I have a friend who works in the movie business. He crunches numbers for a fairly large studio and takes a very business-like attitude towards motion pictures. Profit often takes precedence over quality to him, and a film can be forgiven a lot if it rakes in big box office. We've had a lot of arguments about it.

"How can you grant legitimacy to a movie we both think is a gobbling turkey?" I'll say.

"It's a gobbling turkey that grossed $150 million," he'll reply, with an air of finality. His assumption, of course, is that the adulation of the masses is enough to excuse any stench from the cinematic compost heap in question. And since, we're partly to blame for the state of affairs (we pumped down eight bucks apiece to look at it, didn't we?) we therefore have no right to complain.

He's wrong, of course, but his argument has some pertinent points. Often, the larger, slicker, or more prominently advertised film will gain a huge audience, while a smaller yet higher-quality motion picture gets lost in its wake. Not always, of course, but often enough. It's an age-old adage that affects just every product on the market - including RPGs. When it comes to the gaming industry, however, the trend is more unsettling.

We've always marched to the beat of a different drummer out here on the fringe. But despite its rather unique positioning, gaming still follows the same trend as its larger brethren. Despite some serious missteps and an industry recession which has hurt everybody, the larger companies still claim the lion's share of the consumer dollars. Smaller companies thrive, only to become big and complacent, spending money rather than taking risks.

Like other industries, advertising plays a large part of how the gamers' dollar is spent - games are bought because their promo ads are clever, or because their cover artwork is cool; not necessarily because they are well designed and fun to play. Because the Big Boys have more money to spend on advertising, naturally their products sell better - and are among the few to muddle through during hard times. Even with the smaller companies, a glossy sheen has proven more successful than solid substance.

What this means is that fewer good games are being given a chance to flourish and grow than they have in the past. Which adds to the power and complacency of the industry, and provides no impetus for successful companies to try new things.

Normally, that's simply the way it is. You've got to catch peoples' attention or their going to ignore you and whatever you're selling. But here, things are different (or at least they should be). Gamers tend to be smarter than the average bear, and most of us are very enthusiastic about our hobby. The complexity of RPGs and CCGs is such that close attention to the content of a game - not just the pretty picture on its cover - becomes almost mandatory to a true love of it. So it stands to reason that we should be a little more discerning about where we choose to spend our money.

This isn't intended to be a blanket statement of blame, or even to say that big companies are incapable of producing good products. On the contrary, some of the best games in the industry have come from big companies. But it's important to remember that we the consumers don't have to buy from them simply because they're big companies.

The industry has more place for small companies than almost any other. Devote some energy to searching them out and seeing what they have to offer. Take the time to look through a product - big or small - before you buy it. Ask the guy at the counter if you can see an open copy. Read through the information and decide if it's what you're after. And devote some attention to smaller products you may not be familiar with. In so doing, we can increase the diversity of the industry and force the Big Boys to maintain the imaginative work that attracted us to them in the first place.

Role-playing games are unlike anything else out there. We're not a mindless corporate culture and never have been. But it's up to us, the fans, to make sure they stay that way.