| Games Workshop Online Community |
Article Index for Games |
Website Links For Games Workshop |
Information AboutGames Workshop Online Community |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GAMES WORKSHOP ONLINE COMMUNITY | |
| gaming websites | |
| games workshop worldwide campaigns | |
| the lord of the rings strategy battle game | |
| warhammer fantasy | |
| warhammer 40,000 | |
|
Games Workshop Official Forum . The Lord Of The Rings Strategy Battle Game Forum Page , as at November 14 2006 .]] The Games Workshop Online Community refers to the registered members of any Internet Fora or Website s specifically for Games Workshop 's Miniature Wargame s, including The Lord Of The Rings Strategy Battle Game , Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer 40,000 , and the influence that the community has on these products. OFFICIAL COMMUNITY Games Workshop PLC has a range of official websites in different languages and representing different countries in its global market, such as the United Kingdom , the United States , Canada , Australia , ''etc''.1 These sites currently provide various gaming and hobby resources to those who play its miniature wargames, in addition to news releases, its online store and support for the online community and events. In early 2005, one magazine described the website as having "literally thousands of pages" and "an incredible amount of hobby material".'' Battle Games In Middle-earth 56'', The War Of The Ring Campaign Booklet, p 1 The site also used to provide a forum service for the registered members of its online community, which was available in English on the UK and US sites. A forum was provided for discussion of each of the core wargames, as well as '' White Dwarf '' magazine, although discussion of the company's business practises and prices were banned from their forums (as well as linking to any other commercial websites). In December 2005, the community had over 300,000 registered members, with an average 2700 posts across the message boards each day.2 This average increased to 3000 by November 2006 . In June 2006, the company closed down the forum dedicated to discussion of ''White Dwarf'' magazine, while on November 15 2006 , all of the core game forums were closed down.3 This closure generally forced fan discussion into the wider community of unofficial fansites dedicated to the hobby. Not all members had registered to the Games Workshop site to use the forum, however, as many wanted to receive newsletters or use the hobby articles on the website (indeed, the registration for membership pages still remain).4 Worldwide Campaigns Games Workshop has run numerous ''Worldwide Campaigns'' for its three core game sysyems. In each campaign, players are invited to submit the results of games played within a certain time period. The collation of these results provides a result to the campaign's scenario, and in the case of Warhammer, often goes on to impact the fictional and gameplay development of the fictional universe. Although in the past, campaign results had to be Posted to the United Kingdom to be counted, the more recent campaigns have allowed result submission via the Internet:
on Dead Uruk-hai " miniature, released for The War Of The Ring Campaign .]] These Campaigns were run to promote its miniature wargames, and attracted interest in the hobby, particularly at gaming clubs, Hobby Centres and independent stockists. Forums for the community were created for each campaign (in addition to those on the main site), as a place to "swap tactics, plan where to post your results, or just chat about how the campaign is going." In some cases special miniatures were released to coincide with the campaigns; the promotional " White Dwarf 312'', p 98-99 WIDER COMMUNITY In addition to the official website, "Community" innately implies Games Workshop's fan base, which has influenced various aspects of the hobby. In the past, the company has recognised the work of unofficial fansites, notably for their participation in the ''Worldwide Campaigns'', and has given them credit in White Dwarf Magazine . These events would not have been possible without the "overwhelmingly positive response" of the community. In addition, numerous unofficial campaigns have been run, such as the "''Campaign of LoTRs''" by ''The Dark Council'' and ''Cheeseweb''.12 (These sites had originally been founded as "player created strategy groups" for the official campaigns.) Like the original forums of the Games Workshop site, those of the wider community are generally dedicated to a single game (or sometimes a specific theme). The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game See Also: The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game used in an unofficial online campaign.]] There are a large number of unofficial websites and forums for Lord of the Rings players. Although primarily concerned with the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, many of these sites attempt to encompass all gaming to do with '' The Lord Of The Rings '' (the main interest being upon the books by J. R. R. Tolkien and the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson ). Discussion often also covers ''The Lord of the Rings'' Computer Game s (such as '' Battle For Middle-earth '' produced by EA Games ) and other Miniature Wargaming manufacturers and Fansites (such as Ebob Miniatures). The longest running of such sites was ''The One Ring'' (since 2002 ), although today ''The Last Alliance'' is by far the largest. The One-Ring.co.uk , answer #7 History of The Last Alliance.com The online community has held influence over the hobby in different respects: for example, resources for the game's naval ruleset, White Dwarf 300, UK White Dwarf 282'' Such websites have been key in organising sides in the Worldwide Campaigns, and indeed in creating their own campaigns and competitions.For example: 15 Miniature Converted from