What do Games Workshop Think About You the Fan?
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- Опубліковано 13 сер 2019
- Have you ever felt like you are not wanted in your local store? Ever had a bad experience with being a customer? Well...here's why.
I worked for Games Workshop as a retail assistant and manager, I hope you find this information useful. - Ігри
There's a big difference between being treated like a customer and being treated like a consumer.
and now the market is pushing everyone to consumer capitalism and despite the name, it isn't consumer friendly.
ok guys we found the tyranid player
there's an even bigger difference between being a customer or a cult member who gets offended every time
a non member dares to enter the shop.
@@Marinealvernothing capatilist about it, its actually corporatist consumer, the biggest mistake was GW going from privately owned to public shareholder, thats when the shit hit the fan and put GW on the trend its been on for the ast decade. Used to love 40k back in rogue trader, 2nd edition, 4th edition to 5th edition. Then it went downhill and i fell out of the hobby, now im back in it thanks to one page rules. Much better rule system, and there are now tons of 40k inspired models for sale on etsy and other such sites from indepentent model makers. (Thanks to 3d printing, a product of the free market aka capatilism) .
@@Marinealver"Now", been some hundreds of years lol
I use to spend hours in my local store. So many laughs and good times. This was back in the late 90's always remember this one night a regular came in and it was his birthday the manager threw a paint set at him shouting happy birthday. Hit him square in the face. The lad was so happy.
I remember those times lol
The 1990s was when I gave up on GW, as I saw what way it was going. Why anyone would get hooked on the plastic crack now with GW charging £20 and £30 for single minis while pissing on their victims' faces and telling them that it's raining is just beyond me.
The best times. We'd have friendly games on a Thursday night, manager would say everyone picks one unit to play, it can be whatever you want. Dude pulls out a daemon prince and the manager says first one to kill it gets a free dreadnaught. So much fun
Born 10yrs too late...
@@rogerborg maybe you need to manage your money better so you’re not feeling broke all the time and then you can afford the hobby 🤣👌💸
The GW battle bunker in memphis used to have a huge gaming area with about 18 tables, drink machines and snack machines when it first opened in the early 2000's. Then 2 years later they removed all drink and snack machines, closed off the battle bunker area got rid of every table except for two 4×4 tables that they crammed into the retail area of the store. They then used all the square footage of the battle bunker area as extra warehouse space. They closed the retail store recently because it wasnt making any money or drawing people in. Back when the battle bunker was there it was packed all the time. Shot themselves in the foot for the sake of profit and ending up not making any at all, lol
That sounds like someone up top having some stupid ideas and then refusing to back down from them.
I think this is funny, because the battle bunker (and main US distributors) was out of Baltimore 15ish years ago before they moved cities. they had roughly 15- 20 tables, had regular fantasy and 40k tournaments and were great at community building. things sure change.
This is what short-term thinking does to your industry. Sure, you make a little extra money now, while your customers leave the hobby is droves.
What was it that movie character said? Getting an increasing share of a shrinking market?
This happened to my local gw from 2007? To 2017. They closed the upstairs where we had 12 tables to us and we could hang out paint,chill etc. Not sure what changed in late 2017 but they stopped hard selling and tried getting people back in the store playing. But it was to late a hobby hang out was created 2 minutes away where you can play any game you like and it's open till 11 at night! For the older gamer.
Youre making money by entertaining people and building a real community? I know how you can make even more money... ruin all of it!
I remember back in the day (90's) they let you just walk in the stores with miniatures and play, now it's like they just want you to buy stuff and f*ck off
I used play in 90’s games workshop was so friendly. I got miniatures to paint mostly. But still got the odd boxed sets.
They used to have free paints anybody could use!
@@JasonJohnContos I get why that stopped, people took them home and same for brushes. I once took one myself lol. (Being a kid) was almost finished but still shouldn’t of lol
Something happened to their profit to outgoings along the way i bet.
My first experience with GW was in the late 1980's when their stores were general gaming stores. Laurel MD had a bulletin board where players would post notes looking to play any number of gaming systems. Stopped going to the shop when it went GW only because I wasn't interested in the hobby at that point.
Next experience was a GW Arundel Mills MD, circa 2000. Still wasn't into the hobby, but was playing Heroclix and wanted cases for my figures. I was honest with the employee and was prepared to buy at least 1 and possibly 2 cases for my collection. His response was that Non GW models couldn't be put into a GW case. Soured me for another 2 years.
I got into the hobby when a former friend asked me to sit in on his demo games. He offered to paint my first squad in the color scheme of my choice. The next day I bought a box of Space Marine Scouts and the 3rd edition Codex.
For a brief period when 4th Edition came out, the stores were a bit more player friendly. The high point was the DYO Space Marine Chapter contest using the 4th edition Codex. I came in 3rd at White Marsh, not due to my painting skills, but by the effort I put into designing my Chapter. Instead of a single page, I submitted 10 pages including tactics, lore, painting guide (the cloaks took 7 colors) and a Special Character (Terminator Captain with Chain Fist). The funny thing is that a suspiciously similar paint scheme later showed up in a Dark Angels Codex as a successor chapter.
I worked for games workshop in the factory in the 90s. They paid 3£ per hour and it was such a bad wage you had to get the time and a half for a sat shift and double time on sun. The catch was they would only give the sat shifts to people who worked the whole week and the sun was only given to people who worked the sat so it meant you had to work 7 days to have a living wage. despicable conduct
This does not surprise me at all. I was given a lot of news like this behind a chipper 'can do' corporate smile.
TF? Man thats low, even at 2.5 pounds to a euro which was the exchange rate back then i believe. I always thought the 90s were the golden era of GW, back when they still had actual customer service and were able to get bits via mail order. Seems like the cost for that was squeezing their employees hard. Nowadays the reason people give for still supporting them despite being price gouged is that they at least have people working in the UK not China, and are paying them a european wage , not a dump rate chinese one. Does anyone know more of this?
NMW came into effect in 1999 in the UK @3.60/hour so depending on which half of the 90s were taliking here, £3/hour was not to bad.
@@VeggieManUK National Minimum Wage, i really really hope that means you had a regional minimum wage before that went into effect. Was 3 pounds an hour livable back then? At least - in the region their factories were located-.
There aren't many gw stores here in the states. So when I got the chance to finally go to one I was stoked. I love my local hobby store, but sometimes they focus on things I'm not that into and whatever. But usually they are amazing. So I go to this Warhammer store (gw store), based mostly on all the social media posts from shills... I mean fans, who adore the places and talk about them like they are meca.
I am black, and I have, despite what gw said the other day, never felt unwanted in the hobby. Now I'm saying this to explain that, this was the first time I ever felt unwanted by the hobby I have enjoyed for two decades. Not because I was black mind you. I don't know why they didn't like me. But they didn't like me. The moment they learned I was not new, that I was a professional level player, and that I am very into the hobby they despised me. After attempting to shop for something for a few minutes, and learning that they don't play games there for more then one day a week and more then 500 pts, I left with nothing. I learned that day that I will never, ever, go back to a games workshop store.
I don't even buy from gw. I guy from third party. And that's their fucking fault. I can get a start collecting box from gw for 100 dollars and it arrives in my mail box in two weeks after paying 20 dollars shipping and handling, or I can get it from Amazon, for 89 dollars flat, in two fucking days, with no shipping and handling.
