Follow Up Post: This Is Why You Need To Be Careful On Kickstarter

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/324283889/potato-salad

At the time of this posting he's up to ~$58,000 just to make potato salad. Yea I'm not joking. No clue if it's classic, mustard or Amish...... If Kickstarter allows someone to do this, imagine how much other stupid shit pertaining to wargaming and RPGs are going to follow suit. I told you the requirements to post something have been loosened, I just had no idea it would be this loose!

Buyer Beware, for real!

40K Eternal Crusade or is it Eternal Cash Grab?

Anyone remember the first attempt at a 40K MMO? It was called Dark Millennium and was being developed by THQ. Well, long story short THQ went under, but Dark Millennium was getting the axe before that happened. There was barely any video of game footage released and it just ended up being vaporware.

Warhammer Age of Reckoning utterly failed as a MMO, mostly thanks to EA. Sucks because I bought into that game early and beta tested it quite a bit. What a crock of shit.

Stepping away from MMOs for a second, Dawn of War 1 was pretty good, Dawn of War 2, not so much. I understand DoW 2 was a reskinning of Company of Heroes but it just didn't work well. Bloodbowl was actually pretty good, they didn't try to do anything crazy with it, they just translated the board game to the PC, turns and all included. This pretty much ends the list of good games.

Other games using the GW IP have been pretty horrid. Remember Space Marine? That game was nothing but subliminal advertising to get you to buy more Space Marines. I swear the most times I heard the words Space Marine said in a minute in that game was 37. "Get the Space Marine!" "Looks it's a Space Marine!" and on and on. Fucking hell that got old quick. That game was nothing but bolter porn, and that's being nice.

Want to really laugh? Here's a list of all video games released that used GW's IP:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Games_Workshop_video_games

Wow, there's some real classics in there, Battle March? I poop socked while playing that game! Glory in Death? I still play it to this day! Storm of Vengeance? Screw Heroes of the Storm, this is the super elite pro MOBA!

As you can clearly see, video games based on GW's IP have had a piss poor record. The majority of them are flops and some were canceled because even the designers realized they sucked.

So now a company called Behavior Interactive is developing 40k: Eternal Crusade, which is a MMO. Yea, a real note worthy studio, everyone's heard of them! They've worked on absolute masterpiece games like Doritos Crash Course, High School Musical: Making the Cut!, The Awesome Kimpossible Series, SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge and last but not least Doritos Crash Course 2! So as you can see the game is in great hands.....

Now they've launched a Founders Program, which can been seen here:
https://www.eternalcrusade.com/founder-store

The model for the game is apparently buy to play (you buy the game and don't have to pay monthly fees) with a free to play option, but you only get to play as an Ork Boy. Founder's Packs start at $40, which is decent, but they top off at $450! What does $450 get you? I have no clue! It looks like in game money that can be used in a different cash shop for items. So it appears you get to unlock a different store to spend money in after you run out of the founder's pack money, wow!

Look, I understand MMO pay models, the company has to make money somehow, but some of this just doesn't sit right. You can pay $35 to gain access to a different weapon in the Rouge Trader shop, like a limited edition bolter. But it's only for access to that item, you don't even get it for that price!

I don't think I'm going out on a limb here, but stay clear of this future train wreck for the time being. Putting out these expensive ass founder's packs and promising early access to something we haven't seen too much video of this early into development is throwing up flags left and right. I'm pretty sure this game will continue the GW video game tradition of being canceled or just plain sucking.

I would have more faith in this if Brad McQuaid was in charge........ lol

Kickstarter: Buyer Beware!

Kickstarter was the hotness last year and it appears to be so again this year. There have been many great Kickstarter Campaigns that were funded and delivered an awesome product to the people who pledged. For example the two Kickstarters I have done, Reaper's Bones and Mantic's Deadzone, were hugely successful, my products were delivered on time and I was pleased with what I received.

There have also been some blunders out there where people are still waiting for their product or just didn't receive anything at all. Robotech is one example where pledgers have already waiting for far too long to receive anything from Palladium. Relic Knights was another one that was delayed multiple times.

