Beginning this issue, we'll be running In the Trenches and Plays Well With Others on alternate months.

IN THE TRENCHES is a monthly article dedicated to the game retailer. each column will provide readers with methods to improve customer satisfaction, store appearance, sales techniques, and profits.

Bryan Winter is the designer of the DOOMTROOPER and KULT card games, among other products, and has been involved in gaming for almost 20 years. His opinions about retailing and the current game market are his alone, and not those of Shadis magazine or its proprietors (or MagWeb for that matter--RL).

Remember when you were a kid and some wise guy abused your trust by teaching you a new card game called 52-Card Pickup? And after the fun was over, do you remember picking up those 52 cards and knowing that you would never fall for that trick again? Well, you may be falling for it right now.

Between my years as a retailer and a designer, I worked for a major comic, game and trading card distributor. There was a word that shifted among us Product Managers: speculation. It was born in the Trading Card division, then it moved to Comics, and then it moved to Games. And everywhere that word travelled, it made our heart heavy and left a mound of unpaid accounts and closed stores in its wake.

The meaning of speculation is simple: pure, unadulterated greed. The "collectability" of a game has become as important than the game itself. It's the nature of the beast, and there is nothing wrong with it. What is wrong, however, is that manufacturers, distributors, retailers and even consumers are falling for the old 52-Card Pickup all over again.

Instead of sitting back and enjoying the money-making potential of normal sales techniques, stores are only concerned with getting rich off of these products, and they are throwing all business sense out the window. I've seen speculation destroy the trading card industry. Then I watched speculation kill the comic industry. And now I sit and stare as history repeats itself for a third time. It's time to realize that you will not get rich of off CCGs, but if you start making smart business decisions, you can make a hell of a profit.

But this is not happening. I see games that sell enormous numbers when compared to the other games in the store, but because their sales numbers are not on par with those of Magic or Star Trek or Star Wars, they are branded as "losers". If you compare your sales of a "loser" to your sales of a standard AD&D module, you may find that you have a tremendous winner on your hands!

It is time for CCG manufacturers, distributors and retailers to start treating these products as games and stop treating them as commodities. There is a lot of stuff out there. Hey, I'm as guilty as anyone. I have the distinction of designing more published CCGs than any other person on the planet (4 in print, and 2 more in production at last count). But that is fine, as long as you treat them like games.

Here are a few things you can do to stop speculation from driving you out of business. Let your competitor make the mistakes; you'll still solvent when he has gone under.

1) Don't bet the farm. This is so simple yet so difficult. We all know that when the X-Files CCG ships, it will sell like hotcakes. You are all going to want to fill your shelves with this product. Don't. Take pre-orders, and buy a little over those orders. If the game is popular, then it will stay around. If it isn't, you'll have boxes sitting on your shelves.

2) Don't plan for allocation. If you need 10 boxes of the new X-Files CCG, and you think you're going to get allocated, don't order 20 boxes. Just order what you need. If you get allocated, then you will probably be able to get more later.

3) There is no Sure Thing. Just because a company has a lot of consumer awareness and advertising dollars doesn't mean they can make a good game. Never assume great artwork will guarantee you a great game. You cannot be sure until you actually get a chance to play the game. There is a reason that games like Shadowfist, Legend of the Five Rings and Doomtrooper are still going strong, while retailers still have boxes of Star Trek: TNG sitting on their shelves.

4) Advocate quality. If a game is good, let your customers know about it! Sure, some just want complete sets of the latest licensed game, but most of them want a game that is fun to play. They can't afford to weed out the garbage, but they sure will be happy to give you their money if you help them along.

5) Discourage speculation in your customers. This one is really important. Nobody is going to get rich from a set of game cards, not even Magic cards. The secondary market is so transparent I can see five states through it. Price lists are worth less than the paper on which they are printed. It's time for it to go away before it drives your customers and you out of business. Remember, this really has happened with trading cards and comics! Always remember that these are merely games.

6) There will never be another Magic. Accept it, because it is just not going to happen. Not even WOTC will be able to top themselves. And before you start listening to a company or magazine tell you "this game could be the next Magic," remember all those RPGs that promised "this game could be the next AD&D."

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© Copyright 1996 by Alderac Entertainment Group