Derek Garrison of Talon Comics in Denton, Texas saw the news about the early release of D&D 4th Edition from some vendors (see “D&D 4E Out Early”) and says a more important problem is deep discounting from businesses like Amazon:

No offense to Wizards of the Coast but what are they going to do to retailers that release books early other than say "don't do that again?"  Both Amazon and Walmart.com released 3.5 early and what did they do to them?  Nothing that I can see.

To be quite honest the worst thing that is happening with the release of 4th Edition is Amazon selling the books up to 45% off retail.  I've seen huge threads on EN World that provide details on how to add to that discount by using incentives that Amazon has to offer.  How in the hell are game stores suppose to compete with that?  The answer is: You can't.  I've talked to random customers about it and they all say essentially the same thing, "It's too good a deal to pass up."

Wizards of the Coast isn't stupid, so I have to assume they understand the impact of massive discounters on their market but the bottom line is Amazon buys their books by the thousands.  Other than customer loyalty, how are we supposed to effectively sell their books without matching the ridiculous discounts?  I'd really like to know, WotC.

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