The Strongholds of the Empire Storyline Event

Everyone has been asking us when they can be involved in a Storyline tournament without having to shell out the money to travel to one of the big conventions. And we have an answer for you... the weekend of January 15 to 17, 1999!

That weekend we are going to allow all of our interested Stronghold Stores to run a tournament in their stores that will affect the ongoing Legend of the Five Rings story. Only Stronghold Stores will be able to participate.

The results of this world-wide weekend extravaganza will be felt in the world of Rokugan for many a long year... The Emperor Toturi, missing these many months, and thought by many to be dead, is being held in the ruins of a castle in the forest town of Morikage. The clan who wins the day will be the one that saves him from his durance vile. We will take into account many other factors of tournament participation, such as how many members of each clan engage the enemy, and other such details and craft the continuing story of the Emerald Empire.

To participate, all Stronghold Stores will need to fill out and return the special tournament application that will be mailed out to them at the beginning of November. If your local store is a Stronghold, make sure that they get that form filled out and in on time! If you are a Stronghold, and you do not have your special tournament application by the 20th of November, please call us so that we can fax one to you. There is a listing of all of the current Stronghold Stores on page 16. If you are not a Stronghold, keep reading...

Certified Stores and Strongholds of the Empire

So, now that you can clearly see one of the benefits of being a Certified Store (you have read the above copy regarding the Storyline weekend, right?), if you are interested in becoming one, please read the following, and then fill out the handy form and return it to us. If you want to become a Stronghold in time to be a part of the Storyline Tournament Weekend, we need to receive your form no later than the 15th of December. Here is the basic deal: If you own or operate a retail store that meets the following criteria, you're eligible to become a Certified Store for Five Rings Publishing.

1. Your store sells one or more FRPG products regularly, meaning you order at least one more display of each release for the game you are selling than you have orders for, and you regularly restock product when it is available.

2. You have gaming space sufficient to allow at least six people to sit down and play games in your store.

3. You are willing to run a sanctioned tournament or hold a sponsored demonstration event at least once a month.

4. You are able to hang special signage and posters to support the Certified Store Program in your store.

5. You are willing to report your sales to an independent survey, currently Comics Retailer, every month for at least the TCG category.

6. You will allow us to use your store name and address in advertising of "Certified Stores", and put your store name and contact information on our web site so local gamers can find you.

In general, these criteria help us identify your store as the type of environment our products are likely to flourish in. We're not saying that every store that meets these criteria will be successful with all, or even any of our games. We're saying that the likelihood of your store being very successful is high.

What you get for being a Certified Store

We are working on creating more benefits for our participating stores, but here is what we offer right now:

1. Special mention in ads and on our web site. If and when we activate a telephone based store locator service, Certified Stores will have first priority in that system.

2. You'll receive advance notice of production schedules, product information, prices and systems directly from us at about the same time the distributors get that information.

3. You will get special store signage and posters to help promote the products.

4. Your store will be subscribed to the official "fan club" for the game you are supporting - plus we'll send you extra fan club material to help get new players interested in the game.

5. We'll direct mail you special posters, flyers, and other marketing material so you're sure to have the latest and greatest stuff to show your customers.

6. You'll have first priority on getting sneak-peeks at new games before they go on sale, and we'll attempt to get official demos in your store for new products as they are released.

Each store is eligible to participate in any number of Certified Store programs, provided that they meet the prime criteria for each one -- that is stocking, restocking and supporting each game.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
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