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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TalonComics" data-source="post: 828294" data-attributes="member: 60">Well, I was going to reply to this yesterday but then ENWorld died. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />I think Storm Raven talks  about this earlier in this thread but most people learn about and first pick up RPGs in stores that specialize in selling them. No one picks up a RPG sight unseen and knowledge unheard. Everyone I've ever met has had a RPG introduced to them somehow by a friend, a demo, the internet buzz or any combination of above in a FLGS.I'm very aware that the gaming hobby is threatened on many fronts. Video games, movies, DVDs and computers all play a role. I know people want to save money and believe me so do I but not at the expense of gaming. I want to see it thrive and continue. If I didn't I wouldn't even be posting here and rambling on like I have been. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Tabletop gaming is so niche that *any* sale lost to non-gaming retailers hurts speciality stores. The money from the retail price goes to bills *and* selling more books. It boggles my mind that some people just can't see the threat of massive discounting will have on the future of gaming. You can already read multiple posts about people who refuse to buy from places that don't have massive discounts. I've seen massive discounting lay waste to so many hobbies that I *know* it will do the same to gaming. That's where my 10 plus years of experience in comics and gaming retail comes into this. I've seen it before.So where does that leave the speciality store that actually supports tabletop gaming? (When I say speciality store I'm even including online stores that sell gaming product and support independant publishers.) Every sale that goes to a massive discounter hurts the speciality store because they've lost money to stay in business. Look how many stores are already going out of business because of the economy. Do you think the massive discounters  don't effectthat at all?So my point is when you support wholesale discounting it's just one more cut at the speciality store who actually supports promoting gaming and the hobby of gaming. Take away the place that supports tabletop gaming and you will see the end of tabletop gaming including D&D. Why? Because there won't be a place for a new player to even be exposed to D&D for the first time. ~D</blockquote>

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