Hopefully I've included everyone, I'll check to make sure.
How in the Gods' names can I do that if nobody will give me a chance to gain more experience in a business environment in the first place?
With regards to buying GW models, I simply like the worlds they've created and want to add to my collection of miniatures from those worlds. If GW goes down or at least discontinues armies, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to get what I want - look at Tomb Kings, it's been 5 years now since GW deleted them and not a single company has risen up to take over, for fear of incurring a Cease and Desist order from GeeDubs. Mantic started to try it made a half-hearted attempt at it and are now obsessed with making Skaven, Lizardmen and Halflings, the former two of which already have popular GW ranges and the latter no half-serious fantasy wargamer cares about (particularly with the Steampunk aesthetic and dog cavalry the Mantic range will have). I also like to buy stuff in-store wherever possible rather than online, and GW gives me an opportunity to do that in their Hobby Centres (though a lot of the time I buy from independent stockists instead, so they can get at least something from the purchase, because they sometimes sell second-hand Fantasy stuff that I can put to good use and because they often give a discount).
You have my most sincere apologies, I know EXACTLY how that feels, I got my Uni Degree in 2005, but retrained as an Electrician, I simply could not get any work related to it, even from contacts I had made and volunteer work I did during my degree. The best response I would get would be "You have tons of promise, contacts us in a few years when you have some experience".
My honest answer is: I like their models and books and in most cases they are worth their price for me.
I have some from Mantic and Reaper but the GW stuff - while annoyingly but not prohibitively expensive - is VERY good. In most cases way better than everything else I can afford.
EDIT: I also played in the GW store (no other hobby place in my city) and considered going to tournaments and only GW minis are allowed there.
As for their company policies... well... I didn't know until now and it might influence my future purchases, but... most big companies do crap like that. I cannot boycott everyone who does it. The people working there have to do something, especially if what the company is doing is not illegal.
I think the GW only models is understandable, but I do not agree with it as an absolute (for example for use in GW stores). I've seen some small scale tournaments where a 40K Nurgle player used his own kit-bashed vehicles, including a Rhino that was made from a 6pack egg box, covered in mountains of PVA glue and immersed in Devlan Mud. That to my mind is not creative, it's lazy and cheap, especially as all his other vehicles were done in a similar way, it also made it very difficult to tell what was what.
I could play devil's advocate here and say, well what if the player sculpted the majority of his army from scratch?
If I had sculpted enough units just for a 2000 point game, it kind of defeats the point, the amount of time it takes would mean I could have worked even a minimum wage job and easily brought 20,000 points of models.
I think the more pertinent question is "why do people still choose to work for Games Workshop?". My decision to buy from GW is not influenced at all by their employment policies/salaries/etc. In general, I'd wager that a company's employment practices has very little influence on the purchasing habits of most consumers.
I buy from GW because they produce the very best miniatures and I'm invested in the WFB world.
I agree, that's the real question here. I think in the very early days (and having met people that worked there back then), people would work 60+ hour weeks without being asked, or it being expected of them and for no other reason than, they loved working there, they loved what they were doing. The danger comes when some bigwig looks at this and instead of seeing it for the gift it is, they decided that this attitude should be expected of everyone. Something that isn't healthy or realistic if you find yourself in a situation where you have a family to support.
While I am not finding this too surprising considering how GW have operated.
It is still strange from a business side, as they are cannibalizing their best resource, their staff.
In the big picture, losing a good employee over 1000 pounds a year is not a good business decision.
Though I guess this can explain the varying quality of their game rules as of the last few years.
Yes, especially from the little I picked up from my last encounter with them when the interviewer expressed both a difficulty in finding and retaining creative staff. I've noticed a lot of serious talent vanish from GW in recent years. Aragorn Marks and Edgar Skomorowski are two that spring to mind. They weren't snatched up by another company for a bigger, better wage, but both have gone solo.
From speaking with independent sculptors and other companies during that same time period I quickly picked up the feeling that many professional mini sculptors wouldn't even entertain the idea of working for GW.
I only got into actually buying the minis and playing on the tabletop in the last few years, but I was definitely shocked by the pricing.$30-$50 for a single, two-inch tall character model? Are you kidding me? That's why I ended up buying everything on Ebay or miniature marketplace sites like thetrolltrader.
The only products I purchased directly from GW have been the new Lord Kroak model and some paints. Especially now with all the stuff coming out about GW's poor treatment of employees, as well as their lockdown of fan work to try and force people to subscribe to Warhammer+, I definitely won't purchase anything from them directly unless and until things change.
Doesn't mean I dislike the hobby itself, I intend to keep playing and enjoying the setting, but I'll get anything I need from 2nd-hand sources or 3D printing.
Me neither, I haven't followed or touched AOS to be honest, the whole mess (how it was handled, including the rather poor fluff) of the Old World getting squatted kind of put me off. Not from sculpting, but everything just felt a bit hollow.
Not saying that he "deserves" that much, but from a share holder's point of view, it was a worthwhile investment. Before Rountree, AoS was circling the drain; its sales figures were horrible. Now AoS is a huge seller and much more lucrative than just about any wargame not named 40k. GW's profit margin and share value have increased dramatically under the tenure of Rountree. He brought the company into the 21st century and investors of the company have benefited greatly from his hire.
Agreed, a CEO would be expected to pull in a healthy salary, but when actual game developers get paid less than a store manager, something is definitely not right. Based off some info I was told by a GW painter in 2012 (assuming the figure is accurate), a GW sculptor's salary is £18000 starting, with no raise for the first 2 years as you would be considered a "Trainee". GW can't exactly claim minimal profit margins, so why can't they afford to pay their staff an appropriate way to the accordingly level.
