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[MachinaMandala]

I run a Wargaming server here. We've just got past the 300 people mark earlier today (always 50+ online at a time).

We're running a giveaway for a set of plastic Frostgrave soldiers donated by Northstar miniatures. If any of you are interested (they're pretty good for 40k kitbashes) then join and look in the announcements channel there.

[nenjin]

Soliciting is not allowed on these forums, btw.

Instead of having the kids battle an awakened necron menace unironically using toys, here me out

I'd read this, I seriously would. I remember YA novels in my day were....if not edgy, then more on the A than Y side of the equation. That kind of style is a great fit for 40k, I think, and the more serious tone the writing has taken lately.

The current offering however makes me think of Teen Titans level of cringe.

[MachinaMandala]

Soliciting is not allowed on these forums, btw.

Solicitation is trying to sell a product. I'm trying to get you guys to join my free Discord with the incentive of a free giveaway. Also, it's pretty good regardless of that.

[Digital Hellhound]

When you said YA, I imagined something like the Hunger Games, which isn’t very different from BL’s usual fare. But this? Props for not putting personalityless grizzled white dudes front and center character-wise, at least. Regular 40k would benefit from a little more variety too.

[nenjin]

Soliciting is not allowed on these forums, btw.

Solicitation is trying to sell a product. I'm trying to get you guys to join my free Discord with the incentive of a free giveaway. Also, it's pretty good regardless of that.

Soliciting includes what you’re doing, on these forums.

[Radio Controlled]

Soliciting is not allowed on these forums, btw.

Solicitation is trying to sell a product. I'm trying to get you guys to join my free Discord with the incentive of a free giveaway. Also, it's pretty good regardless of that.

Well, if you want to convince us that you're not here exclusively to advertise for something, why not actually participate in the thread? For example, what are your thoughts on the "WH/WH40K for kids" thing that GW is apparently trying to launch? What do you think about the latest advancements of the storyline? Or, since you you're apparently into the actual tabletop, why not show us some pictures of your collection?

[Andres]

The kid stuff seems fine. The whole "40k is ruined" stuff is overblown trite. Normal 40k is still grimdark and stuff, it's still there. I mean, I personally dislike the kid stuff, but in a "this really isn't my jam" way rather than a "this shouldn't exist" way. If some kids enjoy the watered down version of 40k and it's not hurting the normal 40k stuff, there's really no reason to get mad. That cartoon about jawas didn't kill or hurt Star Wars and this won't kill or hurt 40k.

[Loud Whispers]

The kid stuff seems fine. The whole "40k is ruined" stuff is overblown trite. Normal 40k is still grimdark and stuff, it's still there. I mean, I personally dislike the kid stuff, but in a "this really isn't my jam" way rather than a "this shouldn't exist" way. If some kids enjoy the watered down version of 40k and it's not hurting the normal 40k stuff, there's really no reason to get mad. That cartoon about jawas didn't kill or hurt Star Wars and this won't kill or hurt 40k.

There's no reason to be mad but there's plenty of reasons to be concerned fam; as an isolated product it is what it is, cringey but seemingly harmless. Yet the people complaining are not the ones viewing it as an isolated product. 40k isn't ruined yet but anyone can plainly see GW is steadily moving towards the same ruin they brought upon Fantasy, whose sanitation followed trends followed in cinematic, literary and vidya universes - eliminate the old canon, replace it with a sanitized one. The elimination of the entire fantasy universe with the new one made in the image of Ultramarines & Slaanesh retconned out by a giant rat, their effort to make Fantasy broaden its mass appeal resulted in Fantasy for the first time ever, dropping from #2 market share (#1 being 40k) in tabletop games to not even making it in the to #5, which is entirely unprecedented in the history of GW.
Then view how the C'Tan became pokemon and the Necron became trolls, the travesty of the Tyranid Codex, the Grey Knights became Wardian Knights, the Primaris Marines ram their dick straight through the logistical nightmare that made the Imperium's situation dire while the cosmos gets engulfed in all-destroying warp storms that curiously seem to be allowing the Ultramarines to reshape the Imperium in their sanitized image. It's Sigmarines Fantasy all over again. Then comes painfully glaring examples of this sanitizing process, as seen in the most recent products, which is hurting the normal 40k stuff. It's an attempt to bring in lots of new people with a conception of what 40k is not, creating two visions for what 40k will be - Grimdark or Disney's Star Wars. This will likely continue, because GW is dogmatically convinced that their minis are getting harder to sell because they need the disposable income of wealthy parents, instead of understanding that their prices are too damn high for players to stay in the hobby and completely over the fucking moon for anyone who is interested in getting in the hobby. Who the hell is going to spend hundreds of pounds to get started, and if the target is young children, what fucking parent is going to spend hundreds of pounds? Before factoring in glue, or GW's shitty paint - overpriced and incapable of remaining solvent?

tl;dr
The harmless books are Canaries in the Coal Mine, showing GW is capable of proudly doing what was previously unthinkably stupid to their IP, even by their already hostile attitude to their own IP

[nenjin]

Look at what happened to Star Wars and ask yourself if the kids cartoons and such wasn’t the start of the IP doing anything and everything it cold to have mass appeal, and how that has turned out.

