40K EDITORIAL: Where’s the Goodwill?
It’s the white elephant in the wargaming room – and it’s been there for a while. Someone raises their voice regarding GW…
an editorial by YorkNecromancer
Who get the ball rolling right away:
So I love 40K. If you’re here, on this site, you do too.
I love the models. I love the fluff. I love everything about them, from the excessively horrible Grimdarkery, to the stupid obsession with VALOUROUS HEROISM, to the fact that men in giant suits of space armour use this power to fight with swords as though this would in any way be a valid tactic in any war with fully automatic weaponry… almost everything about 40K fills me with happiness.
I hate Games Workshop and always have.
I am not alone in this. I know, because I’ve had a conversation with other fans of 40K, been on the internets and read what they had to say and seriously: we seem to REALLY ****ing hate GW. Like, the fans of Half-Life LOVE Valve. They love them more than anything. They want them to prosper and succeed. I don’t know anyone who wishes a stronger emotion on GW than utter indifference.
What the hell is going on here?
Now, in my case, there’s a number of factors, but I was wondering: what is it about GW, a small, niche company who have been successful against all the odds (selling model plastic soldiers? When there are Xboxes? How do they make any money at all?) They should be a beloved plucky underdog, and instead, I genuinely can’t remember I time I haven’t hated GW. I’ve always loved their products but hated them.
AdvertisementWhat’s going on? Are we, as all fans of niche hobbies tend to be, unnecessarily critical? Are there things GW genuinely deserves our ire over? Is it just the extortionately, revoltingly high prices (now so high that our school games club can no longer get new starters to the hobby – the costs are literally too much for them)? Is it something about the character of the company? (The excessively litiginous nature? The active rejection of fan communities?)
What is it about GW that constantly and consistently makes them a company people just don’t like?
~Here’s your chance to say your peace.