There have even been some straight up scams, such as Asylum Playing Cards, which even has a lawsuit attached to it http://www.scribd.com/doc/221464947/State-of-Washington-vs-Asylum-5-1-2014.

There has also been controversy about one of the most successful Kickstarters of all time, Oculus Rift. Oculus Rift was purchased by Facebook for a pretty penny which caused a lot of backers to get furiously upset, as seen below.

I would be upset as well. If I had pledged I would have done so to help development of a new product, not to make the developers filthy rich by selling to Facebook.

So what am I trying to say in this post? Well things might get even worse in Kickstarter land. They just changed their rules and made it possible to start a project without it being vetted by a person, as seen on their website, https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/introducing-launch-now-and-simplified-rules-0. Oh, I'm sorry, they will have an algorithm do the vetting now if you choose to not be vetted by a person. Everything must be ok if it's just an algorithm! The only things that can not be posted now are anything that is illegal, regulated or dangerous. They also require the people behind the project to be "honest about what they're doing". So the honor system is in full effect when it comes to people's money. I'm sure that will just work perfectly....

Are you kidding me? People have already been ripped off and taken advantage of before the loosening of their rules, now they're just opening the floodgates to even more dishonest people trying to make a quick buck.

Considering Kickstarter has already seen a ton of gaming projects being launched on their site, I can see even more starting out now, and not all of them will be legit. Do your research and I would go even further and suggest that you only pledge as much money as you are willing to take as a loss. With the flood gates being opened, I can now see pledging on Kickstarter to be not much different than playing the Slot Machines in a casino, with Kickstarter taking the house's cut regardless of what happens.

Buyer Beware......

Thinking About The Good Ole Days....

This pic is of the now closed GW Battle Bunker in Downers Grove, IL. More specifically it's a pic of how it was when I first started going there. Some of you might be asking why the hell are you posting about that place, I thought you hated it?! Well I did after a while but looking back I really miss the place.

I started going to the Bunker back in 2008 where I would meet up with Dan, Jon (Tau Jon, not The Baron) and Rich. I've know them since 2000 or so, maybe even earlier. We used to all play AD&D 2nd Edition (with Skills and Powers!) back in the day and one day I got a call from them asking me to meet up with them at the Bunker, so I did. I've always had an interest in 40K from years prior and I finally had a job that gave me the means to afford to get serious with the game. That one meeting at the Bunker turned into a weekly ritual. We would do mini campaigns, start rivalries between our armies and just shoot the shit about the hobby or anything in general. We would always wait for everyone to get there then do lunch at either Portillo's (which is a Chicago staple) or Burger King (which always gave me bad gas).

I was also introduced to Mack and became friends with him as well. Mack was a good addition to the crew because he was Mr Tournament player and none of us really were. He really made our group well rounded because all of us had different ways of playing and it really made things interesting.

This was also when I was invited to sit in on a recording session of Dice Like Thunder and I had a blast sitting in on it and eventually I was asked to become a part of the show. I had been listening to podcasts since 2004 or so, mostly listening to Video Game podcasts such as 1UP Yours and GFW Radio so the concept was not new to me at all. So every Friday after gaming at the Bunker we would record, which was great because we got to talk about our misadventures at the Bunker while it was still fresh in our heads. I was shocked that people actually listened to what we were talking about and actually wanted to hear more. It was very humbling, especially when going to Adepticon for the first time and have people talk to me saying they love the show. It was a very weird experience because I would just freeze in shock and just say the truth, we only do it because it's fun and I'm glad our little group can entertain you with our idiotic podcast, lol.

