Games Workshop Online Community

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The US Games Workshop Official Forum.
The US Games Workshop Official Forum.[1]

The Games Workshop Online Community refers to the registered members of any internet fora or websites specifically for Games Workshop's miniature wargames, including The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer 40,000, and the influence that the community has on these products. The Official Games Workshop community has well over 300,000 registered users, and is still growing.[2] At the end of 2005, the official forum received 2700 forum posts per day, and this average increased to 3000 by November 2006. Not all members were registered to use the forum, however, as many wanted to receive newsletters or use the hobby articles on the website.

In addition to the official website, "Community" innately implies Games Workshop's fan base, which has influenced various aspects of the hobby. In the past, the company has recognised the work of unofficial fansites, notably for their participation in the Worldwide Campaigns, and has given them credit in White Dwarf magazine).[3] Notably, Games Workshop closed down its official forum in November 2006, forcing fan discussion onto unofficial fansites dedicated to the hobby.[4]

Games Workshop discontinued their online forums without any explanation being given to it's users. Those wishing to discuss the various aspects of the company's many games are now referred to the various unofficial fan sites that exist, many of which are listed below.

Contents

[edit] Worldwide Campaigns

Regional map used for recording battles in a Worldwide Campaign.
Regional map used for recording battles in a Worldwide Campaign.

Games Workshop has run numerous Worldwide Campaigns for its three core game sysyems. In each campaign, players are invited to submit the results of games played within a certain time period. The collation of these results provides a result to the campaign's scenario, and in the case of Warhammer, often goes on to impact the fictional and gameplay development of the fictional universe. Although in the past, campaign results had to be posted to the United Kingdom to be counted, the more recent campaigns have allowed result submission via the Internet:

The promotional "Gimli on Dead Uruk-hai" miniature, released for The War of the Ring Campaign.
The promotional "Gimli on Dead Uruk-hai" miniature, released for The War of the Ring Campaign.

These Campaigns were run to promote its miniature wargames, and attracted interest in the hobby. In some cases special miniatures were released to coincide with the campaigns; the promotional "Gimli on Dead Uruk-hai" miniature, for example, was available only through the campaign roadshows or ordering online.[5] As a whole these events have been highly successful; the War of the Ring Campaign, for example, had 3007 registered participants, with 27239 recorded wargames.[3] Fansites have tried to copy their success, so numerous unofficial campaigns have been run, such as the "Campaign of LoTRs" by The Dark Council and Cheeseweb.

[edit] Wider Community

[edit] The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game

See also: The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game
Map of Middle-earth used in an unofficial online campaign.
Map of Middle-earth used in an unofficial online campaign.

There are a large number of unofficial websites and forums for Lord of the Rings players. Although primarily concerned with the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, many of these sites attempt to encompass all gaming to do with The Lord of the Rings (the main interest being upon the books by J. R. R. Tolkien and the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson). Discussion often also covers The Lord of the Rings computer games (such as Battle for Middle-earth produced by EA Games) and other miniature wargaming manufacturers and fansites (such as Ebob Miniatures). The longest running of such sites was "The One Ring" (since 2002), although today "The Last Alliance" is by far the largest.[6][7]

The online community has held influence over the hobby in different respects: for example, resources for the game's naval ruleset, All at Sea, are based almost entirely on the internet (aside from coverage in a few White Dwarf articles).[8] Members of these webistes have produced articles for the public, in greater quantity than on the official site. The Last Alliance, for example, is estimated to have over 1000 articles produced for its 10100 members, ranging from painting guides to step-by-step terrain making guides; while other sites, such as The One Ring have also strived for a high quality article library.[9] In the past, Games Workshop has reported in White Dwarf on the activity of the community, saying at the time that it had a "huge wealth of material".[10] Such websites have been key in organising sides in the Worldwide Campaigns, and indeed in creating their own campaigns and competitions. [5]

A Maeglin miniature converted from a Swan Knight for a Gondolin-themed "house rules" supplement.
A Maeglin miniature converted from a Swan Knight for a Gondolin-themed "house rules" supplement.

