Topic: Space Marine and possible impact on the hobby.

[Grand Master Lomandalis]

So with the new Space Marine game being released, I want to know what people will think the possible impact will be. 

Myself, I can see no negativity coming from this, just huge benefits to the community at large.  For one, I don't think that there has been any Warhammer game that has had as much advertisement as Space Marine has.  Please correct me if I am wrong, but I don't remember there being a game that is actually getting commercials like this is. 

Now, what I am looking at is something akin to what we saw when Dawn of War was first released.  People will become more aware of the 40k universe and be interested in checking out the game and fluff.  If the game sells well, we may see a decent movie coming from this that does proper justice to the 40k label, not like the crap that was Ultramarines.

So what do you guys think the impact from this game will be on the warhammer community / hobby.

[Caustic]

I suspect it will see a bit of a boost, given that it appears to be a great game from the previews and when it sells decently well Space Marines in Warhammer 40k will might see an increase in sales.

I agree that no negativity can come from it, and I hope that GW uses the extra revenue to better the hobby.

[Lachdonin]

There has already been some negativity, at least around here. That said, its all been from idiots who didn't do a lick of homework before trashing the franchise. I've already had to explain to at least 3 people that Warhammer 40k was not a 'multi-product' release to try and sell more copies of Space Marine, and has in fact been around for 20 years. The sheer quantity of people who have been screaming "Halo ripoff!" Or "Their coppying Gears" makes me want to grab my chainsword and commit a little genocide.

Still, i like to beleive the majority of gamers aren't blathering morons, and i know at least one person who has started playing Warhammer since playing the demo for Space Marine. Since my copy apparently didn't make it to the store (They got no collectors editions, despite the manifest saying they should have gotten 12) i'm going to have to wait to play it, but so far its already broadening the community here, even though the idiots are being very loud.

[RandomGuardsman]

The sheer quantity of people who have been screaming "Halo ripoff!" Or "Their coppying Gears" makes me want to grab my chainsword and commit a little genocide.

  I have actually gotten a lot of people to try Space Marine who have never played anything 40K by describing it as "Gears of War with more Melee and less chest high walls."  This may not be 100% accurate, but sometimes making a comparison to another well known game works if worded right. But you are right, people who do not try a game because they automatically think it is a rip off of another game should be drug out in the street and shot.


  As for the impact of SM on the 40K community.....I think we will see another boost in players again just like with Dawn of War 1 & 2.
Unlike DoW though, I think this will be purely SM as you do not get to play any other race in single player, and the Chaos Marines in multi player are close enough to SM to not distinguish them too much. The other races such as the IG and Orks seem to come off as fairly weak by this games storyline. Something I found rather annoying, as I thought both sides could have been played up a little more than they had been. 

[Lachdonin]

The other races such as the IG and Orks seem to come off as fairly weak by this games storyline. Something I found rather annoying, as I thought both sides could have been played up a little more than they had been. 

From a more background oriented perspective, the game isn't that far off. Marines regularly take on many times their number of Orks, and Guard are, well... By and large the cannon fodder of 40k. Still, i do agree that some people are in for a shock if they get into the tabletop game, where Sales>Ballance>Background

[Shadows Revenge]

I think the impact is going to be huge. From what Ive heard and seen around here it has sold like crazy, and the game is solid enough to support a good online community for awhile, as long as stuff keeps coming out in the upcoming months (which is critical, with GoW3, BF3, and MW3 coming out [btw, thats alota 3s...]) It should be a big boost for the community.

As for everyone saying its a Gears clone, I love pointing out all the similarities and agreeing with them, only to say "Hey look... its been around since the 80s... hmm..."

And for the expected jump in marine players around, I say come on in! once they get their foot in the door, they will enjoy the game as it is, and do the normal race jumping everyone does atleast once.

[Arquarian]

yay more marine players......

Maybe I'm being cynical but I always thought the following was true: Table top gamers also play videogames and not the other way around.

I can't imagine someone whose never played a table top wargame before playing Space Marine and then getting into our hobby. I just don't think that will happen.

I just think that as soon as all the hype surrounding Space Martine has worn off in a bout 6 months / a year or so then the next new thing will disctract players; BF4, Gow4, MW4 etc....

