Ambassador Report - November 2001
Region: Ronara - West Texas
Ambassador: Matt Clouser
1.The State of your area (not only for the Decipher game you represent but for other games, and CCG's in general - rumors you might have picked up, relationships with retailers, sales information, tournament and event attendance stuff like that)
RETAILER SCENE: Boy are you gonna be sorry you asked ;)
At the risk of sounding like a soap opera, problems with our local retailers are the bane of my gaming existance. We had more problems with our main CCG sponsor here in San Angelo. The manager walked out on the owners over the Thanksgiving Weekend. Once again, we were looking at a serious possibility of closing (and one weekend before my next tournament!). Fortunately, they reconciled and (for now) we’re back in business.
There are two game-related stores in San Angelo. Since I’m going to be critical here, I’ll call them North Store and South Store. The North Store is the main base of operations for Decipher CCG’s, they support most other CCG’s, roleplaying, miniatures and comics sales. The South Store is primarily a boxed game and toy store, supports some CCGs and roleplaying. So, there is a lot of competition between the two, and it often gets personal and petty - and occasionally immature. As a PC, I have tried hard to keep out of the bickering. Recent events polarized feelings among players in town: when the local PC for LOTR started to set up demo events this month at both stores, the South Store’s owner started complaining the PC was spending all his time at the North Store. The LOTR PC made a good faith effort to work both locations, but was not able to run a demo because the South Store owner would not allow new games to be demo’ed at his store unless he got a personal demo: ostensibly to ensure only "quality games" were sold at his store: and was unavailable for two solid weeks before the release date. Then it degraded to petty personal comments against LOTR PC. I attempted to set the record straight with the South Store owner, but I may as well have been talking to a wall - and now I hear he’s honked-off at me. Sigh ... I’ve got teenage kids at home, so fortunately I know how to handle this kind of petty bickering.
CCG SCENE:
STCCG: We’re holding our own. The Borg was a success, and there is a lot of buzz about the next two expansions: ESPECIALLY for the Movie expansion. The reaction to the cards revealed so far for Holodeck Adventures have been very positive - except for the Ultra-Rare. Dixon Hill is a popular character so many wanted him to be a Rare, however for gameplay, we’re glad that he is an UR with his once-per-game ability to ignore mission requirements.
SW/JK/YD: No activity
LOTR: Jerry Jackson, the local LOTR PC, did a great job of setting up three events this month, including the pre-release and a Chase the Ring event. There is a lot of buzz about the product amongst the local players, especially with the movie coming out in a couple of weeks. I am impressed with the game’s ease of play and accomodation for multiplayer games - there were some problems locally with some of the tournament rules, but the LOTR folks at Decipher are making changes to accommodate them. We had a problem at the "Chase the Ring" event - the manager of our "North Store" was in the running for the ring on the last round and lost due to what he considered to be poor Decipher rulings on tie-breakers. So after the tournament he tore up each and every card in his deck and left the pile in a prominent place on the counter.
Magic: Still a strong game locally: most activity is casual play.
Pokemon: There is a small but loyal following at both retailers: mostly grade-school aged kids.
2.What have you done "For Love Of The Game" in the past month: demos, new retailer contacts, new avenues explored, TD recruitment and coordination, events held, tournaments run,....
TOURNAMENTS:
- November 3rd, Sanctioned constructed deck tournament, Jerry Jackson T.D. Ten players, winner was Dan Hurley from Abilene with a modified Federation/VCM deck.
- December 1st, Sanctioned constructed deck tournament, Matt Clouser T.D. Eight players, winner was Matt Clouser (yes, me) with a Klingon Honor/Blood Oath Deck. Gave the first place foil to Larry Letellier, who placed only 20 differental points behind me with a Fed/Resikan Flute Deck
TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS: Currently three: myself, Jerry Jackson, and Mike Harrison. Jerry Jackson is going to be cutting back on his TD duties for the next couple of months to focus on LOTR PC efforts. Mike Harrison is looking to move out of town next month, so I will be down to myself for the forseeable future. I have one TD prospect I'm working.
DEMOS: I run open play sessions, generally Saturday’s at 1 pm. Competition from LOTR has been tough, so not as much action as hoped. I ran demos for three different players this month: one is particularly interested in the Ferengi affiliation.
3.What have you got planned to promote the Decipher game you represent in the next month(s)
I’ll probably run a release tournament on Dec 21st - it will probably be unsanctioned as many of my players will be out of town for the holidays, and I will only have access to a playing area for a couple of hours.
Our next sanctioned tournament will be in January - probably on the 12th or 19th.
Until next month!!
Matt Clouser
STCCG Ambassador, Ronara Region
San Angelo, Texas USA
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To: List - Ambassadors <ambassadors-l@Decipher.com>
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Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 19:39:39 EST
Subject: [Amb] November Report - San Angelo, Texas
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