a Swan Knight for a Gondolin -themed " House Rules " supplement.]] At present, the rules for Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game are in their fourth edition, but in addition to the official rulesets, Games Workshop has also encouraged the writing of unofficial "'' and '' The Book Of Lost Tales '' respectively, as well as about the Kinslaying at Alqualondë and the War Of Wrath . {Link without Title} Some of ''The Last Alliance'''s members are even credited in official Games Workshop Supplements. Another notable side of the community is the influence of its reaction to the company's products: many of Dol Amroth, it was suggested that they had taken the response of the community into account.1920 Warhammer Fantasy Battles See Also: Warhammer Fantasy Battles Similar to the Lord of the Rings community, Warhammer Fantasy Battles has its own unofficial sites, although the community is substantially larger due to the relative length of time the game has been in existence (''Druchii.net'', for example, has almost 12000 members21). These too have produced large numbers of articles, as well as e-zines, miniature galleries and competitions, although it is mainly based around "race-specific" forums. These tend to only deal with one race or army within the game, such as Dwarfs and the High Elfs.2223 The community has even been successful in turning the and the Shadows of Albion campaigns, has led Games Workshop into changing its policy to limit the amount of submissions of battles by players. Warhammer 40,000 See Also: Warhammer 40,000 Since its 1987 inception, Warhammer 40,000 has garnered a sizeable online community, and its online community is not as centralised as that of the younger The Lord of the Rings. The bulk of the community's online presence can be seen in the many unofficial fansites, galleries and forums themed around Warhammer 40,000. The community has attracted the attention of Games Workshop significantly enough that some members have had articles published in White Dwarf.2425 There are a multitude of sites devoted to almost every aspect of the game, and many are specifically dedicated to a single Warhammer 40,000 army, such as the Dark Angels Space Marine chapter or the Orks .2627 Some members of the community have also created web comics about the Warhammer 40,000 world, as permitted by Games Workshop,28 including the webcomic ''Turn Signals on a Land Raider'', which has had more than 300 issues since it was first published online in 2003.29 Some sites, such as the now-defunct ''Portent.net'', focus on other aspects of the game such as rumours of yet-to-be-released miniatures, rules and games. That site, at its height, garnered over 100,000 visitors per month.30 In addition to these sites, there are a few large community sites that specialize in providing multiple game-related resources to the online community, aside from serving as discussion forums. These unofficial sites are often major endeavours, requiring significant financial investment and enterprise-level server hardware. ''Portent'', one of the major Warhammer 40,000 sites during the turn of the millennium, closed down in 2005 primarily because it had become too large and expensive to maintain. With over 20,000 registered members, the ''Bolter and Chainsword'' forum is a good example of one of these major Warhammer 40,000 online subcommunity sites. While the forum itself is primarily a message board, it echoes the breadth of the community by conducting painting and modeling contests,31 allowing members to post battle reports of games they have played and featuring articles on gameplay and other Games Workshop-related issues written by the members themselves. Like many other Games Workshop fansites, it provides a gallery where members can upload photographs of their own miniatures.32 A more general site would be the ''Dakka Dakka'' forums, which does not limit itself to just discussion on Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines (as ''Bolter & Chainsword'' does). The members of sites such as ''Dakka Dakka'' have provided a wide range of articles, ranging from painting guides, strategy manuals and army lists, to fan-made fiction and the occasional prose.33 ''Librarium-Online''34 is another notable site, focusing in particular more on articles rather than forum discussion. It has published articles on topics ranging from getting into Warhammer 40,000 as a new player,35 to topics like miniature photography.36 One of the larger Warhammer 40,000 communities online is ''WarSeer'', formed in 2005 by former members of the closed ''Portent.net''. Like many of the larger community sites, the site is a collection of rumours, articles, galleries and discussion forums.37 The forums themselves have over a million posts spread across almost 22,000 registered members.38 On sites such as these, discussions between fans can arise regarding even comparatively minor details in the game's background story; For example, there is a 12-page discussion surrounding the removal of a minor character in a single background event in the game's official storyline.39 Specialist Games In addition to the three major games, Games Workshop's Specialist Games also have their own online community. As the games and their components have been partially discontinued, support for the players has been almost entirely via Games Workshop's Specialist Games forums . It is notable that these official forums are provided by Games Workshop, which closed off their official fora for their major games in November 2006. In addition, new editions of game rules and game material are published entirely online on the official website. ''Fanatic Online'' is an official e-zine that Games Workshop publishes monthly for the Specialist Games online community.40 FOOTNOTES AND REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS The Lord of the Rings SBG
Warhammer Fantasy Battles Warhammer 40,000
|
|
|