I have, in my many years managing retail and now hospitality businesses, never come across a company that makes such a great product then turns around and treats their fan base and their customer like such shit.
I remember in 2009 there were a few stores around. this was before the finecast thing.
In 2013 a lot of GW stores ended up closed. I actually moved next to one but it is still working but the direction GW took different direction and I fell out of the hobby.
eh. I think true Los made the last edition practically unplayable, and if you don't like space marines your models are 20 years old.
GW has always had a problem with their fanbase. I remember when they created software to organize your armies. It was fantastic. They had one for the imperium, and one for non-imperium. I jumped on it quick. They supported it for about a year, then updates just stopped coming out. Then there was a new edition and nothing for the army software. They had discontinued it. Then I found Lone Wolf's Army Builder, and it not only did the same thing, it was better, and maintained by fans... Then GW started saying you couldn't use Army Builder lists for official tournaments because they were not verified by GW. SMH, they want everything but offer nothing. I have given up playing 40k. Every new edition did nothing but require the meta to drastically change and require me to buy 2-3 new sets to add to my already 4000 pts of marines. Competition ran rampant at my local and I just couldn't have a plain ole fun game anymore.
@@ciaphascain2807 same im new to this but it seems like not worth getting into without a group all ready set up
Yet you still buy their product? I wonder why companies treat us like trash nowadays...
My god, you seem like an absolute treat as a manager. Down to earth, considerate, just trying to guide your community.
Yeah as someone who GW would hate as a customer but have a fanntastic relationship with a inide TT shop I can say Exile tried his best despite what GW rules were.
It's interesting. I haven't been playing for some time (I just turned 70...been painting various miniatures since I was 25.) I love the class and style of the GW product. I love how they provide vast amounts of lore to the game. It builds the interest (and sometimes near fanatic love) for "miniature gaming." Note the quotes. I can understand GW wanting to sell their product but frankly their "rules" approach authoritarian dictatorship. I had been playing and had a small force of Elven miniatures. I liked the GW elves and I bought quite a few, especially artillery and cavalry (because a lot of other companies are more into infantry and/or "presentation pieces.") I built a High Elven army of over 300 figures with close to 60 percent GW figures. But I could never play in the stores. Game started and I got told "Those aren't mounted right." "You can't have two of those unless you have 4 other units." "The paint jobs don't conform to our preferences (really...in a fantasy game, they wanted me to paint my figures the way the GW painting guides directed.)" And the most common...."you can use the Dragon Riders and the Silverhelms and the command figures and the artillery is ok...but those 60 figures can't be used...or even shown...and we don't care how good they look." I know the "rules" were great for GW's bottom line but this draconian rule against any single figure in your army even being shown if it's not GW...well I would have bought a lot more GW units and they would have made MORE money off me but for this cavalier and arrogant decision. In the long run, it cost GW a good amount of profit...and I suspect it still does. It is anti-hobby, because it tends to split the hobbyists into camps. "Those aren't real High Elves because they aren't GW," vs "Cool Elves, I'll get my Dwarves and we can have a game." The second opinion grows the hobby, and ironically would probably grow GW's sales because their product IS GOOD...but not good enough to "secularize" the growth of the sport.
@@darthjarjarjar4367 but miniatures existed for hundreds of years before GW?
@@robertmurray7279 didn’t see that he said various miniatures
Exactly, mate.
I'm in my 50's, have worked at several game stores and managed one, and you're dead on.
There not "Killing the hobby". They giving newer companies a chance.
Try Battletech. Search "Battletech catalog"
This aged well, given recent developments
As a former Warhammer -store manager, i concur with all of these good points in this video.
Now days, few years from that position, i myself only play in a third party store. It is mainly due to the facts that :
1. They have nicer atmosphere, drinks (sodas) are allowed, a big NO NO when i was a manager and said we could make money selling sodas and i was looked upon like i was a maniac...
2. They also provide better terrain. When i started to work in the GW store, some prior worker had done AMAZING pieces of terrain, by modifying GW stuff plus other and we used to create beautiful tables for the players for our gaming days. Trainer comes in about a week later, sees them, gets a cardboard box, collects every piece that is not stock GW stuff and hands the box to me and says "Take them, they are not to be played with, throw em in a bin or donate (this was like the only cool thing that dude did) them, i don´t care". I ended up (if i recall, years have passed) getting them for a FLGC
3. More space, GW shops are usually more retail oriented (duh) and lack the room. We actually (when i worked there) had to have a calendar for the players, to reserve a table, because we had to turn away players due to not having tables. I would have liked to have one more, but again, i was looked upon like i was a maniac...
4. The players at the 3rd party are ranging from starter star to a tournament trolls. I have started tournament playing couple of years back and that is one of my favorite parts of the hobby atm, altough, i´m build with a short live wire, so when it goes bad, it REALLY goes bad ;). But i´ve made dozens of new connections and i think our Whatsapp -group has now over 20 people talking about the game and arranging matches (well, after this pandemia blows over) and i can play every type of games there, from cinematic fluffy games to a hardcore ITC -matches. GW stores are GREAT and THE BEST stores to start the hobby, but lack the more competitive edge of the gaming imho.
Points i was making, were just some, that i wished we could have changed in a GW store when i worked there. My favorite part while working there, was setting up a slow grow league, and i had multiple new players and old players starting a new army and excitingly painting/playing the series of games. Seeing the young guys feeling the pull of the hobby and immersing them selves to the painting and list building and fantasizing about future purchases brought happiness to the cold sales man and a gung ho 40k -player alike.
Too bad, i couldn´t see the end result for the league due to getting fired without reason (a rant in the other video comments ;) ) and that´s what i miss about from that job, getting people excited about the hobby, like i am.
RESEDAPRIME yeah this seems all too familiar. I bet they nearly had a heart attack when you mentioned the sodas xD
Years ago i was startled when being told by the gw manager i had to go outside the store for drinking of my water bottle which i brought. I found that to be quite inhumane since it was around 0 degrees celsius at that time.
I know this probably won't get a reply but I thought it worthwhile to ask since I am gaining interest in Warhammer figures and the like what 3rd party stores are there is there like a list of them?
@@nightfall-draws5354 Basically all smaller shops that sell models, carry GW stuff and there are loads of companies in the internet for that too. It is hard to put a list here, cos it depends what country you live in :)
@@alexandergoldnatznworeptil9652 I remember that from 10 years back too. I hated it.
Before the shop opened in Oxford my local was the Plaza on Oxford Street in London.I used to travel there every Saturday and would often run mega Space Hulk games.I was in the RAF and the week before I went out to the first gulf war in 1990/91 they gave me a couple of free boxes of Space Marines as a thank you.I started to go to the shop in Oxford when that opened and would run games for them every week.I left the RAF and moved to Peterborough and used to visit the GW store every week and it was packed.As a customer I used to run starter games and would introduce new players to all the games.That all suddenly changed and they stopped people coming into the store to sit around and just talk.I stopped going to the GW store and gave up playing after that.
we must have met at some point. Oxford was my local store before I moved to South Birmingham. Played Heroquest then moved to a skaven army under the 3rd ed rules. Got my wife into it too, but stopped playing when AOS rules made the game a clone of 40k in our eyes
The poison in the last GW store I was in was the manager who yelled loudly at a kid from the till where he was processing my purchase while i was stood infront of the till. Not often I get used as a noise filter and leave a purchase on the till and walk away. My wife was a bit surprised to see me without a bag of boxes!
