Cities of Sigmar: Unhappy about news updates

[Kasper]

30 minutes ago, EccentricCircle said:

There is a positive to take from this. GWs communication used to be bad all the time, now it has improved to the level where people get cross about a lack of previews, since we've come to expect that they'll try to hype things up. A few years back this would have been business as usual.

I'll admit I wasn't impressed with how they handled the squatting. I'd have rather those kits had stayed, and advanced notice would have been better.

The book though will come when it comes. They likely have their plans worked out far in advance, and a book that's coming this month will have been finished and at the printers since long before they announced it to us. Complaining here can and will accomplish nothing I'm afraid. 

Honestly I don't think it is an arguement that "this is much better communication compared to when I was a kid". It's 2019 afterall, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect something as a consumer.

[zilberfrid]

46 minutes ago, EccentricCircle said:

There is a positive to take from this. GWs communication used to be bad all the time, now it has improved to the level where people get cross about a lack of previews, since we've come to expect that they'll try to hype things up. A few years back this would have been business as usual.

I'll admit I wasn't impressed with how they handled the squatting. I'd have rather those kits had stayed, and advanced notice would have been better.

The book though will come when it comes. They likely have their plans worked out far in advance, and a book that's coming this month will have been finished and at the printers since long before they announced it to us. Complaining here can and will accomplish nothing I'm afraid. 

I would not have started Warhammer if the communication was not better than earlier. It's frustrating that they chose my faction to illustrate how bad they used to be.

[Chikout]

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!

A few tips to maintain sanity in the run up to releases. 

1- gw only preview products at open days and seminars. They very rarely talk about rules. 

2- rules are previewed in the week leading up to the preorder unless it is a very major release like a new edition or a big campaign book.

3- gw preview seminars and open days usually cover products that will come out within the next three months. 

For the AOS open day that means until October 20th

4- when gw talks dates, they are always talking about preorders. I wouldn't be surprised to see the bonereapers preorder on October 26th but not actually releasing until November. 

5- As AOS fans we will always play second fiddle to 40k . Don't be too surprised if we get more marines instead of cities and warclans next week. 

6- don't take anything as gospel unless it is printed on the community site. Reports from seminars should be taken as rumours until the community site confirms them.

 

I am of course disappointed that we haven't got the cities book yet but it won't be time to get up in arms until the end of October. In gw land where they are planning up to 5 years ahead, three months is a very short time.

[zilberfrid]

I would say to take what is written on community with a bit of salt as well. See announcement of removal of a few boxes with a semblance of a communications plan vs the execution of factions realised.

No wonder people are salty if that's the amount of salt you need to read official communications.

[Dead Scribe]

I would expect you aren't hearing anything about free people book because there aren't really going to be new models and the warscrolls are likely not going to be changed much at all.  Its going to probably have some new abilities and spells, and cull a good part of the collection to legends.  

Unlike the new undead force which is all new models, so they will highlight that.

[Overread]

It's surprising how long GW has allowed the cull and release to be separated. One would have thought they'd have wanted to pair them close together, esp as the cull didn't have GW casting to replace (working to a deadline) and was clearly more working to stock running out. Thus GW can be sure that many didn't get all they wanted and are sitting on potential money for more sales for current models. Normally one would expect both to happen on the same day or at least within a week or so of each other. 

[EccentricCircle]

Maybe they wanted the bad reaction to the cull to blow over by the time the actual book is released. I'm not sure that's happened for folks on here, but I could see them hopping that at least the casual fans (which is most of their market) will have forgotten about the cull by now, and will just see it as a new thing. Whereas if it all happens at once then the removals kind of overshadow the release.

[Overread]

Eh anyone (casual or competitive) who was a high elf player or collector one of the several msaller subfactions won't have forgotten the cull; it will be right at the fore of their mind. Dark elf, human and dwarf players will have it better off since their reductions have been more staggered rather than all at once and they've overall lost less. Old Wood elf players already had to contend with half the army vanishing at AoS launch (loads of metal lords and winged eagles) and then half again with Sylvaneth stealing the queen and splitting off as their own faction. So that's an old sore wound. 

 

Right now all those players have had from GW since the start of AoS is reduced model support, reduced purchase options and fragmented arimes. A few side armies appeared using bits of the original forces, but not for all of them. Cities especially represents a lot of negative feeling form the fanbase in the way GW has treated them over the lifespan of AoS. So this Tome is really important to them. It's the first "here you get something from us - and a sense that some of what you love is staying in AoS"

[Dammaz]

Don't worry, I have not forgotten, and I think we're quite a few, seeing how the Dispossessed section has been deserted since the axe-session.

I personnaly have stopped to buy, paint and even play my short-legged tincan since, waiting to see what will happen to them and if I'll set my way away from GW for them.

It's not anger (not anymore), just common sense as to see if GW can satisfy my dwarven needs or not and what their lack of communications means.

