pitching to games workshop for a guy with no clue what hes doing

[MattLaz]

hello apologizes if im not doing this the right  way but i need some help. so a while back this form got me thinking of creating a new faction for AOS of ant men, and then i noticed a lot of people want a bug men race, what if we could pitch the idea to GW. then i leard about the  Intellectual Property Policy and thought 'hay maybe i could make my guys a realit" But befor i go jump into the deep end with a butch of legal mombojambo i need some advises. like can i do it this way, do i need to flush  out my idea complety or just the mane stuff, do i need fluff and crunch, will consept art do or do i need 3d modals to, or sould i forget the whole thing it wont work ? i would appreciate any thoughts or advises on this, thank you     

[JPjr]

Erm... if this is you planning to convert some models, create your own battletome, rules & background for your home games then just go for it and have fun.

if this is for actually pitching to Games Workshop to be turned into an actual product range then just forget about it.

there’s no form of open submissions process for rules etc and legally they probably wouldn’t (or shouldn’t anyway) be allowed to even look at it (this is a fuzzy area and depends on industry and company practice but in general something along these lines will apply)

so yeah unless it’s for your own pleasure, in which case full steam ahead, I’d quietly forget about this and if you really want to design a faction for GW, work on your CV, keep an eye on job vacancies and be ready to move to Nottingham.

 

edit: of course alongside actual experience working in a relevant part of the industry then actually creating an entire home made battletome, that was actually good, is the kind of thing you’d probably want on that CV. It almost certainly wouldn’t be just picked up but if it was so good that people in the community spoke of it in hushed tones then it’s at least a calling card.

Edited November 22, 2019 by JPjr

[MattLaz]

thank you, also your portrait scars the ****** out of me 

[JPjr]

No worries, it’s super incredibly tough to crack into these fields, much like comics it’s one of those areas where a huge % of the people who consume the product also want to design and create it too.

and especially for a company like GW.

but the good thing is it’s also one of those places where if you really, really want to create stuff you can, it just might (well it almost certainly) won’t be, at first anyway, for the company you want.

theres loads of resources (free & otherwise) from podcasts to courses out there to tap into on game design, world building, rules development etc etc and it’s never been easier (still not easy just easier, mind) to get a ‘product’ out to market.

whether it’s a one page RPG on somewhere like Itch, or self published modules on DriveThru or even semi official products in places like DMs guild (& @Emmetation please consider a C7 WFRP/AoS version of this, please!) or kickstarting a whole boardgame or book with fancy art, sculpts the lot, we have so many more options now than ever before.

I recently did part one of Needy Cat Games’ course on bringing a game to the tabletop, I can certainly recommend that you at least look into that (https://www.needycatgames.com/) likewise I’m currently doing the RPG writer’s workshop (https://www.rpgwriterworkshop.com/) which is helping me better format and develop my own games.

Also the narrative section of this forum is worth keeping an eye on, it’s not as busy as the main channel but you’ll see lots of more home made stuff there to get an idea what others are up to.

Finally look out for game jams on places like Itch, always loads going on. So yeah again I wouldn’t put all my hopes & dreams on just delivering a BT to GW that they haven’t asked for but don’t be put off by that.

just create stuff, get it out there and take it from there.

Also profile pic... hah, a constant reminder, should one be needed, to never turn your back on a man with a sword.

Edited November 22, 2019 by JPjr

[Veles]

Suggesting something to GW might be really hard, but you can try to cart to miniature designers/studio guys at one of the events (like Warhammer Fest). 

alternatively,  you can try to apply for the studio job when it becomes available and go from there. Granted,  it doesn’t happen often but it is a possibility. 

[gjnoronh]

5 minutes ago, Veles said:

Suggesting something to GW might be really hard, but you can try to cart to miniature designers/studio guys at one of the events (like Warhammer Fest). 

alternatively,  you can try to apply for the studio job when it becomes available and go from there. Granted,  it doesn’t happen often but it is a possibility. 

It does happen.  Probably the best way to do it is to get your foot in the door in a low level position and keep applying for higher level positions over time
Jeremy Vetock did it that way to my understanding starting with a GW Canada redshirt job  as did Duncan in the UK (though he is not a rules writing position.)

