I found this vid on youtube yesterday and I thought it was very interesting, therefor I wanted to share it with you guys. I hope it hasn't been posted earlier, if so's the case a mod can delete this topic.

What are your thoughts about the vid? Is he right/wrong and why? Please share your opinions!

Interesting... I could see how his theory is going but I don't know enough about economics to properly comment about it.

could someone summarise the video? 54 minutes is a loooong time

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++ THE VANUS TEMPLE ++

I actually recommend you see the whole clip since he brings up interesting things which are hard to sum up, you can watch 15 minutes per day or something, I watched 25 one day and the rest the day after.

I'd argue it's not so much of a conspiracy as it is a long-term business plan (lin the video not once did he say conspiracy). Guess what? That's capitalism for you. I'm not surprised that this could be the direction Games Workshop is going because from an economic point of view it makes sense though the video left out factors for both GW and the local retailers. As for business ethics, that's a fairly new concept in the world of business and it is still struggling to make itself heard. I'm a fourth year business student and business ethics is one of the least empathized concepts throughout the curriculum unless the professors really believe in the ethical view of business. It's also the one topic many business students disregard out of hand because, like all great capitalists, they're out to get a buck any way they can.

In regards of the video, thanks for posting it but it was very long and a lot of it was unnecessary ranting. Could have condensed it down to around 30 minutes.

@DezartFox, fastforward to about 40:00. The last 14 minutes really lays out the 'conspiracy' while the rest explains some of the pieces of the puzzle.

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- My miniature gaming blog, sorry for lack of LOTR content right now.

I agree that the title is misleading, I don't see this as a conspiracy either. What I thought was very interesting was the way GW acted with online retailers. I knew about the thing with the pictures since a website who sell different miniature games, not only GW stuff had to take the the pictures away but I didn't know about the thing with Australia which I found very strange.

What he's right about is that GW are way too quiet about things, they don't say "We're going to increase the prices because of this:....." instead they're silent, the prices are increased and everybody wonders what's going on. Since I started with this hobby the price of a box with plastic figures has risen with about 40% and I haven't heard any reason for it. This is quite frustrating because I also paint WWII plastic model kits and the prices have been stable ever since I started painting them which was even before I came across GW's products. An interesting fact is that I came across GW's products when I was in a toy store at the age of around 8 or 9 years I believe, I probably would not have discovered the hobby until years later if it wasn't for the toy store who sold GW's products. I lived quite far away the GW center in Stockholm (which is one of the two we have here in Sweden) and I rarely traveled into town.

If the guy in the vid is right about his guess that GW will stop to let retailers sell their products, then I think lots of pontentially new gamers will be lost and never discover this great hobby, at least it will become so here in Sweden because of the low ammount of GW center's. It would maybe work in the UK but countries where the hobby isn't of that big popularity it may go bad. I hopefully wish that he is not right and that GW still will let other stores sell their products in the future but it seems like they already have lost customers because me and some of my friends and more gamers have started to buy a lot of things from second hand sites. Here you can get the things unused for half the GW price and metal figures which they've replaced with bloody finecast to the same price. It sucks quite hard to do so but when they keep on increasing the prices without saying anything and while WWII plastic kits are stable in price it's not more than right imo.

I think that this video certainly presents a plausible theory for GW's seemingly increasing hostility towards independent retailers, online and in person. I remember when Beasts of War were doing a video discussing price increases, and Darrel mentioned that, for him, 40K IS the hobby; GW is certainly good at making people dependent on them. For example--since I decided to abstain from GW after the switch to Finecast, I have inevitably bought Elrond & Gil-Galad in Finecast, a Grey Knight Brother-Captain, and the War of the Ring rule book. I'm positive, also, that I'll be back when The Hobbit miniatures are released. It's almost impossible to stay away, and GW knows this. They have determined they can maximize profits by slowly eliminating alternate places to purchase their miniatures, and by continually raising prices using premium quality as justification. I remember reading somewhere, in an interview with a GW higher-up, that they justify their prices with their quality, and with the fact that people with pay them. It would also give credence to the idea that more and more models are becoming direct only. There are no official Games Workshop stores in North Carolina, and there are none within a reasonable distance where I go to school in Texas. Assuming that Games Workshop made it impossible for me to order from The WarStore, FRP Games, Amazon, or buy from HobbyTown USA, and I really, really, was wanting one of their new models, I would have no choice but to buy from their store online. Maximum profits! Clever GW. Clever. Literally the only way to stop this is to "vote with our wallets" and stop buying GW products, but if you aren't buying GW, then their prices and practices would be irrelevant.

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"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."--Carl Sagan

Let me paraphrase the "boil the frog" analogy:

You take the customer, you slowly bleed them of their money. Then slowly over time the consumer gets used to it and soon enough little gamer doesn't know it, but he starves to death and dies.

Oh and I feel sorry for the Aussies, we always knew that they're the people always getting the shaft.

I'm going to try my hardest to boycott "The Hobbit", it's going to be hard to resist temptation, but I'm banking on liquidation sales and second hand sales.

This video is easy to listen to when you have it runnong in the background while surfing the net or when painting, etc. Now if you would excuse me I'm taking a church breaK...

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My Lotr backlog: 292/824[][][][][][][][][][] 35% completed
Currently painting: Gothmog, 3x Morannon Orcs, 7x Clansmen Lamedon, 4x Mordor Trolls

Or buy them second hand as I do, you often find new stuff for half the price as I mentioned earlier.

It's sad to say but I'm pretty much second-hand only now as well. The GW price increases are driving a lot of people out of the hobby and I think the market is going to continue to have a steady flow of used (or even unpainted backlog) models for a long time. You may not get exactly what you want, you may have to keep an eye out and jump on something when it does show up, and you will probably have to deal with damaged or poorly painted products to clean up and fix, but it's still a cheaper alternative and less frustrating.

I'm still making "new" purchases at about the same rate as I used to thru my LGS...but those have switched from GW products to Flames of War products. My LotR hobby has devolved to backlog (which still has hundreds, literally, of models) and occasional second-hand pickups. I doubt even the Hobbit release will get much from me...maybe one set of the full Company, a new Necromancer...things of that nature. But if they change scale or a something majorly stupid like that it will get nothing.

I absolutely feel like the boiled frog but decided to hop out of the pot. Still enjoying the hobby, but on my terms.

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Beowulf

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