Dark Eldar in future FW IA book

SotonShades of BOLS wrote:

There are fairly well developed ideas for the next 3 or 4 I story lines. In fact the DE one is having to be rewritten because it is currently too Grim-Dark and bleak for 40k!

Hopefully more will surface as more reports come in.

SotonShades of BOLS wrote:

FW are happy with the rate at which they put out books. They want to cover all the race before they cover any again (though expect Imperials to be in all books, quite possibly mostly Minotaurs for the next few), so we are now expecting Necrons in IA12, Tzeentch later (prob IA13) then DE and Slaanesh before anyone else gets re-done.

Hmm, what is the context for that first quote? Does it mean that the CURRENT DE storyline is too grimdark or just the one they are comping up with? I mean, DE too grimdark? They're the one of two armies actually having fun. I really don't quite see how they are more drab and bleak than, hell, just about any damn Imperial faction.

I think what he is alluding to is that they have written a storyline for a future Dark Eldar IA book but that it is too much. I've always said that too much imagination and going very deep will always make Dark Eldar too grim.

To grim dark? How is that possible? Its a secialty book, yonger players won't be the market. Its the most, potently, disturbing faction. And the game is ment to be grim dark.

I once saw a toyota ad claiming there cars were lubricated with the blood of sheeple (sheep/people), If toyota can have an ad with blood draining into a vat there is no 'to grim dark' for dark eldar IA book.

Objection. 40k is not supposed to be ultra grimdark. Grim, dark, but with plenty of black humour in it, rather than grimdarkness for the sake of it. I can agree with Sky Serpent in the fact that if one goes too deep into Dark Eldar, they can get pretty gruesome very quick. Same goes with the game itself, fourth edition largely was at fault for trying to take the setting seriously, something that is impossible to do. The setting is exaggerated, larger-than-life, where everything is bigger, better and deadlier. It just doesn't work as a serious sci-fi setting, because there's not that much of sci in it to begin with.

But I think we're steering off topic.

The Toyota ad was funny too.
As far as I could tell using google, term grimdark was invented to describe warhammer.
Dark Eldar should be the darkest of the factions, and have fun being the darkest. The IA books and DE are aimed at an older market, so concerns about rating shouldn't be a factor. So, to much grimdark shouldn't be a issue. The humour should still be present though. Maybe that was what the meant, it had plenty of the grimdark but not enough black humour? To much Hostel, not enough Repo the Genetic Opera?

Maybe they decided it was just too much with torture and enslavement?


Given a bit of depth and character work this can be a really freightening tale, not fantasy like Path of Renegade.
Like too much freigtening.

There's a difference between grim/dark and explicit/disturbed. If you delve too deeply into it, DE have the potential to be truly disturbed, and regardless of whether IA books are more likely to be read/bought by adults, GW wouldn't want to have to impose an age restriction on buying them, the whole hobby has to be available to all potential participants. Imagine yourself as a parent taking your kid into a GW store for the first time, to be told 'your child can't buy that, it's age-restricted'. Not exactly going to leave you wanting to encourage them to go back is it?

I could see to explicit/disturbed for IA. Even to Grimdark for codex since they are at least partially marketed to children.
The first item I was ever asked for proof of age for was a Dungeon and Dragon supplement, stocked across from card gaming tables a poke'mon ccg tournament was held at 2 days later. The shop also sold porn in back, but didn't allow swearing since there were children shopping much of the time.
Rather then a hard age limit, pointing out it's the darkest thing sold in shop the parent might appreciate heads up. Isn't there an age restriction on forgeworld models in the E.U. already, due to the toxic resin?

If they meant it was to plain disturbing/explicit (explicit being more likely since it was rumored to be DE and Slaanesh, and its easier to go to perverted then to disturbing) they should have said that, not that its to grimdark for 40k (almost like saying it's to 40k for 40k). Then they wouldn't have had people saying not possible.

I think they should release the original story line as a non-cannon ebook, they already wrote it apparently and some people would be interested in knowing what the "uncut" version was. It is hard to write something that disturbing, so what turned out that messed up makes me curious enough to buy it. Extra profit to fund next batch of great new models too.

Back closer to original topic, I'm looking forward to more dark eldar variant vehicles and the first official super-heavies!

The_Burning_Eye wrote:

.... GW wouldn't want to have to impose an age restriction on buying them, the whole hobby has to be available to all potential participants....

Actually, the original Realms of Chaos, Slaves to Darkness did carry a mature reader warning on the cover; and being as it was Khorne and Slaanesh it had some very disturbing let us say artwork in it. Granted it was only a warning, and ultimately local laws determine who it can and cannot be sold too, but perhaps GW does not want to venture down that road again.

Darkgreen Pirate wrote:

perhaps GW does not want to venture down that road again.

yeah probably right, the company has come on a long way from those days, far more business like these days, much more aware of who their customer base is too!

Some necromancy going on here, but it doesn't make sense to start a new thread.

Found this nugget in a recent post by Kanluwen over at Dakka. Obviously it cannot be verified at this point in time, but it does mesh with all the talk of our having been bumped by 'crons in the release schedule, if we were ever first. And it does seem to be a very plausible scenario.

Kanluwen wrote:

Bobthehero wrote:

I heard that the next IA 12 was going to be DKoK vs Necrons, some say its Dark Eldars vs the Minotaurs SM.

We won't be sure till we get the first blurry picture.

It was technically all of those.

Basically, IA12 was going to be done like the Vraks arc.
IA12 was going to be the "first book" in a series, which detailed an entire sector falling into anarchy as the Necrons awoke with the Dark Eldar raiders taking advantage of the anarchy.
The first book was going to be the Minotaurs and Adeptus Mechanicus launching a strike on a Necron Tomb World, followed by the Necrons awaking across the entire sector. Second book was going to introduce the Dark Eldar as another factor as they took advantage of the Necron emergence to raid for slaves and fun. Last book was going to involve the Inquisition and a Crusade to put down the Necrons.