Hillside Games, Asheville: The Unfriendly Local Game Store

catsclaw227 · Mar 2, 2012

w_earle_wheeler said:
Eh, you weren't responsible for my confusion. I got all my information from wyvernstale.gov.

Seriously? I went to that domain name and didn't find anything. I am guessing you are being sarcastic since you can't register a .gov in the US.

enrious · Mar 2, 2012

To an outsider, it sounded very much like sardonicism, catclaw.

RustyHalo · Mar 2, 2012

w_earle_wheeler said:
I absolutely believe that I am wrong

It'd be nice if Hillside were to admit its mistake as readily as you have.

w_earle_wheeler · Mar 2, 2012

RustyHalo said:
It'd be nice if Hillside were to admit its mistake as readily as you have.

I don't know... I'm guilty of confusing a Wyvern with a Hippogryph. Hillside [is accused of] something potentially illegal.

Really, I think The Wyvern's Tale would have been much better served by going directly into legal action. Sadly, an article in the Mountain Express isn't going to do much unless it is a cover story with a cover photo.

Then again, I did read about it here on enworld before I heard about it at the comic shop, so...

Outrage over Hillside being a d*%$ won't really make a dent in his M:TG crowd -- but, if Wyvern's Tale is assertive, smart and persistent, they can re-capture the board-game / miniatures game market for the whole county. I'm not sure if The Gamer's Haunt is still focused primarily on M:TG.

That means keeping the store open during posted hours, keeping those hours regular, and having staff who will be dedicated to staying behind the counter or helping customers instead of playing games.

Blitzkrieg was a pretty cool little store -- it was clean and had good stock -- but it suffered from employees coming in late or otherwise not keeping to the posted hours. Also, the price they had to pay for rent was probably a constant knife in their eyeball -- which just adds insult to injury when a good portion of your stock goes up in price (Games Workshop) while the amount of disposable income dips a little bit.

Oh -- I just realized that, even though my name is my username, some Asheville folks might not know who I am and where I come from with all of this. Well, my name is Earle, and for a few months I worked for The Sword & Grail on the weekend. I was more of a "placeholder" employee until he could get a new "real" employee. I have also helped out Pastimes at one or two conventions, but I've never worked there, though I did sit behind the counter once when the guy working there had to go to the bathroom. During my three minute stint behind the counter I banned 32 people from the store.

I also do some work at Heroes*Con in Charlotte for a friend of mine. But not much work.

I also used to run a D&D game at Hillside, but we kept getting shuffled around for the M:TG players. Considering how much M:TG players spend, I can't really fault them for that.

Currently, I am the CEO for a professional wrestling organization, which is kind of like LARPing except there's a good chance I will get my nose broken.

Lou · Mar 2, 2012

I am an intellectual property attorney, licensed in Texas and before the USPTO.

My free advice consistent with my legal and ethical obligations:

1. Quit posting or commenting in public about your dispute until you have adequate legal advice on your situation. Anything you post will be used against you.
2. ASAP, get competent legal advice from an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction (North Carolina), preferably one who practices in the areas of concern, such as trademark law and business law.
3. If you don't like the advice you get from the first attorney, ask a different attorney for a second opinion.
4. If you are not going to listen to the advice of your attorneys, be prepared to suffer the legal consequences.

-Lou

Silver Moon · Mar 2, 2012

Lou said:
I am an intellectual property attorney, licensed in Texas and before the USPTO.

My free advice consistent with my legal and ethical obligations:

1. Quit posting or commenting in public about your dispute until you have adequate legal advice on your situation. Anything you post will be used against you.
2. ASAP, get competent legal advice from an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction (North Carolina), preferably one who practices in the areas of concern, such as trademark law and business law.
3. If you don't like the advice you get from the first attorney, ask a different attorney for a second opinion.
4. If you are not going to listen to the advice of your attorneys, be prepared to suffer the legal consequences.

-Lou

Sounds like good advice to me. You may wish to follow it, and also ask Morrus to take down this thread as well as the one on the CM board.

Morrus · Mar 3, 2012

Lou said:
I am an intellectual property attorney, licensed in Texas and before the USPTO.

My free advice consistent with my legal and ethical obligations:

1. Quit posting or commenting in public about your dispute until you have adequate legal advice on your situation. Anything you post will be used against you.
2. ASAP, get competent legal advice from an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction (North Carolina), preferably one who practices in the areas of concern, such as trademark law and business law.
3. If you don't like the advice you get from the first attorney, ask a different attorney for a second opinion.
4. If you are not going to listen to the advice of your attorneys, be prepared to suffer the legal consequences.

-Lou

I think you may have overrated the legal situation. It's a marketing situation. Nobody is suing anyone, despite bluster. I bet you 10 ice cream cones that Hillside Games isn't stupid enough to start suing.

TarionzCousin · Mar 3, 2012

MajPepper said:
Finally, they have yet to make any statements in defense of their own actions. I am more than willing to hear their side of the argument. As I said to them in an email I sent yesterday: if they believe their actions to be defensible, then I urge them to defend them. Why did they think that registering our domain names (regardless of legality) was an ethical thing to do, and that it would be looked kindly upon by the community? If they have good reason, I will listen.

I spoke with Hillside Games* and they told me that they registered those domain names because it would help them find a cure for cancer.

*In a dream. We were all wearing yellow tutus and eating socks.

Silver Moon · Mar 3, 2012

Morrus said:
I think you may have overrated the legal situation. It's a marketing situation. Nobody is suing anyone, despite bluster. I bet you 10 ice cream cones that Hillside Games isn't stupid enough to start suing.

Probably true, but it might still be prudent for him to stop posting directly and to have his current posts (and those that quote him) deleted in the threads. Anything anybody else that posts is just hearsay.

CleverName · Mar 3, 2012

Wow

I will look for Wyverntale Games when next I get to Asheville. I am very disappointed in Hillside. A great friend of mine made a big button that he wore to cons it said "Life is too short to play with A$$___s." Goes for shopping too.

Let us know your progress.