40k Open Day happened this last weekend, and I was underwater (literally on the Deschutes River white water rafting), several people were able to get to the event and its seminars. The Seminars really where a lot of the information comes from and we had some great bits of information come from readers here on Faeit 212. It obviously was time to share these.
via the Faeit 212 inbox
Lo mate, just got back from the 50k Open Day which was cool, the first seminar was covering 40k and why GW aren’t advancing the timeline. The state of 40k is being kept at the “Two minutes to midnight” point and the design studio are focussing on events from 30k up to M41 with plenty of stuff to pull from those 10,000 years. Just as a heads-up: a chap laughed and said that if the team are pulling events from the Heresy onward then they can bring back Squats from that time up until they get eaten – Jes, Phil & Matt had a good laugh and then went on to discuss more likely stuff. So before anyone asks; no there are still no plans to bring squats back.
But anyway, see the attached pic: all the Necrons are missing from their case…
M.
via Shane from 35 Going on 40k Blog
What stuck with me from the seminars
http://35on40k.tumblr.com/post/92427296427/notes-from-the-40k-open-day-seminars
+ As my friend said, the GW staff talked like teachers for the most part. When a kid asked about the new IG codex being ‘nerfed’, the conversation ended with “Did you like the new Codex overall?” “Yes.” “Yay!”. That was cheap but it would tie in with marketing towards kids. And by George, where do these kids get there money from?
+ Bugman’s Bar was better than I expected. There was no discount at the GW stores for the day (missed opportunity).
+ Astra Militarum and Imperial Guard are the same thing; it was a change to bring the IG in under a gothic name like other Imperium factions.
+ As a general principle, GW will not have models in a codex that they no longer sell a model for.
+ Forge World and GW studio act independently and catch-up to share ideas/pass on new rules. Forge World are able to act more reactionary and at a quicker pace.
+ People like the new Psychic phase.
+ Phil Kelly would like to see a Sisters vs Eldar supplement; this was a personal idea when asked what he’d like to see if he could do anything.
+ Supplements will become more popular and replace the typical ‘new codex & new units’ cycle (though this will still happen when the time’s right). The supplements enable GW to add brand new units at a faster pace to armies without complete Codex rewrites or waiting for the conveyor belt to come round. There was a strong hint at something Sisters related in the future in this regards.
+ Someone asked if there would be a compendium of supplements/formations/datasheets eventually. They said they hadn’t considered it but it was a cool idea should the opportunity arise.
+ People and GW like Unbound. Comments of ‘reminds me of 2nd’ were not uncommon.
+ When asked if Unbound was permitted at tournaments, GW said that’s up to each tournament organiser to decide.
+ When asked about the idea of a system that lets you build your own HQ character, GW said they leave this up to the the player to create and discuss with friends. Internally, they’ve created personal characters. It was a cop out answer as it was a great suggestion.
+ 41k won’t happen.
+ Concept artists/sculptors come up with the models, the studio then write the rules to match.
+ The studio has been playing Kill Team recently.
+ They like Lords of War - big robots fighting big monsters.
+ They admit they’ve yet to crack how to do social media well; they are looking into it.
+ They talked about an idea Jervis has had of a gameplay supplement. This could cover concepts such as roleplay narratives, campaigns, leagues, tournaments, etc.
+ The studio said that from experience, people talk to them at events etc about the new models, story and painting. Rules is something they rarely ever get asked in person. They openly said - perhaps unintentionally - that at the Open Day no one was asking about rules, only models. And to them this made it seem like models come first, rules second. Though, of course, rules should still be good.
+ No specialist games. Focusing on core ranges.
+ They tried killing off main army characters and felt it didn’t work. They won’t be doing it again.
+ One of guys - whose name escapes me - really likes Tau and the Riptide. I think he wrote the rules. Phil Kelly later made a interesting side note by mentioning that the Riptide was a stepping stone in big robots when talking about the Titans. As technology progresses they hope to continue exploring giant robots and monsters; they love the concept of them stomping through cities.
+ They have a playtest team of about a dozen (a mix of tournament/casual players). This doesn’t include the core GW team playing too. Not all the playtest team may be testing the same thing at the same time.
+ GW strongly encourages people to approach them face-to-face at these events and ask them questions. Next time I’m going to take all the rule questions I have.
+ If people enjoyed the Open Day format they’d like to do it again.
+ When asked about the possibility of a new race they said yes.
+ A guy asked if Dark Eldar would ever get better armour than cardboard. The answer was no, it was part of what made them unique. Like having no tanks. Plus Orks only have t-shirts for armour.