While most game companies seem to have no philosophy of action at all, we like to think we have a company philosophy and that it is a good one. Con tained here is an overview of that philosophy, which (while not exhaustive) should be a good guide to our operations. This listing is not in any particular order, except that customer service ranks first by far.

1. Customer Service

Wargamers have traditionally been treated like dirt. This practice is not only wrong and destructive, it is pathetic. Why gamers have put up with such an abysmal level of customer service, I cannot understand. Of course, many didn't and have now left the hobby behind. A dedication to customer service, in our eyes, begins (not ends) with the sale. Firstly, products should be shipped u soon as possible when the order arrives -- not weeks later-- and the order must be filled correctly. If a poor quality component slips through, immediate replacement should be expected. Telephone questions should be answered immediately with all respect and courtesy. Mailed rules questions should be answered right away (while they are important) not months later. The customer must be treated as a trusted friend -- not as a state enemy!

2. Product Quality

The games we sell are the very best we can put together with our technical resources and skill. The game's design should highlight what we feel, through diligent study, are the salient features of warfare at a given time period and scale. Physically, the product should be as attractive and functional as we can make it. We make our fair share of errors -- but an effort is placed into action to make a few as humanly possible. And, we continue to learn, too. Look at the original In Their Quiet Fields counters if you have them. They look the way they do not because we didn't care, but because that was the limit of my technical knowledge at the time. Compare those to the Barren Victory counters and I hope you will be able to tell a matted improvement.

3. On-Time Performance

This point must seem awfully trivial to our competitors, since they ditch it so often. what's peculiar is I don't understand why. Like us, they set their own deadlines. Is it that hard to set a deadline you can hit? On time performanoe is important. It's frustrating to wait months, nay years, for a game to come out -- only to find the end result isn't worth the wait. "But," they say, "we didn't want to rush to meet some deadline!" Yeah, right. We set deadlines we can comfortably meet. Like I said, I can't understand it.

4. "Entire Spectrum Product Line

Every time we come out with a different type of game from what we had been doing, I get several letters asking if we had given up on X series games and if all we were going to be putting out were Y series games from now on. Relax. We publish our production schedule out a year in advance, so there shouldn't be any great surprises.

What we are doing is also pretty obvious -- we are slowly covering multiple bases. Eventually, I hope to publish one or more titles per year in each series. This should give something for most everyone. The number of series will slowly increase over the years -- covering more time periods and scales. Dead ends (if any) will be dropped and successful series will continue.

In addition to the above, a range of complexity levds will bo provided for. Actually, this amounts to "normal level" series (TCS, CWB, OCS) which provide a definidve look at a time period and scale, and our "simpler level" series (SCS) which give a lower complexity treatment with a given trade-off in accuracy, detail, and complication.

5. Responsible Attitude

Along with on-time performance, we refuse to follow any "announce every game idea" policy as seen elsewhere. We make promises we can deliver. If we can't deliver, or have a reasonable doubt, we don't promise it. Its just that simple.

6. Professional Behavior

In basic terms this means keeping one's head above the surrounding muck. Avoidance of designer to reviewer shouting matches, etc. That is, even in the case where we are literally baited by the reviewer as in the case of the infamous Bloody 110th "review." In a business sense, this means payment of bills on time, correct charging of orders and records of customer credits and debts. And, all of the topics before and after this one.

7. Sturdiness, Solidity, and Stability

All the above are aimed at this one. Giving you guys something you can count on.

We do what we say we will and say what we are going to do in plain terms. If you send in a pre-pub, you get the game when we said you would. If something isn't right, we'll make it right. Instead of trying to keep up with our latest batch of promises, you can yank out a year old "Up and Coming" column to find out what is coming out when. Also in order to promote stability, our course has been one of slow steady growth. I can happily admit we achieved our original goals quickly and set new, slightly higher, ones. This process of continual adjustment will continue.

That's the way I want to run a business. It's the way The Gamers Inc. has been run since its startup. Sure, we had to learn a lot on the way, and make a fair number of mistakes, but these were our guiding principles from day one. Our education continues...