I'm going to be honest, this Sunday Sermon wasn't going to be about what I'm going to write about at first. I was still going to write this sermon, as I'd had a significant heads up about the information a few months back now. I just wasn't sure when Games Workshop was going to publish it's half yearly figures. So what am I talking about today? Well, us! Bloggers, forum dwellers, gamers. Or more specifically how we all form small mutually reinforcing networks. Just as in the big wide world we all tend to gravitate towards people who are similar to ourselves, and who enjoy the same things as we do... so we do with our digital selves, our online persona's. I like most people read mainly blogs by gamers who play certain products, because I'm interested in them, or have a certain take on the hobby. I hesitate to say people like me, because the hobby is only one facet of who we are, but certainly people with similar tastes.
In short those who have similar views to those that I have myself. I try to read hobby blogs that are not necessarily cogent to my own hobbying experience, if for no other reason than they keep me abreast of what's happening in other parts of the hobby I'm not interacting with. I don't just mean 40k and Fantasy blogs either. Nope I try keeping in touch with Flames of War bloggers, historical wargame bloggers and most recently a few blogs about 15mm sci-fi wargames. But I'm not going to lie to you, I read way more blogs about games that I do like and play than those I don't. It's only natural after all. So where am I heading with this rambling monologue? Good question. Well I'm heading towards discussing the state of the Games workshop hobby and Games Workshops business performance... yeah OK I'm sorry!But hear me out. Over the last few months, lets say 6 to 12 to give it a firmer time frame, there has appeared to be a ground swell of opinion on the Internet. A slow bubbling undercurrent of malcontent with Games Workshop, not just as a business but also as a hobby. I've lost count of how many rants I've read about Finecast, price increases, Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition, Grey Knight, Dark Lances, size of army required and the drudgery involved in painting them... you name it, I've read it. I have of course relatively famously added my own dissenting voice to the swirling nebulous digital milieu. Is it reality though? Well yes, it's our reality, our view of the hobbying world. But, is it representative of the wider community out there, on the streets buying and playing wargames? I've never been sure it is, just like I've never been sure that the myriad of online voices that put so much stock in the tournament scene are present in the wider community, in the same proportions as they appear to be on the Internet. And I'm going to discuss the reason why I think this.
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