Monday, June 20, 2011

Is 6th ed really coming?

Is 6th ed really coming? I posted to another blog with a reply and basically this sums up my take on it.  For me I once lived, breathed and bled GW.  It was the only gaming related hobby I engaged in really, it was all consuming.  From about 1998-2004 those were the golden years for me for GW.  Then bit by bit at the tail end of 4th edition I started to lose interest.  Mostly as GW's own support out in the Western US started to wain and the hardcore tourney set took over more and more.  Don't get me wrong, I was a competitive player back in the day, a tourney organizer myself for years.  Our local game club traveled en mass to the GTs and large RTTs.  But the mix was a good blend of amazing painters/hobbyists with the more hardcore tourney win at all costs guys.  Slowly that mix has evolved to today where in my experience at a big tournament your looking at about 85% win at all costs/just bought their army from blue table and about 10% hobbyist with 5% just walked in off the street and doesn't know whats what yet (but if they stick around they'll likely become a win at all costs guy ... drooling over BoLS lists o' the minute).

6th edition will be coming ... we all know it it is just a matter of when.  Who knows if this is really the hearkening of the real release or not ... all I know is it is within the window of reality in terms of the ever 5 years or so new rules version.  As for the rumors who knows.  It is apparent that there has been massive complaining about 5th ed for years and GW isn't about making tourney players happy GW is about selling models. They've farmed out every other aspect of their company to others (Fantasy Flight, usually THQ for video games, etc.).  They want to make money from their mini lines obviously ... so the new edition will be designed to maximize that.

Who knows if the rumors that there will be a 6th ed are true, I'm not even going to pay attention to the specifics just yet.  40K was on the back burner for me anyway ... I've sold 3 armies in the past six months (out of over a dozen that have been mostly gathering dust) and 6 more in the year before that (I have a massive amount of GW stuff what can I say).  WHFB has been a pipe dream in the area I live in ... its just not viable.  I'll probably dump more 40k stuff and wait to buy anything new until we get more info on all this.  If its a hoax oh well I'm clearing out armies I'll never play again ... regardless.  The hobby has changed so much for me though each passing year it has less and less to draw my interest. Fewer people in the local area care about painting, about the backstory of the 40K universe, about the things that brought me into the hobby fifteen years ago. In the local area the percentage of MTG/Store Trolls playing the game has increased dramatically (to the point that is the majority of the players now). GW's own support has dried up (on the West coast anyway).  So the annual trip to Gamesday to get me psyched has just become a faded memory. I will forever love the GW 40k and WHFB universe and probably always buy their black library releases and play any decent video games they release (what rare titles those are).

For the future I find myself looking more and more to other companies in hopes they'll begin to fill the place in my gaming life that GW used to.  Mantic's line is looking better and better ... Spartan Games stuff is looking cool.  There is always the rise of Privateer Press (a new sci fi system next year! Level 7?? Huh??). So I'm in a holding pattern with GW ... I pray they bring back the fun that drew me into the hobby ... that they clean up the shat codices that Chaos has to choose from.  I hope they figure out a way to bring back some balanced support to the hobby and curtail the net list o' the minute crew a bit.  If not I'll always have fond memories I guess.

The past will never come back.  Things have changed with GW forever.  My only hope is they find a new way forward.  A way to help new players capture the magic of the overall hobby of miniature wargaming.  A way for fans to get even more cool models at hopefully at some point ... stabilized prices?!?!  Time will tell I guess.

No comments: