Author Topic: Rumours and what's new to be expected of WAoS (Read 261665 times)

Jmash · « **Reply #1400 on:** July 13, 2020, 02:22:13 PM »

I followed a link in that article and read part 1 of the interview with James Hewitt.

Fair to say it was a pretty damning commentary on the way AoS was managed and released...

Gankom · « **Reply #1401 on:** July 13, 2020, 03:45:29 PM »

Yeah that is a lot of insight into why it was such a boondoggle. To use a polite term anyway. Its fascinating how stupidity and ignorance tend to be way more damaging then malice.

I can't get over the way all the big wigs thought they were doing something the players would like, and instead it morphed into something terrible.

Jmash · « **Reply #1402 on:** July 13, 2020, 03:52:07 PM »

I don't know why but I always envisaged that working in that sort of creative environment such as at GW would be quite a free and open way of working.

It was really quite surprising to hear that there was just as much office-politics going on and that management were seemingly so restrictive and contradictory (I read the other 2 parts also documenting Titanicus and Necromunda) that it made the whole thing really un-enjoyable and by the sounds of it a bit of a nightmare.

The analogy about "The big boss doesn't like bananas" was really very damning and the suggestion that AoS got much better and became a 'legitimate' game once a lot of the big wigs left was really quite blunt.

GamesPoet · « **Reply #1403 on:** July 13, 2020, 06:02:48 PM »

The Hewitt interview was informative, evidently it wasn't just about the complete destruction aspect, the whole situation sounds like it was seriously messed up. I only ready part 1 of 3, although not sure the other topics are of high interest to me here. Glad you provided the link, Gankom!

Gankom · « **Reply #1404 on:** July 13, 2020, 06:12:33 PM »

Parts 2 and 3 were interesting but I don't think you need to get into them GP. Part 3 is mostly about the guys new company, and part 2 is about his time on other specialist games. There was an interesting part that touches on what Jmash was saying about an open creative environment.

When working on the new Adeptus Titanicus game they had immense creative control and could do largely what they want. There were still some restrictions, but for the most part it was a labour of love with only a few organisation problems. Till the very end when ALL OF A SUDDEN it was suddenly decided to switch from resin models to plastic. Which is more of a logistical shake up, but meant that after all that love put into it they last minute changed up the release schedule and opened with something that was originally an expansion.

Necromunda was the opposite. He says it was his favorite game ever of all time, and when they put him in charge of remaking the new version it not only broke him, but nearly soured him on game making all together. It was a disaster where he was frequently giving conflicting priorities that didn't make sense. Its hard to sum up all the reasons it was a disaster, but suffice to say its the reason he left GW and makes the AoS screw ups look like nothing.

Which is interesting because the new Necromunda is VERY popular and was pretty well received. So clearly he managed to do a good job with bad orders.

GamesPoet · « **Reply #1405 on:** July 13, 2020, 06:19:54 PM »

Having creative flexibility and freedom is a beautiful thing.

And thanks for the extra info!

Warlord · « **Reply #1406 on:** July 14, 2020, 02:32:55 PM »

I thought the push part figures were popular because they were cheaper...

Gankom · « **Reply #1407 on:** July 14, 2020, 03:58:19 PM »

Yeah I think that's a major part of it.

Victor · « **Reply #1408 on:** July 14, 2020, 04:46:57 PM »

So the main thing I take away from that interview is, that there were/are too many managers and/or management layers at GW. And too many of them (try to) influence the creative process. That explains a lot.

Jmash · « **Reply #1409 on:** July 15, 2020, 09:19:31 AM »

Quote from: Victor on July 14, 2020, 04:46:57 PM

So the main thing I take away from that interview is, that there were/are too many managers and/or management layers at GW. And too many of them (try to) influence the creative process. That explains a lot.

The reference he made to 'the GW pendulum' I found quite funny, it clearly shows there's a lot of differing opinions high up in the decision making process, and depending on who's in charge at any given time it can swing dramatically from a strong gaming element then totally switch to a focus on the models and then swing again to £££.

Feels very much like they have a lot of targets and ideas but don't really have a unified approach to hitting them all successfully and when there's a change in management those targets are forever doing U-turns!

Gankom · « **Reply #1410 on:** July 15, 2020, 03:39:48 PM »

That would explain a lot about the changes that often happened during the different fantasy editions to. Sounds like it was a pretty old problem for them.

GamesPoet · « **Reply #1411 on:** July 16, 2020, 10:05:11 AM »

A good reason not to presume all sorts of things. That pendulum could still be moving!

Sigmar90 · « **Reply #1412 on:** July 22, 2020, 12:00:53 PM »

So is this a lack of proper unified vision and leadership then?

StealthKnightSteg · « **Reply #1413 on:** July 22, 2020, 02:45:33 PM »

This is getting derailed guys, if you want to talk about that stuff more create a new thread please..

Getting back on topic: New July update

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/07/20/warhammer-age-of-sigmar-july-2020-update-now-live/

Gankom · « **Reply #1414 on:** July 22, 2020, 03:08:46 PM »

Woops sorry SKS! My bad. I was dropping fairly random things in to keep some conversation flowing.

I am pretty interested in the July Update changes. It looks like they put a fair bit of work into tweaking things, and possibly strengthening some of the weaker factions. Especially happy to see Kharadron get a bit cheaper, they're one of the factions I'm planning to pick up at some point!

Gankom · « **Reply #1415 on:** September 09, 2020, 03:24:34 PM »

Sneak peak at one of the coming mega giant kits.

Quote

Just who is Bundo Whalebiter? Allow us to explain! Sons of Behemat is coming out before too long, and in it, you won’t just find rules for an army of gargants, but a set of mercenaries that let you add a named Mega-Gargant to your armies! Order and Destruction forces can take Bundo Whalebiter, a towering (and surprisingly cunning) Kraken-eater. If your Lumineth Realm-lords need some extra punch, make sure to grab him when the Mega-Gargant kit drops!

Old Stonebeard · « **Reply #1416 on:** September 15, 2020, 02:18:26 PM »

Alas, same image we've already seen, but interesting to note that we're getting at least one named character with the release, and confirming that 1 kit builds all 3 variants of mega-gargant. That said, I wonder if there's alternate heads to differentiate the named gargants, or if you just say "yeah this dude is Bundo today".

After Lumineth/Gargants, we're straight into Broken Realms, which I have a suspicion may end in AOS3.0, much like Psychic Awakening led us into 9th Ed. 40k. My local GW manager raised an interesting theory with me, though: everything Slaanesh is keyworded "Chaos Slaanesh", yet the other 3 Chaos gods are keyworded just "Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch". Even Clan Pestilens are just "Nurgle" and not "Skaven Nurgle".

So, the theory as presented to me is that we're going to end up with "Order Slaanesh" whenever we get around to Tyrion or Malerion's aelves, representing the last souls dredged up out of the Dark Prince's gullet. It's entirely possible it's Tyrion's aelves, as they were left out of the Lumineth release entirely except for a paragraph describing how they apply themselves to military perfection. Who else applied themselves to military perfection? The Emperor's Children in 40k, who fell to... Slaanesh. It's a leap, sure, but GW does love their circular plot devices.

Alex