Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Who is going to Warhammer Fest and what do you guys think about it?
If anyone doesn't know, this is what appears to be replacing Games Day UK, it will be on the 11th and 12th of October in Coventry, at the Ricoh Arena. Details here: http://warhammerworld.games-workshop.com/events-hall/warhammer-fest/

I was hoping to go to Games Day this year, as I have never been to one, and since it is no longer happening, I'm thinking of going to this event instead. Would be nice to know who else is going and what Dakka's thoughts are on the event.

From what I have seen (here on dakkadakka) people don't have much trust in GW to do this right. Gamesday seems to have changed its name for trademark reasons and otherwise the actual event just slowly rolled into a ditch.

It seems that the regional Gamesday evens slowly moved from being a gaming event into a day-long sales event with the occasional preview while also becoming more expensive. For example: The one man stores just can't make the gaming/display boards that they could in times of larger store staff.

I can't really comment on what the event became in recent years but that's what it sounds like to me from the event threads on dakkadakka: A lot of people who liked the even a decade ago feel like GW wants them (the event visitors) to pay for the privilege of buying more GW stuff.

Yeah I was also following along with the threads about what had been happening to Gamesday, especially last years one. Shortening it to just Day etc, since there was no games, and all the other problems.

BUT! I'm willing to give them a chance for this event, I'm interested to see how it goes.

Because the way "games" day has deteriorated in the last few years it will probably be Sales Fest.

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
Because the way "games" day has deteriorated in the last few years it will probably be Sales Fest.

Well, Kirby does think the hobby is buying their products. Actually doing things with them once you've bought them is irrelevant.

But a key factor is that Golden Demon is at this event, and is the only one happening in 2014. So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

I find it amusing that Warlord Games have now started running "Warlord Games Day" now...

OP. You are basically paying for the privilege of viewing product you can see on the games-workshop and Forge-World websites for free.

If you really want a 'warhammer fest' then just save some money and organize a few games over the two days you would otherwise waste at the Ricoh in Coventry.

 Azazelx wrote:
I find it amusing that Warlord Games have now started running "Warlord Games Day" now...

They were doing that before Warhammer Fest.

 Mr. Burning wrote:
OP. You are basically paying for the privilege of viewing product you can see on the games-workshop and Forge-World websites for free.

If you really want a 'warhammer fest' then just save some money and organize a few games over the two days you would otherwise waste at the Ricoh in Coventry.

Well theres still the golden demon, and I'd like to view the entries, if not enter myself for the hell of it. And I haven't learned to play yet, so that wouldn't be useful to me

 Glaiceana wrote:

 Mr. Burning wrote:
OP. You are basically paying for the privilege of viewing product you can see on the games-workshop and Forge-World websites for free.

If you really want a 'warhammer fest' then just save some money and organize a few games over the two days you would otherwise waste at the Ricoh in Coventry.

Well theres still the golden demon, and I'd like to view the entries, if not enter myself for the hell of it. And I haven't learned to play yet, so that wouldn't be useful to me

If it's anything like GD last year they won't have any demo games.

 Glaiceana wrote:
But a key factor is that Golden Demon is at this event, and is the only one happening in 2014. So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

Why should WE "help"? I mean if GW can't even bother, why should we the fans bother then? I just don't get the,

So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

After all, GW is doing EVERYTHING to take away what the fans and customers like/want. So who cares if this event gets going or not. GW doesn't seem to care, so why should we?

you will get to talk the the staff, attend a few seminars on various 40k topics, but thats all you are getting that you cannot get anywhere else.

I was tempted to go as well, I always enjoy a games day, meeting up with a few friends each time, but I am going to give this one a miss and see how it goes.
I just cannot see what they have planned to drag it out for two days, its normally a chore dragging it out for one day as it is.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Davor wrote:

 Glaiceana wrote:
But a key factor is that Golden Demon is at this event, and is the only one happening in 2014. So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

Why should WE "help"? I mean if GW can't even bother, why should we the fans bother then? I just don't get the,

So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

After all, GW is doing EVERYTHING to take away what the fans and customers like/want. So who cares if this event gets going or not. GW doesn't seem to care, so why should we?

cheer up

Davor wrote:

 Glaiceana wrote:
But a key factor is that Golden Demon is at this event, and is the only one happening in 2014. So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

Why should WE "help"? I mean if GW can't even bother, why should we the fans bother then? I just don't get the,

So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

After all, GW is doing EVERYTHING to take away what the fans and customers like/want. So who cares if this event gets going or not. GW doesn't seem to care, so why should we?

if GW didn't care, they would not be holding the event...

the Golden Demon contest is some of the best free advertising GW gets...
to be able to show off their products painted to a world class standard has always been a plus
to be able to publish the photos in Visions is good for GW...
when they are taking the approach that the hobby is collecting, which it is for me (i just don't pay retail), the Golden Demon is half the reason for the event...
the other half of the event is about hanging out with friends, chatting with the design studio guys...
what is the problem with that???

i have always enjoyed Games Day, without ever playing a single game...

cheers
jah

 jah-joshua wrote:

Davor wrote:

