This was posted in response to a thread over at Hammer and Anvil. The original poster was noting that he had less and less time for Warhammer, and was wondering if anyone else felt the same. I thought it would make for interesting discussion here, so enjoy.

The decline of Warhammer? Maybe. We have been predicting that the entire time I've been playing this game, which is beyond a decade now, and Games Workshop has shown no inclination of collapsing that I have recognised. The release of the Lord of the Rings games helped bring it back from the poor financial state it was in at the beginning of this decade, and now the company soldiers along. It reinvents itself occasionally, shifting the focus of the games more towards younger players, or cheaper players, and keeps raking in the profits. The release of tie-in video games, and card games; Warhammer is probably not going anywhere.

The decline of Warhammer for me? Yes.

I sincerely doubt this surprises a one of you. I have become less active on the forums, skulking more and more frequently around Off Topic areas and lurking rather than posting. I do not play. I rarely write. I snark about new releases, and the new armies. There is no joy from me, when I post online.

Why? There are several reasons. University devours my life; this semester I did very badly. What spare time I have I want to spend with my girlfriend and my friends and most of all the sweet, precious internet. I lack money, being amongst the poorest people of my country: that lowly thing, the student. I lack space, and energy to paint and model.

These reasons pale in comparison to the true reason. I no longer like Warhammer.

I got into the hobby decades ago because I was interested in history, because I was a fantasy nerd. I collected Empire despite not liking the Renaissance, but because they had halflings. As I grew into the hobby I liked the gritty realism, the feeling that these were ordinary people in a frightening world. There were dragons and demons and orcs, but this wasn't an heroic epic. There was no Dark Lord of the Ring; no Frodo to save the world by sacrificing his health and sanity. Just the constant battle for humanity's beliefs.

There was no Good vs Evil in this setting. There were Evils, sure, but they were the evils of freedom without restraint, without morality. They were the evils of dogma twisted to obsession, of self-interest taken to extremes. It was the conflict between Chaos and Order that was at stake in Warhammer, not the bold lines between Good and Evil. The High Elves were careless with the lives of Men; the Lizardmen were genocidal; the Empire was filled with religious hatred and turmoil...and these were the protagonists.

But this game is beginning to die. The soldiers of the Empire are disproportioned, with feathers as tall as a man streaming from faces cracked and ugly. The elves have lions pulling chariots, while Heroes in the tradition of La Morte d'Arthur lead the kingdoms of men. This is becoming a high fantasy game, and the gritty realism is fading. Magic and fantastical Things are being added for no good reason, and this drives me away.

The battle lines are becoming less blurred, and more distinct. It is Good vs Evil with more frequency, and the delicious moral ambiguity fades. This has no interest for me, no spark. I can read a dozen generic fantasy offerings on my shelves; more online; more in computer games. If I am to spend the effort on a lead-and-plastics game, I want storylines I can feel for.

Speaking of the miniatures, while I support that plastics are more flexible for modelling, the prices have not adjusted to match the cheaper materials. I refuse to pay $50AU for sixteen plastic soldiers- especially when, as has been mentioned, I am poor and the miniatures are increasingly ugly and unrealistic.

So I have turned away. I am not going to sell my Empire, nor my other pieces. I continue to roam my online haunts, and love the game-that-used-to-be. I doubt I shall ever play frequently again, although I hope to continue painting and modelling if I have time again. Moreover, I have noted a new love, one that shall not shirk me...that love is historical wargaming.

Here, my love of Anglo-Saxons shall be put to good use, and I need never fear an overabundance of cliche-fantasy nor the rise of unrealism. Here shall I dwell, I think.

Now if only I could find some players.

Oh, and cheap miniatures.

The local gaming club over here has seen a drop in players. A couple of years back we had like 60 members, today we are 10+ something. Even worse still, people have lost intrest i WHFB. I dont know why that is, but people simply doesnt like big armies with lots of models. Instead they play smaller games like Confrontation and Warmachine.

Personally I love the game and play on a regular basis. Still I have found a couple of new friends that actually plays the game, which is very nice :). Will I still play the game? Absolutely. It´s one of those small joys in life.

I no longer play Warhammer, but it's only because I find no one to play with and also because I don't have much time. I still love the Warhammer universe in general and I like to keep informed about new armies and campaigns. I think I'll always be a fantasy geek at heart. I don't know if there's been a decline in Warhammer in general, but there's been one for me. But I swear I'd keep playing if I could.

