"Anyone go to Games Day?" Topic

Any TMPers go to Games Day this year?

A buddy talked me into going. I didn have much interest in going. I went a few years ago and was underwhelmed. After this years visit I remain underwhelmed.

Here's my take:

1. There was little motivation to buy anything. There were no deals on anything. I can pay full retail (or less) for GW without paying a cover charge. The only "deal" was the Games Day miniature. The last time I went the miniature was included in the price of admission. This time it was $20. USD The only other real draw was having Forge World on site. I didnt buy any Forge World this time but plenty of people did.

2. The hall was very noisy. I was at a seminar in the hall and was less than two feet from the speaker and couldnt hear a word he said over all the noise. Im not sure how they can fix that. Maybe they could invest in some portable microphones.

3. It was very difficult to get in on events. They were running several rounds for different events like the paint and take and scenery build and take. It was strictly first come first served. To get into an event, you pretty much had to stand in line for a half hour to an hour. A sign up sheet would have been nice as I could have went and signed up for events while everyone else was standing in line for Forge World or paying full retail in the GW store.
I only managed to get in on the paint and take

4. They really needed more game events. As it was there were four or five "Big" games. There were two 40k, one Fantasy, and one or two Lord of the Rings. These were the only games available to newbies and people who didnt lug their armies along but still wanted to play. The one I managed to play in for about a half hour was a missmatched confusing mess. There was alot of shouting and chanting and whoever chanted the loudest got a bonus for the turn. It was a big turn off.

There were some tables set up for open gaming but I would have had to lug my army along with me.

I dont think I'll be going back to Games Day anytime soon. While I still enjoy Games Workshop and their products the whole atmospher of the convention really put me off.

Your thoughts?

Only time I went (over ten years ago now) it was very much as you describe. It's the gaming equivalent of a monster truck rally – expensive, crowded, and loud for the sake of being loud. Only way I'd go again is if I was being paid to go.

Come to think of it, that's why I went the first time.

I went. I also made the mistake of going there on an hour and a half of sleep. Was fine until I got home. Overall, I agree it was pretty underwhelming though…. Until you got to the concessions area and had a heart attack just looking at the prices…. Geez… And people thought Space Marines were expensive….try getting a hotdog there! Practically had to sell a kidney to get a simple freakin' pretzel.

The cosplayers were cool though, especially that hot red head who came as a sister of battle.

I forgot about the food. $4.25 USD for a little, lukewarm hot dog that probably cost them $.35 USD to make.

We found a nice lunch buffet for $10 USD across the street at one of the hotels. It was just a soup and salad bar with some premade sandwiches but it was all fresh and done well.

The bright spot was that GW was running tour busses to the convention. We met the bus at the local GW store at 5:45am and stopped off to pick up another group from another GW store. It was a bargain at $25 USD considering gas and Chicago parking rates. The GW store also threw in a free Games Day mini with the bus ticket.

Chuck

I went to one back in the mid 1990's afterwards went over to a bar and played Andy Chambers in some Foos Ball.

But that was before they became the evil empire.

I think Games Days over here are full of kids.
Never even considered going myself.

I only go to historical wargames conventions.
They're a bit different over here in the UK.
Almost all of the people here will travel on the day and return home the same day. Because it's maybe 30 miles.
So participation games here are short and many aren't worth getting excited about.

In the US they have long participation games which sound like they're worth the trip.

I go to cons so I can see product (and buy it). I'm also saving on postage.
A seconday plus is seeing people who I don't now meet otherwise.
But to me, they're like a big shop full of stuff you can't find together in one shop.

To quote a certain famous writer…

"MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING!"

You live once & die once & if you've got an ounce of common sense you'll only go to Games Day once!

Have to admit though my nephew & I only went because I was given two tickets. Have to agree with Wolfprophet, "especially that hot red head who came as a Sister of Battle."

I'm planning on going to the UK one, and I don't expect it to be much different to this, but I've never been so thought it was worth checking out.

I'll probably take advantage of Forgeworld being there and not having to pay postage, but I'm not expecting there to be any deals on offer for FW or GW. Which kind of leads to the question, will the GW shop there be stocking mostly mail-order only stuff or will it be the usual stock. If it's just the usual stock and no offers then what's the point?

I'm still looking forward to the demo games and stuff though, if nothing else it'll be a short trip away doing something unusual.

@Herzlos

The GW store at Games Day did have a small selection of mail order only items. I guess the only draw would be for people without a local game store as everything else for sale was just regular product at full retail.

The last time I went was 2008 and they were blowing out army boxes for half price or less. I was kinda hoping they would be blowing out some of their old metal stock at this years Games Day.

Went there, did that, got the t-shirt. I bought the t-shirt because the hall was so freakin' cold my Hawaiian shirt just wasn't cutting it! Pretty much what everyone said. I really wished they had some more mail order product as what they brought was not too exciting.

I stood in a number of lines and talked to some other gamers and they really seemed to be having a great time. For many of them, it was their first one so perhaps that contributed to their excitement. The loudness of the hall was rather overwhelming at times. They really need to move the seminar room to another part of the convention center. I felt bad for the Forge World guys trying to be heard over it (even with their PA cranked up).

Will I go again? Meh… maybe. It was interesting but to me not a must.

Interesting that other posters remember the redhead dressed as the SoB! <chuckle>