40k Ain't For Everyone, And That's OK

Hey, folks. SinSynn here.
Now that we've established what the basic theme is around here, let's jump right in, shall we?
Let's talk about one of my favorite things evar- Warhammer 40k.
Today's Warhammer 40k topic: Why Warhammer 40k might not be for you.

*If you don't know a lot about the Warhammer 40k Universe, just know that it's awesome. Also know that the Dark Angels are friggin' heretics - don't believe all the 'Nothing Happened On Caliban' baloney you might hear*

I've been into Warhammer 40k for like, easily over a decade now, I suppose. That's not a great deal of time, actually, compared to some of my true veteran 40k friends,
And man, lemme tell you - I've made a ton o' friends thanks to Warhammer 40k, and Games Workshop games in general'. Its been an amazing, amazing journey, getting here.
I've made friends of all types, in the most random of places. One time I got caught up on my morning subway commute, talking about some random Black Library book I was reading, for a good 20 minutes.
Only the fact that I had to get off the darn train separated us - 40k fans can go in, man. Once you start talkin' 'bout this type of Beakie and that type of Beakie, oh lawdy. Two 40k fans can talk until dawn. Easily.
And have a darn good time whilst doing it.
Even if we can put an entire room full of normies asleep doin' it. It's like any other fandom thing, I suppose.

Just the other day I found myself sitting across a subway car with a construction worker who had fallen asleep with a Horus Heresy novel cradled in his giant, construction worker-sized mitts. I work construction myself (I'm an Electrician), so I didn't wake him.
But there's no doubt - from the folks that just read the books (they're actually gosh-darned popular) to the cats that have multiple armies and travel the country attending the multitude of events that the game has spawned - 40k fans are Legion.
Heh. Ya see what I did there? It's like, a pun...Cuz, y'know...'Legion,' like Space Marine Legions?
*ahem*
Ok, moving on.

*When a Guardsman tells a bad pun...*

And whilst 40k is indeed my most favorite-est sci-fi universe, exceeding even Dune, which I have a lot of love for, I can't say 40k is for everybody.
And I'm here to tell you why that's a good thing.

There's so many things in geek culture one can find themselves pulled into, but miniature wargaming has gotta be one of the most niche things in a niche culture.
Hey - here's an idea! Let's spend a ton o' money on miniatures (don't you dare call them 'toys') that we hafta build and paint ourselves, then find a 6 by 4 foot gameboard (that's convenient, lemme tell ya) and a place to put it, and spend our nights arguing over a ridiculously archaic ruleset and cursing about our luck with dice.
Greatest. Hobby. Evar.

*It's quite concussive*

40k is many things.
It's wonderfully weird, and twisted, and overall has a very dark humor at it's core.
It's an unfriendly universe where the good guys don't always win. In fact they lose. A lot, which is sorta one of the main things that separates it from yer average, everyday, run-o'-the-mill sci-fi universe like Star Wars or Star Trek.
There's not a lot of hope in the 41st millennium. In the 40k universe, 'Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment,' after all.
Things are bad; the Emperor is fading out like a dimming light bulb, Abaddon finally managed to stomp out Cadia (took him a few tries, but those were like, 'warm up runs,' y'know?), and now a handful of the ancient Primarchs have returned, even.
After many, many years of virtual stagnation, Games Workshop has decided to advance the Warhammer 40k timeline drastically. And when I say 'drastically,' trust me - in Games Workshop terms, the last couple of years has been like, a whirlwind by their standards.
Not all of it has been like, perfect. Ask anyone who's had to face Magnus in-game. Or Mortarion. Or had to deal with 7th Edition Tau Riptide spam, or a hundred other lil' issues that generally hafta do with 40k's major weak spot - game balance and a sorta wacky, clumsy ruleset.
And, well...Some would say that good ol' GW like to 'encourage sales' of it's most recent releases by making them just that much better than the last set of releases...
I mean, I'm not saying that, here and now, but it has been said. Strangely, 8th Edition seems to have taken a step back from huge, 100-model plus armies by raising point costs for units. So...*shrug*, I guess?

*It'll always be like this, though. Waddayagonnado? Folks get a lil' crazy with their hobbies*

It would be fair to say that there are a host of things that one could complain about, if one had the desire to complain about 40k.
Do the models prolly cost a lil' too much?
Sigh - yeah. They prolly do.
Does the game balance occasionally border on awful?
Oh, most certainly.
Does Games Workshop leave this faction or that faction dangling in the wind, awaiting an update, for like, ever?
They sure do.
Do the Beakies need to die horribly?
You betcha.
Is Games Workshop a 'misogynistic' company since they have yet to add female models to the Guardsman boxsets?
Uh, what naow?
Is Games Workshop 'racist' due to a perceived 'lack of diversity' in the game?
Really? Is this a legit question?