[Grand Master Lomandalis]

Maybe I'm being cynical but I always thought the following was true: Table top gamers also play videogames and not the other way around.

Quite the contrary, if people like the back ground and feel of the fluff of the game they will want to find out more about the warhammer universe.  I play regularly with a number of guys who played the first Dawn of War, thought the universe was cool and checked out the GW site to find out more.

There has already been some negativity, at least around here. That said, its all been from idiots who didn't do a lick of homework before trashing the franchise. I've already had to explain to at least 3 people that Warhammer 40k was not a 'multi-product' release to try and sell more copies of Space Marine, and has in fact been around for 20 years. The sheer quantity of people who have been screaming "Halo ripoff!" Or "Their coppying Gears" makes me want to grab my chainsword and commit a little genocide.

Nothing new, the same thing happened when Dawn of War was released.  People were screaming that it was a rip off of Starcraft, and that Mark of chaos was a rip off of Warcraft.

[Lachdonin]

Nothing new, the same thing happened when Dawn of War was released.  People were screaming that it was a rip off of Starcraft, and that Mark of chaos was a rip off of Warcraft.

Oh yes, i remember that well. Of course, the world seems to be increasingly populated by stupid people who don't do any type of background check before making outrageous claims. Still, because GW is getting back into the video game... Well, game, alot of the playstyles that would suit their games are already used, and ignorant, snot nosed brats who don't realise their favorite games are based in Warhammer think that its the other way around, and make a fuss about it.

[Saracenar]

While Space Marine has had a good share of advertisement and promotion, I think its just unfortunate that it is coming out so close to all of these other AAA 'blockbuster' games. Deus Ex, Batman Arkham City, Gears of War 3, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3, Halo Anniversary, Assassin's Creed Revelations, and so on (yes, there are more), it may get lost underneath the hype and excitement surrounding all of these other games. I don't know about everyone else, but I plan on getting at least four of these games, and its not going to be cheap.

But regardless, I do have fears that it will be accused of copying from other games, even though the 40k universe has existed longer than any of the aforementioned franchises (except the Batman universe, of course).

And to a degree it's true - I got a Gears of War vibe from the demo, and I'm familiar with 40k already. Some players who don't already know about the 40k universe might pick up Space Marine and just straight up decide it is a rip off, and ditch it then and there, without doing any more digging. Because face it, there are plenty of that kind of people out there.

Granted, I don't think the game will have any negative impacts on the hobby/tabletop game. People aren't going to stop playing 40k because of Space Marine. And like GML/BML said, there will be people who are intrigued by the universe and who check it out, but probably not as many as we'd hope. It still results in a positive impact though.

I'm hoping I'll be able to get Space Marine. But I see a lot of money leaving my wallet in the next few months.

[Arquarian]

Maybe I'm being cynical but I always thought the following was true: Table top gamers also play videogames and not the other way around.

Quite the contrary, if people like the back ground and feel of the fluff of the game they will want to find out more about the warhammer universe.  I play regularly with a number of guys who played the first Dawn of War, thought the universe was cool and checked out the GW site to find out more.

That's fair enough but did they then get into the hobby and start collecting an army? I'm just curious. If so then Great! 
[mod]fixed quote tags for you[/mod]

[Grand Master Lomandalis]

Yeah, that's what I meant about playing them.  I don't play DoW any more so I should have been more clear, but one of them has gone on to collect space marines, chaos, skaven, and daemons.

[Arquarian]

Oh right I see what you mean. That's great then! I stand happily corrected. In that case Yay! looking forward to all those new... marine..... Players......

Oh wait, hang on...... don't we have enough of those already 

I'm kidding, more new players of any kind os great for the hobby.

Ps thanks for the quotes fix, I replyed in a rush and didn't check my post. I'll be more carefully in future.

[Grand Master Lomandalis]

Just remember, that new marine players will eventually branch out into other armies.  So a new marine player now might mean a new Eldar player two years from now.

(edit:  I was going to say Dark Eldar, but we already have too many of them around )

[Kekron]

My two cents here.

I feel this game is the best attempt thus far at capturing the spirit of 40k. I believe that this game will net positive feedback for the hobby at large and maybe get new players into the fold. Perhaps a sequel is in order incorporating other armies? Like *cough* *cough* eldar *cough*