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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JustinA" data-source="post: 3621388" data-attributes="member: 51618">Yeah. I doubt this will have any effect on the mainstream booksellers because mainstream publishers aren't insane.But there is a virulent strain of insanity in the RPG industry where the following logic is used:(1) Brick-and-mortar game stores can't compete with the big discounters.(2) Brick-and-mortar stores are the life's blood of the RPG industry. (Usually the logic employed here is something along the lines of "only the brick-and-mortar stores grow the hobby by running demo games and the like".)(3) Therefore, places that sell RPGs at a discount are killing the hobby.For example <a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=339090" target="_blank">here's a thread at RPGNet</a> where a West End Games' rep makes the argument.There are many big, glaring assumptions in this argument:(a) That brick-and-mortar stores actually play a significant role in growing the hobby.(b) That brick-and-mortar stores are incapable of competing in a free market.(c) That cheaper game manuals (and a lower introductory cost) aren't as effective or more effective at encouraging people to give the hobby a try.(d) That brick-and-mortar stores should be responsible for the demos and other activities which grow the industry.What do I think would actually grow the hobby? WotC organizing Game Days featuring demos and free pamphlet-size Starter Rules. And not organizing these at game stores, but at Barnes & Nobles, Borders, and other mainstream venues. (Other publishers could also be trying to do this, although their efforts would almost certainly be on a smaller scale. And there's a limited number of publishers who could do it, because there are a limited number of publishers actually selling at mainstream locations.)And, frankly, I'm fairly convinced that the #1 killer of the LGS is... themselves.I may simply be blessed, but I've yet to see a well-run game store go out of business. I've seen game stores go out of business, yes. But they have been the poorly run game stores: The places that can't manage their inventory. The places that lack decent customer service. The places that are filthy and unwelcoming.Here's the other thing, folks: This ruling is not unimitigated good news for the FLGS. Retailers survive by discounting dead stock in order to free up the investment they made in it. (If your local game store has a ton of ancient, crappy game supplements marked at full price, there's a fairly good chance that your local game store doesn't know what it's doing. There are exceptions -- for example, THE SOURCE in St. Paul, MN has an extensive stock of older games and packages this as a feature. But if your FLGS has a bunch of capital tied up in products that haven't sold and are never going to sell, then your FLGS is not being run well.) Your FLGS will now be prevented from doing this.I can virtually guarantee it. The publishers are still going to be selling to the distributors at the same discount and the distributors are still going to be selling to the vendors/stores at the same discount. The only flexibility that has been lost is the vendor/store's ability to discount.Plus, cranking the price up doesn't "account for the discounters" -- it actually helps them. The higher SRP certainly doesn't help the non-discount vendors, since they're the ones having to charge the high price to their customer.I can see how it can artificially keep small local book stories in business, but I don't see how it allows publishers to print titles that only have a small audience.Ultimately, the FLGS needs to figure out how to provide a service that people want and a price people are willing to pay.Justin Alexander<a href="http://www.thealexandrian.net" target="_blank">http://www.thealexandrian.net</a></blockquote>

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