EN World Game Store poll
- Thread starter GMSkarka
- Start date
Vigilance
Explorer
wingsandsword said:
Once again, I have to disagree with this.
The only thing you support by shopping at your LGS is your LGS.
If you want to support the *industry* (or hobby if you will), what do you think supports it better:
1. Buying a 30 dollar book and having less than 10 (possibly a lot less) of that go to makers of the book, with the other 2/3rds going to the LGS and the distributor
2. Buying direct from the manufacturer and 30 dollars of that going to the makers of the book.
The current distribution system is a dinosaur and is geared toward only HUGE companies with large print runs.
Not to mention the fact that distributors have a habit of just not *ahem* paying any clients but their largest, and even some of those bigger clients have been burned of late.
In short, supporting your LGS is laudable. Im all for it. But don't call it something its not.
And what its not is supporting the gaming industry.
Chuck
Roudi
First Post
Case in point.
Yesterday I was searching for two pdfs on my hard drive (Ronin Arts' 13 Mecha Devices and 13 More Mecha Devices) which I had purchased earlier this year on RPGNow. After a fruitless search, I realized they were on my girlfriend's laptop, and she was in class for the rest of the day. My productivity on my project dropped to zero for lack of these PDFs.
Had I bought these PDFs through the ENWorld GS, they would have remained in my EN Bookshelf, and available for me to download whenever I needed. This would have certainly saved me from a jam.
The lesson: I will always buy from ENWorld when the product is available there, simply for this added convenience. RPGObjects does a similar thing with their products on their site, and it has saved me from lack of gaming material on numerous occasions.
Also: I do not support my LGS because they are not nice people. They also don't carry the kind of games I want to play, and don't maintain a friendly atmosphere in their establishment. If they are the heart and soul of the industry, then the industry is due for a heart attack and an exorcism.
(note: I understand there are many nice, friendly, and reputable gaming stores out there, and this opinion is in no way meant to debase or insult them. The above comments are meant in reference only to one particular gaming store local to myself, and to no other establishment. Thank you.)
Yesterday I was searching for two pdfs on my hard drive (Ronin Arts' 13 Mecha Devices and 13 More Mecha Devices) which I had purchased earlier this year on RPGNow. After a fruitless search, I realized they were on my girlfriend's laptop, and she was in class for the rest of the day. My productivity on my project dropped to zero for lack of these PDFs.
Had I bought these PDFs through the ENWorld GS, they would have remained in my EN Bookshelf, and available for me to download whenever I needed. This would have certainly saved me from a jam.
The lesson: I will always buy from ENWorld when the product is available there, simply for this added convenience. RPGObjects does a similar thing with their products on their site, and it has saved me from lack of gaming material on numerous occasions.
Also: I do not support my LGS because they are not nice people. They also don't carry the kind of games I want to play, and don't maintain a friendly atmosphere in their establishment. If they are the heart and soul of the industry, then the industry is due for a heart attack and an exorcism.
(note: I understand there are many nice, friendly, and reputable gaming stores out there, and this opinion is in no way meant to debase or insult them. The above comments are meant in reference only to one particular gaming store local to myself, and to no other establishment. Thank you.)
Last edited:
Roudi said:
Uh, that is also possible with rpgnow- I have done it a few times. There is a limit to the number of downloads (5 or 10), but that wouldn't have caused you any problems yesterday.
As for my vote- I have no desire to create a new account and spread my credit card number further.
Li Shenron
Legend
GMSkarka said:
In my case it won't affect, because I don't like PDFs and I don't usually shop on line.
BlueBlackRed
Explorer
I have seen it the these last few years of what the effects of no FLGS can be.
A gamestore has more benefits than simply buying gaming and hobby supplies.
PDFs and online sources certainly have their appeal. Having rulebooks on your keychain is pretty sweet.
Giving someone a chance to publish their new game or game-material without having to deal with a big publisher is an opportunity that was all but unheard of a decade ago.
And yes I agree, as time goes on there will be less and less need for a gamestore. And eventually there may be no pen and paper game of D&D. A game where you may never even see your DM in person. I've seen it start to grow since the late 80's.
But I don't consider that a good thing.
A gamestore has more benefits than simply buying gaming and hobby supplies.
PDFs and online sources certainly have their appeal. Having rulebooks on your keychain is pretty sweet.
Giving someone a chance to publish their new game or game-material without having to deal with a big publisher is an opportunity that was all but unheard of a decade ago.
And yes I agree, as time goes on there will be less and less need for a gamestore. And eventually there may be no pen and paper game of D&D. A game where you may never even see your DM in person. I've seen it start to grow since the late 80's.
But I don't consider that a good thing.
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