Hello Arelor!

** On Sunday 18.07.21 - 08:44, Arelor wrote to Mark Hofmann:

I didn't know that, but figured that was around the corner.
They want to pu the user desktop to the cloud so they can
charge subscriptions..

I personally think that sort of thing only flies with
corporate customers. For a corporation it is easier to
externalize the management of office programs and files and
tell employees to keep all the sensitive material up there
and save no local copies. That way, if some file is leaked,
they can blame the employee for having a local copy of the
file against corporate policy.

THAT is an interesting observation from the security POV wrt
identifying leaked documents.

For home customers, it is just not going to work.
Individuals are used to having every digital service for
free. As my former favourite book store owner - no longer
favourite because Abolins took his place - ...

HEY! <shucks> Nice of you to say.

...used to say, "people has gotten used not to pay [and
this is why I cannot sell Manga anymore]"

I'll bring in anything anyone asks for. Manga is not my
wheelhouse. BUT, lately MORE and MORE kids have been asking
for this genre. There seems to be so many different authors and
series - it's hard to know what is best to bring in for sale.

But a quick search sorted by "bestselling" produces this:

https://kolico.ca/tmp/manga1.jpg
https://kolico.ca/tmp/manga2.jpg
https://kolico.ca/tmp/manga3.jpg

Do they correspond to what you might perceive to be popular in
your country right now?

I'm going to give some of those a review and bring in a few
that list at the top.

--
../|ug

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Re: people has gotten used not to pay
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Sun Jul 18 2021 12:25 pm

free. As my former favourite book store owner - no longer
favourite because Abolins took his place - ...

HEY! <shucks> Nice of you to say.

Don't get too excited. The main reason he is no longer my favourite book store owner is that he has never bought a bar of soap from me, after nearly two decades of having me as a customer. MAIN customer at that.

The mangas you have linked don't ring the bell. The advantage of mangas is that series last forever and are very regular, so if you get a customer hooked to one you are guaranteed to see him every month in your store. Or at least, that used to be the case. When people got used to download the mangas from the Internet the whole thing dried up very quickly, which was a heavy blow for no-soap-dude because mangas were 75% of his sales.

Then they started selling Magic cards in mainstream retailers and that took about 30% of his remaining sales.

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Hello Arelor!

** On Sunday 18.07.21 - 15:49, Arelor wrote to August Abolins:

Don't get too excited. The main reason he is no longer my
favourite book store owner is that he has never bought a
bar of soap from me, after nearly two decades of having me
as a customer. MAIN customer at that.

Yes.. I recall that issue.

I may not be able to buy soap from you (as we know,
international shipping would be horrendous) ..but I *am* an
ebook customer. ;)

The mangas you have linked don't ring the bell. The
advantage of mangas is that series last forever and are
very regular, so if you get a customer hooked to one you
are guaranteed to see him every month in your store.

Well.. maybe it's just the beginning of a growing concern here
in Canada. Dunno. But I've definitely had more requests for
Manga books lately than before the pandemic.

I'm going to try a few titles/series from the list. As a
retailer, I can always return the unsold copies for a credit.

Or at least, that used to be the case. When people got used
to download the mangas from the Internet the whole thing
dried up very quickly, which was a heavy blow for no-soap-
dude because mangas were 75% of his sales.

That's a lot of Manga.

Then they started selling Magic cards in mainstream
retailers and that took about 30% of his remaining sales.

I don't know what Magic cards are. Do you have a link that
describes the product?

What's the no-soap-dude doing now?

I do however seem to be selling a lot of oracle and tarot cards
lately.
--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointface (618:250/1.9)

Re: people has gotten used not to pay
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Sun Jul 18 2021 05:16 pm

Or at least, that used to be the case. When people got used
to download the mangas from the Internet the whole thing
dried up very quickly, which was a heavy blow for no-soap-
dude because mangas were 75% of his sales.

That's a lot of Manga.

Then they started selling Magic cards in mainstream
retailers and that took about 30% of his remaining sales.

I don't know what Magic cards are. Do you have a link that
describes the product?

What's the no-soap-dude doing now?

I do however seem to be selling a lot of oracle and tarot cards
lately.

Manga used to be the only thing high school kids read. The ones that read anything, I mean.

By Magic I mean Magic: The Gathering. It is a collectible card game in which you buiold decks of monsters and powers and use them to face other players. It moves a whole lot of money. There are organized tournaments and some collectible cards are worth tens of thousands of dollars.

People who play Magic is usually very hardcore at it. It is one of those things that is more of a lifestyle than a hobby.

Magic is owned by the same company that publishes Dungeons and Dragons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering

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Hello Arelor!

** On Monday 19.07.21 - 03:39, Arelor wrote to August Abolins:

Manga used to be the only thing high school kids read. The
ones that read anything, I mean.

As a result, some parents are ok with that. "As long as the
kid is reading.." they say.

By Magic I mean Magic: The Gathering. It is a collectible
card game..

Thanks for the explanation.

The cards don't seem readily available, but there are some
novels bearing the Magic (tm) logo reminiscent of D&D, and
there are several recent books that cover the history of the
graphics art.

..It moves a whole lot of money. There are organized
tournaments and some collectible cards are worth tens of
thousands of dollars.

Sorry.. never heard of this. But I *have* heard of the company
Wizards of the Coast which put out some books of the genre.

People who play Magic is usually very hardcore at it. It is
one of those things that is more of a lifestyle than a
hobby.

