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I was expecting the internet to be full of reports but beyond a report from a very pro-GW blog I've seen nothing. Have people completely lost interest in it?

What I did get was that it was quieter again, the staff were asking feedback and there was actual gaming, but it was still predominantly a sales event. How off base am I?

I think it was pretty much that; a sales event. From what I have gathered, the FW stuff was well received like it usually is, there were a few seminars, although I haven't heard anything else as to whether they were worth the ticket price or not. The other report I have read on Dakka, the chap said he had run out of things to see/do by half two. Golden Daemon was also apparently well down on entries too. It is a sad end to things really; the slow death of a once-great institution. Kind of like WD really. But GW are cutting costs wherever they can and Warhammer Fest is no exception it seems.

 filbert wrote:
I think it was pretty much that; a sales event. From what I have gathered, the FW stuff was well received like it usually is, there were a few seminars, although I haven't heard anything else as to whether they were worth the ticket price or not. The other report I have read on Dakka, the chap said he had run out of things to see/do by half two. Golden Daemon was also apparently well down on entries too. It is a sad end to things really; the slow death of a once-great institution. Kind of like WD really. But GW are cutting costs wherever they can and Warhammer Fest is no exception it seems.

I didn't go but I had a feeling it would just be that. A big sales event. A pitty really, but it's the reality.

The only possible silver lining is if this is the case, and interest and attendance is demonstrably down, that requires a whole nother level of mental gymnastics to maintain the illusion that everything is fine.

Staff who are perhaps insulated away from the front line in Nottingham may well be confronted, first hand, with how things have changed, especially those who have been there for a few years and will have a frame of reference to how it has been historically.

If one runs and event specifically to celebrate one's product, and notably fewer people turn up than have done in the past, that surely sends a message that's difficult to ignore?

Much harder to blame "internet trolls" in the real world.

Beasts of war did a review talks about the seminars quite a bit

 Azreal13 wrote:
The only possible silver lining is if this is the case, and interest and attendance is demonstrably down, that requires a whole nother level of mental gymnastics to maintain the illusion that everything is fine.

Staff who are perhaps insulated away from the front line in Nottingham may well be confronted, first hand, with how things have changed, especially those who have been there for a few years and will have a frame of reference to how it has been historically.

If one runs and event specifically to celebrate one's product, and notably fewer people turn up than have done in the past, that surely sends a message that's difficult to ignore?

Much harder to blame "internet trolls" in the real world.

Wait you mean like GW actually paying attention to a simple plain reality up in their faces?

I was more thinking the likes of the writers, designers, painters etc, those who wouldn't necessarily be engaged with the numbers side of things or mangement may be surprised and an event like this may circumvent the GW propaganda machine a little.

http://warhammerworld.games-workshop.com/2014/10/20/warhammer-fest-the-review/


Their "review" .... it's pictures.

 reds8n wrote:
http://warhammerworld.games-workshop.com/2014/10/20/warhammer-fest-the-review/


Their "review" .... it's pictures.

A+, would give Tom Kirby my life's savings again.

Looks pretty empty compared to some of the Games Day pictures from the old days. Empty and sterile. Though with gamers the latter might be a good thing

How many people where actually there? I don't think I ever saw more than 30 people in one pic.

This sentence speaks volumes to me...

GW wrote:If you joined us for the first Warhammer Fest, you helped make it the relaxed yet exciting event we all enjoyed.

Operative word = relaxed i.e. quiet / not that busy

its only a 4 million dollar website... what do you honestly expect - content, spellcheck AND an editor?

womp-womp :p

To be honest I'm glad it was more relaxed... I hated the Games Day experience with all the little gaks shouting WAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!! at the top of their voices. At least this way I got a chance to catch up with some of the guys I used to know. Too many peeps have left GW though... One of the highlights for me was seeing Blanchey sitting in a corner on his own with 2 desks between himself and the great unwashed... It was like they got him out of his box and rolled him out on the stipulation no one could talk to him

 Flippa wrote:
To be honest I'm glad it was more relaxed... I hated the Games Day experience with all the little gaks shouting WAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!! at the top of their voices. At least this way I got a chance to catch up with some of the guys I used to know. Too many peeps have left GW though... One of the highlights for me was seeing Blanchey sitting in a corner on his own with 2 desks between himself and the great unwashed... It was like they got him out of his box and rolled him out on the stipulation no one could talk to him

Blanche... didn't he used to be an artist?

