What caused Warhammer 40k to change from being a wargame recreating epic battles, into a "T-Sport" with no thematic elements or sci-fa warfare simulation?
i paint & gamei dont give a shit about retards or tourists
>>96517414The "game" in question
>>96517375Tournament assholes and balancing around the comp scene
GW started as a small miniatures company that also made rules to go along. As the years went on they realized that the pace of miniature releases would lead to a bloated game. Too many factions, too many units in those factions, too many niche corner cases. So they would release more and more editions to both drive up sales and change the meta around. However it was written by people who had grown up wargaming, usually historicals and the like.It all changed when GW stepped into the mobile gaming market. Suddenly they brought on people who knew all the algorithms, the studies on how gamers think, how to target "whales" and so forth. GW then realized they could target their own whales: Tournament players.You see, tournament players likely make up the majority of purchases. They will purchase an entire 2000 point army just to match a meta for that edition. GW then went on to change the meta every year with chapter approved, then every few months with FAQs. They keep making random tweaks just to change the meta and force tournament players to buy entire new armies.Tournament players are largely refugees from Magic the Gathering and War Machine. Neither are wargames, and many of its players are terminally /v/ brained. So they push for forced League of Legends map designs. Push for epic card combos. Push for intricate little formats rather than easily understood mission design.So what you get is Dawn of War 3: The Tabletop Mobile Game. It will continue to change, a new codex every month or so, followed by an FAQ a month or two later, with a chapter approved every year with its own FAQ a month or two after that, then a "Big FAQ" every 6 months with its own sub-FAQ a month or two after that. Once the tournament whales are finally spent, finally getting exhausted from the constant changes and meta: BOOM, new edition every 3 years. This is followed by 2-3 months of relative stability before it all begins again.
>>96517844This, GW realized that tournament players are the whales for this game.A new mission pack comes out? They HAVE to buy it to play. Often not just a book but a deck of cards too. Their army gets updated? They have to buy the new book, and the new units that are coming with the book and are likely pushed.They also buy new armies all the time. A casual player might own 1-3 armies. A tournament players has a constant revolving door of armies that they buy and sell to chase the meta. One of the issues GW realized is that you can't sell an army to someone twice, so naturally over time established customers buy less. This is why primaris was made, to force marine players to buy their armies again.
>>96517913What's especially genius is that GW has designated "run-off games". These are games with less erratic rules changes, more stability and tend to have more flavor. Space Marine players that get worn out tend to filter into Horus Heresy. Sigmar used to be a game like that, but once The Old World came out Sigmar immediately switched into a competitive focused shitfest.Then you have a side games which are complete fodder that GW throws out to grab the attention of normies. They buy one of the board games, have some fun with it. Then GW stops selling it completely after a year or two and a percent of the people who bought the game seek out the bigger games.
>>96517375Do we really need this thread every week? Do you have autism and can't stop fixating? There are meds that can help you.
>>96518002>Do we really need to discuss the most popular wargame on /tg/?I would agree with you that people could stick to the general, but the general is 99% lore discussion from people with no models.
>>96518030OP has no models either yet here we are. He shits the general with this stale bait as well btw. Actual schizo behavior, even if done ironically.
>>96517375As soon as 5th edition was released, what a funking pile of shit. Now back to your general GW paypig.
>>96517375Dude! Sweet objective markers!>>96518002>Do we really need this thread every week?We need multiple threads like this, constantly, for as long as 40k either:- remains as shit as it is- remains as popular as it is
>>96517952>Space Marine players that get worn out tend to filter into Horus HeresyI unfortunately fell into this category. HH3 looking to absolutely butcher the game the same way the base game is (no models no rules bullshit, damage characteristic appearing again, armor rules being fucked with, needless mental stats when leadership worked just fine before) I feel like a jackass for falling for it again
When GW became aware of the fact that they're selling a game, not a simulation. They tightened up the rules and decided to provide a balanced experience where BOTH sides are allowed to have fun. It's no surprise that after making these changes and casting off their grognard roots that 40k quickly became the most popular wargame on the planet. I've addressed this a bit further here >>96514116
>>96518235Kek.
>>9651737540k was a wargame? uhh, when?
Every edition of warhammer 40k WITHOUT EXCEPTION was good until 9th edition.
I agree it was mainly catering to tournament players, but also to casuals/softly dumb dudes that get overwhelmed by complication.There were a bunch of changes that might sound vaguely good on paper, in summation, but firmly strangled the life out of the game. Making it streamlined, making it quicker to play, making it easier to play, etc.
Join the Warhammer 40k appreciation discord to continue these threads https://discord.gg/mSRYkhvatt
>>96518487Fuck off tranny faggot
>>96517912>However it was written by people who had grown up wargaming, usually historicals and the like.I've long said it's this generational shift. That up there is Priestley et al. The guys at the wheel now grew up with computer game thinking and expectations. Similar to how much of the background is now written less by fans of history and literature and more fans of the existing setting itself, or at best of "generic fantasy" tropes.
>>96518487Thanks, but I'm neither a homosexual nor an intelligence agent, so I'll skip.
