So, as you've probably heard by now, White Dwarf is going the way of the Dodo and will be followed swiftly thereafter by Warhammer. After that the Sun will fail to rise and the Earth itself will spin off it's axis and plunge headlong into Mars.
Ahem. At least that's if you believe the
internet, which I would advise you don't because it tells
fibs and
makes things up.
Rather than rush around commenting on other people's WD scandal articles I've decided to wrap up my thoughts on the subject here, where it can be safely ignored if necessary.
Despite the fact that 12 month WD subscriptions are still on sale from GW and the lack of an official announcement, all of fandom is agog with the possibility of the imminent demise of White Dwarf. Hold on there buddy, it died quite a long time ago! It has been a mere catalogue for hundreds of issues! There has been no original hobby content in the living memory of the average teenage gamer! Surely we all knew this? The long lament has been dragged out for years with the moaning and whinging from 'veteran' gamers, apparently all the time people were hoping WD was going to make a comeback though? A return to the glory days? Why else are we all so upset? Never going to happen I assure you, I hope WD does die a death frankly, so that the embarrassment comes to an end. "So long!" I would say gleefully before continuing. "Thank the Lord you're finally able to rest in peace!". Unfortunately though, it looks like WD will morph into a weekly catalogue aimed at encouraging weekly visits and used as an 'add-on sale'. Surely a fate
worse than death.
As for Warhammer (at least, the modern corporate version), I think it deserves an honourable death too. Made cool because it was Cthulhu in Middle-Earth, now it's just a bloated, burnt-out, parody of itself with nowhere left to go.
If anyone out there wants my opinion (based on a little educated conjecture), here it is. Mr Kirby has cut his American venture (the rejuvenation of the U.S. market) short to personally oversee the sale of GW. I think he was given a nod and a wink from a much bigger corporation than GW (Hasbro has been named in some quarters) and has come back across the pond to make a series of short term moves designed to increase the share price as much as possible for the sale. Thus enriched, Mr Kirby can sit back and enjoy a luxurious retirement while Warhammer's future is decided by a
real corporation.
Nothing is ever killed off while it is profitable, that's not smart business. Warhammer is profitable by the way, it just doesn't perform as well as Space Marines, but then, nothing else in 40K performs as well as Space Marines. It might be sold off, ending up in the hands of a miniature company or an investment group that wants to squeeze a bit more out of it. That's plausible. It might be allowed to die, disappear, retained merely to protect the IP of Warhammer 40000. Possible. It may even get a dream team assigned to it and enter a new golden age! Of course, that's the one that doesn't sound too plausible when you say it out loud.
Won't it be a blessing if Warhammer goes though, really? A curse, lifted?
I've turned my back on it because everything good Warhammer has to offer is already in my possession, and that's the secret GW have been trying to hide from everyone. The good stuff was there all along, in the beginning, not in the future. It didn't need constant updating, retconning, censoring and embiggening. That's why it's not a good cash cow for a corporation.
1st, 2nd and 3rd editions are great games if you have a GM, 4th and 5th are lots of fun for two mates and 6th was the most balanced edition for tournaments. Everything you need, no matter your hobby preferences!
If there is a hobby god, 1st through 6th will be made available as cheap PDF's by the new proprietors at GW and a selection of cheap, 3D printed, Warhammer miniatures will be available too. Maybe they'll even be good enough to make your own lead moulds from!
Thanks for stopping by!