The Auld Grump, heck, I remember when Blanche used to be a good artist.

I went on the Sunday and certainly felt it was worth the 20dd quid it cost.
Free parking, a nice, spacious atmosphere, no jostling to get to the sales stands, time to talk to the developers and artists, space to look at the dioramas and artwork on show, seminars that were well orchestrated and worth attending - all in all a nice day.
Given it was split over 3 floors, with breakout areas in between, it was always going to feel emptier than years gone by, but I would hazard a guess that over the two days, they had an attendance in the same numbers as Games days at the NEC, which given they didn't run coaches from the stores was an achievement (and let's be honest, the coaches was a major factor as to high numbers in years gone by).
Golden Daemon was a little under represented in some quarters, but I'd put that more down to the 'will they / won't they' hesitation on whether it was actually going ahead this year. The level of competition was incredibly high in most categories, with a notable exception being WFB regiments.
I hope they build on the format for next year - more participation games would be nice to see.
My only gripe was that the GW sales stands were a little sparse - major selling lines were in abundance, but blisters / characters were hard to come by outside of the newer releases - I'd hoped to pick up a few Necron pieces but to no avail. They did however order them with free shipping for me there and then.... Which was nice.
So, build up the 'core' GW presence with a seminar of what's coming up similar to the FW one, increase items available on the day and it would be the full deal.

A dozen posts bemoaning something the posters have no experience of then eventually someone that actually went and enjoyed it.

Welcome to Dakka 2014 in a nutshell.

 TheAuldGrump wrote:

 Flippa wrote:
To be honest I'm glad it was more relaxed... I hated the Games Day experience with all the little gaks shouting WAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!! at the top of their voices. At least this way I got a chance to catch up with some of the guys I used to know. Too many peeps have left GW though... One of the highlights for me was seeing Blanchey sitting in a corner on his own with 2 desks between himself and the great unwashed... It was like they got him out of his box and rolled him out on the stipulation no one could talk to him

Blanche... didn't he used to be an artist?

The Auld Grump, heck, I remember when Blanche used to be a good artist.

i was told a story about the man when asked "whats the first thing you add when starting to paint?" the response "alochol"

Thanks to Art, I was genuinely interested to hear how you faired.

I suspect the issues you describe will not be a problem when it locates to WarhammerWorld.

I bet you're right as well ;-)

I was always a little cautious on the 'new' formats given the pretty poor time I'd had at the last two GD's - the NIA and the NEC previously were both in effect 'get in get out' - both times I left before lunch.

Compared to this time, when we stayed until 3-ish.

So, as I said, I look forward to seeing what they come up with next year (or, possibly the year after depending on the WhW developments completing on time next Spring) when it relocates again!

Were there still tickets available on the days of the shows?

Was the crowd larger or smaller than expected?

Was it more successful than the last Games Day or less successful?

These are the questions that have answers that will reflect on whether there will be a Warhamster Fest next year or not.

Suspicion: Turnout was lower than hoped.

Suspicion: The reason that you hear more griping about Wargerbil Fest from folks that avoided Wargerbil Fest than comments from folks that went is because fewer people went. A radical idea, I know.

I have been tempted by Games Day in the past - though not as much as either Origins or GenCon.

I had no such temptation for Warhammer Fest. (Not a surprise - I have given up on GW entirely.)

The Auld Grump

Were there still tickets available on the days of the shows? Not as far as I could see, there were certainly no GW staff on the door selling them.

Was the crowd larger or smaller than expected? From talking to the staffers, it was on par with expectations (cue: 'but they would say that')

Was it more successful than the last Games Day or less successful? In terms of what? On the day sales? Or personal satisfaction? From terms of sales - who knows, GW don't publish that kind of data. From a personal point of view? Very much so - I got to see all I wanted to see, got into all the seminars I wanted to, bought or ordered all I wanted to.

These are the questions that have answers that will reflect on whether there will be a Warhamster Fest next year or not. Staffers confirmed it will be back next year, they're just waiting on the development works at WhW to be near completion to decide whether it will be at the Ricoh again or a 'home gig'.

Suspicion: Turnout was lower than hoped. Which you're allowed to have, but without proof either way, it's only a suspicion, just as MY suspicion is that it was on par with previous single GD's, just spread over two days. Is this what GW wanted? Who knows, apart from the events team.. a two day event was untested in this format for GW...

