Rich Biedrzycki of Dreamland Comics in Schaumburg, Illinois read David Luebke recent comments regarding potential bad behavior by in-store event players (see "David Luebke of Dave's Comics on WotC Premier Stores") and sent in this response.
I am responding to Dave at Dave's Comics comments about DCI/WPN tournaments and the fact he was removed from the Premier Store program by Wizards of the Coast.
Dave you mention the problems you have heard other stores have had with player behavior at these events. I can say we have had lots of instances of player disrespect for the retail store they are playing in. I have even had a Slurpee poured on me by someone who was mad at us because we would not give them the prizes so they could take them and go play elsewhere.
What I think is that a lot of stores are overlooking the fact the if anything happened while they are running these sanctioned DCI tournaments in their retail stores they are very legally liable for anything a player might do while there. Wizards of the Coast does NOT have your back on this as in the DCI paperwork they absolve themselves of ANY legal responsibility on their part.
Basically Wizards is forcing you as a retailer to run these events or they won't sell to you but with you taking full legal responsibility for the event. Great for Wizards, not so great for the retail store.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
'Legally Liable for Anything a Player Might Do'
Posted by ICv2 on April 22, 2010 @ 12:07 am CT