:facepalm001:
As if I didn't see this one coming...
So I guess its less a rumour and more confirmed news, I don't know whether you guys have heard it before, but our most beloved Games Workshop are changing the way they do their magazine...
As of February we will be getting a weekly edition of White Dwarf (no doubt the quality will be lessened, not to mention the quantity), We will also get a monthly edition of 'Warhammer Visions'.
So for £2.40 a week we can get a white dwarf magazine, and then we can buy a monthly magazine too! Quite what the difference between these is, I've no idea....
We're going to be seeing another huge profit mark up for GW here... Essentially doubling their monies off of White Dwarf sales (that's assuming everyone who buys a magazine currently would buy the weekly one) and then this 'Visions' shenanigans which I would imagine wouldn't be any cheaper than £5....
All this info is coming from a facebook invite from my local LGS. Anyone else with any more news?
I have no news, but this sounds like total Bullshit from GW.
I have to admit I was hopeful this would be something about WD getting actual content again, but I guess that was my own fault.
The LGS don't have a lot of info atm. GWHQ being very quiet on this. Not even sure if the weekly mag will be digital or not. As I have it the weekly will be more on the painting side and apparently the monthly will be more hobby based. Everyone on white dwarf subscription will be moved to the new magazine.
I think a little research before you start deriding GW might be appreciated, Chris. ;)
The internet's been a bit abuzz with this, and I talked to my FLGS manager. He got visited by a rep from GW who explained the situation.
There'll be a weekly magazine that follows roughly the same format as White Dwarf, though it will allow weekly releases rather than monthly. (An interesting situation!) It will be very hobby-oriented, with painting tutorials and the like. Most excitingly, for me personally, at least, is that we'll see rules in these new magazines, just like the good ol' days.
The Monthly magazine will be totally dedicated to the Golden Demon side of the hobby. It'll be nothing but high-quality prints and interviews of armies, models, tables. An eye candy showcase, effectively, I imagine they'll have themed monthly releases based on armies and the like.
In a nutshell, we'll be getting more content and more options if it all works out, and you won't have to pay full WD price, just pick up that week's mag if it interests you. The eye-candy monthlies might be nice for inspiration or maybe they'll even fold out posters, which would be nerdy and cool.
Let's save the GW bashing until after the release, eh? I mean, jeez, you'd think they were a company with shareholders and growth targets in an economic recession!
Hobby related stuff is cool, cant go wrong there for me. . .. although... something is bugging me... over 25 years has white dwarf been monthly (aside from maybe two years at the start where it was bimonthly) seems a break from tradition... like eating Tofu on Christmas...
Quote from: Thantos on January 15, 2014, 05:10:49 PM
Hobby related stuff is cool, cant go wrong there for me. . .. although... something is bugging me... over 25 years has white dwarf been monthly (aside from maybe two years at the start where it was bimonthly) seems a break from tradition... like eating Tofu on Christmas...
One could argue that they broke from tradition some time ago when they, well, started sucking horribly :P.
In seriousness, the switch from monthly to weekly format will probably cripple their quality, yeah. Unless they're able to have staggered teams working on staggered deadlines, they're faced with a much higher-pressure environment with less time to put cohesive, quality material together.
I can't imagine why they wanted to put themselves in that kind of situation, unless a) it's a pressure tactic to get people in stores and buying more often, or b) they have something even more devious in mind that I can't think about.
According to this, its a confirmed thing:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=12800022&_requestid=1025048
I'll wait to hear what the content is actually like though..
So as an existing White Dwarf subscriber will I be getting the weekly things or the monthly thing?
Ouch. A pot of paint is almost as much as a white dwarf here NOW, four of those a month is going to hurt the hip pocket. They'd want some good bloody quality for that price. I see this failing horribly for whatever their goal with this is.
I doubt my local store will stock them to be honest. They usually have WDs in for a few months before they all sell out and I'm sure they only get 3 or 4 of each in the first place.
I'm all against it moving to weekly though. I don't even go to somewhere which stocks WD frequently enough for one, plus I already only buy when there's something enticing about it. Although the individual issues will be cheaper, they're going to have to spread the content out so the value/£ will likely be lower.
It sounds like their aim(s) include being able to release miniatures on any week of their choosing rather than being restricted based upon their monthly WD release schedule. I've got to say that I don't see the point though as there's no need to release through WD or to only reveal releases a week or two before release day.
....I'm still not getting it :P
I guess some people would like to pay 4 times the money for a bunch of ads but hey.
The weekly one won't be for me but the monthly one sounds promising. If they've seen the miniature art books that have been on kickstarter and decided to do a monthly high quality publication of GD entrants etc I'd probably buy that.
Cant believe new WD will be 7.50 even if it has got an extra 100 pages and no release stuff in ouch.
I remember back in the day when a codex was £7.50, and you could buy yourself a sturdy ox and three bantam chickens for a farthing and still have change to buy lunch :derp:
The weekly edition will just be what it is now, a magazine of adverts. I stopped buying White Dwarf some time ago, because it has no content, and so there will just be weekly editions without any content now instead of monthly ones.
The interest in all of this lies with the new monthly edition. I can't afford to buy it, even if it turns out to be good, but there is at least potential here for them to go back to writing proper turn by turn battle reports with analysis, and having indepth articles about the hobby. I hope that this is what they choose to do.
So first reviews are around:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cqFbTa5qOI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cqFbTa5qOI)
Visions looks vagually dissappointing from my point of view, not enough GD coverage. :/
The guy in the video is overly negative though,
Well, just got mine through the post;
QuoteAs a subscriber to he old monthly White Dwarf, you'll now receive Warhammer: Visions each month. With the first issue of Warhammer: Visions, we've also sent you a free copy of the first issue of the new weekly White Dwarf magazine.
White Dwarf is considerable smaller than it used to be in all dimensions. It now shows an issue number (so I guess we can see why they got rid of it on the new-style White Dwarfs. The White Dwarf is a grand total of 32 pages long and includes new releases (some cool-looking Fantasy Dwarves if you were interested, a kit with Hammerers/Longbears and a couple of characters), they also have the rules for their new special character model 'Belegar Ironhammer' included in the White Dwarf.
It does look pretty good, but I can't see it being worth the asking price of £2.40 ($4, €3.20, AUS$6) per week.
In everything but depth, Warhammer: Visions is even smaller. Looking at it now, all I can see are pictures of recent releases painted to the typical 'eavy metal standard. This is the magazine which includes the 'army of the month' and 'parade ground' which invclude some exceptional work (if anyone does pick it up, there's a very cool Orc model which won the Slayer Sword at Golden Daemon Memphis on pages 96-99).
I'm very disappointed with the battle report which contains loads of pictures but only 311 words (that's right, I counted them), it doesn't say what's going on, almost like a piece of fluff rather than a battle report, but a piece of fluff which misses most of the battle.
The word count in this 228-page magazine is pathetic, made to look like more with the addition of French and German translations beside the English. It looks pretty enough but there is no way that it is worth £7.50!
Overall thoughts; if there's a way to subscribe to the weekly White Dwarf I might do it, but I will be cancelling my monthly subscription once this year expires.