For some reason I feel compelled to defend this game because...well...this article is kinda tacky- humorous - but seems a bit unfair. I whole heartedly agree that the "Company that will not be named" deserves this cleverly put together attack for their greed, the game is not bad.
Don't get me wrong, I've uttered a few choice words about their recent price hikes which in the past are normally followed up by some poor explanation of why they did what they did. I don't know why but when I see lighting, thunder seems to follow which means things are going to get nasty. The displacement of their followers by them may eventually lead to a downturn in the table top gaming world which to me would be nasty as I like to stay up to date about current events in this particular fantasy world. If it fell by the wayside I would still follow as much as possible just as I have with Chronopia, but it would still be kinda disheartening.
I think we all can agree that it will be interesting to see how things play out. Just remember that when it comes to dealing with the "Company that will not be named"---You can't pick a turd up by the clean end.
I agree (jess louis what am I saying) with you. It is a very lopsided article. I played ALOT of fantasy battle in the past. We had a great group that was very dedicated to the game and went to all the grand tourneys. We met almost every week to pratice/paint hang out. In a way it reminds me alot of the group we have here (Philly area). Dave and Dodger have met some of them during my annual gaming day in Dover DE. Fantasy battle wasn't the only thing we played, but we did put alot of time into it. It also introduced me to Warzone first edition.
It was evident that the most recent codex/army book they put out seemed to be "the" army to play if you wanted to win. It was very evident when you put in the amount of time gaming that our group did. Just looking at the tourney results would also prove this. Weird that when a new army was introduced/re-released, several new sculps would come out that you had to buy to play the army. Some may call this good business.
One of my personal experiences involves me at one of their stores. The game store we hung out at went under and we had a gaming club that met in a whole in the wall building. I went to a local "store that can't be named" and looked for metal skinky and sauries w/ hand weapons. They were in a box on the floor "on sale" since the new sculps were released. A full of p and vin salesman came over to see what army I played. While telling him that I am not interested in the newest releases they put out with their latest army they re-released he finally asked what army I played. I told him the "lizards". For the next several minutes he tried to hard sell the most expensive fig dowm from that line. It went like this - You have to have a stegathing, you really need it. I reply - I have 4 and 3 are painted. Oh. well you have to have a big fat toad magic user. I have 3 painted and one converted to a special character. Oh.. you really need a box set of riding cold thing. I have 3 full regiments 2 painted. Oh. you need on and on. I left with the metal figs I came for. Still have 3 full armies of them today. I haven't played in 16 years.
I like the game, the owners need a reality check. The article, while one sided, does have a lot of truths to it. If people don't buy new figs/books/paints etc., how is a company to stay afloat if the game is a one time purchase? Why does magic have new expansions? It is a damned if you do, damned if you don't issue.
My suggestion - redo the rules to have alternate activations and balance, embrace old figs while releasing new ones, try to expand the game to new players while keeping the older ones happy. If it was easy to do this, I would still be playing fantasy battle and edition 1 warzone.
I could not even imagine what it would take to run a gaming company in today's market. "the game not to be named" is still around. I am not sure how well it is doing. It is geting people passionate about the negative aspects it posseses. I don't see alot of positive articles about it.
