Wargaming ASKEW: Being Wrong is for Real Men

From time to time anyone can be thickheaded and in the world of wargaming many players and publishers are as stubborn (Goatboy v. The peanut gallery) as all get out. When we look to the world to lead by example, we often find everything from corporations to politicians clinging to whatever dogma they’re peddling to the bitter end because losing face is worse than admitting to a mistake in the first place. Tack on a blame throwing and you get deadly poison that makes even the most optimistic a cynic.

Here is a little example (true story) to think about for a second. Once upon a time…

Not so long ago a video game console called the Xbox360 was released with much fanfare and excitement. Children and adults together stood in long lines and sometimes braving harsh conditions just to be the first to buy an Xbox360 or for someone else that paid them to stand in line. As quickly as they were snatched up and powered on the Xbox revealed a fatal flaw. In an attempt to cut costs the makers of the Xbox chose a faulty heat sink that would cause the console to overheat and permanently shut down. Some say that at least a quarter of all Xboxes sold in the first few years experienced a horrible demise– the infamous Red Ring of Death.

The chronology of the events that followed are oddly similar to six steps of grief (could of sworn I’ve used this analogy before). At first the makers of the Xbox, first denied there was a problem. As the problem got worse and the public grew more aware the makers of the Xbox grew angry answering the same questions over and over. The bargaining began as additional warranties were handed out (one year then three years). The depression of spending one billion dollars this public relations nightmare was almost complete. Then finally the acceptance, as the makers of the Xbox redesigned and release new models to eliminate the problem once and for all.

So what does this have to wargaming again? Well lost in all the hubbub of the Dark Angels and Black Templar FAQs was something more extraordinary than any 3+ Storm Shield could make. GW for first time in since I could remember admitted…fallibility.

Although we strive to ensure that our books are perfect, sometimes mistakes do creep in. In addition, we occasionally print new versions of our rules, that require amendments to be made in older versions of our army books. When such issues arise we feel that it is important to deal with them as promptly as we can, and we therefore produce regular updates for all of our army books. When changes are made, the version number will be updated.

That message was used almost two month ago when we got our latest rulebook FAQ. At the time who would of thought that GW actually meant it? So now with much rejoicing we find the Dark Angels and Black Templars once again equal to there other battlebrothers. For a corporation like GW it is hard to tell exactly what grieving step they are on. It is either depression or bargaining I am just not sure.

Is this the dawning of new age? An age where GW moves quickly to fix problems and listen to the community? Is it an age where updates will be come frequent– keeping pace with the other wargaming publishing houses? One thing is for certain in the last year two major figures have left GW– the founder of 40k (Rick Priestley) and the man most responsible for the 5th edition rules (Alessio). Couple that with a less than stellar earnings report and you have a recipe for change. So far seems good.

So what do you think? Is this a temporary change in policy? What welcome changes would you like to see? As always visit TastyTaste at Blood of Kittens Network for rumors and more.