My local shop manager always gave me a hard time over what models he'd allow me to use on his tables, scrutinizing them for bits from non-games-wokshop kits. He got extremely anal about it, getting into how which bits were from what models, and the cost of kits, etc.
Meanwhile other players were using kits straight-up made from WW2 tanks and airplanes, not a peep from him.
@@neanderthal- Probably things like kitbashing a 40k C'Tan Nightbringer out of AoS Nighthaunt parts and Green Stuff because it's cheaper
This pretty much confirms the experience I've had in my local store. Its made abundantly clear they have no interest in you beyond your wallet.
GW are in an enviable position as a company, as this hobby is filled with people for who Warhammer fills a huge void in their life to a degreee where plastic toy soldiers are just as essential a purchase (sometimes more so) than food on the table. For these people its an addiction, and GW's pricing (when was the last time you saw GW have a 'sale'?), its release schedule, the manufactured shortages of certain exclusive products etc does nothing more than feed and foster that addiction. People often mistake it as contempt for the customer, but the reality is it's far worse than that. Contempt implies they have some sort of feelings for you. You're just a junkie and they have the fix.
Shut up and get your wallet out. Pretty much, and that's not a totally bad thing - every company needs to make money. What I think people don't like is this attitude seeping into every interaction they ever have with a customer in a store.
@@northernexile I have never been in a GW store before as the closest store is over an hour drive from me I have some models they are either from eBay and off another website that sell GW products
lol GW does not own my wallet at all. The last time i bought something from the GW site or store was when black reach was a thing
Long live third party models yay 🎉got myself a dkok and vostroyan army from third party models I converted, costed me less than half of what it costs in official models and allows me to have good quality time with my friends. As long as they don't change their behavior policy and don't stop their obsession with corrupting the lore, I'm not using their models as a base for my projects. And I am one of the goddamn "whales", I am totally hooked to this lore and universe x')
@@mitchellpolinop7650, Black Reach and the Original Apocalypse Rule book. 5-6 Black Reach Starters was enough to run an Apocalypse level Space Marine Army. IIRC, IF you added enough Boyz it also gave you an Apocalypse level Ork Army. Black Reach was why I decided to pick up Battle for Vedros in 2016. Between the Vedros Starter, $10 push fit Marines and the Bike plus Terminator kits from the Build and Paint line, I was able to build a playable Space Marine Army for about $150 (Captain, Terminator Squad, Tactical Squad, Combat Squad, 4 Bikes and a Dreadnaught). Build and Paint also had the basic Land Speeder and Vedros had the Attack Bike. Heck, if you bought multiple Starters, you could make a Devastator Squad using the Missile Launchers and Veteran Squad using the Flamers. Best thing is that short of the Land Speeder, everything was playable with Vedros level rules.
My local GW Shop almost made both my friends almost quit outright before they even began. I'll preface this was right before Covid just as 9th edition was unveiling. We had just started getting into the game (I hadn't played since 3rd edition) and they decided to go look into a GW store on their own without me there. The guy was so pushy he tried to cram $500 of shit onto them without asking what style of armies they even like. Just introductory crap, paints, paintbrushes, and a space marines codex. As soon as they mentioned they weren't sure he just up and ignored them and went over to another customer. I brought them to a local hobby store that's a fav of mine and it was a totally different experience.
The owner spent almost 2 hours talking with them about different armies and their playstyles. Showed them some of his painted models from his collection. Talked about their backstory, opened up the start collecting boxes to show what the sprues are like. It was a totally different experience for them both and they both got their hands on armies they wanted to play. Picked up Codexes, start collectings, and a bunch of other boxes to get them started. Between them they probably dropped like $1200. All this time I just sort of hung back with another guy who worked there talking about our models while I picked up some magic cards. How GW plans to grow their market while taking a dump on their potential customers escapes me.
^ this
The fun thing about this is: If the local Games Workshop doesn't welcome me to play games and act out the hobby, I will go to the local independent store, I will play there and I will get my discounted GW stuff there. I could even use third party miniatures or 3D-printed miniatures and GW doesn't make a cent from me as a hobbyist. If GW acts like this, they get what they deserve.
i am suprised GW physical stores are still a thing.
The manager at the store I've been to, is an absolute angel. He talks me through stuff, recommends stuff, and he even shared his personal experiences. I understand this may not be the same for everyone else, but this guy is absolutely amazing and the only reason I buy Games Workshop stuff in person.
Great video man! I used to work in hobbystore (and I have friends that used to work for GW) and I can say that you are 100% right.
Cheers dude
The reason for this is because jobs have become so competitive. Employees are under massive pressure to meet deadlines. Work. Work. Work. It's very sad.
I won't shower before my next trip to GW... Can't fucking wait for that paint brush!!
ughhhh :)
I was on vacation in Edinburgh about six months ago. I found Scotland to be a fantastic place with great burgers. But I digress. When I noticed the Warhammer store I dashed to it. There is no GW store where I am just 3rd party so I just wanted to spend some time in it and pick up at least one model. One of the staff was "smile and nod but don't talk to me unless you absolutely have to" but the dude next to him talked with me like a normal person. We talk about the hobby and he was genuinely discussing thing with me like the lore. In the end I walked out with a few things including a Morathi. It was a great experience.
If I was treated like an annoyance I'd just walk out and be done with it.
I don't play I just paint and collect models I like. I did try to play but I never got into it because of people that just wanted me to drop the money and go. So online shopping for me.
I was a first timer in the High Wycombe store. Great atmosphere and really helpful..
Yeah the Cam manger at the Edinburgh store ( not sure if he still is though) was the manger at my local store down at cribbs causeway Bristol when I first got into the hobby and he was an absolute legend so layed back and even donated one of the old battles cases for the store birthday raffle with some old school models in . He always took an interest in the youngbloods and ran a tight ship where everyone was made to feel welcome and you weren't pounced on the second you walked in .
This makes me feel bad for the game manager at my local store because he is a real great guy
They ...... HATE YOU!!! Look at the prices!
Eh. Not hate. Utter contempt, perhaps. Marks are not important enough to merit hate.
In my local shop they never have prices you have to ask constantly. Even the nicer seller get pissed of me, but is their fault...
That’s why 3d printer go brrrrrr
X wing and armada for me now. Cant stand what GW is doing
@@alecmiller5296 you talked me into it. I hear there is files online. Fuck it.
The last time I was in a GW store was when the Genestealer cult was just released. They were always out of stock for like 3 weeks in a row and said that I could order from the computer they had in the corner, like what is this 1992? I can order from amazon and ebay from my home or hell my phone. What's the point of a physical location if they are always out of stock!?! Not to mention the store was a veritable ghost town whenever I entered the store.
Sadly this sounds familiar...happened in my store a lot. This is not the fault of the people working in the GW I can assure you of that, us managers were constantly having a go at head office for things like this. I got a system where if a valued customer wanted a model but I didn't stock it because of limited shelf space they would call me, text me (yes, I am a human GW I gave them my number) message the store or me on FB to check, I would then order it to the store for them for them to pick up. Job done. Still stupid we had to do our own work arounds of the antiquated and ancient pc's that were in the stores though.