I've seen these questions float around the 40k hobby for many years now, but they've never really taken hold. However, with the rise of 'social justice,' and a handful of actually organized efforts (which we'll get into in future posts, trust), Games Workshop seems to be the target of the perpetually offended.

*They're professionals at this point*

I'm gonna be brutally honest here:
Warhammer 40k is a niche product, and as such it's tailored to a niche audience.
That audience, whether you like it or not, is white guys.
If you look around, you'll find a remarkable amount of products that are designed for, and market to, a very narrow spectrum of people, by their very nature or design. Don't make me list things. You're probably smart enough to realize who the primary audience of a website like 'the Root' is supposed to be.
And of course, using Social Justice logic, that's fine when you're the Root, but not so much when you're Games Workshop, for whatever reason.
Welp, that's some bullshit, right there.
Apparently there's a bunch of people that have taken it upon themselves to demand that Games Workshop needs to change. There's a common theory that Social Justice types hold that if you embrace their ideology, there's a whole new audience of people out there that will start buying your product.
As usual, they're quite prepared to nag Games Workshop to death via Social Media until they get their way; pretty much standard procedure for the Social Justice crowd.

Lemme 'splain something to anyone who's confused about the way hobbies work.
You don't get to join one, and then start demanding that it change to suit you once you're 'in.'
You knew what it was when you got into it. Don't play dumb, like 'ohmygawd I can't believe this!'
Don't act like there's not half a dozen 3rd party companies out there making 'female Guardsman,' like Raging Heroes and others.
Don't act like somehow the game of 40k would be better served if there was some sort of LGBTQ+++ (the 'f' is silent) character involved...Like somehow Slaanesh and the whole, gosh-darned Emperor's Children Legion aren't a thing.
That's...not entirely a joke...

*Here at The Tentacle Funhouse, we don't judge. You do you. Just don't mess with our thing*

Remember in the last post, when I asked you to think about the gamers you might know, or the gamer you are, yourself?
We're not exactly the most 'normal' bunch of folks, ourselves (now that's a joke), and we're remarkably tolerant when it comes to accepting the weirdness of others. In fact, many of us, myself included, revel in our weirdness, and the weirdness of this hobby that we've embraced and has in turn embraced us.
The fact that some people think that this stupidity is 'problematic' is a waste of everyone's time. If 40k can survive the gawd-awfulness that was 6th Edition, when every 40k gamer found themselves playing other games, and many never came back, it can survive this, thankfully, but I find it annoying nonetheless.

Fer the love of...you wanna complain about 40k, but this is what you wanna complain about?
Not game balance?
Not the lack of some sorta schedule for Codex releases, for all the fans of this faction or that faction that are biting their nails to the quick, waiting for them?
Sigh.

Games Workshop has a long-standing tradition of ignoring it's fanbase. For the first time ever, I'm actually really, really happy 'bout that.
If you're one of the folks that's waving a banner on behalf of some group that never asked you to raise a banner on their behalf (I dunno why they do it, but they really, really do), maybe you wanna come to terms that like most things that are creatively based, Warhammer 40k is pretty much a product that represents the folks that made it.
I wouldn't expect an African artist to paint something Da Vinci-ish. I would expect them to create art that represents who they are, where they're from, their life experiences, the message they want to impart to me, etc...
Why anyone expect companies like Games Workshop to try making a game that appeals to 'everyone,' equally, is beyond me. We all know who plays Warhammer 40k, the same way we all know who the primary readership of the Root is, and that should be fine.
And you know what?
IT IS.
Not everything in this world is gonna be for everybody, and there are gonna be things that are marketed to just this group or that group because this world is comprised of a million different cultures, and those cultures have different interests. That's...actually one of the lil' things in life that makes things interesting, y'know. Otherwise everything would be dull and generic.
It has nothing to do with race or gender, it's just a cultural thing. White guys, by and large, are the primary knuckleheads who like Space Marines, and all things Space Marine related.
Learn to live with it, or don't.
*shrug*
But next time you wanna complain about GW not being 'diverse' enough, make sure you file the same complaint about the Root. Otherwise you're a hypocrite.

That's enough for this time, I think.

Until next time, folks - have a very Xenos day!
- SinSynn