At present, the rules for Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game are in their fourth edition, but in addition to the official rulesets, Games Workshop has also encouraged the writing of unofficial "house rules" by wargamers.[11] As such, the online community has been responsible for the release of a number of unofficial fan supplements and other supplementary material on the internet; the first of which was "The Age of the King", made by The One Ring, although some of its subject matter was later covered by official rulesets. In many cases, supplements are written for areas where Games Workshop's licence does not extend, such as The Silmarillion. Some of The Last Alliance's members are even credited in the official Games Workshop Supplements.

Another notable side of the community is the influence of its reaction to the company's products: many Tolkien purists, for example, reacted against the company's rendition of the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth, with some choosing to convert their own,[12] impacting the hobby and the sales of the products.[13]

Sites such as "The Palantir" also run e-zines and newsletters on the hobby.

[edit] Warhammer Fantasy Battles

See also: Warhammer Fantasy Battles

Similar to the Lord of the Rings community, Warhammer Fantasy Battles has its own unofficial sites, although the community is substantially larger due to the relative length of time the game has been in existence (Druchii.net, for example, has over 11000 members). These too have produced large numbers of articles, as well as e-zines, miniature galleries and competitions. The community has even been successful in turning the Orc faction into a decisive edge during the 2004 Storm of Chaos Online Campaign, against the Games Workshop plan for them to be a random wildcard fighting both the defending forces and the marauding Chaos.[14]

[edit] Warhammer 40,000

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This article has been tagged since January 2007.
See also: Warhammer 40,000

Since its 1987 inception, Warhammer 40,000 has garnered a sizeable online community, and its online community is not as centralised as that of the younger The Lord of the Rings. The bulk of the community's online presence can be seen in the many unofficial fansites, galleries and forums themed around Warhammer 40,000. The community has attracted the attention of Games Workshop significantly enough that some members have had articles published in White Dwarf.[15][16]

There are a multitude of sites devoted to almost every aspect of the game, and many are specifically dedicated to a single Warhammer 40,000 army, such as the Dark Angels Space Marine chapter or the Orks.[17][18] Some members of the community have also created web comics about the Warhammer 40,000 world, as permitted by Games Workshop,[19] including the webcomic Turn Signals on a Land Raider, which has had more than 300 issues since it was first published online in 2003.[20] Some sites, such as the now-defunct Portent.net, focus on other aspects of the game such as rumours of yet-to-be-released miniatures, rules and games. That site, at its height, garnered over 100,000 visitors per month.[21]

In addition to these sites, there are a few large community sites that specialize in providing multiple game-related resources to the online community, aside from serving as discussion forums. These unofficial sites are often major endeavours, requiring significant financial investment and enterprise-level server hardware. Portent, one of the major Warhammer 40,000 sites during the turn of the millennium, closed down in 2005 primarily because it had become too large and expensive to maintain.[21] With over 20,000 registered members, the Bolter and Chainsword forum is a good example of one of these major Warhammer 40,000 online subcommunity sites. While the forum itself is primarily a message board, it echoes the breadth of the community by conducting painting and modeling contests,[22] allowing members to post battle reports of games they have played and featuring articles on gameplay and other Games Workshop-related issues written by the members themselves. Like many other Games Workshop fansites, it provides a gallery where members can upload photographs of their own miniatures.[23] A more general site would be the Dakka Dakka forums, which does not limit itself to just discussion on Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines (as Bolter & Chainsword does). The members of sites such as Dakka Dakka have provided a wide range of articles, ranging from painting guides, strategy manuals and army lists, to fan-made fiction and the occasional prose.[24] Librarium-Online[25] is another notable site, focusing in particular more on articles rather than forum discussion. It has published articles on topics ranging from getting into Warhammer 40,000 as a new player,[26] to topics like miniature photography.[27]

One of the larger Warhammer 40,000 communities online is WarSeer, formed in 2005 by former members of the closed Portent.net.[21] Like many of the larger community sites, the site is a collection of rumours, articles, galleries and discussion forums.[28] The forums themselves have over a million posts spread across almost 20,000 registered members.[29] On sites such as these, discussions between fans can arise regarding even comparatively minor details in the game's background story; For example, there is a 12-page discussion surrounding the removal of a minor character in a single background event in the game's story.[30]

