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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zaruthustran" data-source="post: 953112" data-attributes="member: 1457">Now hold on a minute(Disclosure: I'm the editor for Amazon's game store and wrote the reviews for 3E.)Derek, we've disagreed before and I don't want to get into an argument but I've got to call you on the above quoted statement.  Amazon tries to be "the world's most customer-centric company". That phrase is honestly behind every business decision Amazon makes. As a cynical gamer I was at first suspicious, figuring it was just a slogan. It's not. So:The reason Amazon discounts is because it wants to pass savings on to customers.The reason you discount is because you "wanted to pass on some kind of savings to my fellow gamers".These reasons are the same.The fact that Taloncomics' sales volume does not allow it to comfortably discount as much as Amazon does not make Amazon bad or Taloncomics good. The motivations for the discount are the same.Example: Pro pitcher Randy Johnson likes to throw fastballs. I like to throw fastballs. Our enjoyment of throwing fastballs is the same, but Randy can throw them much faster. If you're the manager of a baseball team which pitcher, me or Randy Johnson, is the better choice? If you care about fastball speed, Randy is the better choice because he can throw faster. Does that mean Randy is a bad person? No. It means he's a capable pitcher.Taloncomics discounts. Amazon discounts. The reason both stores discount is because they want to pass savings on to customers. The motivation for discounting is the same, but Amazon's discount is greater. If you're a buyer of a book, which store is the better choice? If you care about price, Amazon is the better choice because it provides a greater discount. Does that mean Amazon is a bad company? No. It means Amazon is a capable retailer.Taloncomics is a retailer. Amazon is a retailer. You're a gamer, I'm a gamer, our customers are gamers--that's all equal. The discount percentage is not equal. That difference in discount does not create a moral imbalance.Furthermore, I don't believe your claim that Amazon hurts the game hobby. On the contrary, I say that the Amazon is a great boon for the hobby. If the nearest game store to Bob is 2 hours away in the city, then Bob can't game. But he can buy at Amazon, and can game. If Jim can't afford game books at a physical store, then Jim can't game. But he can buy at a discount at Amazon, and game. If Brenda is too busy to drive to a physical game store in the hopes that that store happens to have the game book she wants on its (limited) physical shelves, then she can't game. But she can order at Amazon, order virtually any book with an ISBN number, have her books delivered to her very doorstep, and game.Amazon gets more games to more people at lower prices. This is good for game publishers. This is good for game players. This is good for the game hobby.Good is not bad.-z, growing tired of being called a bad guy.*Of course, you don't have to wait for delivery of PDFs, music, e-books, software, and other downloads. Like Monte's Malhavoc stuff or Denny's Worldworks stuff, which I recently added to (or am in the process of adding to) Amazon's e-books store.</blockquote>

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