Because a contract is a legal document, they tend to read very draconian and severe. However, the devil will be in how the contract is put into practice and enforced. My guess is that this is a way for ANA to circle the wagons after a restructuring. There was probably a contract very similar to this already in place for FFG when they operated independently. I wouldn't scream the sky is falling until you actually see major changes from the online dealers.

I doubt FFG is dumb enough to severely restrict product availability for such a niche game. The idea is to move product and make money, right?

As a FLGS I whole heartedly support this move. Im constantly hearing, "But I can get it cheaper "here" ". And I have to constantly explain that Amazon and Ebay dosnt have to cover light bills and morgage.

Any player that utilizes a FLGS to play at should support it at least a bit. There is a term for people who don't. It is called freeloader.

As a FLGS I whole heartedly support this move. Im constantly hearing, "But I can get it cheaper "here" ". And I have to constantly explain that Amazon and Ebay dosnt have to cover light bills and morgage.

Any player that utilizes a FLGS to play at should support it at least a bit. There is a term for people who don't. It is called freeloader.

How about this...You buy from whomever and do what you want with your Merchandise, and I buy from whomever and do what I want with my Merchandise. There is no reason to use negative name calling because you don't agree with what someone LEGALLY does. FLGS aren't victims of or idiots on how Capitalism works. I buy most my stuff online and few at the Local FLGS. My FLGS charges an optional 5 dollars for league play which I pay when I show up which is totally legit and understandable. This money is used not only for the store but for rewards and prizes. The more people that participate in these Local Store events draws more people to the store, and thus more people increases the chance for paying this Optional League Play Fee and purchasing merchandise from the FLGS store.

i am tempted from time to time to buy for cheaper online. Hobby money is limited and the only thing better than 4 Star Wars xwing ships from my lgs is 5 x wing ships from online. But in the end I usually support my local store. I don't want them to go anywhere. I've seen too may close down, I know it can happen.

That being said, some stores need to discount sometimes as well if the marketplace is driving the price down. A 10% discount that leads to increased sales is better than the alternative of not selling anything. Stores that insist on selling everything at msrp no matter what aren't doing themselves any favors.

In the end this wouldn't affect me since I buy at or very close to msrp already.

Them again, the news from this is very mixed. According to some it will have zero impact on current prices so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I'm okay with this. I support my local economy instead of sending my money to overseas retailers via the internet because despite it being more expensive, those sales taxes pay for things I need like roads and hospitals, and supporting my local game store ensures they continue to run leagues and tournaments.

That and it's actually cheaper because I always place high enough to win store credit.

Joe Boss Red Seven, on 19 Dec 2015 - 1:24 PM, said:

Sithborg, on 19 Dec 2015 - 12:29 PM, said:

My impression from what Joe Red Boss Seven is that this primarily affects the Diamond/Alliance monopoly on Days of Wonder distribution.

Yeah... that EXACTLY, is what we talked about yesterday. Chill peoples. The FFG Star Brahs are locking down on sneaky people that want to buy a ton of popular product and set on it. Mini Mart & Cool Stuff and other **** fine well run online businesses are not going to be affected much at all.

I specifically asked about them and asked in our beloved FFG is trying to pull a GW from years back. NO! was the answer!

Chill My Star Brothers.

This. I believe Joe has the straight scoop on this folks.

I would add I purchase quite a bit of gaming materials, x wing, dnd and board games every month. I spend roughly 50% local 50% online and dont lose any sleep over it. Currently we have 2 local games stores that offer some gaming and I support them. But to be honest they could offer better gaming areas and make in store gaming a better enviroment. The more welcome the gaming stores are for board gamers (yes x wing is a board game lol) the more I would spend in their stores.

can you explain this situation in english? I don't quite understand this.

If I've read the OP and article correctly, FFG's umbrella head (ANA) will be limiting distribution of sales to five distributors and managing operations from their headquarters in Minnesota. This means that companies like Miniature Market and CoolStuffInc might not be able to sell things at 33% off anymore through the online outlet.

OP forgot the WAAAA rule which stands for Watch All Abbreviation And Acronyms. It took me a while to figure out what MM (Miniatures Market) and CSI(Cool Stuff Inc) was too. Often wif you are going to use an acronym it is better to put what it stands for in parenthesizes right after the first acronym if you are going to use it. After all how many people know what POTUS stands for? If the answer is not everyone then it is better to follow the rule.

