Thankfully my not so local hobby shop carries pretty much everything still. Cards, mini's, comics, models, and more rpg's than you can shake a stick at.
Derek Stanley
Sent from my iPhone...
On 2012-06-19, at 9:04, wrote:
> John
>
> > I personally see 'focusing on what you do best' as a formula for success.
>
> Yeah, instead of chasing the illusive (and I deliberately did not type the
> standard "elusive") latest "what do people want TODAY?" Sound reasoning,
> but for GDW, bad timing.
>
> And we felt in TNE that we were putting out some really good stuff like
> RSB which our customers never saw, because the distributors and retailers
> were so busy stocking and restocking MTG that RSB literally never got onto
> a great many shelves.
>
> It's just that what we did best was going through a period where it was
> going to be eclipsed by some other stuff, and we were weak enough for some
> other reasons that we couldn't wait out the drought.
>
> Dave
>
> > I personally see 'focusing on what you do best' as a formula for success.
> > case in point Apple with Jobs at the helm the second time around.
> >
> > They went from a dozen products down to 4 and made them so well everyone
> > else was left wondering what passed them by. (I don't like apple products
> > personally but its a good example for what I am illustrating)
> >
> > IMO company's often substitute diversity for quality because they lack the
> > capacity to innovate. This is why many companies get large and bloated
> > producing over priced products with only incremental changes to try and
> > tease consumers to the next version.
> >
> > It seems to me that this is a long cancerous death of companies.
> >
> > On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 8:44 AM, <> wrote:
> >
> >> **
> >>
> >>
> >> John--
> >>
> >> In your excellent discussion you got at something that I should have
> >> made
> >> clearer.
> >>
> >> The "put them out of business" list was so foreign to the gaming cottage
> >> industry at the time not because it was evil (it may or may not be), but
> >> because it was pure capitalism/corporate thinking. That's what you do
> >> when
> >> you're a competing company: seize market share. You don't sit around and
> >> wait for the pie to grow so everyone's slice gets a little bigger. And
> >> that focus on market share is what distinguished the Real Businesses
> >> like
> >> WOTC when they arrived. Until then, the industry was, by-and-large, what
> >> I
> >> called a "cottage industry," or you called a "quaint sub culture hobby
> >> thing." Mom and pop shops.
> >>
> >> And don't get me wrong, I thought MTG was brilliant. It combined the two
> >> great addictions: collecting mania (and gamers were very much already in
> >> the collector mindset) and power-gaming, where the more you buy, the
> >> better you can play. Honestly I don't recall in time where MTG fell out
> >> compared to Pokemon, but MTG was certainly a tidal wave within the
> >> "wargame" industry proper, as opposed to larger gaming where Pokemon
> >> might
> >> have been.
> >>
> >> As you observed, because MTG succeeded, it generated money, which
> >> allowed
> >> them to behave the way they did, and of course attracted the attention
> >> of
> >> Big Business and Big Business Practices. Like running competitors out of
> >> business for market share.
> >>
> >> One of the things I hate about the Big Business model is that so often
> >> the
> >> non-creative types set the vocabularly. Everything is called generic,
> >> undifferentiated "product," like it's a brick of concentrated protein,
> >> or
> >> a 55 gallon drum of toxic waste. I don't give a hoot in hell for someone
> >> who doesn't care if something is a "book" or a "game" and why that book
> >> is
> >> important. And maybe that's partly why I was one of the ones swept away.
> >>
> >> In a sense, the industry went through a huge evolutionary extinction
> >> event. 1993 was the end of the Triassic and GDW was one of the great
> >> archosaurs that got swept away by the asteroid (or whatever else it
> >> might
> >> have been).
> >>
> >> GDW DID consider attempting to put out a CCG, but our decision was no,
> >> and
> >> for two reasons:
> >>
> >> 1. We figured that most of the late-comers jumping onto the CCG
> >> bandwagon
> >> would get lost in the backwash, and instead of doing a "me too!" change
> >> in
> >> direction, we should stick to what we already did best. Call that
> >> artistic
> >> integrity of a sort.
> >>
> >> 2. In order to compete with what MTG already was, you had to have
> >> really,
> >> really high production values. If not, you'd fail immediately. We
> >> realized
> >> we did not have the money to completely change direction, put out all
> >> these slick, high-quality, cut-edge card stock things. Call that
> >> economic
> >> realism.