Magic is owned by the same company that publishes Dungeons
and Dragons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering

Reading that, rang a little bell. Thx.


--
../|ug

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Re: Magic: The Gathering ..the card game
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Mon Jul 19 2021 07:50 am

Sorry.. never heard of this. But I *have* heard of the company
Wizards of the Coast which put out some books of the genre.

Well, if you hadn't heard of Wizards of the Coast you'd have neglected some important book franchises :-)

Wizards of the Coast owns Dungeons And Dragons, and that means they own some franchises that used to be VERY big in he fantasy genre. Dragonlance used to be very strong, with around 200 books published. Ontly the "core" trilogies were guaranteed to be good but fans consumed these books like hot cakes.

There is even a paraody of the song Black Wind, Fire and Steel whose lyrics translate as "I have read 200 Dragonlance books / now I am plunged into a trance / I am gearing up with sword and armor / and throwing myself into the heat of battle" (or something like that).

The other heavy hitting franchise Wizards of the Coast had is Forgotten Realms. Most Forgotten Realms' books were abysmal bad. However, they contain all the series Salvatore wrote about Drizzt the Darl Elf - a Dark Elñf from the hellish Underdark who wants to be a good Elf, despite the fact everybody in his society partakes in evil acts of betrayal, blood sacrifices and other fun activities. Anything from Drizzt used to sell as hot cakes too. Until the series stopped being good, this is.


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Hello Arelor!

** On Tuesday 20.07.21 - 04:20, Arelor wrote to August Abolins:

Well, if you hadn't heard of Wizards of the Coast you'd
have neglected some important book franchises :-)

I guess the game simply wasn't as popular in my area at the
time, years ago. But about 4 years ago, I received a bounty
of Dragonlance books from an estate. I was a bit surprised how
quickly they got snatched up. A few of them seemed to be
extremely scarce/collectable. My prices made some people really
happy.

The other heavy hitting franchise Wizards of the Coast had
is Forgotten Realms. Most Forgotten Realms' books were
abysmal bad.

Ah.. Forgotten Realms is another "bunch" that I had for a
while. They didn't move as quickly as Dragonlance, but
eventually most of them found new homes.

However, they contain all the series Salvatore wrote about
Drizzt the Darl Elf - a Dark El├▒f from the hellish
Underdark who wants to be a good Elf, despite the fact
everybody in his society partakes in evil acts of betrayal,
blood sacrifices and other fun activities. Anything from
Drizzt used to sell as hot cakes too. Until the series
stopped being good, this is.

LOL. Now I *have* try one of them.

--
../|ug

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Re: Magic: The Gathering ..the card game
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Tue Jul 20 2021 06:30 pm

Drizzt used to sell as hot cakes too. Until the series
stopped being good, this is.

LOL. Now I *have* try one of them.

Please, do. Start from the begining of the series, though.

Actually, I am surprised the Black Lives Matter has not usurped this series. Dark Elves happen to be literally black, and at one point of the series, Drizzt starts having problems because regular people treats him like an horible monster, for everybody knows Dark Elves are evil and sacrifice babies.

I suppose the reason BLM didn't usurp the series is that, in the context of the series, Drizzt is the only Dark Elf who is not evil and does not want to sacrifice babies.

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Hello Arelor!

** On Wednesday 21.07.21 - 13:42, Arelor wrote to August Abolins:

Drizzt used to sell as hot cakes too. Until the series
stopped being good, this is.

LOL. Now I *have* try one of them.

Please, do. Start from the begining of the series, though.

I can only read what I've got. I think you asked me which I had
at one time and I sent you a picture. I'll probably sample one
of those. https://kolico.ca/tmp/fr-IMG_20200713.jpg

Actually, I am surprised the Black Lives Matter has not
usurped this series. Dark Elves happen to be literally
black, and [...]

Any novel can have the potential of being hijacked for
political purposes. But thankfully, some common sense comes
along and options to bypass using books (especially novels)
that way.

I suppose the reason BLM didn't usurp the series is that,
in the context of the series, Drizzt is the only Dark Elf
who is not evil and does not want to sacrifice babies.

I will keep in that in mind if I come across the Drizzt
character.

--
../|ug

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Re: Magic: The Gathering ..the card game
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Wed Jul 21 2021 09:26 pm

I can only read what I've got. I think you asked me which I had
at one time and I sent you a picture. I'll probably sample one
of those. https://kolico.ca/tmp/fr-IMG_20200713.jpg

The Drifft books you ave are all mid series. I donñ't think they are going to help you much getting in.

If you really want to give them a try you need to fetch The Dark Elf Trilogy first.

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Hello Arelor!

** On Thursday 22.07.21 - 03:07, Arelor wrote to August Abolins:

of those. https://kolico.ca/tmp/fr-IMG_20200713.jpg

The Drifft books you ave are all mid series. I don├▒'t
think they are going to help you much getting in.

I just need to check it out in terms of writing style (how bad
it is as you say) and to get the gist of the genre.

I was recently steared to try an RPG-inspired story, The
Wandering Inn. It's not too bad.. but the prospect of
investing 8 volumes of 40 to 50 chapters EACH, scares me.

If you really want to give them a try you need to fetch The
Dark Elf Trilogy first.

Thanks for that. It seems that the early books (starting with
Homeland) are still in print and still rank high on the
purchase scale. Books #1-#3 rank high.. then comes #13.

--
../|ug

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