Do I still need White Dwarf magazine?

[IBBoard]

My subscription will be due again in a couple of months, and I'm wondering whether I can skip the subscription and get away with digital sources in its place.

While I like reading WD, I keep reading Linux Format first and occasionally forgetting about my new WD until the next issue comes through. I've not actually played for years (my last games were probably a few evenings in the Arndale Centre, Manchester, back in 2005/2006 during my last year at Uni!), and given that I've got an 18 month old son I doubt I'll get a chance to play again in the near future. I do still like the background and read the novels, though, and I've still got quite a few models I'll get round to painting eventually (the rest of my Ork army).

The Games Workshop site used to be good, then it went down-hill when they hid all of the articles and focused on the store. From the various mentions it gets in the magazine I'm wondering whether it has picked up again and might be a good replacement to keep me in the loop. Places like Warseer and other fan sites might be useful at times as well.

So, do people think White Dwarf is the essential gaming magazine it used to be, or can you get everything you need (except the official battle reports) online now?

[NBKFuzzy]

You could teach your son to play at appropriate age. Show him all your old white dwarf magazines because if your like me, you have plenty.

I renewed my sub not long ago, but I still play. So really it's your call. Maybe you would see something in it to spark your interest again.

[IBBoard]

The interest is still there, it is just the time and available gaming community that is lacking

I could teach Cyrus to play when he is older, but he won't be ready for wargaming for about ten years yet, plus my wife said I wasn't allowed to encourage him because it was too expensive a hobby for us to fund for him

I've got a huge stack of WDs as well (my first issue was issue 177, but I've since managed to collect back issues back to about issue 120 as well, plus a few earlier ones) but it has been ages since I did anything with them. Even my latest ones haven't been referred to more than once. I could probably make a reasonable amount of money if I could find someone to buy them! I hadn't wanted to get rid of them, but I am wondering whether it is worth spending the money.

I've had a quick skim of Warseer, and its main news pages seem a bit short on news (mainly announcements of community magazines/e-zines). There are various bits on the GW website and a number of updates, but I've still got to assess how it compares to WD.

[snowblizz]

I regularly buy WD (it is cheaper than the subscription! damn expensive postage to Europe) but honestly not for the quality (I just want to make sure I have a complete collection). Its more just "ok" nowadays than "good". I'm actually considering getting Wargames Illustrated because it is "good", if I wasn't a serious raving GW nutter I wouldn't bother with WD.

For me though I'm still something of magazine luddite, I like being able to take my WD to read on the can. The electronic magazines or articles don't quite do ti for me. I spend an ungodly amount of time in front of the screen anyways.

[IBBoard]

Cheaper than a subscription? Someone got their maths wrong then! I think we save about 25% or more in the UK with most subscriptions! I've just had a look at Linux Format and the EU can save 45% and the US can save 50% on it. Also, there's a slight irony there given that I think GW moved the printing out to Poland

I agree that WD seems to have gone down hill a bit. At least it is still a fat dwarf, but they don't do store opening discounts coupons, card bits or quite the same variety of magazines any more. Having the magazines is nice, but I'm starting to wonder how important it really is and whether the information and articles I want are available elsewhere.

It appears they still do some battle reports online, if I want to read them, so most content still seems to be there. They also do daily updates on the GW website, but a lot of that seems to be sales-oriented (i.e. it is a post saying "look how great the new model is"). If only I could find more content to supplement it with

[snowblizz]

Since they've increased the price of the mag it is now cheaper than to buy it, I'll have to admit to that. 12 years is 90€, 70€ for the subscription.
The fun part is the mag costs 40£ to subscribe to which should be 44€ today.

Some years ago when I got my credit card I for the first time considered the subscription, turns out the 80£ 2 years would have cost me if I lived in the UK was A LOT more to the continent. At that time IIRC I saved 50 cent - 1€ / mag by buying it from the retailer. The mag was 6,5€ last time I made the calculation that the subscription would actually loose me money.
Mostly I buy it from the LGS or grocery store so the extra cost doesn't end up GW's pocket. One of the few ways I support the LGS currently I'm sad to admit.

I'm actually having the same issue with WI. A sub is 48£ (53€ today) or 72€ from their site, but with it you get a choice of a box of plastic miniatures from one of the "new" plastic historicals companies. A 15-18£ value IIRC.