Then people started coming out to the Bunker on Fridays to meet up with us and play with us. The Bunker's location was perfect because it was centrally located and right off of a major highway. We met a ton of cool people and our regular Friday gaming group just grew because of it. This is how I met Joe, Chaos Dave, Roy, Fletch and the rest of the Screaming Heretic Podcast crew. We also met Dave and The Baron through regular Friday night gaming at the Bunker! We then started doing full blown campaigns and doing Apocalypse games here and there. My wife (that I was dating at the time) even started to come out every Friday! Our small group turned into a full blown gaming club but it was still small enough where we all would meet up and still do lunch all the time and bullshit about anything and everything. We would even hang out with each other away from the Bunker and we all became really good friends. The Dice Like Thunder Crew which would eventually turn into the Eternal Warriors crew would still record every Friday night after gaming at the Bunker. Everything was still the way it used to be, just on a grander scale.

I believe things started to change when we all started getting to other gaming systems, which we could not play at the Bunker. Price increases, people losing interest in 40K and other things made the ritual Friday meet ups less frequent. Regardless of why that happened, it was still a blast when he did it and I look back fondly at those days realizing that it might not ever be like that again. Life happens, people get married, have kids, move, work gets in the way and etc....

But if it wasn't for the Bunker I would not be writing this blog post right now and I would not have befriended a bunch of amazing people that I am still friends with to this day. Now, if we could only get TEW to record at least once a month, that would be great.... lol

Think I'm Burning Out

So I woke up today and reflected upon yesterdays recording session we did for the show and I think I'm burning out on 40K. Now don't get me wrong, I still had fun playing with my Eldar last night, but once again it was against Marines and Marines (even though they were both different flavors of marines). Maybe it's the fact that 60% of the armies in 40K are either some type of Marines or Imperial Guard. Things start to get a bit redundant when the majority of the armies are in one way or the other very similar.

Going on to recording, segment 2 was about the Assault phase. Once again a good chunk of the conversation was about Marines and Guard. How the fuck does Guard get brought up in Assault when they really don't have any assault units? People in the chat on Ustream were getting bored about hearing more Guard talk, especially when the topic is about something Guard sucks at and I felt the same way they did. I tried my best to divert the conversation away from Guard in order to keep things more interesting but it kept on being brought up again. I was shocked that Dan did not bring up Tyranids more because, well, they are an assault based army! Overall I was kind of ticked off which is partially why I was so adamant about saying that Assault Marines are not the best assault unit in the game (point for point).

I'm not trying to bitch about the show here, I love doing the show. It's just that over all I think I am burned out on 40K. I am so looking forward to our non 40K game night that is coming up in the next few weeks and am also looking forward to taking a week off from recording. I need a break....

Change: What GW Can Do to Improve

Change, something that Presidents Clinton and Obama have preached about. Change is also what you have in your pocket after purchasing something with cash. This post will be about both types of change and how one type of change will effect the other type of change for GW.

The first item on the docket for change is fluff. While GW's fluff is nice and all, it has become somewhat stale the past few years. I understand that the 41st millennium is grimdark and all that but there has to be some type of major event going on to shake things up just a bit. GW could introduce something as minor as a Global type campaign (ie Medusa V or Eye of Terror) or something major, lets say a schism between the various Space Marine chapters or a rogue Inquisitor losing it and virus bombing a major planet (let's say Ultramar or Cadia). How about an Eldar craftworld suddenly showing up in the Sol System or a Tyranid hive fleet doing the same? How about some fluff written by some Black Library authors? I honestly feel that introducing a story arc along these lines of this will greatly increase people's interest in the game. It will make things more exciting and give GW a chance to trickle in new campaign books and units that everyone will be interested in. Also, if these story arcs work their way into 6th Edition, people will be extremely excited, and a lot of old retired players might come running back.

The second item on the docket for change is their schedule for releasing new models. Currently you have to wait for the codex to come out, then wait half a year to get units that are in the book that do not yet have a model (The Stormraven is a prime example). Some of you might say "well it gives us a change to kit bash and make our own". I understand this and I 100% support people to make their own, but what if the size or base you are using are totally off? I think GW should either state in the codex what type of base all of their models are on or take a page for Warmachine and include the rules in the box when the model comes out. By this I mean only have rules for units you have models for in the codex and introduce new units later on with the rules in the box. Granted if GW did this, no one would currently know anything about the Stormraven but consider this. The BA codex is out for 6 months, sales for the codex and troops have slowed down, when all of a sudden BOOM, here comes the Stormraven with the rules inside the box. People would flip out and interest in BAs would shoot right back up. If GW were to do this, they could also give old armies a little band-aid in order to keep them fresh and competitive until their new codex comes out. What if the Necrons got another troop choice that didn't fold in assault or what if Demon Hunters got access to a cheap transport? A small simple addition of 1 unit could make a huge difference to an army. I personally think that the Night Spinner helps keep Eldar fresh and give them a nice little boost to hold them over till their new codex.