 Glaiceana wrote:
But a key factor is that Golden Demon is at this event, and is the only one happening in 2014. So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

Why should WE "help"? I mean if GW can't even bother, why should we the fans bother then? I just don't get the,

So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

After all, GW is doing EVERYTHING to take away what the fans and customers like/want. So who cares if this event gets going or not. GW doesn't seem to care, so why should we?

if GW didn't care, they would not be holding the event...

the Golden Demon contest is some of the best free advertising GW gets...
to be able to show off their products painted to a world class standard has always been a plus
to be able to publish the photos in Visions is good for GW...
when they are taking the approach that the hobby is collecting, which it is for me (i just don't pay retail), the Golden Demon is half the reason for the event...
the other half of the event is about hanging out with friends, chatting with the design studio guys...
what is the problem with that???

i have always enjoyed Games Day, without ever playing a single game...

cheers
jah

Agree with this.

And when I said "help the event" I meant as a whole, as in popularity and success of the event in general, nothing about US having to do anything for them.

 jah-joshua wrote:

Davor wrote:

 Glaiceana wrote:
But a key factor is that Golden Demon is at this event, and is the only one happening in 2014. So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

Why should WE "help"? I mean if GW can't even bother, why should we the fans bother then? I just don't get the,

So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

After all, GW is doing EVERYTHING to take away what the fans and customers like/want. So who cares if this event gets going or not. GW doesn't seem to care, so why should we?

if GW didn't care, they would not be holding the event...

the Golden Demon contest is some of the best free advertising GW gets...
to be able to show off their products painted to a world class standard has always been a plus
to be able to publish the photos in Visions is good for GW...
when they are taking the approach that the hobby is collecting, which it is for me (i just don't pay retail), the Golden Demon is half the reason for the event...
the other half of the event is about hanging out with friends, chatting with the design studio guys...
what is the problem with that???

i have always enjoyed Games Day, without ever playing a single game...

cheers
jah

Jah - yes all of those things are great, but the problem is however when you start comparing current versions of this event to the glorious show it was in the past.

It's just got so much less effort involved in it, so much less money spent, the Games Day's of the past few years are similar in name only to some of the events in the mid to late 90's and early 00's.

Looking back now I think the 90's was a great time to grow up with GW - just so many wonderful games on offer, so much creativity, and it wasn't priced out of the range of most middle-class families. Games Day was a part of that. Thundercats and Transformers on TV.. it was a good time..

Glaiceana if you are interested in the painting part of the event you might be interested in this. The guy running the blog has been visiting a lot of the painting events (including Games Day). So if you more about the painting part (and not mainly about the GW part) then you might find some (old) events there that might happen this year too.

Of course if it's a combination of GW and painting then Warhammerfest seems to be your main option. People go to these events and want them to be nice (who would want to pay money to have a bad time) but in recent times disappointment seems to be the main emotion. Lets hope that it gets better.

 jah-joshua wrote:

if GW didn't care, they would not be holding the event...

Thing, is GW is not holding the events (plural). They are just having one event. Gone are the days when they had many events. That is what I meant that GW doesn't care by not holding events. Gone is the one in Canada. Gone is the one that became North America. Gone are Spain, Germany, France, Australia. I might be missing a few more. So to me, that would seem GW doesn't care for the customers/fans in those countries.

hey, to each their own...
Games Day 2000 in the UK was a great event, and probably the peak of what you all are pining for...
remember the footage running all day for the BloodQuest movie that never ended up getting finished???

things is, you can't go back to that time, and i am not much for nostalgia...
things change...

if people want to be pessimistic about the future, that's their choice...
i for one choose to enjoy the positive things, and not be bothered by other people's negativity...

i'm off to paint some minis now, and enjoy myself...

cheers
jah

 jah-joshua wrote:
hey, to each their own...
Games Day 2000 in the UK was a great event, and probably the peak of what you all are pining for...
remember the footage running all day for the BloodQuest movie that never ended up getting finished???

things is, you can't go back to that time, and i am not much for nostalgia...
things change...

if people want to be pessimistic about the future, that's their choice...
i for one choose to enjoy the positive things, and not be bothered by other people's negativity...

i'm off to paint some minis now, and enjoy myself...

cheers
jah

The world needs more people like you buddy!

Indeed! I'm willing to give Warhammer Fest a chance, no point putting it down before its even happened

Mario wrote:
Glaiceana if you are interested in the painting part of the event you might be interested in this. The guy running the blog has been visiting a lot of the painting events (including Games Day). So if you more about the painting part (and not mainly about the GW part) then you might find some (old) events there that might happen this year too.

Of course if it's a combination of GW and painting then Warhammerfest seems to be your main option. People go to these events and want them to be nice (who would want to pay money to have a bad time) but in recent times disappointment seems to be the main emotion. Lets hope that it gets better.