Last time i was at a GW was when Apokalypse was new released (I think it's 14 years) because the players were spoiled teen bigmouths and was rude to new players!
Since I leave Greedy Workshop i only play at my home with my wife and kids and some 3th party stores!
WAAAAAY BETTER XD
Sry for my bad English!
@@Messermarkmauritz Yeah, apocalypse was released in 2007.
The thing about those computers in the corner is that they are what GW wanted to happen, at least when I worked there. Use the store for introductions, get people to make most purchases online.
The store in the city has the whole low spend get out attitude, the PC in the corner has a affiliate setup each order counts towards their income.
As someone without a sense of smell as well, honestly thanks for people like you sometimes we just dont know even if we think we are clean we might not be sometimes.
It happens, as long as you are pulled aside and helped out that's all that needs to happen. Its the shaming I was seeing I was not cool with.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. This certainly clearly explains the differing attitudes I have met from GW store managers over the years. My local store is not a place where I feel welcome unless I spend a small fortune every visit and sometimes not even then - I no longer visit!
There's something to be said about a busy store, I've walked past hobby stores, looked inside and having seen a packed store gone this is a healthy community I want to pop in and see what's going on. Where as a dead store gives me warning signs. Whilst having a busy store might not translate into lots of spending, I would happily bet that it attracts more first time buyers.
I know my area is positively starving for hobby stores, the few we have are in easy to miss forgotten spots in the city, it's as if there is some kind of cultural stigma against hobbies, likely stirred up by tge same clueless corporate fools that run these hobbies into the ground for a quick buck
It's sad really. You have local stores that are passionate about the hobby that have to deal with GW and their practices.
£6 paintbrushes, are those 41st millennium prices?
I'm not a competition level painter and never will be. For years my go to brushes have been Mod Page white nylon. Set of 10 detail brushes is under $10. They suit my needs (especially when I do painting demos aimed at kids from 6-10 years old).
I use Da Vinci Maestro Series 10 brushes and they're about the same. Much better quality than the GW stuff though. You don't need fancy brushes but I find they last longer.
I like the brushes from Rosemary and Co, specifically the red sable blend. Lasts for ages and not too expensive.
@@thunderbug8640 They're series 101 brushes look good for the price. I'll give them a shot next time I'm in the market.
To be fair, they are authentic horsehair brushes and those aren't cheap. Problem is they don't tell you that and so people think they can treat them like synthetics and end up ruining them quickly. Which makes more money for GW.
I just recently got into warhammer 6-7 months ago and when I went into the games workshop closest to me (witch is an hour drive) the store owner was so nice to me he treated me like a friend that I havNt seen in a decade. He made the experience so enjoyable I ended up spending over $600 my first time in the store the second time I went back as soon as I walked through the door he instantly greeted me by my name asked me how I was doing yada yada every time I go I end up talking to him for 45 mins to an hour. I so found out there was a games workshop right down the street from my girlfriends house and I was super excited I thought oh this is great I don’t have to drive hours out of my way I could just stop in at this new one I found. Anyways I went into the store happy as all fuck and no offence but there was a great big fat guy working sitting at the back of the store behind the games table and he looked at me and I said “Hey!!” And no word of a lie his response to me was “ what do you want? “ and I told him what I was looking for. And he was like “ do you even play? “ in some snooty ass voice and when I said yes I’m just getting into the hobby he rolled his eyes and proceeded to tell me that he “ never carries the models that I’m looking for “ ...... and I was looking for chaos terminators. And I said you know what bud, never fucken mind I’ll bring my business elsewhere” and left the store. Little did he even give a fuck to know that I have never bought a model online, I highly abide by supporting local businesses and in the half year I’ve been into the hobby I’ve spent over 5 grand on Plastic soldiers and supply’s from GAMES WORKSHOP ONLY. Literally every paint, brush hobby supply at my desk is citadel. And I swear it was the way I was dressed. I also race motocross so I wear mostly fox and Thor clothing and a backwards hat and was looked at like I was from another planet. I don’t think I’ve ever been treated with such disrespect in a store in my life it was fucken wild! And what’s crazy to me is I listen to some of these stories and it sounds like it’s not uncommon and even how superiors treat there own employees, bud the crazy part is how ignorant some of these people are but how truly kind and quick to help the common player in the community is
Try Battletech. Cool game. Cool minis. Cool community. Company is still small and messy but they do not mistreat you.
Sometimes GW stores have stand ins for the regular manager that isn't as professional I find.
I love the way you say a small paintbrush was ONLY £5 or £6. GW brushes and tools are way over-priced.
I started doing GW in the early 90s and just used the same brushes I used when I used to do Airfix models. Much cheaper and just as good. In fact, there are many cheaper brushes available that are better and more long-lasting than GW brushes.
I moved away from GW and came back to it a few years ago and I find they created problems that never existed just so they can present a solution, such as expensive paints that do certain things, which are no substitute to learning different techniques with straight forward paints like we did when I was a teenager. Or painting handles. My son brought one. I tried it myself. It added no value to the painting experience and give me no benefits that I can’t get from an old spice jar and a blob of blu-tac. Ridiculous waste of money.
Then there are items such as spru-cutters, craft knives or pots of glue. There are non-GW items that do the same job just as well and are cheaper because they don’t have the GW logo. And don’t get me started on Green Stuff, which doesn’t work as well I’d hoped and is no substitute for Milliput, which is cheaper.
After about a year after my return to GW I started to see all sorts of money traps created by GW. Combine that with the fact that I get hassled by staff in GW stores trying to sell me stuff I don’t want whilst I’m trying to look for a particular paint I need, and I find it to be more money and trouble than it’s worth.
Miliput.. you bourgeois bugger.. ahh the good ol days of melting down old sprue in thinners
when GW paints were 50p then £1 lol the 90s where special characters were £4.99 to £6 those were the days.
When I was in the hobby, I'd just buy my minis from the GW store, then hop to a local store that did other miniatures for the brushes and paint. It was held by an old man in his 80's that used to have a full toy shop but specialised in old lead soldiers to paint. Oldschool place that smelled of paint and dust. Loved it. Cheaper as well (but to be fair, I think he hadn't updated his prices for 30 years).
I really like the painting handles.
I always feel really uncomfortable when I go in I don't bother going in anymore not when I can order everything online. I love the miniatures just don't like the shops
When I went into a store as a kid, a hive of activity, about 10 to 20 people in there, several at a table with 3 to 4 staff. Go into a store in the last 8 years? 1 store staff, 90% of the time no one in the store, completely vacant, even on weekends. On Thursdays or the designated game night the only people who show up is friends of the store manager or the same clique of 3 or 4 young teens who are always hanging in that store. That's it. The shift from what stores were like before 2011 and now is incredible, it's sad.
I play WHFRP, I don't do the battle-thing, but I used to go into the shop and look around at the stuff, and also to check out and buy the Black Library books, but the attitude from the staff is pretty terrible, snotty and obnoxious, so I just don't bother going in anymore. I can get my Black Library books from another game shop, so they can have my money.