The Warhammer universe is fine for me: I think the setting is still dark enough to my taste, and I don't mind the new 7th Ed minis. Now I'm going to admit it right away: I started playing during 6th Ed, so I've never known the good old days. Maybe I'm not qualified to judge if there's been a decline in the quality of the Warhammer setting.

If there really is a decline in the number of people who are interested in Warhammer, I sincerely hope GW discovers why. If I were them, I'd try to correct the aim rather than abandon Warhammer to a slow death. Warhammer Fantasy is their flag-bearing game, and it is also the first, the most classical and the most successful one of its kind... GW must do everything they can to save it, even if they have to make 8th Ed look like 3rd or 4th Ed. It would be such a waste if Warhammer died.

The decline in quality that I refer to is the shift from 6th edition -vastly superior to 4th/5th- to 7th edition. There are no 'good old days' that I yearn for, here, just a sincere desire that they had retained the patterns they were developing. Instead they have shifted towards these ridiculous overarching plotlines which are dull and derivative.

The problem with warhammer is the need for opponents. If there are no opponents then your intrest will sharply decline as you have very nice looking models but no one to pitch them against. If you are a lore buff (im not I make up suitiable lore to go with my army and just use GW's for a template) then yes it is declining, but thats what the black library is for. And real life gets in the way, it just does. But thats why you dont sell your stuff because they can wait while you sort out real life. You dont NEED to keep buying GW goodies when you have a sizeable army. My rule of thumb is only buy when you can't paint or to just get army at a suitable size. There is also a huge competion for GW with all these other games around. Also on a side note Im surprised you started warhammer at all if you liked historical wargames, benedictus. Even being a fantasy buff. Also the focus on the game rather then anything else, its becoming more of a ZOMG!11 they has lions that cause fear rather then a huge segment of lore to justify the new units. Basically its all about selling models. They are a buisness after all.

I didn't know about historical wargames when I started, just a fascination with history in general. It's why I had an Empire army. But I'm surprised at your surprise: aren't most Warhammer players fantasy buffs?

Yeah. Which annoys me. I don't mind that they're in the business to sell models, but I have no interest in buying their models any longer.

Pardon my grammar.
What i meant was even though you were a fantasy buff I thought you would go with a historical wargame. Its what I did before warhammer. But warhammer just feels more "epic" in a word.

Far too long of a original post to reply too, however

I do agree with what you are saying Benedictus, but rememeber, when many of us started we were keen little 13 yr olds, with money from paper rounds, fewer friends, and no girlfriend

Now I have a University Degree to cope with, Friends to keep in touch with, a girlfriend to spend time with and lack of money, or is it not lack of money more the fact I realised why spend almost twenty pounds on a box of plastic, yes it will give me joy, but thats money that could be used to by a book to help my studies and thus gain a future.

Go to your local hobby centre and many (not all) of the older games are single with a low-paid job. No this is not me being offensive, it is a fact of life, many have families to keep up with, if you dont have this then Warhammer is perfect.

I think all gamers get to a stage when they stop loving the hobby and losing interest in what is basically a means to make money, GW tells us all that they make models for our enjoyment, poof I say, they make models for money. If the company sold models at the price it cost to make them then a £18 box would cost £2.50.

Im not going to apoligise if any of this seems offensive, in today's society you cannot say anything for fear of it being politcally incorrect or offensive to someone.

Just rememeber the good times of when you first started gaming ^_^

And maybe one day you will come back to it.

So was I. What's your point? I'm saying I've moved on from who I was then, and was wondering if others have as well.

I have an answer for that, about fun and relaxation, but honestly that money can be spent in more efficient ways. So, yeah. That's part of my point.

My problem isn't that they are seeking a profit -that is a good thing- my problem is that they are charging too much for what is becoming an increasingly substandard product.

?

Meh. Most of when I started gaming I was an awkward teenager. So I'd rather remember the good times of recent years when I still enjoyed gaming, thanks. Heh.

I think I will always keep my armies and play sometimes. My model collecting will definately slow down though. All I need is two decently sized armies to finish collecting. Besides, I won't be done painting my models until I'm 50 years old, I'm really slow. I think I will never lose complete intrest in it though.
I will completely stop buying eventually. I can just play with what I have. Master one army.