Kyrt wrote:
On competition, there is nothing in there whatsoever to acknowledge any impact at all, it doesn't seem to be on their radar. Infringement, yes, but not competition from new manufacturers. New manufacturers don't have retail stores, and that's where new customers to the niche come from (ie growth). A lot is said every year about how GW is on a trend of alienating its customers and this will lead to its demise, but I just don't see it. They've been saying that as long as I remember, it's not new. People get fed up with GW over time and maybe buy stuff from their competitors, of which there are a greater choice perhaps, but all the new customers start with GW. Of course that can change in the future, but there is no indication of it changing at the moment.
Indeed. We are all floating down stream, and while the scenery is changing, we are constantly surrounded by people who all jumped into the river at the same time as us, and so have a limited view of it all. It seems to be the gamers evolution that people come into the hobby (with a small 'h'!) from a GW route, play for a while and eventually branch out. At this point, a lot of people then turn on GW. That said, my local store still has a healthy supply of both GW stock and players, of all ages, and we should be careful drawing an more general opinion based on the demographics of online forums, especially one focussed on the unsupported fourth edition of an under-represented GW game.
I have no desire to see GW fall. I think that the current situation is actually pretty good. If I want a game then I know for sure that I can get a game of 40K at my local store. I don't want to play that, and my local store also supports Dust, Flames of War, and X-Wing. If I want to play behind that, the 'fringe' is mainstream enough to be able to find a group or cultivate group if I try, although I will test this with Epic! GW brings them in, and I am pretty sure that the uptake of non-GW games by players is greater than the shedding of players for the same games (whether that can be said for GW games or not is another matter) and so the 'fringes' are growing as a result of GW getting players into the hobby. Long may that continue.
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