Jamey Stegmaier cutting off ties with two Russian localization companies does nothing to harm Putin and plenty to harm average Russian citizens who never wanted war with Ukraine to begin with. I get that Stegmaier feels like he has to "do something" but dude this ain't it.
Yes, it will have the tiniest effect, but if enough Russians see the result of having a leader who thinks it's acceptable to invade another country, then perhaps they'll do what they can to change their leadership.
I don't really care that much about Stegmaier's games, but you sort of skipped this one, which was literally right under the action you're complaining about.
We’re forgiving any payments owed to us by Ukrainian localization partners. We have three wonderful publishing partners in Ukraine. We are writing off any expenses they owe to us, as there are much more important things for those companies to do with those funds right now.
Let's be quite serious, the "average" citizen of any nation doesn't give a shit about board games. All these actions are pretty minor. However, when Stegmaier's have a real cost to him, I'm much more inclined to take it seriously than any of the million avatar updates that usually pass for "support".
Also, "Don't do business with countries on the shit list" still applies here, even if some poor Russian doesn't get to play Wingspan when he gets back from a forced march into Ukraine.
I disagree.
Yes, it will have the tiniest effect, but if enough Russians see the result of having a leader who thinks it's acceptable to invade another country, then perhaps they'll do what they can to change their leadership.
Yes, after decades of sham elections, the jailing/poisoning/killing of political opposition, and wholesale looting of the nation's funds for the benefit of a handful of oil&gas oligarchs, the tipping point will truly be Jamey Stegmaier ceasing business with 2 Russian localization firms. Boardgame localization will truly show the Russian people the path to freedom & democracy in a way that clearly nothing else has.
Not Sure wrote: Also, "Don't do business with countries on the shit list" still applies here,
Ah, yes, of course. I almost forgot about Jamey Stegmaier's well known courageous moral stance when he ceased manufacturing all of those Stonemaier boardgames in China... oh, wait...
I want GMT, VPG, or one of the other smaller, more nimble game companies to retheme some of their games to reflect the actions in Ukraine as a fundraiser for general humanitarian aid. VPG in particular could probably whip out a States of Siege game for Kyiv in like 2 days, just a card with the mayor in full battle rattle would sell it
Most companies have a certain level of hypocrisy with their business ops and NO ONE can avoid all the twitter mobs, the best they can do is jump from one social media lily pad to the next and hope to stay away from the alligators below.
DVG could do an expansion for Warfighter or one of the modern Leader games but they are sooooooooo slow.
Not Sure wrote: Also, "Don't do business with countries on the shit list" still applies here,
Ah, yes, of course. I almost forgot about Jamey Stegmaier's well known courageous moral stance when he ceased manufacturing all of those Stonemaier boardgames in China... oh, wait...
Clearly you've got an axe to grind here. I'm hoping it's just about Stegmaier, who I don't really give a shit about. But it smells like "oh no, who will think of the poor Russians and their boardgame needs in this darkest hour?" and my tolerance for that is pretty low this week.
Either way, I don't think there's much "discussion" here, you're just cherrypicking arguments and now getting into whatabout-ism. I've seen this film, I'm out. Even best-case, if you really just dislike the guy and his business, TWBG isn't exactly a hotbed of Stonemaier stans to convert.
jason10mm wrote: VPG in particular could probably whip out a States of Siege game for Kyiv in like 2 days, just a card with the mayor in full battle rattle would sell it
I don't think VPG really exists anymore other than to sell reprints of NEMOS WAR and a few other games from the VPG catalog. Not long after Dan/Game Salute/+42 other "imprint brands" bought them, they laid off the original VPG folks who came over after the acquistion.
I disagree.
Yes, it will have the tiniest effect, but if enough Russians see the result of having a leader who thinks it's acceptable to invade another country, then perhaps they'll do what they can to change their leadership.
Yes, after decades of sham elections, the jailing/poisoning/killing of political opposition, and wholesale looting of the nation's funds for the benefit of a handful of oil&gas oligarchs, the tipping point will truly be Jamey Stegmaier ceasing business with 2 Russian localization firms. Boardgame localization will truly show the Russian people the path to freedom & democracy in a way that clearly nothing else has.
Not Sure wrote: Also, "Don't do business with countries on the shit list" still applies here,
Ah, yes, of course. I almost forgot about Jamey Stegmaier's well known courageous moral stance when he ceased manufacturing all of those Stonemaier boardgames in China... oh, wait...
Every little bit helps bring attention and sway opinions, and it can come don to just if Ukranians have to pay (with their lives and livelihoods) and the rest of us financially (don't know about you Nth Americans but fuel and power prices are going up here in Europe) - but then if people don't really care then that is their right, I regard them as arses but they have the right not to care.
jason10mm wrote: VPG in particular could probably whip out a States of Siege game for Kyiv in like 2 days, just a card with the mayor in full battle rattle would sell it
I don't think VPG really exists anymore other than to sell reprints of NEMOS WAR and a few other games from the VPG catalog. Not long after Dan/Game Salute/+42 other "imprint brands" bought them, they laid off the original VPG folks who came over after the acquistion.
That's too bad. I liked some of their stuff and weren't they originally a college based design studio? I'm sure I could still get some charcoal off their laser cut components.
Anyhoo, I prefer fundraising via selling product versus boycotts or just naked donations with dubious follow through. How many millions and millions get funneled through gofundme with ZERO accountability of where it goes?
Re: Stonemeier. It's easy enough, and accurate, to criticize him for being hypocritical about Chinese manufacturing. He could have phoned it in by issuing a stern statement, and changing his website's colors to the blue-and-yellow.
But he is giving up real money -- high five or low six figures -- due to ending his partnership with Russian localization companies, and forgiving the debts of his Ukrainian partners. So say what you will, but that's a hell of a lot more than I see anyone else doing.
Wow! My wife grew up with the original founder of Phalanx. Weird seeing them mentioned in a thread on here. She was born in Utah, but grew up in Kharkiv.
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