If that is true, then you are going about this in extraordinarily bad faith. I realize that you and everyone else who joins this "revolution" won't listen to the following but I'm going to say it anyway.nuba km said:
One of the absolute best boycotts was against Heroes 5. When the demo was released, it was a mess and it included the version of Starforce that randomly deletes devices from your computer. A number of people who ran Heroes of Might and Magic sites organized a boycott. The way they went about the boycott is as follows:
Everyone involved would write a HAND-WRITTEN letter to Ubisoft. In the letter, they were to explain, in a civil way, their problems with the current demo. They would let Ubisoft know that, as it is, they could not support Heroes 5 and would not buy it nor would they cover it on their website. They were to go on to express their deep appreciation for the franchise and to let Ubisoft know that, if changes were made to Heroes 5 both to bring it's quality level up and to remove Starforce, that they would cover it again and would buy it in the stores.
Ubisoft listened and made the changes and the people behind the boycott were true to their word as well.
This was a rare boycott because the people behind it understood a few principles behind effective boycotts. They understood that you have to communicate and that you have to offer a carrot along with the stick.
Right now, all you're offering is a stick. You are urging people not to shop there without any actual communication with Gamestop. This tells Gamestop nothing about why you're no longer shopping there. If you were really serious about this and not on some form of anti-Gamestop vendetta like Bob is, you would urge people to write a similar letter. (No E-mails or internet petitions. E-mails are fundamentally lazy and internet petitions are even worse. Most companies will listen to one hand-written/typed letter than they will to 1000 E-mails or any number of internet petitions.) In a civil tone, let Gamestop know the issues that you have with their policies and that, until such policies are changed, you can no longer support their establishment. Also, remember to include in your letter the carrot. Let them know what you appreciate about their stores and, if they were to change the policies that you find objectionable, you would be happy to buy from them again.
Obviously, this is more work (which is why most people won't do it) than just saying "Let's boycott Gamestop" and it might be futile. Gamestop has admitted that, without the used game business, that they wouldn't be in business. This is probably the truth as there is no single store that is solely dedicated to games which does not also sell used games. However, at least, if your "revolution" does this, you will be, at least, attempting to negotiate in good faith.
Alright. Which game have they done this with? Give me ONE title that they have refused to sell.nuba km said:
Despite what MovieBob thinks, Gamestop is not some evil overlord. They don't sell/not sell games for ideological purposes. They are in this for the money. If they think they can sell the game, they will. This is why they have such a large selection. By your own example, if Gamestop isn't selling it, few other places will. Thusly, if people aren't buying it from Gamestop, do you think other places will fall all over themselves to stock the title?
This is an incredibly stupid thing to say. Don't sink down to the Moviebob level of thought. There does not always have to be a single Yin to Gamestop's Yang. In my city alone, there are a couple independents, Entertainmart, Target, Best Buy, Walmart, and other stores that I can't remember. There is also Amazon, Ebay, and other sites.nuba km said:
Trying to characterize this as Gamestop somehow having some overarching stranglehold on the industry makes me think that both you and Moviebob do not know what a monopoly actually is.
Yes and I use Gamefly. The fact that you use Lovefilm undermines both your argument that Gamestop has a monopoly and that you are doing this for the benefit of the industry. In fact, you even admit that, after you rent it, you will buy it for a used price (for a measly $5-10 dollar savings) elsewhere so this really isn't about helping the developers.nuba km said:
You have said nothing that indicates that this is true. In fact, your answers indicate the opposite. It's fine if you hate Gamestop. It is not a cardinal sin to do so. However, you should be honest enough to say "I hate Gamestop" when you are advocating bringing them to their knees through a boycott. Right now, you saying that is much like when someone says "Some of my best friends are X" right after they finish insulting X.nuba km said:
Ignoring the economic fallacies in your argument:nuba km said:
Define "less" What percentage of used game sales should be new game sales? With your Lovefilm argument, you stated that you will later buy the game for 5-10 dollars less after renting it which is currently equal to £3-6. Is that really so much better? Is there a margin of savings that make it acceptable to buy used?
Also, remember that Gamestop is a business. Given that your boycott is supposedly about Gamestop selling used games, do you really think that, if your boycott were successful, Gamestop would even carry used games anymore? I hate to break this to you but stores do not carry merchandise that they aren't selling. Thusly, the people who want to sell their old games so they have the money to buy new games will be out of luck. The people who want to buy "those old treasures" will be forced to turn to Ebay. Is this really a favorable scenario for both game buyers and game developers?