And I'm probably not the only one thinking that way.

[Overread]

Lack of buying is most certainly happening as people are saving to see what happens. Some units might become elites whilst others could become hordes. Changing from their original roles. So why risk buying a load of warriors that could change in such a fundamental way. Some might also change in weapon options and such - eg the dark elves have a kit which makes 3 warrior types currently, but the two clsoe combat versions could merge into a single option representing a combined armies unit that has a single profile for the weapons even if two are modelled. 

 

All kinds of things like that could happen, so holding off to wait for the "very soon" battletome makes full sense. 

[sal4m4nd3r]

7 hours ago, zilberfrid said:

This is a hobby, one of the few things that does not cause stress.

Oh honey! I think you underestimate the seriousness at which some attach thier self worth to this and other hobbies!

From the WC article: 

You’ll be able to order the first of the Ossiarch Bonereapers from October – Nagash waited for an aeon to unleash his creations, but you only have to wait a couple of months. Can’t wait for more goodness from the Mortal Realms? Don’t fret – before these guys arrive, both Order and Destruction aficionados will have a chance to bolster their defences with new battletomes coming in the next few weeks.

[Thiagoma]

To me it is been a rolercoster.

I was sooo happy when CoS got anounced, went full steam painting my High Elves ( was even stupid enough to buy extra Dragon Blades!) , just to receive "oh no, you dont get to play" from GW,  and with no other elves that actually look like elves on the horizon. 

I started playing Warhammer with AoS and tought this kind of xenenigans had died with the fabled "old gw" .  Imagine my face receiving the models 2 days after the removals on the website. I LITERALLY flinged the box in the middle of the room and it was there until it got tossed into the closet. 

I dont wanna think about the time and money spent on models i had to buy from GW store or fight over ebay to get (since they wouldnt sell on ebay) just to be backstabed once the "support" arrived.

I feel like a complete idiot.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Thiagoma

[Dead Scribe]

I can understand how you feel.  I don't have anything to offer that would make you feel better other than adopt a policy to only play with the new models.  Anything that is a legacy whfb model I'd say avoid at all costs.  Or play kings of war with them or Ninth Age if that is a thing where you live.  AOS is a game where it is pretty much expected that you will have to regularly buy new models.

[zilberfrid]

24 minutes ago, sal4m4nd3r said:

Oh honey! I think you underestimate the seriousness at which some attach thier self worth to this and other hobbies!

From the WC article: 

You’ll be able to order the first of the Ossiarch Bonereapers from October – Nagash waited for an aeon to unleash his creations, but you only have to wait a couple of months. Can’t wait for more goodness from the Mortal Realms? Don’t fret – before these guys arrive, both Order and Destruction aficionados will have a chance to bolster their defences with new battletomes coming in the next few weeks.

I think the paragraph after that is telling:

Quote

Whether you’re going to join the ranks of the Bonereapers or are readying your Stormcast Eternals/orruk/skaven* army in anticipation, make sure you’re signed up to our newsletter to stay up to date with all of the latest from the Mortal Realms.

So no elves, humans or dwarves need to anticipate anything.

I was speaking to myself as much as the OP. I am going through a bit of a rough spot in other areas, and should not get the stress of GW's interpretation of communication or treatment of older series get to me.

[Undeadly]

11 hours ago, AthlorianStoners said:

This is honestly getting crazy, people need to calm down with this. The books will be here in a few weeks. I get it’s frustrating when you want something, but it’s really not that bad. You’ve waited years for this book, surely a few more weeks isn’t going to kill anyone.

No, but it certainly killed more than a few armies, RIP High Elves

[Forrix]

13 hours ago, Matador said:

I'm afraid we are all going to put on our Gamerrage hats and start posting complaints if we want to 1) see this book 2) ever see the Greenskins book 3) Show GW that this is not the way to handle revamps.

 

Doesn't matter if you are into the humans, or Ork armies, we need to stop this kind of nonsense where changes are announced and then put on the back burner for new material sales at the cost of current players. 

 

I'm sure the books are coming regardless but I absolutely agree with you on point 3, this has been a major flub. Tom from Warhammer Weekly mentioned that the Slyvaneth shipping issues pushed AoS releases back about a month which would explain a lot.  I believe Beastgrave is the first thing previewed at AoS open day to go on preorder and its been about 2 months.

What I don't understand is why GW is so silent about about Cities. They released an article the next day about the bonereapers when a potato camera pic got released but haven't said a single thing about Cities since the cull.

1 hour ago, Overread said:

Right now all those players have had from GW since the start of AoS is reduced model support, reduced purchase options and fragmented arimes. A few side armies appeared using bits of the original forces, but not for all of them. Cities especially represents a lot of negative feeling form the fanbase in the way GW has treated them over the lifespan of AoS. So this Tome is really important to them. It's the first "here you get something from us - and a sense that some of what you love is staying in AoS"

Pretty much this with the added bit that the Cull was the final deathblow to these armies in their current form. Following that up with either the release of Cities or a community article shedding some light on how the effected armies will work in the new book would have been the logical move. GW has done neither.

