BoK Reviews: Warhammer Visions Review

The new WD is a fantastic piece of marketing, by going weekly they will dominate the Internet discourse as leaks will almost be a daily affair at this point. It is clear now, if it wasn't before, but rumor mongers have lost all credibility; one day they say 7th is coming out, next day it is a new starter set, then after that it is starter set for Epic?!?! WD is now the only tool for truth in rumorville as GW will effectively corner that market, besides the GW wins the Internet, this is a great product for customers.

Why?

I don't have to buy a WD and roll a D6 to find something interesting. If one issue has special rules I want I can pay $4 bucks for it instead of $10. Now, I can pick and choose the content I want all with less filler. The only problem with WD, is no subscription system. Shockingly, that leads me right into Warhammer Visions.

So what is Warhammer Visions? It is high gloss picture book. A picture book with so much recycled art it must be a tax write off. A picture book with lots of pages, but can still fit in your back pocket.

Shall we start with size?

As you can see a tad bit smaller than your average WD. If this was the Readers' Digest it wouldn't be a big deal, but this is a shiny picture book! If anything you want it over-sized, like ESPN the magazine style. In a giant format I would be willing to pay $20 bucks an issue just for great coffee table material.

This is the first of many strange design choices.

To explain here is a video review making the rounds.

Speaking of reviews here are a few more!

Don't get me wrong, the pictures especially the few new ones are spectacular.

In this small format the images lose a lot of potential as I am forced to squint to find detail. On an Ipad the images are better, because you can zoom in and get a closer look, but just like the print version the layout is muddled and unpredictable.

Then there is the no text, except for miniscule paragraphs in three languages. The lack of text becomes problematic when a Battle Report seems to appear out of no where! All of a sudden pictures attempting to tell a story of Thousand Sons vs. Marines/Eldar show up. Ending with these horrible shots of staged in-game antics.

The biggest problem with Warhammer Visions isn't necessarily what it is, the problem is how it was pushed on us, verging on the criminal. When I say criminal I actually mean criminal. Warhammer Visions is false advertising and replaces subscriptions to WD, no longer offered. The main thrust of anger is over how subscribers are not getting what they paid for. I could imagine a litigious lawyer could prey on angry gamers, and potential make a pretty penny exploiting GW probable illegal subscription shenanigans.

Boldly GW have gone out of their way to separate WD from Visions, its not only legally dumb, but damaging. At the moment GW is not offering refunds for any WD subscription. Now of course, GW is counting on, no one being angry enough to sue them, especially over a hobby magazine. Most likely, gamers will be left with issues of a product they never asked for, nor wanted.

Then there is the double dipping; trying to get players to buy two products. Even more shady is how GW leaves independent retailers in a bind, having to now find room for two products. Worse, they didn't reveal White Dwarf was going digital, until retailers had already ordered their allotments.

Warhammer Visions is just plan lazy and a pathetic money grab for something I can easily find on any Google search. I am curious how fast they are going to go through all the back log of pictures they have? I am just glad my subscription ended with February, because I am sure not ponying up the money for this piece of doo-doo.

Anticipating backlash, the staff at WD was ready with a cut & paste answer for anyone pissed off.

Thanks for your email and your feedback. We've worked hard to being a great breadth of features in the new White Dwarf – in a given a week you can expect details on the latest releases, editorial columns, painting guides, modelling features, gaming articles, new rules, interviews with sculptors and writers, and more besides. We'll also be featuring Battle Reports and other things too – in a given month, it all adds up to much, much more content that that touches all aspects of the hobby than we were able to achieve in one issue of the 'old' White Dwarf. I hope you stick with us to see this.

Warhammer: Visions is not for everybody, granted. If you like gaming more than collecting or painting, then it's probably not for you, and that's fine. You don't have to buy it! It's for people that like to drool over high-quality photos of gorgeously-painted miniatures, and it's the result of a lot of hard work by our photographers and design team – we're really pleased with it and from the feedback we've already had, the people that really like it are the people we're aiming it at.

Change is always a tricky thing, especially, when it comes with associated costs. But I hope you'll give both the new White Dwarf and Warhammer: Visions another chance in the future.

All the best and thanks again for your email,

Jes Bickham

The most damning part has to be...

Warhammer: Visions is not for everybody, granted. If you like gaming more than collecting or painting, then it's probably not for you, and that's fine. You don't have to buy it!

Sense anger in this one?

How many GW fanatics does he think there are? Does he actually think there is enough of the collecting and painting segment who would buy this? I am pretty sure the painting segment, wants tips on how to paint armies, not just paint by numbers filling up only 15 pages. I am pretty sure painters want tips and tricks, not just photos they are seeing for the third time already.

The "don't have to buy it" bit is quite appalling for an editor of any publication. Guess what, people won't buy it, and I don't think using the same line on Tom Kirby is going to work either. Does Jes have to be reminded; the average life expediency of a WD editor is about two years, and guess who is almost at two years.

I say people should keep on sending their opinions in at least to Jes and customer service because they are basically stealing your money if you still have a WD subscription. Warhammer Visions might have potential, and this the first issue, but for long time White Dwarf readers it fails in all the places mattering the most.

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