After watching the video of the FFG corporate cafe gaming store if I lived in that area I would spend 3 nights a week there!

Dicetower visit to FFG -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8clpLh3zY

We do offer tournament, events discounts. And I dont attack anyone who doesnt purchase through my store. Freeloader isnt the term I use for those who purchase elsewhere. Its the term I use for those who purchase NOTHING at the shop, doesnt play in events and generally just hangs out to socialize and charge their cell phones or laptops in the store. I wouldnt even mind that if they would just buy a soda.. something, anything.

But you just put on the happy face and drive on. Sometimes they cant see the forest because of the trees.

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/49015/starting-2016-asmodee-will-operate-asmodee-north-a

I heard the news yesterday about this merger but I didn't hear that it was this drastic! I would have to think that X-Wing became the enormous success it is due in large part to MM and CSI. I have bought probably 30% of my stuff from them off of deals of the day and I have a huge fleet of over 80 ships. That means I have put a lot more money into FLGS pockets then I have MM or CSI. I do this because I have the means and I want to support local shops. The huge problem I see is that they won't be able to avoid a HUGE hit in player base. Many people are just not going to be able to make the switch due to no FLGS available or not enough funds. I hope not but I could see some dark days ahead for us. I really don't see how this momentum we have had can keep up. I foresee many fewer releases due to a huge hit in sales. Maybe this is something they are ok with but it seems like a crazy idea to me. I mostly feel bad for those who will be aced out because of the spike in cost. I remember back when I was first married and had 0 extra money. I stopped all my gaming for years since I just couldn't swing it with a wife and 3 little kids. Just my 2 cents.

Take a deep breath. It's going to be fine.

You will still be able to buy stuff online.

You will still be able to find nice deals.

Your bootlegs won't get swiped by navy seals.

Just sit back, relax, and give it some time.

And take a deep breath. It's going to be fine.

I am going to be fine as I said I can afford MSRP no problem but I know darn well there were times when I couldn't. Back in my younger days there was no miniature market or CSI so I didn't have the option. It was FLGS or nothing so I had to pay MSRP. Had I been given the opportunity to go with a discount seller I may have so that I didn't have to put my hobby on the shelf for 10+ years until I could afford it again. I think it would be a shame for FFG to alienate gamers that have little discresionary income and hurt the X-Wing community. Maybe I misunderstood the press release but many took it the way I did so maybe not.

First, a disclaimer. I don't know sith about contractual agreements other than they are trying to artificially control the price (which I assume would be a legal and moral gray area).

Let me also say a few words about something similar going on in my country since we joined the EU. My government is trying (with some success) to limit online sales in order to bolster the local economy. This is done in two ways. First, we have large customs fees for a lot of products produced overseas, including all games. The fees do not include things we produce or used to produce, because we have an import lobby that sells a lot of cheap food and produce. Instead, the fees are aimed at things like games, hobbies and sporting goods. The underlying logic is people are willing to pay a little extra for those things, so if they don't want to buy from a local supplier (at an outrageous price), the least the government can do is make some free money. Even if the product is second-hand or toll-free, the government can still charge you $30 or so for checking whether the product is toll-free. (it's crazy, I know)

Another way they control online sales is through the post office, which is also government controlled and part of the sham. We artificially inflate shipping costs until a ten dollar punisher (using actual discount price here) costs $44 to deliver. About half of that goes to our local post office, ordering the same product from an address in another EU town (which may be within spitting distance) will cost you 40-50% less. Now as you can imagine a lot of folks were not happy with this and tried to save money. One way was to order from Germany instead of the US in order to save on shipping. Since the government might be greedy but it sure as hell isn't stupid, it is now no longer possible to order items from german online stores. They simply don't deliver, and don't have an agreement with our post office.

How does any of this relate to X Wing? Simple. By limiting the market and adding fees for breathing, existence and doubt, the government reduced both the number of potential customers and the amount each customer spends. The goal was to use an existing trend (geometric rise in online sales at the time) and use it to make what is essentially free money. Only it didn't really work. People just bought less. You don't need to be Thomas Picketty to guess a private company trying something similar (through different means) is going to net the same result. Thank you for taking your time to read through the whole thing. Support a healthy market, support people that give you deals and discounts, and never pay 54 bucks for a 10 dollar punisher. Over and out.

