Fortune Cards: and randomized collectible cards come to D&D

[Scribble]

There, now all of Scribble's costs are factored in. The makers of both DW and GW want me to buy their game, both have persuaded the FLGS to host a gameday event to get people to try out their game, both stores are out the time and effort and other intangibles required to host an event, but one company wants to charge $6/player to play what ammounts to a sales pitch.

Yeah... The difference I see though is one store has everyone there foots the bill, and potentially doesn't recoup any costs, or not a lot of costs.

Either they had top pay extra staff, keep the store open longer, use room that could have held product, or people just showed up, played then bought the game on amazon.

So next time he thinks... Why am I doing this again?

The other guy has more of a chance to recoup costs, and therefore more of a n incentive to do it in the first place, and in the future.

That's all I'm saying.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

If I go in on game day and order a beer, it doesn't cost me any more than it does on Tuesday night.

I'm sure they charge enough money in drinks and food to cover their costs, but I can sit and watch a game nonetheless, even if I order a glass of water.

If you are comfortable with having other people foot the bill for an entertainment you are also enjoying, that's your call.

In my experience, the service staff gets to know people who do things like that. So it's your call, your karma, and your "water."

EDIT:
Scribble already addressed your other post. The FLGS is a player in this scenario. Considering only your costs and WotC's costs is not representative.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

If I go in on game day and order a beer, it doesn't cost me any more than it does on Tuesday night.

That's because you're paying a premium on Tuesday night too.

 

[knifie_sp00nie]

You mean like how sports bars charge their customers extra to watch football games that are on expanded cable/satelite packages?

oh wait, most don't.

You do have to pay an additional cover if it's a pay-per-view event.

 

[fanboy2000]

when my satelite/cable provider wants me to subscribe to HBO, they give me a free weekend of HBO, they do NOT give me access to HBO then bill me for it, not even $6.

Bad example. Cable companies practically invented introductory pricing. You know, they want you to subscribe to something, so they say "for six months we'll only charge you $1 a month for HBO. After that, we'll charge you the $11 everyone else pays." I see that all the time. Heck, ISPs, cell phone service providers, land line phone companies, magazines, and even the whole a cable/satellite package can be priced like that.

This can go on all year. Yes, lots of people provide free product when they want you to buy something. (Heck, drug dealers are notorious for it.) But lots of people provide something at a discount instead. Their both valid forms advertising. One isn't inherently better than the other, it depends on the product and the target audience.

 

[Fifth Element]

But just for you, here's another one: when my satelite/cable provider wants me to subscribe to HBO, they give me a free weekend of HBO, they do NOT give me access to HBO then bill me for it, not even $6.

And what's their marginal cost of doing this? That's right, it's essentially nil.

 

[Imaro]

Maybe I've had a different experience than others, but typically whenever I've gone to a gameday or played a demo of a game, my goal was to have fun. If you really feel it is solely something you are suffering through in order to receive advertising, I think the problem goes a lot deeper than the price of a few boosters.

This is irrelevant to the point of a gameday. I am not WotC's friend they are a corporation I purchase items from, I am not my FLGS's friend they are a shop I purchase items from... The gameday serves a clear purpose for both, to entice me to buy WotC products from this particular store. I will purchase those products if I enjoy the game... I won't if I don't... I also won't purchase products to try a demo, it has nothing to do with suffering through something, since that level of discomfort is not necessary for me to decide that, with all the rpg's I have and that are available, GW is not far enough above the bar for me to spend my money on. I work for my money and I expect a company to convince me to want to give it to them for their products. Plain and simple.

 

[Imaro]

Also don't forget it's an incentive for the store to hold the event in the first place.

Sure, demoing product is always a good idea, but on the store side-

The store probably has to have extra manpower on duty to watch that many people and still mind the register. That's an added cost.

The store has to make space to hold the games. That's an added cost.

There are a lot of people who will show up for the event use the store and copies of the game, then go home and buy the game on line. Added cost with no benefit.

All this adds up to lack of incentive to hold a game day. Why spend all that extra time/money when it's not going to net you any profit?

This is the cost of doing business... no one forces a store to hold a gameday, so I would hope that by now with all the free D&D gamedays a store knows whether it makes up for this added cost or not... that's what running a business is about... as for "incentives"... I'll discuss that below.

All this adds up to lack of incentive to hold a game day. Why spend all that extra time/money when it's not going to net you any profit?