The third and final item on the docket is support. GWs customer service when it comes to sales is top notch. GW takes care of you when an item you bought is defective. The support I'm talking about is on the rules side of things. Not to sound like a broken record but take a page from Warmachine and have a way for players to have their rules questions answered. Whether it be a message forum, email or even old fashioned snail mail. You can even publish randoms rules questions and answers in White Dwarf. Another change that would be nice is attempt to do more play testing for new rule books or codexes. Maybe even involve a few gaming clubs in the play testing (after signing NDAs of course). Changes like this will make GW's customer base feel that GW cares about their customers (a feeling that has been lacking as of late).

Now you might ask how will these type of changes put more change in GWs pockets? Easy, almost every idea I put forth will increase sales for GW. New story arcs and fluff (with the possibility of a campaign) will boost sales for new books and new models introduced here and there. Also the possibility of bringing backsomeone who stopped playing will be huge. Packaging the rules with new models for either new armies or old will increase interest in all armies, not just the flavor of the month, which will increase sales across the board. Having a Q and A column in White Dwarf will increase subscriptions. Making your customers feel like they are appreciated will keep them happy and make them buy more of your product.

Sometimes you have a give a little to get a lot back. Risks have to be taken because you miss 100% of the shots you don't attempt. Doings things just because "that's how we've always done it" is not the way to keep your business afloat.

Any changes you think GW should make or is business as usual the way you think GW should continue to conduct business? Are my changes stupid ideas or do they actually make sense? Am I just wishing GW to be more like Privateer Press? Sound off and let us know!

Enough is Enough!

/rant on

For those that don't know, Games Workshop has just jacked up their prices in the US and the rest of the world (again). I could not find a list of official prices but this is the best I could find http://cavgames.posterous.com/games-workshop-40k-price-increase-05-31-2010.

Now a few things stand out to me. $90 for Assault on Blackreach?! I understand that it is a very good deal and you get a lot for the price, but isn't this supposed to be the set that get people into the game? This is now a 50% price increase from the original price of $60.

Onto the next thing that stands out, the price increase for Codexes. Keep this in mind, when you purchase AoBR you still need to buy a Codex in order to get all of the rules you will need for either Space Marines or Orks. Keep in mind the Space Marines Codex is still $30, but now with the price increase the Orks Codex is $29. Last time I checked the Space Marines Codex is almost twice as big as the Orks Codex, so what's their rational behind this?

Moving on, now let's say that you did the smart thing and split AoBR with a friend and you are borrowing a Codex from a friend of yours that is already in the hobby. What's the next step? Upgrading your army. Well the costs of each unit on average has been increased by $3. Ok that's not too bad but let's say you want to get a Land Raider or Battlewagon. Well the price of both just increased to $62! That's insane! My GF (who is currently building up her Chaos Space Marines) has been eying a Land Raider for quite some time. Now with this price increase she's not so keen on the idea of buying one now. I guess her Chaos Space Marines are going to be using a stolen Black Templars Land Raider for the time being...

The point I'm trying to make is that I honestly feel that the new price increases are crippling. They are crippling for players who:

• want to get into the game for the very first time
• have just started and want to flesh out their first army
• would like to get a few odds and ends to complete their army
• were considering starting a new army

The new player looking to start for the very first time might consider this already expensive hobby to be too expensive for their budget, and I wouldn't blame them. I'm glad I started when I did. The player that just started might not be able to afford to expand their armies to the sizes they originally dreamed of. Now the player who just needs a few odds and ends might just cut their projects short. I wanted 2 more Land Raiders to complete my Black Templar fighting company but at $62 a pop I'm thinking otherwise. Finally the player who wanted to start a new army (which is boku bucks for GW) might price things together and be turned off by the higher prices.