What country are you in? Poland?

Use private service like FED ex or something. Not sure about were you are but in many countries FEDEX has their own service delivering to houses.

And have someone ship it to you as produce if there is not tariff. Screw em.

Hi, i totally get the idea behind this policy of strengtening the local FLGS since they are the most common customer catching place.

But this thing while beng great for the US is terrible for my own gaming community, i am from argentina and we have no FLGS, or acces on normal retail to any of these products, anybody who sells it does it at a 50% overprice and up to now using the unofficial value of the dollar(which was of 16 pesos per dollar instead of the official which was 9,5 so we ended up paying something similar to 200% overprice for anything). Online retail gming stores were the only hope anybody of us had to build a fleet at a decent price. Argentina has no FLGS, so all we have is clubs, now withouth the online stores my communities are going to be up for some really dry and terrible times D:

It's okay by me in the X wing front, but i was starting to hook people up with imperial assault, my little brother included, and now thanks to this i wont be able to purchase the hoth related expansions at a decent price. This really really makes me sad because i know that its a step in the right direction for the us gaming community, but it is an incredible setback for the overseas gaming communities who relied in US online stores to supply themselves.

As much as I like the idea of filing a Falcon as a potato, space does not work that way.

Hondo,

Thanks for taking the time for that explanation. As an American I hear the same story from many folks I have contact with both in the UK and EU. Not just in gaming circles but in many areas of international commerce. Keep flying and fly casual.

As much as I like the idea of filing a Falcon as a potato, space does not work that way.

I was wondering if you had access to something like eBay and it is regulated the same way?

As much as I like the idea of filing a Falcon as a potato, space does not work that way.

I was wondering if you had access to something like eBay and it is regulated the same way?

Amazon and some ebay stores don't ship to us because of a lack of agreements between them and us. Others just charge extra (a lot). If it wasn't for this a lot more people would be willing to buy into the game.

Whenever there is a convention or a star wars related event, the board with XWM is going to be the first thing people notice (literally next to an orange woman or Darth Vader). All of them are put off once they find out about the TFA Core price, which is roughly three times the one listed on Amazon as of today.

As much as I like the idea of filing a Falcon as a potato, space does not work that way.

I was wondering if you had access to something like eBay and it is regulated the same way?

Amazon and some ebay stores don't ship to us because of a lack of agreements between them and us. Others just charge extra (a lot). If it wasn't for this a lot more people would be willing to buy into the game.

Whenever there is a convention or a star wars related event, the board with XWM is going to be the first thing people notice (literally next to an orange woman or Darth Vader). All of them are put off once they find out about the TFA Core price, which is roughly three times the one listed on Amazon as of today.

If you were to get a box from a private individual would that be assessed any fees or is it just commercial transactions?

GW did this years ago. The limited how much the product could be discounted. What happened is places like the war store had you call in your order to get 20% off or you could still get the stuff at 20%-25% off on Ebay.

If I am limited by restrictions on online, discounted sales, I will buy proportionately less or ditch the game altogether. They will not see 1 additional dime from me.

As much as I like the idea of filing a Falcon as a potato, space does not work that way.

I was wondering if you had access to something like eBay and it is regulated the same way?

Amazon and some ebay stores don't ship to us because of a lack of agreements between them and us. Others just charge extra (a lot). If it wasn't for this a lot more people would be willing to buy into the game.

Whenever there is a convention or a star wars related event, the board with XWM is going to be the first thing people notice (literally next to an orange woman or Darth Vader). All of them are put off once they find out about the TFA Core price, which is roughly three times the one listed on Amazon as of today.

If you were to get a box from a private individual would that be assessed any fees or is it just commercial transactions?

No, just commercial transactions. In fact, that's how I intend to get the larger packs like the Transport or Most Wanted, in a suitcase. Where there's a will there's a way.

Hondo,

Thanks for taking the time for that explanation. As an American I hear the same story from many folks I have contact with both in the UK and EU.

The UK is a part of the EU.

And it's nothing as bad elsewhere as Hondo is describing for his own country, Poland's government is largely stuck a few decades in the past. .