Because you get to sell products a week or more before anyone who doesn't can. And honestly there have been numerous posts by FLGS owners who have stated this has greatly increased their business.

Soooo... queue WoTC who has announced that they think FLGS and FLGS "culture" are important to the hobby. Lack of incentive for those FLGS to promote the "culture" is a problem.

How to fix that problem? Provide some sort of incentive for the FLGS to hold the events.

See above...

In this case, the incentive comes in the form of packs of cards the players buy before participating in the events.

No, again... see above.

So sure, if you're really upset that it costs 3 bux to play in a game have at ye.

But I'm giving credit to WoTC where I think it's due- Instead of just joining the "Oh Woe is me!" crowd bitching about the hobby dying, and FLGSs being a thing of the past lately they seem to have been doing a LOT to help promote FLGS and the hobby overall.

I think 3 bucks is worth investing in the growth/health of my hobby. If you don't that's cool- but saying it's just a money grab or something is kind of not really thinking things through in my opinion. WoTC clearly has a desire to promote the FLGS and health of the hobby, and not only that but a clear plan to do so.

Yeah, because forcing people to spend $6 on a product they know nothing about and may not like will do wonders for the "hobby". Also because there is no other way to spend $6 and support the hobby... while still actually getting something you know will be useful to you. ... wait actually I listed a few in an earlier post.

 

[Hussar]

Yeah, because forcing people to spend $6 on a product they know nothing about and may not like will do wonders for the "hobby". Also because there is no other way to spend $6 and support the hobby... while still actually getting something you know will be useful to you. ... wait actually I listed a few in an earlier post.

I regularly spend a heck of a lot more than 6 bucks on a product I know about as much about as a new RPG - it's called movies. You can read reviews, you can watch previews, but, until you pony up your money (where I live now, a movie is 20 bucks at the theater), you have no idea if you're going to like the movie or not.

Where's the difference? You have exactly the same amount (and quite possibly more) information regarding a new RPG as a new movie. At least you get a souvenir from your game day, even if you hate the game.

I guess that's my real issue here. "Know nothing about"? Really? If I know enough to go to a FLGS for a game day, I'm probably not some schlep off the street. I've probably done at least a little bit in the hobby. Or, I'm coming with someone who knows something about the hobby. Fresh in off the street and willing to sit down and play cold for two or three hours is probably a pretty small minority.

The notion that I'm going to be totally unprepared for a game demo is a bit of a stretch. Most likely I've either come with friends who have some knowledge of the game and have sold me on the idea, or I've heard about it on the web or whatnot and have some basic idea of what the game is about.

As I said, it would be like expecting people to go see movies without knowing more than the movie's title. Sure, I'm sure some people do, but, I doubt strongly they are anything other than a small minority.

 

[Imaro]

I regularly spend a heck of a lot more than 6 bucks on a product I know about as much about as a new RPG - it's called movies. You can read reviews, you can watch previews, but, until you pony up your money (where I live now, a movie is 20 bucks at the theater), you have no idea if you're going to like the movie or not.

Where's the difference? You have exactly the same amount (and quite possibly more) information regarding a new RPG as a new movie. At least you get a souvenir from your game day, even if you hate the game.

I guess that's my real issue here. "Know nothing about"? Really? If I know enough to go to a FLGS for a game day, I'm probably not some schlep off the street. I've probably done at least a little bit in the hobby. Or, I'm coming with someone who knows something about the hobby. Fresh in off the street and willing to sit down and play cold for two or three hours is probably a pretty small minority.

The notion that I'm going to be totally unprepared for a game demo is a bit of a stretch. Most likely I've either come with friends who have some knowledge of the game and have sold me on the idea, or I've heard about it on the web or whatnot and have some basic idea of what the game is about.

As I said, it would be like expecting people to go see movies without knowing more than the movie's title. Sure, I'm sure some people do, but, I doubt strongly they are anything other than a small minority.

Well honestly, one of my FLGS's is a comic store and during it's gamedays for D&D I did see people who had never played D&D before come in, see the setup and give it a try... anecdotal and all yes... but gamedays (especially essentials now) are actually geared towards people new to the hobby... so it is possible.

Also, IMO, whether I'd spend $6 on something I know a little or alot about isn't necessarily the point either... it's the fact that this $6 is a worthless purchase without the $39+ game... which I don't get to demo until I've already invested money into it.