Re: [Epic] Games day part Two !!

From: Thane Morgan <thane_at_...>
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 18:03:32 -0600

> GW has grown too fast and it cannot handle itself, itseems quite apparent,
> eg. in Vancouver, there are two stores, and from the Park Royal store, you
> can walk for 20 minutes, over the bridge, through Stanley Park, to
> Burrard, hop on a skytrain for 20 minutes, and you are at metrotown, where
> the other store is (Very centrally) located. Why even bother with the
> second store, seems like a total waste to me. A waste that we are paying
> for.
> I Blame it all on GW driving away boltthrower for a happier place to
> game...
>
> Steve
>
> Thats an interesting perspective. The lack of focus probably has to do with
> the transition from trying to make great games to trying to make huge
> profits. I'm sure the CEO's, VP's and other such all wonder why they aren't
> making twenty or thirty million a year, instead of wondering if taking some
> of the randomness out of the magic phase of Fantasy wouldn't make it a
> better game.

As to stores, in Albuquerque we had 4 game stores at the start of the year.
One guy sold his because GW had cut his profit margin to a new low by
decreasing his discount, forcing large inventories and driving away players. A
second store in the area bought out the location and reopened the location,
with a slightly different format. This store is a ssociated with a national
distributor and has fought GW in the past, but is large enough (I think) to
absorb GW's demand with little pain.

Now the third store in the area is going to stop carrying GW, because they
cannot afford the demands made on them. In trying to negotiate better terms,
they were told that GW could open up a store in the area at anytime and close
them down. I don't know if the third store will be able to survive without
workshop; they carry a good selection of other lines, but GW still owns the
industry.

When a store closes out, it has a fire sale at huge discounts. This hurts the
remaining stores, as people blow large amounts of money during the sale.
Afterwards, demand is lower, as people have less money and probably just got
everything they had been wanting. This can help close down the next store
(which I think was partially responsible for the problems at the third store).

This all makes it easier for GW to move a new store in.

This really had no point, but was educational, I hope.

Thane
Received on Tue Jun 16 1998 - 00:03:32 UTC