YouTuber Arch Warhammer Launches Email Campaign To Games Workshop To Save Warhammer
YouTuber Arch Warhammer has called on his followers to launch an email campaign targeted at Games Workshop to save Warhammer from political infiltration and subversion.
Arch’s call for an email campaign comes after the Warhammer Community Twitter account shared a “Warhammer Is For Everyone” message following weeks of protesting, rioting, and looting across the United States in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
The statement began, “One of the great powers of our hobby is its ability to bring people together in common cause, to build bonds and friendships that cross divides. We believe in and support a community united by shared values of mutual kindness and respect.”
It continued, “Our fantasy settings are grim and dark, but that is not a reflection of who we are or how we feel the real world should be.”
We will never accept nor condone any form of prejudice, hatred or abuse in our company or in the Warhammer hobby,” it added.
The letter then stated, “We will continue to diversify the cast of characters we portray through miniatures, art and storytelling so everyone can find representation and heroes they can relate to.”
The statement concluded, “And if you feel the same way, wherever and whoever you are, we’re glad you are part of the Warhammer community. If not, you will not be missed.”
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Arch issued his rallying call on YouTuber where he began, “We all knew this day was coming. It’s sadly somewhat inevitable these days, is it not? Unfortunately, the infiltration, the subversion, and the politicization of hobbies has been a pretty damn common occurrence over the last few years.”
He added, “I’ve predicted it. Many of you have as well. And again it was hardly a difficult prediction. We’ve seen it happen in video games. We’ve seen it happen in movies. We’ve seen it happen to Marvel. We’ve seen it happen to Star Wars. And now it is happening to Warhammer.”
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Arch then details there is one last shot to save Warhammer.
He explains, “I think we have one last chance to send a bit of a warning shot across Games Workshop’s bow to simply say, ‘Stay out of it. Don’t get involved. Stay neutral. Simply keep producing the universe and the miniatures that we all love and we will all be happier for it.'”
He continued, “You don’t have to get involved. We do not expect you as a company to have a moral position on today’s political issues. Keep politics where it belongs in the real world. And let us have our escapism. Let us have our Warhammer.”
Arch then suggests an email campaign targeted at Games Workshop.
He elaborates, “And so I suggest an email campaign to Games Workshop. Because believe you me, five emails all about the same subject matter, that will raise attention. 10 emails, now the alarm starts ringing. 100? 1000? They will notice, believe you me.”
Arch then explains he has shared a draft email template for his followers to use to send to Games Workshop at [email protected].
It begins, “Warhammer is for Everyone, This sentiment was never in doubt in the Warhammer community, Warhammer Fantasy and 40k have been played in stores and hobby rooms all across the globe by people of all races, religions and genders. We were all brought together by our common love for these deep, dark and complex worlds! It superseded our differences and united us with a common love for the game and the universe! In all its grim glory!”
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The email continues, “But then, on June the 5th, the Warhammer Community Team stated that we were wrong. For the first time ever Warhammer was NOT for everyone. For the first time ever Warhammer chose to close its doors for some. For the first time ever Warhammer chose to say “If you feel the same way, we are glad to have you, and if you don’t, you will not be missed”. For the first time ever fans of Warhammer were attacked for their opinions.”
It then adds, “The spell was broken, and the community immediately descended into vitriol and witch hunts. A little over a month after the statement the community has never been more fractured, it has never been more divided. And everyone is wondering who is up next on the chopping block.”
The email concludes, “It is time for Games Workshop to step up and say. Warhammer is for Everyone, No “if you agree” No “you will not be missed” No ifs no buts. Warhammer is for everyone, including people like me.”
While Arch encourages his followers to use the above email script, he does note they are free to change the text and send their own personalized email as well. However, he does note to be respectful in the email.
Arch states, “Do bear in mind however, that the people who will be receiving this first and foremost are simply just the customer support staff. Normal men and women who are in no way involved in the decision making process. These people have done nothing wrong nor are they in position to do anything wrong, honestly. So be nice. Be polite. And treat them like human beings.”
He adds, “The people up the ladder, trust me, they will get the message regardless.”
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After reading the letter, Arch states, “I figured this would be a nice, fairly neutral, fairly soft-worded letter to send them. I designed this specifically for that purpose as well. I want this to be some one thing that anyone can look at it and go, ‘You know what, this is fine. Warhammer is for everyone.'”
Later Arch states, “This is the moment where we can have the most effect. Right now, is where we can really be heard. Because, of course, Games Workshop has been doing a lot of really stupid shit and you could have worded this a lot more harshly.”
He adds, “But we can bring up quite a few things. The original Warhammer Community Team post, for example. It was very clearly political. It hid behind a statement that we can all agree with, ‘Warhammer is for everyone.’ Then it starts laying out political points, finishing with if you don’t agree well then ‘Bye bye.'”
“That is a very divisive message and it was obvious from Twitter’s reaction that that is what it was. Immediately after this message came the attacks began, the witch hunts began, people started shouting and yelling at one another like practically never before,” Arch explains.
He also points to the recent release of the Indomitus Box Sets. Arch states, “Reports are starting to come out now, as of yet unconfirmed, that apparently many independent game stores and so on had ordered Indomitus Box Sets and then those were canceled. And they informed them that they would only get a very limited number of boxes.”
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He continued, “And Games Workshop then went on to sell the boxes themselves for a much greater profit. Not to mention this was a super hyped up thing. This was a big deal. Games Workshop knew it would be a big deal and yet all of the boxes sold out in 7 to 10 minutes. A lot of them being sold to scalpers, who then uploaded the box sets en masse to Amazon, Ebay, and so on and sold them right then and there for 2x, 3x the price.”
Arch then details why he believes this email campaign can be a success, “The only way they will understand is to tell them. Companies are very weak to public pressure. Indeed, the far left has been using this for years, targeting advertisers, and boycotting people trying to get them deplatformed because companies are cowardly.”
He continued, “If you give them a boop on the snoot, they will back down. Nine times out of ten they will go, “Ah, shit. Right okay. This doesn’t seem to be working out for us. Let’s back off. Let’s reevaluate this. Maybe we should consider not doing this.’ And the companies are already thinking that. They are doing these things because they believe them to be popular.”
Arch then expresses his belief that this email campaign will be effective, “I do believe this has effect. You might ask, ‘Do you think an email campaign will do anything? They’ll just ignore it.’ I don’t think they will. And even if they do. They will hear about it.”
He then encourages his followers to spread the email campaign to their friends and followers, “Spread it around all you can. This is our best chance to stop this right now before it goes any further. If we do a good job now the problem will be solved. We won’t have to worry about this. We will not have to fight a war for the soul of our hobby like so many other hobbies have. We will be able to avoid that. For how long? Who knows? But it is worth a shot, at least that is my opinion on that.”
He also notes that if Games Workshop does not respond to the email, to keep sending it, “If they do not respond in say 10 days, send the email again. If they want to simply just shred it, keep sending it. Keep sending it until you actually get a response.”
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Arch concludes, “If this can force Games Workshop to even make a statement, no matter how mealy mouthed or neutral anything we can get out of them right now will be evidence that they have heard us and they will probably comply. So get to it. Send it around. Spread it as much as you can. So, let’s save our hobby now rather than later.”
What do you make of Arch Warhammer’s email campaign? Do you think it will be effective? Will you send a letter to Games Workshop?
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