From the Gnome's Perspective is a column by retailer Pat Fuge, who owns Gnome Games, a two-store chain in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  This column, in which Fuge rates CCG organized play programs, is part three of his organized play overview:

 

Well it's the final installment the Gnome Games evaluation of organized play opportunities for us as a retailer.  Here are the A - Z's of CCG Organized Play programs from the Gnome's Perspective.  We looked at the CCG's we offer and have come up with our assessment as to the manufacturers organized play effectiveness for our retail operations and whether or not we'll be utilizing them in 2006.

 

Overall we know that without Organized Play (OP) in either league or formal tournament form our sales would be significantly lower than they are.  It's not a secret formula -- it's very simple.  We give the players a fair value for their dollars spent on OP and in return they generate interest in the games that directly improves sales.  Manufacturers that provide solid OP opportunities and rewards are those that we will put our advertising and promotion efforts behind in 2006.

 

Alderac Entertainment (Legend of the 5 Rings, Warlord, Spycraft)

Grade: League Play D, Tournaments A-, Overall B+

Alderac Entertainment is the master of the special event tournament.  Their promotional events that are available to every retailer are the best available and with a small player base can create enough local excitement to grow the player base very effectively.  There are significant drawbacks to their tournament reporting software and player management tools.  Hopefully their new OP system will fix this.  We also hope they can come up with some creative league play to energize the newer players a bit more than formal tournaments do. AEG is a must have for our success in 2006. 

 

Bandai (Digimon, One Piece, Zatch Bell, Gundam War, Teen Titans, Naruto (Coming soon))

Grade: Ungraded

While not a presence for us in 2005, the recent addition of the Bandai Gateway program and their efforts to increase the player excitement through support for OP in 2006 make Bandai a manufacturer that we'll take a chance on.  They seem to be honestly interested in helping the brick and mortar hobby store grow interest in their products.  The biggest challenge we see with Bandai in 2005 is in getting the mainstream gamers to try the Bandai product line. Hopefully the Naruto property will be the spark for Bandai in 2006 

 

Cactus Game Design (Redemption)

Grade: Overall B

Cactus Game Design's Redemption fills a niche that is worth our efforts in supporting Organized Play.  Local Organized Play for this game drives sales and also brings parents and players in to our store that otherwise wouldn't consider coming in.  It's a definite must keep for 2006, even if we just provide local organizers with product support for leagues and tournaments outside the store.

 

Comic Images (WWE Raw Deal)

Grade: Ungraded

While not one of our offerings in 2005 we'll be adding Raw Deal to our organized play offerings in 2006.  Their support appears to be solid and the promos offered have interested our current players enough to ask for it.  We'll grade them next fall.

 

Decipher (Lord of the Rings, Star Trek)

Grade: League Play D, Tournaments C, Overall C-

In early 2005 Decipher had Mount Doom League Kits that increased interest and increased participation and sales.  Since then nothing new or exciting has been offered for organized or league play.  The lack of new promotions has hurt our Decipher sales and unless something changes we expect our Decipher league and OP to fade away as well.  The pay to play system has lost its luster since the same old promos are all that is available.  We'll still keep this on the calendar but drop it to a monthly event in hopes of massing enough excitement to get a legal tournament.

 

Nintendo USA (Pokemon)

Grade:League Play A+, Tournaments A, Overall A 

Nintendo has revived Pokemon interest through very intensive player- and retailer-friendly organized play opportunities.  Regular league play with tangible benefits for the players based on frequency has caused an increased interest in the game and driven repeat sales to the level of top 4 in our stores.  Their free leagues are by far the best in the business. Their tournament software is getting better, and is the only software to allow for age-based pairings that we use.  The free City Championship is one event that every store with any Pokemon players should run.  This is the game that we believe has the most potential for growth in 2006 and this is due to the level of excitement that their OP brings to the tables.

 

Score Entertainment (Dragon Ball Z, Inu Yasha, Dragon Booster, Epic Battles, Case Closed, Afterworld)

Grade: League Play B, Tournaments B, Overall B-

Score provides some very good league and tournament support for their games.  Their kits increase player excitement, and provide players with desirable promo materials.  Reporting through their Website is not as easy as with external programs provided by other manufacturers.  The biggest challenge we face with Score is in the request for us to run OP for games we can't sell in quantity on our shelves (Epic Battles) as it is a Blockbuster exclusive.  This simply isn't in our best interest and is why we limit out OP offerings to the games that we already have a player base for.  Hopefully in 2006 Afterworld will be made available to hobby retailers so that we can generate player interest to the level where it can support the longevity of the game beyond the first few releases.

 

Upper Deck (Vs., Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Grade: League Play D, Tournaments D, Overall D+

Upper Deck has supported brick and mortar hobby stores with much talk and very little or no actual support.  Their Mantis software is the only redeeming quality of their OP program.  The Yu-Gi-Oh! league kits until very recently gave the players a scratch-off card for redemption on the UDE website, encouraging the players to buy directly from UDE.  Tournament Packs that we were not allowed to sell have appeared at Wal-Mart as approved by UDE.  UDE also stopped providing season tournament trophies to stores in 2005 without any formal announcement until after two seasons had passed.  Upper Deck's actions speak for themselves and UDE products aren't worth our time or promotional efforts for 2006. 

 

Wizards of the Coast (Magic, Neopets, Duelmasters, Star Wars, MLB Showdown, Xiaolin Showdown) 

Grade: League Play B+, Tournaments A-, Overall Grade A- 

Wizards of the Coast organized play opportunities include League Play, Formal Tournaments through the DCI, and Special Events, all available to brick and mortar stores.  They offer some form of support for each of their CCG product lines.  Their reporting software is one of the best in the business.  Their league kits are fairly priced, well designed, and most allow us the flexibility to provide players with rewards for playing in various formats.  The only shortcomings are in league play opportunities for their secondary product lines such as Neopets and Xiaolin Showdown.  We believe that if WotC would create a form of league kit for Neopets that included an online redemption card it would increase the frequency of play in the store and also increase the repeat purchases of boosters.  We believe that WotC products and their support are essential to our success in 2006 and we'll continue to use their OP offerings in creative ways to increase our sales.