@@BlueDemon77 I’ve not been in for about 3 years now I mean what’s the point when I can order online and get it the next day if I order on a Monday and not have to deal with snotty staff members
@@foxdavion6865 I can relate, going as a kid there was always something going on, I don't have a lot of time now anymore bc of work but I still go once in a while to say hi to the manager and buy a book but damn those stores are always empty. No painting/ playing space aswell, they used to have 1 gaint room in the back for games and painting stuff, now its just extra stock...
This was a really great talk. Thank you. Due to recent events you can see how important this discussion is.
It's been really funny growing up in this hobby... walked in at age 5... now 35. I now have disposable income but they're not interested in me... it's wonderful, I can shop in peace... omfg, if I walk in with my kids, they're all over me again.
Yeah this is why I go to local independent stores tbh
I love your stories and I like that you share your experience with us, but my experience is total different. In Berlin I only had good times at Games Workshop, they moved the shop from Kudamm to Europa-Center and also there only nice Staff, you could play games, talk about the hobby for hours, contests and more. They always gave there best in my opinion. Here and there was a stinky player (Neckbeard) but people have always be nice. I guess I was just very lucky. Made some nice friends there. I myself would never open a store, its not an easy job, but maybe one day I open a place where people can play for free and talk, a tabletop coffeeshop.
The intro set thing makes so much sense now. I walked into a store for the first time in years because my local one shut down. I was having a chat to the manager while trying to browse and I mention specifically I had bought indomitus. He then tried to sell me a recruit starter set. Like buddy I just said I bought indomitus I don't need a starter set.
Did he make the point that you should get the recruit set to add to the forces you already have?
A key performance indicator for GW managers is selling introduction sets. So they always push them no matter what.
@@northernexile I mentioned I was returning to the hobby and had bought indomitus and was just looking for a cryptek for my necron army. He still tried to sell me a recruit box, so I don't know if he thought I was a newbie or what but he wanted me to buy that box.
@Jordan Holmes Can relate...
Therein lies a big part of the problem. GW dislikes employees that can think independently. You have to follow the program which was why I didn't get the 3rd interview a few years ago when there was an opening for Store Manager at Annapolis. It didn't matter that I understood the local market demographics and the challenges and positives to the location or that I had a track record of bringing players into the hobby. The Geniuses at Nottingham don't seem to grasp that not everyone wants to play the armies in the current starter or perhaps even in the sets like Piety and Pain. They don't get that someone might like the colors in the AOS Paint set for their 40k Army or that even new players can come up with their own paint schemes.
im lucky to have such a good gw manager at my local store, he suggests things but hey, its his job, he never shoves anything down peoples throats and you can have up to about 80% gw bits for conversions and models, and he even said if you want some necron warriors just buy the starter set, since here its cheaper for the same unit
This really explains what happened to my local store. They moves from a 5 table location to a 1 table location. The manager doesn't even want to have a conversation with players or none GW customers.
Too many businesses run by ignorant corporate drones with no personality or interest beyond profit, when actual hobbiest excited about sharing the hobby with others is what makes a real, lively business.
It's sad seeing a company treat the hobby their built on so badly when they could actually sell more if they respect the fans and the hobby, a lot of idiot led businesses are like that now, stuff like Star Wars being run into the ground by management that doesn't even vaguely understand what makes it popular
Our current local store manager is always friendly and helpful, willing to chat and I have had nothing but good experiences when I went into the store.
Likewise. Corporate GW may be a bunch of hobgoblins, but I've never had a bad experience interacting with the customer-facing employers.
Enjoy these videos. The manager of my local store in the UK in the mid 2000s was from Finland and he was brilliant, a funny man with lots of knowledge and passion about the game. He left GW to found his own store which I ended up visiting in Helsinki when I was on holiday there. That's the impact that a good GW manager has on a hobby that often has people in for life.
I just subbed. Gonna watch your quarantine streams.
Hyaku Shiki nice! Thank you so much :)
Interesting, in Australia GW closed all of the fancy Shopping Centre store fronts and opened low key street front shops that stopped hyping and pushing you to buy, they seem to be more fan focused. I use to hate going to the fancy shopping centre stores.
The story about a dude without sense of smell hit close to home. Cheers for helping us)
In my 20 years of warhammering I've honestly never felt unwelcome in a GW store. I've lived in Stockholm, Paris and Canterbury. I usually play at my FLGS because they're open late, but in all of the GWs I've been to everyone is super friendly and love to just chit chat about the game
Can confirm the gw store in stockholm has always been very nice
I agree.
Then do whatever you can to keep those stores around and those managers where they are. They're becoming a rare breed.
I recently found a new GW after my old one got a new manager who's a total asshat. Drove every regular out and we never looked back
Interesting to hear your experience on this. I gave up on GW in 2012..opened my eyes to a world of other gaming options...no need to bother with them..never get dragged down...
I bailed after 6th Ed.
“ when I got in this morning I was stinking because I forgot to shower today “ 😂 man is personal hygiene actually a problem because I’ve herd auspex tactics talk about pungent’s too. Man I was pissing my self laughing at this
You can smell my local shop about 100 yards down wind.. not sure if that means it's good or bad..
Just seen 8 D6 Dice £8.99, I brought 50 off eBay for £3.99.
And they wonder why they are going out off business!
Last time I was in a GW store was in Stockholm when I lived there, and it was frankly a great time. It was back in 2011, so no idea if they've gone over some major changes, but they were great. Me and some friends went there regularly to paint, it was always buzzing with people and the employees usually engaged with everyone or painted themselves when nobody new was in the store, and my first battle I was even allowed to use my mostly unpainted army when they set up for a game and said it was all fine as long as I had fun.
Never did I feel unwanted, heck, we were always so many who simply painted there it was hard to feel unwanted by just our sheer numbers, and it was clear it was working for their favor as new people, kids especially, came in quite often and the games that were going on was used as good demonstrations which the boxes or displays could ever show of the final result that would hook them in, and seeing people paint was awesome way to show what came next. One employee even asked if a kid could watch us paint even, and then they even asked questions which we answered, making us do the job for them.
As said, no idea if the same people are around there or they do it the same, it would be sad to have it be changed, but what can you do if they do. I won't see it as the end of the world and to avoid GW's products, there's still a lot of good that comes out of what they make. That said I'd prefer buying their stuff at third party retails and go to their stores if they're way more of what GW used to be. The whole market is shifting when it comes to the hobby, it's not as secluded as before and with resin and printers there's waaaaaay more competition than ever, which is healthy.
I once had aguy who let us play a game of apocalypse but using food stuffs like cake and jelly babies when he was leaving, it was great. I spent hours building a cake stompa.
Good video! The hygiene part made me chuckle, I've seen quite a few hobbyists who have no concept of bodily odour. My closest GW store is a bit of both worlds. They dont treat the customers too badly, but they are not geared towards people already in the hobby. As a customer who spends a lot on warhammer I much prefer to buy at another hobby store where I can actually play larger games without following their calendar and where I can do my shopping in peace.
Yeah you are totally right. If you have a good manager who supported you would you buy there? Even with no discount?
@@northernexile I would. It's no so much a matter of money to me as it is that I want to feel comfortable in the store. The sales pressure from the employes and the lack of possibilities to play what I want to play and not constantly having to buy the newest release of something because august is "apocalypse and warcry campaign month" is what's keeping me from going there. The other store doesn't even have discounts, and the only things I really buy on ebay is out of production stuff.
