Willmark:
This response from Jervis and the letter that I sent predates my becoming a mod. I sent it to him via snail mail in early March. Jervis was nice enough to respond, and he and I have had a few email exchanges since then. EDIT here is the original letter I first sent:
Hi guys,
I am writing this note with the best of intentions and on behalf of a very under-appreciated, albeit, ahem�?� dedicated fan based, the Chaos Dwarfs.
Yes, yes, I know the groan, the dismissal, the urge to throw this letter in the garbage, the urge to hurl us all off a bridge, but please hear me out. You have one of the most dedicated fan bases around in Chaos Dwarf players, albeit not the largest; but ones that are willing to stay through thick and thin; to play an army that has received scant attention, the last being years ago.
Now with that out of the way, I understand GW�?Ts predicament to a large degree. I work for a large company myself, I understand the primary goal of any company is to make money, that�?Ts a given: to be successful and to keep the company in the black. However, I would postulate that it is unwise to upset any customers. Simple majority/minority is never a useful metric for the relative value of any customer. If that were simply the case GW would make 40k and nothing else, Warhammer would have been discontinued long ago. Sometimes your best customers are the ones in that minority and I�?Tm sure Games Workshop is well aware of the maxim: �?oThe best customer is the one you already have�?�.
All sectors of entertainment are under increased competition for consumer discretionary spending, I�?Tm sure GW is feeling this. It doesn�?Tt help that Games Workshop appears to be so set on a course of self-destruction. The gaming world isn�?Tt that large to begin with and its seems that continual antagonizing of the very community supports Games Workshop seems to be a long-term goal. Realizing that you can�?Tt please everyone, I would counter direct with: Can any company afford to lose any customers in today�?Ts economy, especially with a finite pool to draw from in the first place?
Before you dismiss this as the ramblings of a fanatic, know that I am no such thing. I�?Tve played Warhammer since 1990, and I have 7 armies the largest being High Elves of over 10,000 points, (ok well maybe that does make me a fanatic), but a rational one. �~� None of these other armies have captured my imagination the way the Chaos Dwarfs have. To be quite honest, Chaos Dwarfs are one of, if not the coolest thing that Games Workshop has ever done in my humble opinion.
And therein lies the problem: the continued indifference of Games Workshop on this matter for an option that GW appears to be neglected to the point of oblivion. Pushing it off a few more years isn�?Tt good enough answer anymore. They have existed in this state for almost a decade. Saying that: �?oWe can do an army, until we have the proper resources in place�?��?� (Paraphrasing statements in the past). Isn�?Tt good enough anymore. Respectfully�?� Games Workshop has been saying this same thing for 10 years.
I can understand the precedents that GW must be wary of setting, however the precedents have already been set for a revision: Ogre Kingdoms out of no-where in 6th, the revision to Dark Elves in 6th, Chaos Dwarfs once, long ago having an army book, now existing in a semi-official state for years. This isn�?Tt like suddenly creating an army for Nippon or Cathay in the official rules with an army book, where none existed before. Chaos Dwarfs do exists the do have a list albeit old and in a PDF. Chaos Dwarfs ARE a special case: the issues of the list are not glaring (in fact many of us players have noted things that should be fixed, even ones that are not in our favor). Many of us have looked it over; it�?Ts a great list, lots of potential, but with a few gray areas that are easily solvable. As is the contradictory stance by UK Games Workshop and US Games Workshop.
Chaos Dwarfs did not fail last time because of the rules�?� Chaos Dwarfs failed last time because of the models, plain and simple. Great models, plus a great list (its pretty much there already) equals sales. I expect better from a group that has my admiration, my willingness to support, and willingness to support through monetary spending on GW products. Any answers that ring of �?oPR twisting�?� and �?oCorporate Double Speak�?� I can do without.
Games Workshop has given some glimpses of hope here and there, but my sneaking suspicion is that Games Workshop is unlikely to officially announce the demise of Chaos Dwarfs; rather the goal is to slowly, but surely, remove them bit-by-bit. We�?Tve noticed: the removal from all Grand Tournaments, the removal of the list from the UK GW website. Games Workshop hasn�?Tt given us any reason to hope other that the army will ever see the light of day again.
Lastly, the situation leaves GW with a number of options each with pitfalls other then a list. It is unlikely that the Chaos Dwarf community is going to take the cancellation of a list a good thing, that�?Ts a given. However simply canceling Chaos Dwarfs will haunt GW for years; it will be dredged up time and time again. For my own part it will sadden me. However, its also likely to in two ways. 1) I�?Tm likely to be extremely wary of buying anything �?onew�?� from GW again as the ever-present specter of cancellation will not be far from my mind. 2) I�?Tm seriously considering steering my kids away from this aspect of gaming to something much safer. I�?Td hate to see them get stuck in the same boat of spending huge amounts of effort in terms of time and money only to have the rug pulled out from under them. The money isn�?Tt the issue for me; it�?Ts the time. I�?Tve poured sheer effort into what exactly?
In closing please reply back, however please do not reply with standard, canned, corporate speak. I work for a large corporation and can see through those easily based on first-hand experience. I look forward to GW�?Ts reply.
Respectfully,
Mark T Harter
The Staff has been discussing this for about a month now and it seemed appropriate to discuss this now in light of the numerous threads going around about this topic.
https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/7996
https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/5533
This letter doesn�?Tt change much and doesn�?Tt do much other reiterate GW�?Ts stance about Chaos Dwarfs at the current time. It is important to read as to what is not being said. Chaos Dwarfs in the HoC list is going to be unlikely other then the purported reappearance of the Hellcannon. It seems that CDs are on their radar but a few years away, which could be argued: they always are…
So take it all as it is: GW is most likely not going to be releasing anything Chaos Dwarf anytime soon and any inclusion other then the Hellcannon is going to be surprising indeed.
That�?Ts not to say it can�?Tt happen, it just will be surprising.