[IBBoard]

It's not so bad if they give you something more (they did used to give away a voucher or a free boxed set once upon a time) but it does seem like it is less and less value for money these days. Postage/shipping to the EU would bump the prices a bit, but I'd have thought that they'd be able to do something slightly more reasonable than 70 Euros. That said, I think the exchange rate has fallen quite a bit in the past half-year, so it was probably more reasonable at some point.

I agree on the "giving the money to the local retailer" point, though. As well as not wanting to pay full price, one reason for the Games Workshop on a Budget article is because buying alternative sources means you can still play the games, but you also give someone else a proportion of the income rather than paying all of the over-inflated price to GW

[snowblizz]

They stopped giving vouchers and stuff some time ago. Of course at that same point in time I was talking about earlier they were only redeemable in the UK.
They might have started again, I've seen something. Nowadays you can buy a more expensive sub of WD and get a "special edition model". That you pay for. GW...

Dunno, I've always felt that they overcharge postage, they gotta be sending loads of magazines and be able to deal a much better postage rate. Maelstrom can afford to send mailordes for GW (and other) stuff for free (if they are larger than 10£). Not to mention that the magazines are printed in like Poland... its insane.

WI actully gives a box of miniatures. Though I did fire them an email pointing out that the New Zealand and Europena subs a) cost the same b) would be cheaper to buy from a retailer! Of course it'd be 12 orders, or one could cut it done last order for miniatures included 4 issues of the mag. It its the principle of the matter.

[IBBoard]

I've seen at least two or three "Sub in a box" models now, so it is probably three years plus. It seems a bit cheap of them to make them only redeemable in the UK! The latest special model is the White Dwarf in SciFi gear - so after killing off the Squat in 40K because they're "basically just Space Dwarves", they then turn their special character in to a space dwarf!

As for postage, I guess it depends on how they ship them. My wife's new business ships Alchemy Gothic jewellery to most nations of the world and you're talking of a couple of quid per packet. I'd have thought they could potentially have shipped a large batch to each of the major nations (France, Germany, Italy, etc in Europe) and perhaps posted cheaper from there, but maybe their system won't work like that. There is a wonderful irony in having the magazines printed in Poland, shipped (presumably in containers) to the UK and then posted back out at an inflated rate, though

[IBBoard]

Thats it - I'm officially giving up on White Dwarf. I'm still following VoxCaster and Black Library on Twitter, but my last magazine had a "your subscription is nearly running out - re-subscribe NOW!" sheet in it and the sheet went in the bin. I don't play any more, I'm not likely to play in the near future, and White Dwarf doesn't get read anywhere near as quickly as Linux Format does.

Now, what can I do with a collection of 200+ WDs that go back before issue 177 (my first issue while gaming) and probably beyond 130 (earlier issues I bought) without gaps?

[snowblizz]

Find them a good home?
Ironically I read my old mags more than the new ones I'm still sheepishly buying.

Gonna head down to the LGS and buy the latest issue I think. Mostly because I need to have a chat with them and can't be assed to go there otherwise.

It's a marked difference to the WI magazine that makes me excited when it drops threough the mailbox. This month they sent a free Osprey book with it.

[IBBoard]

*tries to remember who WI is* I'd quite like to read all of the old mags, which is why I hoarded...erm, "collected" so many of them. Unfortunately, like so many other things, I don't get a chance these days. It'd be nice to find a good home for them, but the last I tried to sell any on eBay then they didn't go too well. That was a handful of newer issues (mid 200s), though.

[snowblizz]

W_argames I_llustrated, independent miniature mag bought by makers of Flames of War but unlike WD hasn't been totally "corporized", at least so far. They improved in quality after going "company mag", talk about marked difference.

Yeah, selling WDs are tricky. There's little market for them. Especially now that WD is considered to be bad. The few people still getting them has them.

[IBBoard]

I had a bit of a hoarder mentality - I wanted to collect all of them in the end, and all the books, and as many games as I could, and the old Fighting Fantasy, and the computer games, and... Ahem. Anyway, it seems that there aren't that many new hoarders out there who'll buy magazines, and the problem is that they're heavy to post if you do them cheap in bulk. For now they'll just live in boxes in the attic :\

[edit] Given your comment about White Dwarf going down hill, I like the fact that the latest GW newsletter email is titled "Spearhead & The best issue of White Dwarf yet?"