@@northernexile For example; I was in my local GW store a while back and I overheard someone asking if they could play bloodbowl in the store, a game they stocked. The manager said no, the tables are just for introductory games of AoS and WH40K. Which begs the question why bother selling a game system and having gaming tables if you wont allow the customers to play it in store? I can understand them not wanting 30K games as it is a FW supported game, but bloodbowl? It baffles me. I suppose they might not allow specialist games because of the low miniature count means less sales, but then again they do run shadespire campaigns and now Warcry (but you cant play Necromunda, wtf?). But at my LFGS I can come in, play WHFB, 30K, Mordheim, Adeptus Titanicus or whatever I want. So yeah, I feel like I have to support that store because they actually give me the freedom to play with whatever ruleset or system I want. That fosters loyalty, and I want them to continue supporting the community so I decided to take my business there.
@@andtheinternettkills I was told in no uncertain terms to never let Bloodbowl be played or painted in store because all you need in reality is the starter set. But as you said you can play Warcry and other things but not Necromunda. There is no consistency.
I do understand that GW has a limited space. But I also feel you need to trust the managers to...well...manage. If I have a lot of people wanting to play Bloodbowl in store and they can that fosters a good loyalty to the store. When they want to then buy 40k or Sigmar they are more likely to do so in my store. Not all. But most would.
I used to regularly sell GW vouchers to be used as WHW for forge world when my customers were heading down (so my store would get the cash, instead of Whw). Ended up having a strict conversation with area manager at the time (before they brought in the commissar role) about how I shouldn't take money away from WHW. Even though my store was profiting £1000s from it, my focus should be on making money via intro etc and not the 'regulars'. Forge world is a weird one.
Great video, gradually sucked me in more and more. I have to say, I am based in S.Bucks and have frequented the High Wycombe, Hemel Hempstead and Aylesbury stores. Have had great experiences in all of them, though the Aylesbury one is the only one that has had the same manager for the last 4-5 years that i've been going there which is a testament to him. You will find good stores and bad stores, but you're 100% right, support your local stores (GW or otherwise) otherwise one day you may wake up and they might not be there anymore. Even the simple things like if I want to do a pre-order that I am intending on buying from GW Directly, i will trudge down to my local Warhammer store and pre-order it through the terminal instore so the payment goes through matey's till - i get my item delivered on release day and chappie gets the sale and i can wander off and grab myself a celbratary beer or coffee (depending on what time it is that day!). Win-Win-Yes-Yess!!
Shout out to the staff at Preston, there epic! Always welcoming and helpful!
I remember going to Preston old store -Miller Arcade in the 90s (Think its moved now) and I'm glad they still have great staff. Have many a fond memories of the old store and staff lol
Forget Forgeworld, I've reduced GW staff to tears just by bringing in my 2 Armorcast Warhounds and 3 Armorcast Reavers, along with both my Skulz Mechanicus sets, all never having even seen paint.
Whenever I get asked what I'm working on in GW and I say something old I always get glazed over eyes stare back at me.
@Goat Man sounds like a standard response mate!
I make sure to take care of myself, but I also have lost my sense of smell due to a head injury. It’s actually more common than you’d think for people who had head injuries. It’s actually very nice of you how you handled that situation especially when you can’t tell what may cause people to be in the situation. Personally I’d also be appreciative if I found myself in that situation.
I think I may be lucky with my local GW. The manager at my store literally knows everyone he can by first name. If someone’s new, he asks for their name, encourages people to hobby how they want to hobby, and genuinely tries to help find people what they want (as in starting an army). He’s very knowledgeable, showed me a paint demo without even asking, and with how helpful he is he can sell me almost anything. It would be a shame to find out that he’s not the usual example of most stores.
I also do try to come in once a month to pick up something from him even though I live 30 mins from him and 5 mins from another LGS (the other LGS is a jerk to the 40K/AoS community) since he’s a good guy.
My local GW store (Ann Arbor, MI) is another really good one. Owner's even said he wants it to be a community and hobby space, not just a store where people come in, buy something, and leave.
He's a smart man. I spend way more after spending an hour chatting and looking at the shelves than I do after five minutes of browsing.
Big up to the gamesworkshop Cardiff. They have a great manager and a great team. Very friendly, very helpful. Very welcoming. So thank you.
The last point about supporting a good manager cannot be overstated. My local GW store manager (Plymouth) is amazing, as is the whole staff, which is also testament to the manager imo. As a result, pre covid whenever I was in my town centre I'd always make a point of going in and buying something, even as mentioned just a pot of paint, or something else - and this despite the store having a FLGS quite literally next door to them!
A manager told me GW is aimed at parents with disposable incomes with children 12-17
well this is relevant to me so if I go to a official store im ded
The GW store in Düsseldorf is the GW-HQ in Germany. There were round about 10 gaming tables with different themes in a separated gaming area, where everybody could play on with his own armies. Once a week there was a Veterans-Evening for adults only, still opened after GW store closed, and 1 or 2 employes keept the gaming area open until like ~10 pm, so that working adults also had a chance to play some game.
Was a cool way to play against other armies than your friend ones and on alternate board themes (Winter, Desert, City and so on). The employes where nice and help with rule questions and stuff.
Had a great time when i lived there.
Recently found your channel and have been enjoying it. Former Hobby Center Manager myself in the States and so much reminds me of my own experience. I'd love to chat and share war stories sometime.
I think the most important thing said here is one of the last comments if you’ve got £100 to spend spend £20 on the GW store and £80 online at element games or something similar, high streets are going to struggle massively in the next few years so keeping the GW stores in the black makes sense, if they go it’s very unlikely that a charity store will stock dire avengers
I can only talk about the two official GW stores in Hong Kong and the people working there are just friendly and helpful. You can even paint your miniatures there.
Yeah, it seems that at least some of the issues are at the store manager level, not at the corporate level. There's a lot of bad stores out there but there's also some good ones.
Your point at the end about customers giving a little kickback to their local GW was really good, and something I did for my local GW a lot for awhile in the Graham, WA area.
At the time I started going there, I was looking for ways to keep my Dark Angels pure firstborn, and pick up another faction as something else to learn and new models to build/paint.
Instead of just peddle whatever was new, he had me come in with my army, played a game with me, and helped me build my ideal deathwing/ravenwing list, all firstborn marines. I always liked DoW 1 on PC, my first time playing being the winter assault expansion, so he convinced me to try guard by letting me use a 500 point list of his guard. He helped me develop the lore of my own custom regiment, which lead to me eventually buying a Knight Valiant and a bunch of the tanks. When Custodes (my favorite faction in the lore) finally got their dex, you know where I went to buy the models to start my army?
Okay well first I went to forge world for a contemptor Galatus dread, but every non-forgeworld model I have in my ~1k of custodes was bought at his store, despite a third party store closer to my house having all the models 25% off.
Dude ran games, would stay open late to let people finish games (or if he wanted to get a game in), and would take the time to remember your name, and what you were working on. If he suggested stuff to you, it was to fit YOUR idea, not what he was supposed to be promoting.
Eventually he relocated to a store in a different city that wasn't a 2 hour commute for him, and the dude they replaced him with knew 0 lore outside of Orks, and if you mentioned what you played he only suggested their most expensive model. Went in there and asked him what guard stuff they have, immediately he's like "well I've got a baneblade you might like"
"Ehh, I've already got 2 man, I have an idea of what I want, just wondering if it's here since this has been my go to store" but he treated everyone that way.
