Reply To: GW: Why do they do it?

[limburger 21709xp 0]

@phaidknott I’d argue that pre-Covid GW was very predictable. Everything they shipped to stores was available, preorders worked and weren’t ridiculously limited (spacehulk being the one exception … and even that was predictable).

And they definitely were better than FFG ever was at delivering product … (not a high bar I admit)

The boxed games have always been kind of special and of limited availability, because you never knew if/when support would stop. I think this is because it simply isn’t part of their main line production so they don’t feel the need to be as consistent.
I wouldn’t be surprised if office politics played a huge part in this.

Now we get Covid, lots of people working remote, communications becoming a mess and kind of tricky.
I suspect this has exposed any problems with processes within their own company.
And because they keep making profit there hasn’t been any reason for them to change a single bit.
What’s the point of trying to sell X number of boxes, when the stuff you can produce fly of the virtual shelves in a matter of hours after setting up preorders ?
Do you waste time and resources trying to optimize production and supply chains when shipping is expensive and tricky at best just to make a bit more profit ?
Or do you simply stick to selling whatever makes it out of the factory because you can barely keep up with the increased demand as is ?

It sucks to be us, because we can’t force them to change anything.
We could try hitting them where it hurts, but that would mean that even newbies would have to stop buying into this hobby at a time when the competition is barely visible to them …

Like it or not, but GW provide products of a known quality that people want.
It’s like telling people that Apple sucks and that brand X is better … they still buy because overall the product are good enough for them.
And that is the advantage GW has … it is ‘good enough’ for people that don’t have high demands (in part because they don’t know any better and in part because they just don’t care enough).

It’s why all those fastfood restaurants get customers … telling them to eat at a proper restaurant that has much better quality product isn’t going to change the fact that a simple slab of meat on a bun is good enough for most. Are you really going to drive to the next town over just to spend the same amount of money on a better product when you can fill your tummy with cheap ass crap that is good enough right here and now ?

tl;dr;

I think we underestimate the need people have for a ‘better’ product.
Most will settle for ‘good enough’ if it can be bought when they want/need it.
That extra energy just isn’t worth the effort to them … which is why GW & co can continue to do what they do.