Suspicion: The reason that you hear more griping about Wargerbil Fest from folks that avoided Wargerbil Fest than comments from folks that went is because fewer people went. A radical idea, I know. What, it's radical to slate GW? It's more radical NOT to now a days!

I have been tempted by Games Day in the past - though not as much as either Origins or GenCon. You can't compare Warhammerfest to either of those shows - they're full trade shows, rather than single vendor. It's NEVER going to compete with the Big 2 - it's like asking Milton Keynes Comic Con to compete with San Diego or New York.

I had no such temptation for Warhammer Fest. (Not a surprise - I have given up on GW entirely.) Then your bias shows through and weakens your position on your 'suspicions' doesn't it? You're hardly a neutral onlooker of 'you've given up on Gw entirely'. I went with a cautiously cynical outlook after two really crap years at the NEC and NIA - and I was pleasantly surprised.

But hey, I actually went - what would I know?

I went and I'm even in one of the photos of their review page.

As I said before, I was glad it was a more subdued affair as I hated the WAAAAAGH!!! days of old, and it was nice to catch up with some of my old colleagues. In all fairness I don't think turnout could've/should've been been better as it would've detracted from what they were trying to achieve.

The more cynical side of me says, the reason they had to downgrade in scale was because of all the 1 man shops and I don't think they would close the entire retail chain to get all the coaches up there. I would assume it's a mixture of not being able to shut up shop and the running costs of the event itself. Something the size of the NIA/NEC must be horrendous to hire.

I'd like to think that when they get WW refurbished and done then it will be held there, although I'm not sure going to the event will be any better than going to WW during the off peak.

And Auld Grump, Wargerbil? Seriously?

But wasn't it the case that GW used to close the stores on Games Day so that the staff all went to it? I know certainly WhW did. That being the case, the 1 man store angle is moot.
Running the coaches was always a loss leader for GW so I can understand why they'd want to cease doing it.

I was planning on going but ended up in Istanbul that week for work, so I missed it… In fact, I think i'm going to be missing a lot of geeky days out this year. When Salute comes around I'll most likely be in Manila..

Still, it was interesting to read about your experiences, Art and Flippa. Given what you thought, would you both go again?

 Art Steventon wrote:
But wasn't it the case that GW used to close the stores on Games Day so that the staff all went to it? I know certainly WhW did. That being the case, the 1 man store angle is moot.
Running the coaches was always a loss leader for GW so I can understand why they'd want to cease doing it.

Many moons ago I worked in a GW, back when you had 3 full timers and a part timer in even in a small store. We spent hours and hours collectively getting presentation armies ready for the day, and then on Games Day the guy who got the short straw would stay in the store to work while the rest went to games day.

It's simple man power - they don't have people now to paint the display armies that go in the shop window, let alone prepare stuff for Games Day (at least that's my take on it).

The sad thing is, this sound much more like a good event! Participation gaming,easy access to everything, etc.

I do wish I'd gone. The low turnout may well be due to a number of factors now, not just the falloff in GW custom in general, but the mismanagement of previous events. Might take it a few years to get busy again, assuming they're willing to keep investing in it.

Pacific hit the nail on the head, when I ran my store generally the key timer would stay back and run the shop. Then myself the full timer and part timer would go to GD. It's also the reason I will never paint another Skaven army. Having to get a 5000 point army consisting mostly of clanrats and slaves did my nut in.

Also my store never made a loss on the coaches, if anything we made a small profit and we used to get nice coaches too.

As to whether I would go again? Probably yes, although I don't believe that this format will be around for long.

Winterdyne, I wouldn't worry about the gaming side of things, that was kind of lacking. But easy access to painters, sculptors and rules gurus was huge plus for me. A few things need tweaking, the demo pods whilst ok didn't teach me anything at all, in fact youtube is far better, although I found chatting with Ali Morrison enlightening and from someone who doesn't convert I'm now thinking about it

@winterdyne - You were missed mate - everyone kept asking if anyone had seen you!

 reds8n wrote:
http://warhammerworld.games-workshop.com/2014/10/20/warhammer-fest-the-review/


Their "review" .... it's pictures.

That looks really quiet, like boondocks town local event quiet, rather than biggest event of the gaming calendar. Maybe it's the partitioned rooms though but it looks like there are like 200 in attendance. I'm glad it was worthwhile for those that went, if it stays the same in the next couple of years I'll consider re-attending.