The thing with running my own games shop is the fact that I've restricted myself as regards to what I can and cannot say about games that I like or dislike.
If sit here and write a thousand word essay on why I think the new game 'The Fantasy Adventurer Player's Guide To The World Of Pibblypong' utterly sucks then I can pretty much forget about selling it - gamers will read it, see the link and then say 'hold on... he owns a games shop and even he says it sucks like a turbo Hoover... I ain't getting that!'
Alternatively, if I say the new game 'Dead Horrible Misunderstood Bad Guys: The Fleecing Second Edition' is probably the best game on the shelves and that every discerning gamer should own a copy, readers will read it and say, 'Hold on... this guy runs his own gaming shop... of course he's going to say how great it is so that we buy it! Well, I'm not falling for it!'
Rock and a hard place, I reckon. Have I, in my new capacity as a gaming store owner, managed to muzzle myself on my gaming opinions? I love talking about what games I like and dislike, about what games excite me and what I find wrong with them. Now, it appears, that might not be the best thing to do on a public forum, unless I create a whole new blog under a new identity but that kind of defeats the purpose; I want people to know it was me who voiced those opinions otherwise it's not really worth it.
Most of the blog posts I've made since July have been in reference to the Hard Sixes shop so it's already obvious that I'm mostly using this blog as a forum for advertising my store and my wares. That in itself reduces my credibility as far as balanced and fair views of the games I like. Of course, I'm going to be reluctant to bash a game that I'm stocking because I want people to buy it. It appears my critical days are over. *sniff* I'll have to stick to opinions on the gaming hobby, I suppose.
Saying that, Deathwatch is fricking awesome!
Your destination for fast, simple TTRPGs - home of Fireteam, Deep Space, Cyber Streets and adventures for the Those Dark Places RPG from Osprey Games
The guys at Endgame Oakland do a pretty solid job of it. They are really the only retailers I follow, though, so I don't know how much of an outlier they are. (Well, obviously, I follow you, too, but I don't think that's going to help this situation much.)
ReplyDeletePart of the trick is that old pair of fellows, honesty and sincerity. Really, don't adjust your critiquing style at all. If you have a reputation for being fair (and you should, as you've been a blogger much longer than you've been a retailer), people should respect that. If you stick to your opinions, and make sure your opinions are reasonable, then people will be interested in hearing them. After all, you are now an "insider!"