Anyone who has purchased more than a few computer or board based wargames will probably have bought products from NWS Wargaming Store.
NWS is a great wargaming institution.
Sadly Christopher Dean who built and ran it has passed. That is all I know.
http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/.1de3fc2c (http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/.1de3fc2c)
Another fine member of our wargaming community is gone. RIP.
I am very sorry to hear this. I dealt with him a lot over the years and he was always a good guy. RIP
RIP. :(
Wow that is really sad and tough to see. Think recently he lost both his father and wife in a small period of time.
OMG. What terrible terrible news. I am so sorry to learn of this.
RIP Mr Dean. :(
:(
RIP Mr Dean.
That is very sad. :(
Very sad indeed. A Gaming Great and a decent person to boot. He will be sorely missed.
I wonder what will happen to the store now.
Quote from: Gusington on December 02, 2021, 08:00:24 PM
I wonder what will happen to the store now.
This was posted by the rule the waves developer....-
It is my sad duty to announce that Christopher Dean, NWS Owner/Store Operator, passed away this last evening: Dec 1, 2021. He was an associate of mine for 20+ years, but more importantly he was a good friend for whom I could always count on. He will be sorely missed by myself and those who knew him - Chris would always have a kind/funny thing to say to perk up someone who was down, and IMHO he truly cared about "his" customers, personally telephoning and speaking to many of them over the years about their store issues, and sometimes even just to see how they were doing.
Right now the NWS Online Storefront, while technically 'open' is not actively manned, so for now I strongly encourage potential customers to hold off purchases until arrangements can be made to officially close the current store and open a new one - this may take a bit of time, as I suspect anyone who has dealt with such matters may attest to. I will make an announcement here when it officially opens.
If you purchase/recently purchased RTW2 you may PM me on these forums and I will activate your game for you, and will continue to do so until we get a new store system up and running. I will state the following because it is something that Chris and I discussed after his wife Chininia passed away a few weeks ago: Wargames are our passion, and not just a 'job' for us. NWS is still an ongoing entity, and will still continue to produce and sell our games, including existing and future (such as the upcoming RTW2 Expansion) games.
^Thanks for posting. That jogged my memory.
Many years ago I special ordered a game from NWS (I think it was Freespace 2) and Christopher called me to make sure everything was ok. IIRC he did that several times over the years.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on December 02, 2021, 08:45:28 PM
I will state the following because it is something that Chris and I discussed after his wife Chininia passed away a few weeks ago.
Very sad news.
Both gone in a couple of weeks.
Sad news. RIP.
Some additional info posted:
https://nws-online.proboards.com/thread/6208/christopher-dean-passed-away-read
Quote from: Gusington on December 02, 2021, 09:17:04 PM
^Thanks for posting. That jogged my memory.
Many years ago I special ordered a game from NWS (I think it was Freespace 2) and Christopher called me to make sure everything was ok. IIRC he did that several times over the years.
I had a similar experience. He called me out the blue to see if a shipment had arrived in good order. I can't think of another vendor who has done that.
I've never had another vendor do that.
RIP Chris, we have not done much business together but still I understood that you were a special guy for the community...
I do not want to sound impolite, but does anyone know what will happen with unfinished orders? I understood, that the NWS part of the shop will continue under different name/entity, but that does not have much in common with the wargames store with MMP, GMT, Compass games stuff etc.
So what will happen with the unfinished orders? I made a 700usd order in September that unfortunately has not been probably shipped.. As there does not seem to be anybody with legal access to the shop stock/system.. Should I contact somebody? Or somebody will contact me? Can anybody please tell me where Chris's headquarter was. I am from Prague, Czech Republic..
Or am I wrong? Will somebody in the future finish the orders?
Thanks, Michal
Quote from: miksebik on December 05, 2021, 09:00:24 AM
RIP Chris, we have not done much business together but still I understood that you were a special guy for the community...