[MachinaMandala]

Well, if you want to convince us that you're not here exclusively to advertise for something, why not actually participate in the thread? For example, what are your thoughts on the "WH/WH40K for kids" thing that GW is apparently trying to launch? What do you think about the latest advancements of the storyline? Or, since you you're apparently into the actual tabletop, why not show us some pictures of your collection?

There's been edgy kid's TV shows. Whether this will be the same will depend on what GW does. Personally, I'm taking it as in-universe pulp serial propaganda directed at kids.

What do you think about the latest advancements of the storyline?

What's the latest advancement? I'm not massively into 40k post-8th, I've shifted myself over to AoS. I had a lot of interest at the start of this year when they seemed to be teasing some cool xenos force but then it was just more marines but this time gold coloured.

Or, since you you're apparently into the actual tabletop, why not show us some pictures of your collection?

Here you go:

Spoiler: My Samus (click to show/hide)

He's not perfect for a lot of reasons, but I'm really happy with him. First big model I've ever done.

[Andres]

tl;dr
The harmless books are Canaries in the Coal Mine, showing GW is capable of proudly doing what was previously unthinkably stupid to their IP, even by their already hostile attitude to their own IP

I mostly liked this post. I can see how Adventures can be seen as a canary, even if I don't agree that the books themselves are an "unthinkably stupid" expansion of the IP.

Look at what happened to Star Wars and ask yourself if the kids cartoons and such wasn’t the start of the IP doing anything and everything it cold to have mass appeal, and how that has turned out.

This post, on the other hand, is asinine on every level.

Look at what happened to Star Wars

A rich universe filled with compelling stories, or if you're talking about the franchise it's an empire with several quality films, books, video games, and RPGs. The prequels weren't good but...

ask yourself if the kids cartoons and such wasn’t the start of the IP doing anything and everything it cold to have mass appeal, and how that has turned out.

The idea that the movies were bad because of the existence of cartoons and toys is dumb. George Lucas simply failed as a director. It wasn't because there was an attempt at mass appeal that the prequels turned out bad, it was just someone failing to do their job right.

As for the cartoons themselves, there are two Star Wars cartoons of note: Clone Wars (2003), the The Clone Wars (2008), and Rebels. Clone Wars was a fun show and was pretty entertaining. Aside from that, it had no impact on the canon or the IP. The Clone Wars is one of the best children's' cartoons to have come out in recent years and has added to the canon and IP in numerous positive ways. Rebels was pretty meh. That's about all you can say. It aiming for its target audience hasn't seemed to have made Rogue One, the sequels, the books, or the RPGs worse though, so you're still talking bullshit.

To summarise, I'll answer the post in full.

Look at what happened to Star Wars and ask yourself if the kids cartoons and such wasn’t the start of the IP doing anything and everything it cold to have mass appeal, and how that has turned out.

Star Wars is still fine. The kids cartoons have been entertaining, dull, or enriching, depending on which cartoon you're talking about. The Lego video games were fun to play and didn't make anything else about Star Wars suck more. Mass appeal seems to have worked out pretty well. The high amount of demand has generated a significant amount of Star Wars-related material both official and fan-created, a lot of it rather good.

fakedit: Freemaker Adventures was another recent Star Wars cartoon of note. It was humorous and it had engaging story and characters. It's non-canon too so its more crazy stuff doesn't ruin the setting. A fine addition to the IP overall.

[Egan_BW]

Man, Clone Wars 2003 was the shit.

[LordBaal]

I just hope, really hope 40K avoid the destiny of the Thundercats and Age of Shitmar.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1985 Good old version. Campy but enjoyable, not taking itself much serious but it's not a parody of itself.


2011 Gritty edgy version, everything is more sleek and take itself much more seriously. An updated version, perhaps not as good but not entirely awful either.


2018 "Broad appealing" crap. Oh lord in the second millennium there's only idiotic executive meddling and everything is aimed at 5 years old kids (and adults with such mentality?) because somehow that's were the money is?. Everything is a joke and a parody of itself. Age of Sigmar indeed.


I blame the oversensitive millennials that need everything softened and nice with pretty ribbons and all cute so nobody gets offended.

Yes I'm an old bitter with crazy rants and have way bigger problems than the bowdlerization of everything, sorry for that.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Man, Clone Wars 2003 was the shit.

High five me, Bro. If WH40K had a 2003 Clone Wars Genndy Tartakofsky cartoon, you'd bet your ass I'd be watching that shit.

Now, 2008 TCW is actually pretty mediocre. BUT, it does have it moments. As far as 40K getting kiddified... eh, 50/50. I can 100% see the comparisons to what IS CURRENTLY happening to Star Wars, which is being Marvelized, and having a lot of the original flavor taken out to appeal to a wider (fuck Disney) audience. I'm not sure GWS has the cumulative IQ to actually realize what THEY'RE doing, and it's not like they've ever had particularly gifted writers/creative development departments, so this who noblebright thing might just be a symptom of Marketing really pushing the bottom line and the writers actually thinking this is the right direction for 40k stylistically. At the end of the day, I don't think anyone really cares about the aging fans when everyone is looking at cheaper, more profitable products for a new generation of kiddos.

[Egan_BW]

Man, Clone Wars 2003 was the shit.

High five me, Bro. If WH40K had a 2003 Clone Wars Genndy Tartakofsky cartoon, you'd bet your ass I'd be watching that shit.

Hell, the mountain-sized hovering jackhammer would probably fit better in 40K than strawers-verse.