adverts what actual content do you have?
I don't buy white Dwarf at the moment, but likely I'll be in there if there are well written articles on Bloodbowl in it. A lot of White Dwarf content now seems to be for the younger audience, and I understand that this is due to GW's key audience/target area demographic. When I did buy it, I tended to read forward to the Forgeworld items at the end, which I just see as more adult? Can't quite explain that.
It's not just about the cost, but the content. Cosmopolitan is a huge magazine with dozens of articles and features in each issue. GQ publishes interviews, research, fiction, all sorts of things. Modern WD just can't compare to them. How many pages are just catalog entries for new GW products?
I have a bunch of old White Dwarf magazines from the late 80s and early 90s, and they had a lot of quality interesting content. They published short stories, background and fluff, new rules, new scenarios for games like Space Hulk and 40k, and had a lot of great minis painted in the 'Eavy Metal sections. Some even came with templates to cut out for use in your games, like new Space Hulk or Dungeonbowl tiles.
Nowadays (or at least last time I checked, circa 2014), WD is a glossy advertising brochure. Oh, don't get me wrong -- they still have very talented painters and really do glossy advertising photos WELL -- but you don't see a lot of figures/armies pictured beyond the ones they are advertising at the moment. Battle reports virtually always feature the "release of the month" and the "release of the month" almost always "wins" the battle report, because they want you to think it's the new hot shit and rush out to buy it.
Now, there's admittedly arguments against releasing important rules in a temporary medium like a magazine, which goes out of print very quickly (I think they should always then collect these rules and release them as standalone products like the Blood Bowl magazines), but the content was much more compelling in the past. The last article series I can remember REALLY enjoying was when they followed four GW employees as they used a limited budget to buy, build, and paint WHFB armies. I don't even play WHFB but I still found that really interesting, watching them figure out how to spend GBP40 a month to add discrete chunks of their army in the way a real player would.
I would LOVE WD to get back to being a must-read magazine. I've been a subscriber in the past. I just don't find it worth spending CHF5 to find out what I should spend money on this month.
Deus Magi wrote:
Ah, wouldn't let me post it, Babs pipped me to the post! Frogboy, keep the faith. Babs is right though (You mean the official Australian league, or do we all have to travel?
), and that's the right attitude. To put the game forward and get behind it, will only benefit everyone. if I'm getting it right, there'll be the single games with probably a few daft rules for a one off fun game, to interest and get the new players involved and then the other rules for long term leagues, for the hard core coaches and serious players. That way all
three parties will be kept happy, because GW (in doing so) will be giving the naysayers something to still moan about!
Finally, a place where I agree with you, Deus Magi! I've said this before, but the reintroduction of GW's involvement adds to it, I really think Blood Bowl is entering a golden age. Consider:
1) We have a mature, well-tested and stable ruleset with lots of strategic possibilities, including 21 (or 24, or 26) varying play styles.
2) The Blood Bowl PC game is popular, with a continuing franchise. That means the game is being seen by a much wider variety of people, which increases the potential tabletop player base dramatically.
3) The NAF provides a vibrant and thriving competitive play environment. Some regions more than others, admittedly, but in central Europe you could practically attend a tournament every week if you had the time and money to do so.
4) The third party team designers are OUT OF CONTROL! We've gone from having, at most, two different "teams" of Blood Bowl figures, 2nd Ed and 3rd Ed, to now having multiple teams for just about every race from really talented designers. There is a Blood Bowl related kickstarter about every month, and very few of them are failing to provide what they promise. I could probably name ten different "fantasy football" miniature-producing companies just off the top of my head.
5) There are multiple methods of playing BB games over the internet. I saw some of the early attempts -- we've come a LONG way from them.
Add to that the fact that the game is getting a refresh and will be back for sale (and hopefully in the stores) soon, with a freshly PRINTED rulebook and new "official" miniatures coming out, and the possibility of continuing support long term? THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF, GUYS. We are incredibly spoiled (compared to BB players are virtually every time before.)
We definitely have an opportunity to be ambassadors for the game, to promote it and bring in new players in droves. All of the conditions are right for Blood Bowl to really bloom and grow. I would be surprised if membership in tabletop leagues didn't grow 15-25% in the next year.
I hope that GW does not do anything to mess with the five items I listed above. That's really my only fear.
