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Made in gb
Lord Commander in a Plush Chair





Beijing

I'm not surprised Gamesday was becoming less crowded, the ticket price was getting stupid and they expected you to buy the exclusive figure on top, and many accounts describe the event being somewhat sparse, largely being further opportunities to buy more figures, as in any GW store, at RRP. As always, GW run something down and then axe it once it becomes too much bother. It's like anything that GW has to invest time or money into, just isn't worth bothering with any more, even if it ultimately supports the very hobby which is their business.
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran




I remember when GW had Outriders then Kommandos. We'd help setup/teardown and run events. The GW merchandise credit made it worth the time for us. Last one they had at Memphis I contacted GW to let them know my Gamng club was interested in doing it again and was told I'd get a call if they needed us. Never got the call. Oh well....
   
Made in gb
Posts with Authority






Norn Iron

 jonolikespie wrote:
GW could pull out of the spiral, but it would require them to invest instead of cutting, they need to put the hobby back into the Hhhhobby, something which their current business model and the axing of games day are entirely opposed to.


Oh, I dunno if they're opposed to it. Didn't you hear? Buying GW products is the hobby.

I'm sooo, sooo sorry.

Plog - Random sculpts and OW Helves 9/3/23 
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





Long Jetty, The place is a dump

winterdyne wrote:
I honestly don't think the decline of Games Day has anything whatsoever to do with the level of GW staffing there. IIRC, GW contracts for all UK employees specify that GD is 'expected overtime' - you get a day off in lieu, but you are expected to help out on it if asked. Part of the job, fair enough IMO. It was the same with attending shows in the video game industry.


It sure does impact especially the high proliferation of one man operations here in Australia, means that if staff are forced into staffing Games Day they have no choice to close their shops.

GW in cutting their operations to the bone, have created a crazy situation for themselves, they either open Games Day and shut their retail stores to staff the event or cancel the event to keep their retail stores open, but they can't do both as there is no middle ground.

It is a pity on that they could not learn how to host such events like Comicon does.

"Ultramarines are Wusses".... Chapter Master Achaylus Bonecrusher

 
   
Made in us
Stitch Counter






Rowlands Gill

What GW seem to simply not understand is that there is a difference between what they are selling and what people are buying.

They are selling little plastic models. What people are buying though is an entry into an exciting hobby. At least that is what they are wanting to buy. The more stunts like cancelling or nerfing Games Day, White Dwarf, etc., etc., that GW pull though, the more that people realise all they are buying is those little bits of plastic and they drift away...

What they sell is little pieces of plastic, but what earns them money is excitement.

Cheers
Paul 
   
Made in ie
Calculating Commissar




Frostgrave

Definitely. People paid the higher GW prices for the support and community.


 Achaylus72 wrote:
winterdyne wrote:
I honestly don't think the decline of Games Day has anything whatsoever to do with the level of GW staffing there. IIRC, GW contracts for all UK employees specify that GD is 'expected overtime' - you get a day off in lieu, but you are expected to help out on it if asked. Part of the job, fair enough IMO. It was the same with attending shows in the video game industry.


It sure does impact especially the high proliferation of one man operations here in Australia, means that if staff are forced into staffing Games Day they have no choice to close their shops.

GW in cutting their operations to the bone, have created a crazy situation for themselves, they either open Games Day and shut their retail stores to staff the event or cancel the event to keep their retail stores open, but they can't do both as there is no middle ground.

It is a pity on that they could not learn how to host such events like Comicon does.


There's more to it than that. They also used the store staff to build and paint all the displays. That was achievable in multi-staff stores during downtime or quiet times, but it just doesn't work with 1 staff member unless they close the shop or work overtime.
   
Made in jp
[MOD]
Anti-piracy Officer






Somewhere in south-central England.

 Osbad wrote:
What GW seem to simply not understand is that there is a difference between what they are selling and what people are buying.

They are selling little plastic models. What people are buying though is an entry into an exciting hobby. At least that is what they are wanting to buy. The more stunts like cancelling or nerfing Games Day, White Dwarf, etc., etc., that GW pull though, the more that people realise all they are buying is those little bits of plastic and they drift away...

What they sell is little pieces of plastic, but what earns them money is excitement.


YES! That is EXACTLY the point!

In marketing there is a saying that you "Sell the sizzle, not the sausage".

A box of Space Wolves is a sausage. The Sanctus Reach campaign is a sizzle.

I'm writing a load of fiction. My latest story starts here... This is the index of all the stories...

We're not very big on official rules. Rules lead to people looking for loopholes. What's here is about it. 
   
