Will buy.com get sued?

[Korgoth]

Right, he hasn't established the date which would prove that he had them before release....so it could totally a hoax and the picture is from the future when the books have been released?

(I do note that the placement of the books appears to be to make photoshopping as easy as possible)

Thanks for not reading my post. I specifically said that they might be copies held by staff or beneficiaries of sneak previews.

Also, you note incorrectly about the photoshopping. They are well-placed as far as that goes, because they are on a reflective surface which makes photoshopping a little more difficult, though obviously not impossible.

 

[Blackeagle]

(I do note that the placement of the books appears to be to make photoshopping as easy as possible)

Not really. If they wanted to make photoshopping easy, they wouldn't have used a glass table that reflects the book's covers. Photoshopping in the reflection would be a huge pain in the ass.

 

[Gizmoduck5000]

Not really. If they wanted to make photoshopping easy, they wouldn't have used a glass table that reflects the book's covers. Photoshopping in the reflection would be a huge pain in the ass.

Theoretically you could just invert the image, and adjust the levels to make it look transparent, then adjust the contrast to sharpen it and lay it over the glass. It would take a half an hour at the most.

But I don't believe that is the case.

Hi...I'm the guy who originally posted that image on the WoTC forums. I got the original from the MYSPACE D&D forums here

 

[FDM]

How would WOTC possibly benefit from killing FLGS.

Small gaming stores don't even have the power to return unsold books, right? That would make them a much less risky market to sell to.

 

[Westwind]

Small gaming stores don't even have the power to return unsold books, right? That would make them a much less risky market to sell to.

Is this accurate?! I worked in the book business on the macro scale for a bit (Frankfurt am Main is a major center for all things book) and I know there are small publishers out there that have no return policies or things like print-on-demand that precludes returning the item, but does Wizards (or, more likely, a major distributor) not allow for returns? I did just about anything I could to avoid ordering/carrying a single non-returnable item; I can't imagine opening an entire store based around it.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

How would WOTC possibly benefit from killing FLGS.

By gaining experience and loot?

Later
silver

 

[RigaMortus2]

I don't know if I would consider this a huge deal. As you said, stores have done this sort of thing in the past. What makes you think this is such a big deal, more than any other time it's occurred? D&D gamers/fans (you know, the people buying these books) aren't exactly a large majority. It's not like we are talking about them releasing the last Harry Potter book early or anything.

 

[malraux]

Is this accurate?! I worked in the book business on the macro scale for a bit (Frankfurt am Main is a major center for all things book) and I know there are small publishers out there that have no return policies or things like print-on-demand that precludes returning the item, but does Wizards (or, more likely, a major distributor) not allow for returns? I did just about anything I could to avoid ordering/carrying a single non-returnable item; I can't imagine opening an entire store based around it.

I think that most independent FLGSs are not allowed to return books, but the big bookstores are. Which is rather unfortunate.

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

Well, the FLGS's only edge over most big bookstores and online retailers was that they could have midnight releases for the 4e books.

I don't blame the customers of buy.com at all -- you guys got lucky! But I do think that if WotC is serious about having it's product in small FLGS, they will need to make an example of Buy.com and anyone else who breaks the street date.

There are plenty of miniature games, card games and other RPGs that could take over that shelf space. I'm almost considering suggesting to my boss that we just stop stocking anything that is extremely heavily discounted online, and just focus on the other stuff. Most of the folks who play RPGs in our store didn't buy their books from the store, anyway.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Right, he hasn't established the date which would prove that he had them before release....so it could totally a hoax and the picture is from the future when the books have been released?

(I do note that the placement of the books appears to be to make photoshopping as easy as possible)

Now there's a conspiracy theory I can get behind: "I invented a time machine so I could go back from the future to post a picture of myself with the 4E books!"