Our forums own Sleboda went from FLGS employee to IT (I think) at GW to writing articles for White Dwarf.    

[Veles]

2 minutes ago, gjnoronh said:

It does happen.  Probably the best way to do it is to get your foot in the door in a low level position and keep applying for higher level positions over time
Jeremy Vetock did it that way to my understanding starting with a GW Canada redshirt job  as did Duncan in the UK (though he is not a rules writing position.)

Our forums own Sleboda went from FLGS employee to IT (I think) at GW to writing articles for White Dwarf. 

It does, but it is very rare. You have to be a Slayer Sword type of painter in order to be considered for studio job.

That being said, you might be right that getting the foot in the door at a basic level is the most realistic way. 
 

I know Sleboda (though in fairness he wrote for American WD not the main studios in UK). Dave Taylor is another great example of entering the company at a base level and then running a studio in US. 

[michu]

@bottle also managed to become GW's game designer after the success of his Hinterlands skirmish ruleset.

[gjnoronh]

33 minutes ago, Veles said:

It does, but it is very rare. You have to be a Slayer Sword type of painter in order to be considered for studio job.

That being said, you might be right that getting the foot in the door at a basic level is the most realistic way. 
 

I know Sleboda (though in fairness he wrote for American WD not the main studios in UK). Dave Taylor is another great example of entering the company at a base level and then running a studio in US. 

I agree compared to the total pool of players it's pretty rare.

But  if you phrase it in terms of who are the rules designers/miniature painters and other 'face' people of the company  and how they got there  it's actually pretty common.    Just thinking about the interviews of employees I've seen over the years  I think the majority started as either  fans of GW or fans who became low level employees and worked their way up.   Tuomous Pirinen was a fan who went straight into a rules writing job.  

So if it's your dream - there are indeed ways of making it happen just recognizing (much like pro sports) there are a lot of people with that same dream who don't make it to their goal one way or another.     

Being willing to relocate to England is also a factor.   

Also worth noting lots of the rules writers (Gav Thorpe, Ant Reynolds) are happier to switch to being a fiction writer for GW for whatever reason (pay?)  

Edited November 22, 2019 by gjnoronh

[Dead Scribe]

Its probably the equivalent of a local rock band getting signed to a major label, or a football player getting drafted into the NFL, but it is possible.  The thing with wanting to game dev is that there are 100,000 other people who also want to game dev and that makes standing out incredibly difficult without a lot of contacts or resources of your  own.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Dead Scribe

[robinlvalentine]

To talk specifically about the idea of pitching ideas to major companies:

In almost all cases, companies like Games Workshop are actively hostile to you sending them your ideas. This is because, if they even acknowledge that they've read your idea, they're potentially opening themselves up to lawsuits in the future. 

Say, for example, you send them your bug army idea, and they send you a gentle rejection letter back, something like 'Thanks for writing in, I'm afraid we're not taking submissions but we love your idea!'. You then have dated proof that they looked at your idea. A year later, they release a roughly similar bug-man army - it's just a coincidence, it's something they've been working on for years and it's not at all influenced by your idea. But you now have grounds to say they stole your idea and didn't pay you for it, and evidence to back it up - that's enough for you to initiate legal proceedings. Best case scenario they have to pay out legal fees or pay you off, worst case scenario they lose loads of money or even the rights to the army they just made. 

This applies to almost anything - lots of people, for example, send their video game ideas to big developers, and they all have to be thrown in the bin. 

If you've got ideas for new Warhammer armies that you're desperate to get out there, make them and put them out as fan creations - as people have said, that can lead to great things. But there is absolutely no point at all sending them to Games Workshop.

[MattLaz]

thanks for the advice guys, you know part of this was me wanting a cannon way of sticking  it to bone daddy for the ****** he pulled with the nighthaunt, and to get some more variety with destruction cuss lets face it your choices are greenskins or ogres  

[Melcavuk]

Ithink its important to remember that in local playgroups providing you have consent from your opponents there is no reason you cant run a fantome army. As for how GW do things it is usually Model led design rather than rules led, the sculptors and designers produce the models and the rules and lore grow out of that.