Saturday, August 10, 2013

Boycott product, or boycott YCS Toronto?

One of the number one arguments against the #OccupyYGO movement's current goal of boycotting YCS Toronto this month is that "it's stupid, a waste of time and would just be better to boycott product." Boycotting product isn't a bad idea, but here are some reasons why I think boycotting YCS events is a better endeavor:

1. There are a LOT of people that buy product, a much higher number than those who plan to attend YCS events regularly. Think for a moment and compare estimates of those numbers in your head: we have millions of people buying product all over the world, while only perhaps a few thousand that plan to go to multiple YCS events per year. Which of these groups do you think it'd be easier to mobilize?

2. Holding a YCS event is a huge financial endeavor on Konami's part, and many people believe that they already expect to lose money on many of the events. If we end up not showing up (and not paying entry fees they were expecting) after they've already booked everything and spent the majority of their money, don't you think that would have a stronger impact?

3. Boycotting product is not only hard based on the numbers, but would also be putting people in the line of fire that don't deserve it - namely, your local game stores, retail stores, and distributors. Each of these also have one glaring problem in common: they are not able to solve our concerns. While they could put in complaints to Konami that would almost certainly matter more than those from us players, it would take a lot of wallet hurting to get that accomplished in a sufficient amount to force Konami's hand, and I don't want to endanger the health of my local scene in the process.

If you're against the Occupy movement, I really hope that you take these points in and give my arguments a fair shot. The more people we have supporting this movement, the better.

No comments:

Post a Comment