Counterfeit Games

[Sgt_G]

Something I would have never thought about:

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/April_27_2021/Counterfeit_Games

And someone posted on another board: "FFG did a review a few years ago and found that close to 75% of their games that they bought on Amazon were counterfeit."

Thoughts???

 

[ChallengerHK]

I'm not at all surprised. There are lots of people selling scans out out-of-print games on ebay. I've seen tons of SPI stuff, Decision Games stuff, etc. The only difference I can see is that they're not telling people that they're buying originals.

One guy tried selling Companion Games SFB modules on disc, and they weren't cheap either, something like $20 each. I haven't seen him on in a while, so I'm guessing that he wasn't successful.

 

[Sgt_G]

Well, Companion Games SFB modules was a different animal. They weren't counterfeits per-say in that they weren't Xeroxed copies of a real ADB module. Instead, they were unauthorized "made for" modules, which would fall under Derivative Copyright law.

I did see them back in the day, and I saw two problems with them. First, they undercut the price of ADB modules, so some players would spend $14.95 for a CG module rather than $19.95 for an ADB one. The second problem is they were flawed, from a game-balance point of view. And because of that, those players who were dissatisfied in the CG product never bothered to try a real ADB module.

 

[ChallengerHK]

Yeah, I couldn't care less about the price issue, but the balance issue was pretty serious. I think I have everything they printed, and I don't think I've played any of them, primarily because of the imbalances.

 

[Sgt_G]

Well, for someone on limited funds back then, $5 was a meal at McDonald's with change back.

 

[ChallengerHK]

When I say I couldn't care less, I mean that that $5 difference didn't bother me vis-a-vis the game being unofficial. A cheaper game is always a good game if all other factors are equal.