[edit] Specialist Games

In addition to the three major games, Games Workshop's Specialist Games also have their own online community. As the games and their components have been partially discontinued and are not available in retail stores[citation needed], support for the players has been almost entirely via Games Workshop's Specialist Games forums. It is notable that these official forums are provided by Games Workshop, which closed off their official fora for their major games in November 2006.[4] In addition, new editions of game rules and game material are published entirely online on the official website. Fanatic Online is an official e-zine that Games Workshop publishes monthly for the Specialist Games online community.[31]

[edit] Footnotes and References

  1. ^ The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game forum page, as at November 14, 2006.
  2. ^ This has been pointed out by some as being just under 0.005% of the world population, and equal to that of Iceland's.
  3. ^ a b UK White Dwarf 312 - "Victory for the Free Peoples", by Alessio Cavatore.
  4. ^ a b Message Boards (english) (HTM). Games Workshop Community Section. Games Workshop. Retrieved on January 29, 2007. “The Games Workshop message boards are closed as of Wednesday, November 15, 2006. We’d like to say a big thank-you to all the people who have posted on (or even just read) our message boards and our special thanks go to all the volunteers and staff who over the years have helped moderate our message boards.”
  5. ^ "The Wrath of Umbar"
  6. ^ The One-Ring.org, answer #7
  7. ^ History of The Last Alliance.com
  8. ^ The Ports of Pelargir, directory and resource site for Naval Miniature Wargaming
  9. ^ Article Submission Guidelines:
    *The One-Ring.org Guidelines
    *The Last Alliance.com Guidelines
  10. ^ UK White Dwarf 300, UK White Dwarf 282
  11. ^ Games Workshop Intellectual Property:
    "We encourage fellow hobbyists to invent rules that work for them. There is no need to stick precisely to the published rules. However, if you are thinking about making your own Codex [eg.] for your Space Marine chapter (in addition to following the other guidelines in this policy), please avoid making it look official as this may confuse gamers and amount to a challenge to our trademarks. Also, do not copy our official publications or documents."
  12. ^ For example: [1], [2]
  13. ^ 2005 Report
  14. ^ [3] [4]
  15. ^ RussWakelin (2006-03-09). White Dwarf Articles by Dakka posters. Forums. Dakka Dakka. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  16. ^ Bell, Christopher (October 2005). "Commorragh's Elite: A veteran tournament player proves the strength of the Dark Eldar.". White Dwarf 309: 96 -102. Retrieved on 2007-01-26. 
  17. ^ Codex Unforgiven: A fan site for Warhammer 40k. Codex Unforgiven. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  18. ^ Carrick, Paul. The Waaagh!. The Waaagh!. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  19. ^ What you can do with Games Workshop's Intellectual Property (english). Games Workshop Online. Games Workshop. Retrieved on January 29, 2007. “We would probably not take issue with anyone creating a web comic based upon our intellectual property – but as with forums, keep in mind that the hobby is for people of all ages…”
  20. ^ Campbell, Stephen A.. Turn Signals on a Land Raider. Turn Signals on a Land Raider. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  21. ^ a b c Closs, Pete (March 2005). Portent. Portent. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  22. ^ New Contest at the Bolter and Chainsword. Electric Ocean (2005-02-17). Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  23. ^ Bolter and Chainsword. Forums. Bolter and Chainsword. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  24. ^ Dakka Dakka Forums. Dakka Dakka. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  25. ^ Librarium-Online. Librarium-Online. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  26. ^ Warhammer 40,000; Getting Started. Newbie Guides. Librarium-Online (2006-08-23). Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  27. ^ Miniature Photography. Photograph. Librarium-Online (2006-12-18). Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  28. ^ WarSeer. WarSeer. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  29. ^ WarSeer Forums. WarSeer. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  30. ^ What is the deal with Ollanius Pious?. 40k Background. WarSeer Forums (2005-06-20). Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  31. ^ Specialist Games. Specialist Games Website. Games Workshop. Retrieved on January 30, 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] The Lord of the Rings SBG

[edit] Warhammer Fantasy Battles

[edit] Warhammer 40,000

Games Workshop Worlwide Campaigns

Eye of Terror | Storm of Chaos | War of the Ring |
Fall of Medusa V | The Nemesis War | more...
Lord of the Rings SBG Articles

BGiME | White Dwarf | Games Workshop Online Community |
War of the Ring Online Campaign | All at Sea | more...
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