The LAF Games Workshop Discussion Thread

[Centaur_Seducer]

Oh no, i know they cost alot, but 4 MILLION. 400 thousand ,1 million, maybe, but 4? really?

It's all based on what the website offers. While it might just be a very heavy homepage for us (to be honest, the content is really good), it might also double or triple for the various shops, resellers and inhouse-thingies.
The point is, a website is as expensive as a rope is long. And apparently, who ever managed to sell a 4 million quid redo is a rather good account manager...

[FramFramson]

Regarding the website:

We ourselves see lots of wargaming websites with multiple languages, a catalogue and webstore. And there is NO WAY that Tales of War or Warlord Games or whoever else paid four million quid for their portals. Even Privateer Press doesn't have money like that. In all likelihood the nicer ones costs in the high tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

HOW-SO-EVER, in GW's defence, yesterday a friend of mine let me know that the four million pound price tag includes a physical server farm and maintenance for that. Apparently GW wants to keep everything in-house.

So with that in mind, I think the cost may be a little less ludicrous. Whether the extravagance of maintaining your own dedicated IT space is worth it or not to a company which was aggressively cutting costs is another question entirely. 

[FramFramson]

He looks so different without his beret.

I was hoping someone would pick up on that.

 

[nic-e]

Regarding the website:

We ourselves see lots of wargaming websites with multiple languages, a catalogue and webstore. And there is NO WAY that Tales of War or Warlord Games or whoever else paid four million quid for their portals. Even Privateer Press doesn't have money like that. In all likelihood the nicer ones costs in the high tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

HOW-SO-EVER, in GW's defence, yesterday a friend of mine let me know that the four million pound price tag includes a physical server farm and maintenance for that. Apparently GW wants to keep everything in-house.

So with that in mind, I think the cost may be a little less ludicrous. Whether the extravagance of maintaining your own dedicated IT space is worth it or not to a company which was aggressively cutting costs is another question entirely. 

See NOW it makes more sense. i wonder if they cool the servers with the tears of sisters players?

[Dr.Falkenhayn]

I was hoping someone would pick up on that.

 

i wasn't completely sure,as Scurv said he really looks different in Civilian Clothes 

[Dr Mathias]

See NOW it makes more sense. i wonder if they cool the servers with the tears of sisters players?

I'll start bottling my tears then...

[nic-e]

I'll start bottling my tears then...

Nahh, just wait for the black ships to come and sit you before the golden serve throne they'll suck the hope from you to keep the webstore running .

[Cultist of Sooty]

See NOW it makes more sense. i wonder if they cool the servers with the tears of sisters players?

My tears are particularly icy. But I'm so over them now.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to my room to listen to 'I Will Survive' on repeat.

[carlos13th]

Maybe the tears are what is so expensive.

Reading that statement from GW just sounds like they have their fingers in their ears screaming lalalala I can't hear you. It genuinly sounds like it's written by a child.

[Vermis]

He looks so different without his beret.

Oh, now I recognise him.

I had a poster of him in uni and everything. 

Half-year report: apparently it's surprised even the business-savvy people on some sites who predicted a bad report and a death spiral. Looks like it's pretty much set that, unless they have a major shakeup (unlikely with Chairman Kirby still hovering) or a buyout that doesn't just drain them of IP and drop the body, GW won't be here in another couple of years.

[pixelgeek]

Multi-lingual and with an open engine to add content that isn't based on any vialable platform? Yes, I can see that it would cost that amount.

Well maybe if the people buying the website are total idiots. Even a quarter of that price is ridiculous.

The site is made with a set of tools provided by a company called Sensa which makes the prices even more insane since its not like it is custom code.

[Tactalvanic]

Well done to the team that sold them something for 4 million squids that really wasn't worth that much.

More fool them for paying that much.

The "message" of course is just what they want others to believe.

The usual cost cut to drive margin up on falling profit and sales.

No doubt at some point we will see them retreating further from the high street, and probably turning their website into their only shop front....

It will of course be the failure of the one man shop "teams", and not the companies fault.

Still the rounds of cost cutting, redundancy and cheap hiring (we don't look at CVs) will certainly boost the bottom line again for several more years to come.

I am just glad there are so many other sources of good miniatures.

One day, some day, all their miniatures will be OOP? 

[Alien Dave]

RE: cost of their website re-vamp:  As an old boss of mine used to say:  "The right price is the price the customer is willing to pay".  He'd then usually rant about why his predecessor had signed a contract with a supplier for services worth a fraction of what he was now committed to pay for...   

Reading the CEO's preamble, it sounds like the blurb found in their rules and magazines.  Which is OK if your shareholders are the same 14 year olds your customer base is.  If I was a shareholder, I'd be looking to off-load my shares right about now.

Dave W

[Cubs]

Which is OK if your shareholders are the same 14 year olds your customer base is. 

That's crazy talk man, didn't you read that their customer base is wealthy middle-aged men? They know this through the ouija board.

[Alien Dave]

That's crazy talk man, didn't you read that their customer base is wealthy middle-aged men? They know this through the ouija board.

That post needs a 'like' button! 
Well, I'm middle aged, and I thought I was relatively wealthy, but obviously not as I haven't been able to afford GW kit for many a moon now!