Australian Golden Demon Dead?

[wereweevil]

Well, it appears that G.D in Australia may have gone the way of the Dodo...

There will be no Games Day this year (it has been announced) and The competition appears to being heading towards some sort of smaller regional event, held on a state by state basis. I was wondering out loud on another forum whether it was because Oz G.D has become a bit of a laughing stock amongst the international (and national) arena?
Thoughts? Comments?

 

[Dragonsreach]

I\'m sorry to see the deline of any event.
But the loss of The Golden Deamon for Australia is a real pity.
Despite the criticisms that the GD UK gets the events are still recognised as The Pinnacle of mini painting competitions.
To loose one, suggests that Australian GW might not be in as good a financial state as one would expect.
I have been told that the Events such as Gamesday are on an \'expectation\' to just break even.
However it\'s the additional sales such as Forgeworld at these events which bolster profits.
(A figure bandied around for Forgeworlds sales at GDUK 2003 was in the order of £60,000)
If Australian GD isn\'t breaking even or being supported in the sales by Forgeworld then I can see how it makes sense in a business environment.
However it does not help the Hobbyist, or look too good for GW Australia.

 

[paintingploddy]

Just when I\'d organised myself to have a crack. Guess I just look forward to going up against the 5 or 6 entries in my age group when the stores run their contests. Not that Games Workshop in Melbourne has anywhere to put figures for a contest, my study is bigger than that pigeonhole.

 

[kittykat23uk]

Thats a real pity as I like to see the entries of this competition. Especially Victoria Lamb, she usually comes up with some great stuff!

 

[Braveheart712]

Random thoughts on the subject..

First off, I am saddened for all the people that were counting on participating in and at this event. It is sad, and I sincerely hope Victoria Lamb will show up at some other GD\'s. But I was thinking this...
1) Maybe the worldwide pricehikes by GW just aren\'t enough to support and event like this that would actually advertise and grow it following. I do not dispute the costs involved in organizing and hosting an event, but I find it difficult to believe it is not self sustaining, or that GW cannot help susidise this event.
2)Maybe participation is down. I don\'t know about anyone else out there, but I definitely tend to buy less GW product mainly because they have started to proce themselves out of my budget. I make a decent living as a graphic artist and the hobby is expensive for me. I have now idea how the mid-teen to 20-somethingplayers afford their plastic/metal crack addiction.
3) I wonder what Peter Jackson thinks of all this? Mr. Jackson is an avid hobbist and isn\'t he from \"down under\" too? I bet he is not to pleased. I wonder if this will affect the renewal of the LOTR contract with New Line when it expires?
4) Lastly, my own personal thought is that cancelling your companies main event smacks of corporate greed and a blind eye towards its loyal customers. I wonder how the original GW founders would feel, since the company was created as a small cottage industry to support gaming. I believe they used to sell their wares out of their apartment \"back in the day\". I guess we have come a long way from that, now gaming and painting are the last things on GW\'s mind. I guess it\'s a darker time we all live in now...

 

[Shadzar]

oh yeah GW= microsoft.

started out to help people get a good new product easily available to the masses.

now it means put out expensive poor quality product. and when it doesnt sell or incourage growth to new buyers jack up the prices for the loyal customers.



the problem with GD is that it is GW specific. and that is why they dont get more people at them. i was playing AD&D since i was 8 in 1982. but only heard of 40k 4 years ago.

both companies started circa the same time. and GW even made D&D minis and i even played the milton bradley hero quest game.

if GW would bite the bullet and join some other cons. then they would be able to get more people interested. i say interested cause the high prices doesnt really mean masses of new people are gonna jump at the idea of paying that much to play.

good luck to you people. you should get the countries GW players together and hold you own unofficial GD. when word gets back to GW about it maybe they will get the idea.

 

[paintingploddy]

I believe Bryan Ansell was one of the founding fathers of Citadel way back when. There is a document authored by Ansell arguing that miniature prices are too low, produced quite a few years ago when Foundry (his company) seemed to be growing strongest. Citadel, Games Workshop, and Foundry all share a common point. They were businesses first, hobbyists second (at least for the decision makers).

I believe the decline has more to do with population. Each of the European Gamesdays takes place in reasonably compact countries with large populations. The USA with 250 million people can support several well placed Games days. Australia has just over 20 million people with the major cities well spread out. To travel to Games Day is either a 10 or so hour drive (800 km I believe) or a flight. I believe 80 percent of patrons for Sydney Games Day would have to come from Sydney itself, and while Sydney is quite a large city (4 to 5 million people), you need to be able to draw on more support. US Games days seem to occur in densely populated regions with several cirties in close proximity (Baltimore, Chicago, and LA). UK is compact enough that travel from many cities is quite easy (though may be expensive). Local support is limited toNew South Wales by and large (at least for the retail part of the day). We also don\'t attract International entries. Our nearest neighbours aren\'t known for their wealth. Australia and New Zealand are largely European, with the nearest neighbours being Papua New Guinea, several Pacific Island states, and Indonesia. None of these has a thriving Games Workshop Community (or even a store).

Any entries to the Golden Demons must come from a very limited pool of painters. While our best are world standard (There are quite a few up there) the contest as a whole lacks depth. I am top 400 painter here on Cmon (though going back down rapidly) and yet have little difficulty winning local contests against the half dozen or so other entries.

I myself was put off for a couple of years by accusations of poor judging, nepotism and corruption made on local forums by a certain participant, as well as constant griping about lack of organisation. I am sorry it has gone and I allowed the opinions of others to sway me. I no longer will have a realistic chance of seeing how I go against the top painters in my country. But on sober reflection it\'s demise seems to be an inevitable result of our location.

Like many fields, if we want world class competition we will have to leave our own country, or wait and hope someone steps up to take the burden. At least there are on line competitions.

 

[Shadzar]

you know it would be too easy for GW to make a worldwide golden demon competition.

just take you mini to your local GW store and let them take shots of it. and place it into category.

then just send all photos to a central location where they can be judged. and then the results returned to the GW stores for everyone perusal.

and the US gamesdays are NOT well placed. just placed in the same places as the other large Cons. but this does not mean i would drive the same 6-7 hours to go to GD as i would to go to Dragon*Con.

GD is a one day event. not much their at the cost of $40 per ticket. all you get is GW merchandise. it is just a bit stagnant. and too self-centered.

as it seems it is being proven in Aus that a single company can NOT hold a gaiming Con all by itself. and that is in fact what GD is a one day Con.

 

[wereweevil]

Well,
latest news is that they *will* still be holding *A* competition - albeit in a very changed and decentralised format.
How they plan to acheive this is anyones guess. From my experience, any move like this is always motivated by a financial perspective. Who knows how much they were making/losing on your average Games Day? They were averaging 1500 people for the last few years - but they were sold out. The event has been run since 1998 in Sydney (7 years) and despite the recent sellout crowds, it looks like it may have not been dragging in enough $$$ for them to keep it afloat. Someone mentioned that the UK Forgeworld was a big money spinner there, well, the same holds true for the Oz event, they all but sold out the stock they had in the last 2 or 3 events.
One thing is certain; there will still be no Games Day, and no Golden Demon on the day. Feedback from G.W is that even they themselves don\'t know how they are are going to handle the changes from an organisational perspective.
Don\'t be surprised if the USA gets flooded this year with Oz entries...
I\'m already having a look at the Chicago date, and what I can have finished by then.

 

[Trevor]

Damn, this sucks, first I\'ve heard about it too, gonna have to get onto my contacts see whats going on.