Now I understand that times are tough for GW and they are looking to make a bit of profit by increasing prices, but I know a lot of players who are getting sick and tired of this. I believe that just the huge price increase of AoBR will end up hurting GW in the long run because I believe that the $90 price tag will turn off a lot of people. I also find it ironic but very GW-ish to introduce Spearhead (which specializes in tanks) and at the same time jack up the prices on tanks, especially the new ones.

Taking what I said in my FLGS post and what I've just ranted about, GW is starting to earn a top spot on my shit list. As I have predicted on an earlier episode of Dice Like Thunder, I honestly believe that GW has about 5 years left before they go under. They still haven't recovered from the blunder known as Lord of the Rings and now they're trying to plug that hole, much like BP.

Both companies are British, coincidence? Sadly, I think not...

The other thing GW needs to worry about is people going elsewhere to satisfy their plastic/metal model habit. Most will go to EBay (I know I have recently and have saved a shit load of money), some will go to online retailers (The Broken Forge, The War Store, FRP Games, shit even Amazon has some good prices) and a few might even jump ship to another gaming system. Personally, Warmachine is looking pretty interesting to me and I feel their prices are more reasonable (full color rule books that update all the armies at once? sweeeeet!).

All in all, I really think that enough is enough! What are your thoughts on this matter? Am I on crack? Is there something I'm not seeing? Do you think GW's price increase will fail like Top Kill? Are you planning on taking your business elsewhere? Do you also think that GW's future is GRIMDARK? Feel free to comment away.

/rant off

Support your local FLGS, but what if you really don't have one?

FLGS = Friendly Local Gaming Store. Most of us have a flgs that we frequent every week or so. Now I am a big supporter of small businesses so I avidly support the local flgs (in my case, Leisure Hours Hobby Shop). The problem is, Leisure Hours does not have any space at all for gaming. I've talked to the owner about it and he shot down the idea, which is kind of depressing. So instead I go out to the famed Chicago Battle Bunker with the rest of the DLT guys.

The Bunker is nice and all but I'm really starting to get tired of it. It has now become a spot where suburban parents think they can drop their kids of for a few hours (if not the whole day) while they go fool around with their personal trainers or Mailman or whatever. We were also told that we would have access to the annex of the Bunker because of our gaming club, which at time was was awesome. These days we are basically having to pull teeth in order to get to the annex we were promised access to. There has been times that we were told to play in the main room  because (paraphrased)your armies are painted and we would like new customers to see painted armies which would hopefully boost sales. Are we a marketing ploy for GW? No. Do we get a discount if you are using MY army to try to boost sales? No. All in all I am getting sick and tired of the Bunker.

As I said earlier, I am a big supporter of small businesses. The GW Battle Bunker is not a small business. Now, I have heard stories of independently owned gaming stores that are as big as the Bunker, stock every gaming system (not just GW), have tons of tables to play on, give discounts to regular customers and are open till the wee hours of the morning. I honestly don't think a store like this exists in the Chicagoland area. I have heard of Games Plus and Black Sun games, but they're at least an hour drive from my house, if not longer. I am greatly disappointed that the third largest city in the US doesn't have big independently owned flgs's.

If such a store existed in my area, I would do all that I could to support it because I know a store owner would appreciate the support and he would return the favor. GW just wants my money, that's all they care about. Because of this, GW has lost a huge chunk of my business to Leisure Hours and The Broken Forge. I still buy the random product at the Bunker because I do believe in buying where you play, but no where near as much as I have in the past. Now let's say I want to give another gaming system a try, if it's not GW I can't play it at the Bunker. Fuck that.

So how is the flgs's in your area? Do you even have one or does GW have a monopoly in your market? Do you support your flgs? If you don't have one, which online site do you use? How can I remedy my problem, start my own store with the guys? Feel free to speak your mind.