Made in gb
Sneaky Sniper Drone





Redditch, UK

Started a thread in news and rumours, but thought worth mentioning here as well-
Posted on my local forum, -

http://battlebunnies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/no-gamesday-warhammer-fest-instead-in.html

Warhammer Fest will be a 2 day event covering the 11th and 12th of October!!
The usual will be there – Forge World, Black Library and Golden Daemon.
There will be a massive variety of seminars and events; you will need to go both days to do it all!!
Tickets are £20 each day!
Golden Daemon will be on display on the Sunday!
It will be a smaller event at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry!

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/07/20 21:11:37


 
   
Made in au
Norn Queen






So they rebranded it to an event named with one of their trademarks rather than a generic 'games day'?

They're really taking this rebranding too far. I fully expect them to rebrand the company as Warhammer Skullshop now.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/21 02:02:05


 
   
Made in us
Hacking Proxy Mk.1





Australia

I'd have expected them to throw in a little (tm) and just try to claim they own the term 'game' in relation to anything model related.

 Fafnir wrote:
Oh, I certainly vote with my dollar, but the problem is that that is not enough. The problem with the 'vote with your dollar' response is that it doesn't take into account why we're not buying the product. I want to enjoy 40k enough to buy back in. It was my introduction to traditional games, and there was a time when I enjoyed it very much. I want to buy 40k, but Gamesworkshop is doing their very best to push me away, and simply not buying their product won't tell them that.
 
   
Made in jp
[MOD]
Anti-piracy Officer






Somewhere in south-central England.

Games Workshop would have a pretty good claim to a trademark on the name "Games Day" within the tabletop game exhibition space as they have been running the event with that name since the mid-1980s.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Interestingly, the term "Games Day" is apparently not listed as a UK trademark, so anyone can now run an event with that name.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/21 06:41:04


I'm writing a load of fiction. My latest story starts here... This is the index of all the stories...

We're not very big on official rules. Rules lead to people looking for loopholes. What's here is about it. 
   
Made in gb
Noise Marine Terminator with Sonic Blaster





Melbourne

 Kilkrazy wrote:
 Osbad wrote:
What GW seem to simply not understand is that there is a difference between what they are selling and what people are buying.

They are selling little plastic models. What people are buying though is an entry into an exciting hobby. At least that is what they are wanting to buy. The more stunts like cancelling or nerfing Games Day, White Dwarf, etc., etc., that GW pull though, the more that people realise all they are buying is those little bits of plastic and they drift away...

What they sell is little pieces of plastic, but what earns them money is excitement.


YES! That is EXACTLY the point!

In marketing there is a saying that you "Sell the sizzle, not the sausage".

A box of Space Wolves is a sausage. The Sanctus Reach campaign is a sizzle.


Sizzle is not another product, it's the benefits, excitement and intangibles that come with a product. Both items you've listed are sausages

The joys of painting and converting genetically engineered space Vikings would be an example of sizzle for the former, the fun of interacting and socialising with other players developing a storyline over multiple games leading to an epic finale would be an example of sizzle for the latter.

The stores themselves are meant to be a way of selling the sizzle, so passers-by see people gaming and painting and having fun with others and then get tempted in to play a demo game, which is more sizzle (selling the fun of the game not the game itself). Then you sausage them up with add-ons at the till (paint, glue etc). At least they were back in my day.........

Ex-Mantic Rules Committees: Kings of War, Warpath
"The Emperor is obviously not a dictator, he's a couch."
Starbuck: "Why can't we use the starboard launch bays?"
Engineer: "Because it's a gift shop!" 
   
Made in ie
Calculating Commissar




Frostgrave

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Games Workshop would have a pretty good claim to a trademark on the name "Games Day" within the tabletop game exhibition space as they have been running the event with that name since the mid-1980s.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Interestingly, the term "Games Day" is apparently not listed as a UK trademark, so anyone can now run an event with that name.


It's far too generic though; most schools and youth clubs in the country will have run a "Games Day" at some point in the last year. And it's very self explanatory; you can't really host a games day without calling it such. Then You've got stuff like Warlord Games Day, an open day (with participation games) by Warlord Games, in it's 2nd year.

I think it's probably because Warhammer Fest is using their trademark, and dropping the "Games" part means there won't be any backlash about it having no games.
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






You only have to watch that mutt show that BOW did and get hassled for it to see this coming. The show itself was a train wreck, the treatment of the team from BOW was icing on a crap-cake.