I do not want to sound impolite, but does anyone know what will happen with unfinished orders? I understood, that the NWS part of the shop will continue under different name/entity, but that does not have much in common with the wargames store with MMP, GMT, Compass games stuff etc.
So what will happen with the unfinished orders? I made a 700usd order in September that unfortunately has not been probably shipped.. As there does not seem to be anybody with legal access to the shop stock/system.. Should I contact somebody? Or somebody will contact me? Can anybody please tell me where Chris's headquarter was. I am from Prague, Czech Republic..
Or am I wrong? Will somebody in the future finish the orders?
Thanks, Michal
The wargaming community is in mourning. While visiting the ASL section of Game Squad there is a memoriam. It links to the NWS forums with an answer for Michal in the first and second posts from williammiller a site administrator https://nws-online.proboards.com/thread/6208/christopher-dean-passed-away-read
Awww! -- yep, bought not a few used and even new games from him over the years, though not for many years come to think of it. GoG (and Steam to some extent) filled that market niche.
But like many others, I remember him calling at least once to ask if the order arrived, and also at least once (I think even twice) to ask what sort of extra game I wanted. It was thanks to him, that I first discovered the glory of Patrician 2 (and thence all the games in that series afterward.)
Rest in peace Mr. Dean.
Quote from: miksebik on December 05, 2021, 09:00:24 AM
RIP Chris, we have not done much business together but still I understood that you were a special guy for the community...
I do not want to sound impolite, but does anyone know what will happen with unfinished orders? I understood, that the NWS part of the shop will continue under different name/entity, but that does not have much in common with the wargames store with MMP, GMT, Compass games stuff etc.
So what will happen with the unfinished orders? I made a 700usd order in September that unfortunately has not been probably shipped.. As there does not seem to be anybody with legal access to the shop stock/system.. Should I contact somebody? Or somebody will contact me? Can anybody please tell me where Chris's headquarter was. I am from Prague, Czech Republic..
Or am I wrong? Will somebody in the future finish the orders?
Thanks, Michal
Maybe your shipment is a victim of supply chain issues? Stuck in a container in Amsterdam? NWS was pretty quick with shipping, so I guess that if your items were in stock and you ordered in September, they would have shipped. I don't know the location for NWS other than Florida. But it sounds like the Forums are up, so sending a PM to the admin is probably your best bet.
Quote from: ArizonaTank on December 05, 2021, 10:02:16 PM
Maybe your shipment is a victim of supply chain issues? Stuck in a container in Amsterdam? NWS was pretty quick with shipping, so I guess that if your items were in stock and you ordered in September, they would have shipped. I don't know the location for NWS other than Florida. But it sounds like the Forums are up, so sending a PM to the admin is probably your best bet.
Well, I do not share your optimism regarding the speed with which the orders were executed. In Feb, I did a 900usd order and it was not until July when I got the games. I got many confirmations that "that week, it will ship".. same as now, when I was assured several times about the expedition date (last was mid November).
Anyway, I heard that somebody (lets not use names) found boxes ready to be shipped in Chris's car and he/she sent it. So there is still hope.
BTW I do not have it shipped to my country, I am using a forwarder, warehouse in US so I should know soon.
Hello everyone My name I Dylan Lee Hiers im the nephew of Christopher Dean and Chininia im blood relative with my aunt u I just made this account to say We had not been on speaking terms with my aunt and uncle for what happened between my mother and aunt but I wanted to make a new relationship since i had not seen them since 2014 im sadden that they are gone I truly miss them if anyone has any info on where my aunt and uncles bodies are or the name of christophers brother please contact me at gmail hiersdylan@gmail.com or look me up on facebook hiersdylan thank you god bless
I'm really sorry to learn of Chris' passing, especially at his relatively young age.
I occasionally communicated with him about his games and he was always friendly and well spoken. A decent man as far as I could tell, and I'm sorry for his passing.
Rest in peace Chris.