yeah ok thats one hell of a leading statement but let me explain.
I'm a long time subscriber to wd and have seen the publication rise and fall in quality over the years.
the latest incarnation of the mag had recently been some of the best stuff I'd seen in recent years.
the readers models, readers letters, temporal distort, blanchitsu, painting/modeling guides, bat-reps, short stories, all of it is right up there as far as quality is concerned.
the balance between aos and 40k is not an easy thing to maintain and i must say I think they'd finally nailed it.
that being said I was more than a little distressed to see the lack of new releases in january and then febuary's issue.
at first I thought there might just have been nothing new in jan.
but then, after the same thing had occurred in feb, I've since found out that new releases has been purposefully removed, apparently as the new releases are covered by online stuff?
if this is true I have to ask; why would they do this? the whole publication is available online as a digital copy is it not? has it occurred to them that not everyone has the instant fix access to the internet. some people are not engaging with this technology out of choice, that's why we order a physical magazine.
I recently have become rather isolated as far as the hobby is concerned. most of my friends that used to model and game have since moved on from the hobby or physically moved away. I tend to model and paint rather than game these days as work takes up a lot of my time and, to be honest I have always preferred this aspect of the hobby.
now yes, that's my problem not theirs, but point that I'm making is that for me, wd was my only real window into the hobby.
my initial favourite aspect of the mag is poring over the new releases. its the first thing I do when picking up my issue each month. it not being there just doesn't make sense to me.
I was seriously thinking about not re-subscribing next year on this issue alone.
don't misunderstand me there, i'm not pettily quitting the hobby in a fit of pique or anything, I just felt so disappointing upon opening febs issue.
So, did I think that my opinion on this matter will sway their choice to omit new releases from the beginning of each mag?
no. That would be pure ego.
I just felt it would be remiss of me not to express my displeasure and who knows, perhaps I'm not the only on that feels this way...
I contacted wd team with this and the only response I got was the usual out of office email return. not even a "sorry to hear you're not entirely satisfied" or whatever. no real surprise there.
its not really just the lack of new releases, the mag is going less and less modeling, converting and painting and turning into a rules and gaming only publication to my eyes.
I figured It was a shaky start to the year, what with no solid editor and all, I'd give 'em a month or two to get back on track.
then march came and now april and (though I did not expect any changes regarding my original complaints) if anything the points I just raised have gotten worse still. its obvious by the model design that they do not want people converting minis anymore. just buy what we tell you to buy and don't use your imagination anymore.
modeling is a dying art in a hobby that modelling used to be a third of! now its just gaming and rules.
(I guess the models themselves makes no big issue for an old salt like me, converting the new 'set-pose' models is a doddle in plastic as I'm used to doing the same thing with metal 'set-pose' models.)
I like modeling and painting articles, army of the month and golden demon (and other competition) entries. converting and kit bashing articles are a great place for inspiration. the last two issues had all but none of this. just a ridiculous scenery conversion (buy our absurdly expensive scenery! and then hack it to bits?) and a couple of measly entry level painting guides between them... pitiful. wheres the interesting squad kit bashes, character conversions and high end stuff?
well that's done it for me to be honest and I've just cancelled my subscription.
not in a fit of pique but in a genuine belief that I'd rather spend the 40 quid I got back on actual models than on a publication that has absolute no interest for me other than to line the cat's shyte box! I really do begrudge the £20 I've wasted on the first four issues, on the strength of last year's high quality. why the huge change with no warning? give us a chance. I feel done over by it to some extent as I'd never have bothered renewing on the lack of new releases alone... I know that sounds dramatic but its just not working anymore.
one hing that struck me; the subscription team didn't even bat an eyelid when I asked for a refund on the remaining 8 issues. not even a "why are you unsubscribing" or a "what can we do to keep your custom" odd? no not when you think about it, WD have claimed they don't want to loose readers to online alternatives, then remove stuff from the mag on the strength that its covered online.
I'm starting to think that they want the mag to fail but not be seen to have 'taken it away' by choice, ranther by circumstance.
the other thought I have regarding the removal of new releases is that by omitting this, they can circumvent having to make different version of the mag for international sales. releases come at different times and prices in different countries. so without dates and prices being printed they can save money on re-editing the mag.
thats a more likely reason to my mind.
as Ive had no response from WD team of any sort I just fancied posting this here to see what say
you on this issue.
does anyone feel the same?
does anyone utterly disagree?
do you all still get WD?
does anyone even care at all? LOL
anyway. I feel better for ranting to people who's opinion I actually trust and care about.