Even look over the various YouTube shows by the usual suspects to see that Games day was on its last legs, and that the thrill was gone, and it was now just extra baggage by a company that doesn't care anymore.

That Death Spiral discussion on Page one can not be Exalted enough...

I for one, feel sorry to see it fall so low. I remember back in the 90's when the game still had wind in its sales on how much fun this stuff was. I never thought I'd ever see the day when they would stop being a pretty good game company and enjoy just being overly hostile to the players and customer as a whole.

GW has lost the spontaneity and the fun in the game, and cooked out the sizzle to the consistency of over-boiled beans. Game itself is Crappy McSuckfest, the product is now just a chore to look at, and it really takes effort for me personally to get excited over them in their extra helping of zeal to !@#$ over the consumer.


The crux of the matter is that GW is having its Detroit Auto Industry moment, and can't honestly seem to see it.



At Games Workshop, we believe that how you behave does matter. We believe this so strongly that we have written it down in the Games Workshop Book. There is a section in the book where we talk about the values we expect all staff to demonstrate in their working lives. These values are Lawyers, Guns and Money. 
   
Made in us
Preceptor




Rochester, NY

 Grot 6 wrote:
The crux of the matter is that GW is having its Detroit Auto Industry moment, and can't honestly seem to see it.


Ironically, they're actually going about it in the exact opposite way. Detroit was bloated, having too much overhead and inefficiency. GW has cut so much to the bone that they don't have anything left. The one thing they both have in common is a lack of quality.

Amazing how it gets the same results, though, eh? i.e. permanently losing market share to a handful of competitors eager to fill in the void.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

- Hanlon's Razor
 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut





 Baragash wrote:

The stores themselves are meant to be a way of selling the sizzle, so passers-by see people gaming and painting and having fun with others and then get tempted in to play a demo game, which is more sizzle (selling the fun of the game not the game itself). Then you sausage them up with add-ons at the till (paint, glue etc). At least they were back in my day.........


That made me laugh really had.

But I agree it's a shame GW we all loved at the start when we entered the hobby is dying in such a way.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/21 22:58:04


   
Made in us
Malicious Mutant Scum




Memphis, TN

 insaniak wrote:
Because so far as GW is concerned, the GW Hobby is no longer about playing games... It's about 'buying Games Workshop miniatures'. And Games Day is not a cost-effective sales tool.


You're statement is not far but still WAY off the mark. I know that is an oxymoronic statement, so please allow me to explain.

I am a member of the local gaming community of the US GW HQ. I was an attendee & Golden Daemon participant. Great time. The true answer is actually, GW Prime said so. Now, that is not answer, yet. 2013 was the year of the last Games Day, I only recently learned this answer.

Paraphrased quote follows.

The US Games Day was the only financially successful Games Day. There was a massive debate for the US to be able to hold one again this year. GW Prime basically said if. The UK cannot have one, no one can.

NOW HERE'S THE CRAZY.
GW and it's subsidiaries, Black Library & Forge World, hold 3-4 conventions a year. The most recent one I believe happened this just past weekend, The GW Open Day. Think about that.

I am a supporter of GW's products and product lines, but even I know that's inequitable. I guess if you want a US Games Day, go to gencon this year, GW employees will be running demos there and likely have some product.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/23 06:29:45


Quod Sum Eris.
Sic Transit Gloria  
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




Aberdeen Scotland

Spaz431 wrote:
 insaniak wrote:
Because so far as GW is concerned, the GW Hobby is no longer about playing games... It's about 'buying Games Workshop miniatures'. And Games Day is not a cost-effective sales tool.


You're statement is not far but still WAY off the mark. I know that is an oxymoronic statement, so please allow me to explain.

I am a member of the local gaming community of the US GW HQ. I was an attendee & Golden Daemon participant. Great time. The true answer is actually, GW Prime said so. Now, that is not answer, yet. 2013 was the year of the last Games Day, I only recently learned this answer.

Paraphrased quote follows.

The US Games Day was the only financially successful Games Day. There was a massive debate for the US to be able to hold one again this year. GW Prime basically said if. The UK cannot have one, no one can.

NOW HERE'S THE CRAZY.
GW and it's subsidiaries, Black Library & Forge World, hold 3-4 conventions a year. The most recent one I believe happened this just past weekend, The GW Open Day. Think about that.

I am a supporter of GW's products and product lines, but even I know that's inequitable. I guess if you want a US Games Day, go to gencon this year, GW employees will be running demos there and likely have some product.


I understand that English may not be your first language, so I don't mean this to cause offence, but, Pardon?

 
   
 
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