By Sean Fahey If you’ve never heard of Noble Knight Games, they are a large, successful gaming store with a storefront and warehouse located in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. They also have a web site and sell items on eBay. If you play games like Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, Magic, The Gathering, or any other card, war and board game in existence, they probably sell it and have accessories for it too.
I enjoy roleplaying games as much as I love the Apple II. I have a respectable collection of vintage and newer roleplaying games. I particularly like old school Dungeons & Dragons, Top Secret and Star Fleet Battles. I know, I’m such a nerd. Since my pre-teen years, I’ve always had a strong nexus of intersecting interests with science fiction, computers, arcade gaming and tabletop roleplaying.
So, what does this have to do with the Apple II and why am I boycotting Noble Knight Games?
Noble Knight is selling Apple II software on eBay. That’s normally a good thing. What I don’t like about it is how they’re doing it; breaking apart complete games – the box, manual, disk(s) and any other feelies, ephemera, etc., and auctioning (or selling) each component separately. On top of that, they are asking a premium price for each component item that is often more than what the complete in-box (CIB) price would normally sell for.
Of course they’re free to sell their merchandise any way they want. No one is forcing customers to buy these items. Capitalism Forever, right?
Noble Knight’s quest to maximize profits is their right. It’s just frustratingly annoying… as in, it ticks me off annoying. As in, it’s damn inconvenient to bid on and watch multiple items that normally would (and should) be sold as a single, complete product. One or more outbids and you may end up with an incomplete game – maybe a vital part that affects the player experience. It just feels like nickel and diming, and it’s a disservice to the gaming community.
Hey, at least they’re not auctioning off product registration cards separately.