I don't think its reasonable to expect GW to produce and support all its models in perpetuity or to claim that GW is holding these battletomes back until there's a big enough uproar. But at the same time this is not how you handle a product release. What's so frustrating is how easily this could have been handled better. The  NOVA bungle and the bonereapers leak and following article makes me feel like GW, or at least their marketing team, is far more interested in pushing bonereapers than Cities (or Warclans for that matter). It is concerning to see a company seemingly be so dismissive towards a product a good chunk of its player base has been wanting for years. On the bright side, the rules team and marketing team are separate entities and supposedly this was a passion product for Sam Pearson. So I'm betting that its going to be a pretty good battletome.

[zilberfrid]

22 minutes ago, Dead Scribe said:

I can understand how you feel.  I don't have anything to offer that would make you feel better other than adopt a policy to only play with the new models.  Anything that is a legacy whfb model I'd say avoid at all costs.  Or play kings of war with them or Ninth Age if that is a thing where you live.  AOS is a game where it is pretty much expected that you will have to regularly buy new models.

Then they should maybe just make 'em.

[Vasshpit]

@Thiagoma

Ive heard GW is prettt good about returns. Just explain the situation and I'd imagine they'd refund or give credit. 

[JPjr]

christ, is it me or has this website just become nothing but an interminable source of misery of late?

Edited September 18, 2019 by JPjr

[Overread]

5 minutes ago, JPjr said:

christ, is it me or has this website just become nothing but an interminable source of misery of late?

It's just 5 armies worth of fans (Wood, light, dark elves, dwarves and empire) from the Old World and god knows how many others from smaller forces in the Realms all waiting at the same time for a Single Battletome. That they've endured most of hteir armies getting smaller in range, fewer models and generally only had token rules thus far for the last 5 years kinda makesit undestandable.

Heck for the highelf players its possibly worse than when Tombkings got removed. At least when TK and Brets were removed it was earlier and in one big go. High Elf players have been taunted for 5 years or so with half armies and losing some models plus a chunk of their original core. Then GW suddenly removed most of their model line again including several quite popular and modern plastics. 

 

It's also worse because at the Nova "its coming so so we aren't previewing it" got around yet since then we've seen several things coming out which were shown at the Nova. 

Sadly much of this could be overcome with GW doing one single news post. Perhaps showing off some of the army combos; some of the rules; some of the new forces made with the remains of those armies. Ergo giving people an idea of what they can look forward too. It's all a boiling mess of emotional hobby frustration at present. It's sad because Bonereapers are the "new hotness" and yet that's getting eaten into with the negativity from the other forces awaiting their salvation Battletome. Seriously 1 news post could have eased tensions a lot by now; but so far we've only a half mention at the end of a Bonereaper article that the other two tomes are coming first - something I think many missed because it was the end of an otherwise all Bonereapers news post. 

GW needs a big titled up "CITIES OF SIGMAR" post with some photos, army combinations, rules, rosters, something. Then give one to Orruks to make it fair (since Orruks aren't losing anything that we know of). 

[Thiagoma]

2 minutes ago, Overread said:

High Elf players have been taunted for 5 years or so with half armies and losing some models plus a chunk of their original core. Then GW suddenly removed most of their model line again including several quite popular and modern plastics. 

I cannot get over this, specially since we are nowhere close to some ressemblance of a replacement new army of some sort and the fact that Skaven kept METAL MODELS!

Honest, i dont feel like spending a dime to adapt my forces to a CoS army, because i lost trust on GW, and the BT feels like something without a future. Maybe a placeholder of sorts, or a way to remove miniatures in several steps instead of removing all "old order" at once.

[Dead Scribe]

29 minutes ago, zilberfrid said:

Then they should maybe just make 'em.

I don't think that they have any interest in this direction.  I would say that I agree with Overread that they could do better communicating their intent a whole lot better.

[SaJeel]

Is it correct that Cities of Sigmar was only previewed Two months ago today?

[sandlemad]

22 minutes ago, JPjr said:

christ, is it me or has this website just become nothing but an interminable source of misery of late?

Considering this thread started with a suggestion that we start a Gamergate movement, yes.

I sympathise to a degree but this - and the fevered conspiracy-mongering over the last while, just because GW hasn't put out recent news is no reason to work yourself into hysterics about a book being secretly suppressed - is pathetic.

Edited September 18, 2019 by sandlemad

[XReN]

11 minutes ago, Overread said:

(since Orruks aren't losing anything that we know of). 

Yes, I think you are right. They already lost almost everything they had from FB, nothing else to cull