Thanks for that link, will check it out

The problem is, you can get 90% of what "Gamesday" has to offer by just going to this website.
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Home?gclid=CjwKEAjwp7WgBRCRxMCLx8mMnDMSJADncxS28GKB0QSLHobB1WWU_2Ff3u2pdRcHqXkN0aDd0kIbDhoC-Vnw_wcB

only if you consider the Golden Demons, Studio members and BL writers presence, GW and Forge World event exclusive models, and meeting up with friends from around the world to be only 10% of what was cool about Games Day, MWHistorian..

for me, those things were, and are, the entire point of attending...

like i said, to each their own...
i happen to have enjoyed every convention, of every size, all over the world, without ever having played a single game...
it has always been about socializing and competing in painting contests...
that is no something you get from a webstore...
hell, even on a website as cool as DakkaDakka, it is not the same as actually being in the presence of good friends and great painters...

cheers
jah

 Pacific wrote:

 jah-joshua wrote:

Davor wrote:

 Glaiceana wrote:
But a key factor is that Golden Demon is at this event, and is the only one happening in 2014. So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

Why should WE "help"? I mean if GW can't even bother, why should we the fans bother then? I just don't get the,

So that might be a big enough deal to help this event get going.

After all, GW is doing EVERYTHING to take away what the fans and customers like/want. So who cares if this event gets going or not. GW doesn't seem to care, so why should we?

if GW didn't care, they would not be holding the event...

the Golden Demon contest is some of the best free advertising GW gets...
to be able to show off their products painted to a world class standard has always been a plus
to be able to publish the photos in Visions is good for GW...
when they are taking the approach that the hobby is collecting, which it is for me (i just don't pay retail), the Golden Demon is half the reason for the event...
the other half of the event is about hanging out with friends, chatting with the design studio guys...
what is the problem with that???

i have always enjoyed Games Day, without ever playing a single game...

cheers
jah

Jah - yes all of those things are great, but the problem is however when you start comparing current versions of this event to the glorious show it was in the past.

It's just got so much less effort involved in it, so much less money spent, the Games Day's of the past few years are similar in name only to some of the events in the mid to late 90's and early 00's.

Looking back now I think the 90's was a great time to grow up with GW - just so many wonderful games on offer, so much creativity, and it wasn't priced out of the range of most middle-class families. Games Day was a part of that. Thundercats and Transformers on TV.. it was a good time..

maybe youre just trolling but wow, take off the rose colored glasses.
GW has always been way overpriced and the games have always been unbalanced and terrible.

OP. If you get enjoyment from attending that is all that matters.

Even though I would not I'm not going to tell you you are having fun wrong.

Absolutely not, I completely agree with you. If someone is having fun with something then no-one should ever begrudge them that.

But, the OP asked other people what they think about the event. I do think it's good that GW is doing something like this and changing the name, and the new name is more fitting with what it sounds like it is going to be. Now, they just need to change the company name to follow suit..

When do they start selling the tickets for viewing the Golden Demon entries?

 Pacific wrote:
Absolutely not, I completely agree with you. If someone is having fun with something then no-one should ever begrudge them that.

But, the OP asked other people what they think about the event. I do think it's good that GW is doing something like this and changing the name, and the new name is more fitting with what it sounds like it is going to be. Now, they just need to change the company name to follow suit..

I agree with you! (back slapping all round).

The fun part of gamesdays - for me - was always the participation games and chatting with like minded souls. some GW store and club boards/set ups were awe inspiring and it was always good to come away with fresh ideas for my own gaming collective.
Gamesday becoming Sales day sort of lost something and felt a bit insular.

Nothing stays the same though. It will be interesting to hear what this 2 day format is like. I might stump up the cash for one day next year if there is a smidgen of positivty

 jah-joshua wrote:
only if you consider the Golden Demons, Studio members and BL writers presence, GW and Forge World event exclusive models, and meeting up with friends from around the world to be only 10% of what was cool about Games Day, MWHistorian..

If you want the exclusive models, it's much cheaper to just buy them on eBay by the time you factor in show tickets and travel.

Golden Demons is good, if they light it properly this year, and talking to studio members is also good, if they are allowed to talk about anything.

Not to begrudge you an experience you enjoy, but a lot of people don't really share your views (I went to GD 2012 with my army in my bag expecting a day of, well, gaming).

jah-joshua wrote:only if you consider the Golden Demons, Studio members and BL writers presence, GW and Forge World event exclusive models, and meeting up with friends from around the world to be only 10% of what was cool about Games Day, MWHistorian..

for me, those things were, and are, the entire point of attending...

like i said, to each their own...
i happen to have enjoyed every convention, of every size, all over the world, without ever having played a single game...
it has always been about socializing and competing in painting contests...
that is no something you get from a webstore...
hell, even on a website as cool as DakkaDakka, it is not the same as actually being in the presence of good friends and great painters...

cheers
jah

Agree with you again. As I said, I've not had the chance to go to any event of minatures before, so this would be my first one if I go. Like I said, I'll give it a chance, maybe it will be a great event. I guess people are suspicious about GW's motives and think its just going to be about sales only again. But just wait, we might be pleasantly surprised, or not, who knows?

snurl wrote:When do they start selling the tickets for viewing the Golden Demon entries?

You have to buy the Sunday ticket, because that's the day Golden Demon is held, and that's all you need if you want to view the entries/enter. (Obviously need to fill out the entry form if you want to enter the competition)