> >>
> >> So we went down. (and yes, there were other factors, but that was the
> >> final blow)
> >>
> >> Dave
> >>
> >>
> >> > I have two minds about my hobbies and the industries that make them.
> >> >
> >> > I recall well the time Dave refers to and with honest reflection back
> >> that
> >> > far gaming was a quaint sub culture hobby thing.
> >> >
> >> > When business folk figured out how much money there was to be made
> >> from
> >> > it,
> >> > that is when it became an industry. Obviously not over night or all at
> >> > once
> >> > but it did happen over a decade.
> >> >
> >> > I do not begrudge anyone trying to make a buck or lots of bucks, if
> >> > someone
> >> > thinks there is a market god bless go forth and try.
> >> >
> >> > But in the story of WotC/TSR circles it seems that a couple of key
> >> factors
> >> > play into this. While I am an outsider to both companies I live 15
> >> minutes
> >> > from WotC HQ in Seattle and over the years in Computer Games have
> >> worked
> >> > with designers and artists that have worked at both companies on and
> >> off.
> >> >
> >> > A couple of facts about them are clear and are pretty much undisputed
> >> by
> >> > former employees. WotC would not have been the beast it was without
> >> MTG
> >> > and
> >> > the Pokemon phenom that propelled CCGs into the craziness it because.
> >> This
> >> > level of widespread acceptance gave WotC the 'money' to basically curb
> >> > stomp competitors wholesale. Without the successful MGT they wouldn't
> >> be
> >> > the company they are today for good or ill.
> >> >
> >> > The corporate culture at WotC as odd as it sounds is controlled by
> >> their
> >> > R&D department because they created MTG originally. Because of this
> >> they
> >> > have been stuck in a rut for over a decade, at least imo.
> >> >
> >> > TSR for all its troubles simply failed to transition from a publishing
> >> > business model (making books) to a service model. Perhaps this is
> >> still a
> >> > struggle they experiencing today under WotC not so gentle 'eye of
> >> sauron".
> >> >
> >> > And while it may not of been indicative of the game industry back in
> >> the
> >> > day to have a 'competitor list' to crush its pretty common in other
> >> > industries where there is a lot of variety.
> >> >
> >> > And at the end of the day, business' are in it for the money otherwise
> >> > they
> >> > fold. We can have all the romantic thoughts we like but this however
> >> it
> >> is
> >> > the true in today's world.
> >> >
> >> > Its a sad state of affairs but its an inevitable truth of capitalism.
> >> >
> >> > On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 7:46 AM, <> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> **
> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> We got independent accounts from a number of people in the gaming
> >> >> "industry" that the WOTC staff were keeping a list of the other
> >> gaming
> >> >> companies they hoped to put out of business, and GDW was on it.
> >> >>
> >> >> If true, that sort of thinking was so foreign to the way the gaming
> >> >> "industry" ran it was ridiculous. We were all each other's biggest
> >> fans.
> >> >> One of the best things about the cons was getting together, seeing
> >> each
> >> >> other, trading copies of our newest games to each other, etc. The
> >> last
> >> >> thing any of us ever wanted was to put any one of us out of business.
> >> We
> >> >> did grate a little bit under "the 800 pound gorilla" of TSR, living
> >> in
> >> >> the
> >> >> shadow of their castle at the cons, but we all had friends working
> >> >> there.
> >> >> One of the reasons I took the "putting out of business list"
> >> seriously,
> >> >> aside from the fact that so many reputable people came to us with it
> >> >> (Mayfair, for example) is that it was so foreign to the thinking in
> >> the
> >> >> game "industry" that how would anyone even think to make that up?
> >> >>
> >> >> And that's when the game "industry" became the game industry. Might
> >> as
> >> >> well be working for Lockheed-Martin.ill
> >> >>
> >> >> "Brilliant Lances" was nominated for best SF boardgame of the year,
> >> but
> >> >> lost to MTG. The next year they had a new category for CCGs so they
> >> >> wouldn't beat boardgames in the boardgame category, but by then, MTGs
> >> >> and
> >> >> CCGs were beating down entire companies. And they eventually bought
> >> out
> >> >> the TSR castle.
> >> >>
> >> >> I may have said that before here, but I'm talking to lots of people,
> >> so
> >> >> I'm not sure.
> >> >>
> >> >> Dave
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> > If the world was fair then every bad thing that has ever happened to
> >> you
> >> > would have been deserved.
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > If the world was fair then every bad thing that has ever happened to you
> > would have been deserved.
> >
>
>