And then suddenly, no more 1k-2k point games in the store, you had to be buying something if you wanted to play a game, constantly trying to upsell models if you were just in for paints or basing materials.
I got upsold many a time with the original guy, but it was always based off my ideas, and what I actually liked. Not suggesting a necron box just because I bought leadbelcher (not even a joke).
That store, last I checked, was "closed until further notice". Good riddance at this rate. I want to remember it as the hobby paradise it was
I assumed that (at least since the advent of online retailers selling at a discount) the stores existed as a loss leader. More of an advertising tool to grow the hobby than a major source of income for the company. Which means they should really be encouraging the building of a community vs the short term gains of selling starter sets. GW certainly have helped to grow the Wargaming hobby. The modern industry would be a fraction of the size it is without GW to bring people into it. The stores mattered more before the internet was so ubiquitous, but the vast magority of wargamers got their start in 40k or Fantasy-Even if they don't play GW games any more.
I see this attitude that favours short term profit bumps a lot in retail companies though. It's all about quick profit spikes at the expense of sustainability. They'd rather trick the customer once than have them as a customer forever. I think it's largely down to ambitious management at the mid to high level. They don't care about the company but they want to boost their own careers. If they can spike profits or stock values (even through reckless business practices that will damage the company in the long run) they will do it as this will let them go on to something better.
My local store is very limited to points size due to the store being small. Also no Forge World allowed either sadly.
Amazing video.
Never had a problem in any GW stores I have been in, staff have always been very nice and helpful.
My GW used to br great. The new manager fired a friend for having a t-shirt saying "Rey is a mary sue". It was just a t-shirt and politics aside seems kinda dumb. Kid i know got banned permanently for having a pauldron which he bought from shame ways on one model. His captain, he was taking about how proud he was of it the GW manager hears, she just walks up and picks it up off yhe board and inspects it then tells him to pack up his stuff and leave. He asks why and she just says your stuff is 3rd party its not allowed. I stand up for him making 2 points: 1) It belongs to a vhapter GW dont sell parts for so it isnt taking money away from the company. 2) it is litterally a single pauldrom which the kid only has on his warlord cos he cant freehand very well. I didnt see the issue. From that day on i was never able to book a table or get a game. She would just say she prefered me not to 0lay with the younger kids and that the table was always booked. Found out recently she talks shot about me to the other 2 staff and other customers saying things like "irish prick" and saying things like "he's one of those pro consumer guys". I would eventually get banned for creating some custom khorne beserkers and was banned for telling some kids how i made em (blood warriors mixed with new CSM box). She claims its cos i used to many tools that weren't gw products like a automatic grinding tool for plastic models. I didnt evem argue just packed up my stuff and left. She would later also say is cos i was bashing on the really old GW khorne berserker.
I have never felt unwanted or experienced gate keeping. Untill a staff member made me feel unwanted.
This actually happened a lot with the manager I worked for when just a sales assistant, a real piece of work. I can tell you than managers have customers (or types of customers) they like and customers (or types) that they hate and will go out of their way to annoy and force out. It is all very passive aggressive and I generally don't stand for that, it was a hard place to work at times but once I got a handle on how to control him and the fallout from him it was a great job. That first month or two was rough, though. He hated certain customers, loyal spenders, for no real reason.
It happened with my trainer too when I had my own store. He HATED this autistic kid, a big lad, for some reason. Would go out of his way to put him and his models down, would have a go at him for interrupting me speaking to someone else, all sorts...the company just attracts these people.
@@northernexile Honestly i do have autism but it is not very pronouced. But i just felt like this manager was being too harsh on the kid and after that point it felt like i was targeted for and she was just waiting for a chance to ban me. Apprently no one plays in the game store that much anymore as she now has banned it and only give intro games too.
@@tomjordan7606 Oh I agree the way you were treated was extremely harsh, no excuse for the way they treated you imo.
Rey is a Mary Sue...
Used to go to to GW amersfoort in the netherlands, havent been in a store in years, but it used to be a very cool place to go to and hang out.
Isn't it the norm anymore to keep players/fans/buyers in the store?
I have never met a bad GW shop worker. The first one I ever walked in was in Newport when I was waiting for a passport and had around 5 hours to kill. I had never even heard of warhammer before. The guys played a full game with me and taught me the basics. I have been hooked ever since. Great guys with real passion.
I wonder if it changes when high ups come visiting?
This is a really interesting insight mate and pretty much confirms what we all really think. As a fellow northerner I’ll let the near pint spill slide this time.
I lost my rag in my local store some years ago & the store manager just stood there with his jaw on the floor when I said they were just taking the mickey with the customers.
Having said that, and being an ex staffer who worked in two iterations of the same GW store (two properties, two sets of management), I know hands down that I prefer your style of management over the other option. Tie that in with some pretty toxic behaviour that went through the store from manager down through colleagues and to the rather impressionable customer base, you're bang on with what you say, even from 18 years ago
The manager at my local GW is just the best, honestly. Super friendly and infectiously enthusiastic about the Warhammer hobby.
Amazing thumbnail. I could not stop myself clicking on this video
I bought my AD&D 2nd ed. Players Handbook in GW Newcastle some (!) time ago. Hamley's in London had GW and D&D stocked side by side. What's happened to the hobby?
The very first game I played since getting back into the hobby was an intro game at a GW store. The manager was too busy, but he and one of the regulars were on such good terms that said regular picked up the demo game with me. Had a blast. Ended up with a Kill Team starter set and came back for some Sicarian Infiltrators to round off my team later. I’m now 3500 pts deep in Space Marines (amongst other things), in part thanks to these kind guys (the store and the regular).
At my store I had a few regulars that I let do intro games, one was an autistic kid that I let teach other autistic kids who came in. Usually the parents would warn me when they came in and it worked really well, they were really able to connect with them. Anyway when my trainer found out I got a written warning for allowing customers to do intro games when it 'was my job' to do them. I said I would do them but if I feel a new player will connect better with someone who understands their issues and needs better than me then I would be a fool not to do it. I would always be nearby and jump in, keeping in an eye on the game to make sure its going well. It was great for both kids and, as far as I know, they are still best friends who met at my store. This was one of the three big moments that made me quit Games Workshop.
Northern Exile Ah, sorry to hear that. Doing the right thing should never be discouraged. You sound like you were a top manager though
@@joebody7198 Cheers dude. I just felt like we could inject some humanity in there but GW always wanted us to keep this weird distance between us and the customer. I'm way over it now and I'm even back in the hobby...a bit. So the bitterness is gone. At least its something that I did and I can chalk it off the list.
My experience at one of the GW shops was when I took my nephew in to buy his first army. I had about a grand in the account and I was ready for it. I planned on painting it myself. I took him in and he was going to start up an ultra marines set. Now my nephew has autism as well as a reading disability so we take our time and I like to watch him read and help him as needed. The clerk was such an asshole and wanted us to buy something or get out. This distressed my nephew and he had started to cry. The clerk asked if he was "I shit you not" retarded. He continued tossing the fit before I decked him and walked out. I ended up giving my nephew one of my sets and I haven't dropped a dime on GW since. If that's how they let their clerks represent their company then they really didn't need my business. The shop went out of business a year later.
