Monday, November 9, 2009

Longing for the good 'ol days...


So, watching the hobby change over the years the one thing I wish would go back to the way it was would be White Dwarf. The current incarnation of the mag seems to be nothing but shameless self promotion, yeah yeah I know it's been this way for awhile (and personally I see Andy Chambers departure as the downfall of the golden age )but really... when was the last time you were excited to read a White dwarf?

That's what I mean by longing for good 'ol days... the return of a magazine for gamers by gamers. The articles above were all collected over time from several different issues, they just rocked so hard that I had to keep them. The last WD I bought was the Space Wolf one, primarily cause I used to collect Wolves, but even that was disappointing.

So, in the face of mediocrity I get most of my info and cool hobby tips from my fellow bloggers. It seems the wealth of knowledge and creativity that inspires me now is from the community at large and I think it's a shift in the right direction... not turning away from GW per se, but using the the foundation they provide to really get excited by projects that other people are doing across the world. So is it the same for you guys and gals? Are you disappointed with WD as well? Or, do you think it's still a good mag? How about this one... are you finding more info online than anywhere else at the moment? Is it blogs? E-zines? Both?

What started this whole conversation was the WD review I saw over at Hogs of War, what struck me was this... "A better issue would have migrated to the night stand for me before bed", and that got me thinking. I't's been ages since any WD like that has come along, for me at least.

Grim

6 comments:

  1. I know what you are saying. I picked up a White Dwarf in the Early 90's that had a battle report from Epic where the newly introduced Tyranids tore apart the Guard and Space Marines. The batrep actually had a page or so of story line for each turn and in the end the general came face to face with a Lictor and that report made me want to play 40k so bad that years later when I picked up the minis, I was as happy as I might have been when I was 10 (but I was like 25).
    Alas, there is no content like that anymore and the sparse hobby article are available online within a week of the issue coming out and are usually already done better by bloggers and forum folks before that issue even came out. While it speaks badly about the folks that produce the Dwarf, it also speaks volumes about the dedication of every single member of our hobby and the character they have to share it with the world (no closet dorks here).
    Keep up the good work man.

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  2. Ultimately I think communication and the flow of information has opened up. Let GW concentrate on putting out awesome rules with no loopholes and the best models in the world (one of those I'm jking about) and yeah, we should use the platform they provide to get excited about our own projects.

    Nice post. A solid read and 'for us bloggers'.

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  3. @ OST - Yeah, I know exactly what your saying, that "magic" of WD is gone for good I'm afraid. One f my favorite aspects of WD was the Index Astartes articles, good background for fluff mongers with an alternative list every now and then.

    @ zealot - I think with the internet opening up communication that this type community was inevitable. There's just SO MUCH out there to take in, how could one not get excited by what they see in the online 40k community.

    and thanks guys,

    Grim

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  4. I'm totally with you! WD is useless now.

    40k Bloggers are the drive behind my armies now and that's a good thing IMHO.

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  5. me too. http://pangloss40k.blogspot.com/2009/09/white-dwarf-reflections.html

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