My local gw is awesome! We have a huge crew who all go in and hang out etc also no one has bad hygiene at the local gw store
I just see your video pop up, I don't play or collect anymore but I started about 89 , and watched the progression.
As for the stores, I remember just turning up in the Portsmouth store and painting and being shown how to play games and borrowing store armies to fight quite large battles in-store any time it was open.
I can't remember when it changed but at some point i was stopped from painting , the battles played were only basic sets with basic card or plastic scenery and made to generally feel like shit.
I bought a lot from the actual stores I bought miniatures or games almost every time I went and seeing how excited the staff were, how much care they put into painting models, it made me want those models, paints ect . After the change I bought from mail order, then 3rd party and finally had enough .
I genuinely feel that if they kept the old hobbyist staff instead of getting these jumped up salesmen in the store id still be going and they would have made thousands from me, I'd also have passed the hobby down to my kids and made even more money from me( as I would have loved my kids to experience what I did originally). Instead they lost a life customer and what could have been generations of gamers and loyal customers.
I liked Games Workshop stores because they had GW stock at a time when other hobby stores were able to be more casual. They also worked pretty hard to do fun events constantly. A long time ago employees didn't sell on a script, they genuinely talked with you about the hobby. There were some fans that came in that hurt the hobby, but overall 90% of the customers I met were kids loose from their parents who were pretty well behaved. It wasn't the fans that drove me out of the hobby, it was the kids. It was the endless waves of kids who would play at stores who didn't paint, who didn't know the rules very well and who couldn't play a really pretty basic game very well. It just wasn't fun. I was happy to keep buying the models online and playing at stores that weren't focused on driving children towards the hobby, but going to other stores I found games that had sculpts I enjoyed painting and much better strategy. I took a hundred bucks a month somewhere else and GW honestly didn't shed a tear. I swung back by my GW store the next year or so and none of the staff who were my friends were around. They had enough customers who were perfectly fine people and their business model was a success, but it wasn't a place I was going to be doing business anymore.
As a trusted regular customer in the 90s, I spent a lot of my time modelling, gaming, or just hanging out in store. I also used the backroom to make rounds of tea for the staff, ran intro games when they were short staffed and busy, and helped paint scenery for in store projects. I dropped out of the hobby about 15 years ago, and the few times I've been into a store since I've felt really unwelcome.
I remember those days in the 90s - fond memories.
As a former GW staff member, I can definitely agree with a lot of points raised in this video. But I knew and dealt with a LOT of those "poison" customers that did nothing but detract from the hobby, either by trashing the rules/models/company loudly in store, scaring customers away with bad hygiene, or even going so far as interrupting paying customer's transactions and telling they they can get it cheaper online. This was over a decade ago though, well before GW's increased focus on being an actual tightly run, succesful business. So in a way, I can certainly understand why GW would do their best to remove theses negative elements from the equation. Its a shame that they kind of threw out the baby with the bathwater and turned off a lot of their loyal, enthusiastic fans. At the end of the day, GW is a publicly traded company and as such their main focus is always going to be their bottom line and their shareholders. And whether we like it or not, it's working, as GW has been turning a profit and breaking sales records for nearly a decade. That said, I still frequent a few stores and have friends who are store managers, and the ones that foster a supportive community for both supportive fans and paying customers definitely have the more successful stores.
I used to get my kits online for cheaper, but now I go into the store and only buy in store, solely because the guy running the store is great. He remembers what army I'm making, gives me tips and is perfectly happy for me to go in with a newly painted model and chat for an hour. If he wasn't like this, I simply wouldn't buy in store
My local GW manager can’t do enough for you, very willing to sit with you go through rules or advise how to play the games.
Fantastic person. Chesterfield Store pay him a visit if you are ever there.
Wow, that intro box set issue is mind blowing, that seems so constraining
agreed, start collecting and codexes seem more relevant imo
i always wondered what GW would have been like if instead of floating on stock exchange if they'd become a CO-OP owned by GW staff.
So instead of having heartless, faceless investors looting money off gamers while treating them poorly, the company would be run by those that want to build the hobby and thus make success that way.
I like 40k and GW had some great writers, sculptures and employees, but sadly videos like these just enforce my desire to never give GW another cent.
A lot of people are "threatening" the use of 3d printers, and I seen a few models and not entirely impressed, but the more "executive" decisions I see GW make, the more and more 3d printed models looks appealing, and they could be more expensive than a GW one.
That's how it used to be 25 years ago
watching your video makes me kinda thankful we don't have GW stores in Switzerland, only independent retailers, although without a discount.
Used to spend my summers at GW Doncaster, and the manager Tristain was the sole reason I got so heavily into the hobby and the lore. He made it so exciting, and really cared about everyone.
Our local GW store was great. When I wandered in one day, the manager got me back into the hobby. I played my first games there and also met a ton of other players and some life long friends. We used to just hang out in the store, paint and socialize. Then he was promoted and moved to a different state. The next manager single handedly killed off all the fun and his business. He was eventually fired, but it was too late.
I have to say, I love the local GW here in the San Francisco Bay Area - most of the selection at third party retailers is pretty limited these days and they generally have a ton of the cool odd ball models I am looking for in stock which is great. I never feel pressured there to buy big, maybe it’s a US store vs UK store situation? Also, GW has always been awesome with customer service when calling in about defective model kits. I kinda love that about them. Now that said - I could never play in a store because I am super heavy into customizing and have a literal ton of 3rd party bits and upgrades on most of my models
15:18 As someone who wants to have paid staff one day thank you great advice not just to emploees but also to us owners!
I got back into the hobby a few years ago just painting and now I’m building my new ork army...after not enjoying necrons. When i have been to a local store the guy was just hovering around me and felt like he was watching me. I didn’t like it. So i buy from my local third party place now, unless I’m going past a store which isn’t often but if i do i may pop in.
I visited a store after having 15 years away from the hobby. When I first visited in the late 90s we just played games and everyone was super chill. Fast forward to 2019 and it was more like a used car sales room. Was truelly awful just having things shoved at me to buy! Never came back to the hobby in the end.
Neck beard stereotype had me rolling, the accent got me. Reminds me of Carl Pilkington.
You Will Not Be Missed
-Games Workshop 2020
Speaking about : racist, homophobic, néo-nazi and basically all the bad guy of the XXIe Century
@@charlesfazi215 except for communists, they're apparently kosher even though it's the ideology with by far highest butcher's bill in the history of the planet.
@@KameSennin4209 um no?
@@Aconspiracyofravens1 r/sigmarxism would beg to differ.
This popped up in my feed , it was a great listen , I worked part time for GW 2 days a week mainly for the discount lol , they even kept me on after they let go of the part time position ( I was responsible for running painting classes and painting center piece models mainly ) everything you said was pretty much spot on ! Although the regional manager in my area promoted in store hobby and events .
I would go to my local gw for a game once every couple weeks and would occasionally buy stuff (i usually go 3rd party for that 20% off), is this wrong 😅
A few years back, I was back into the hobby after 13 years, I brought my son into my local GW. my son was 8 at the time perfect age to get into warhammer. The one guy possibly the manager rushed us out so fast. It still irks me to this day, I haven't gone back as there are many non GW shops around my city.