Support for Ad Astra Products

<BODY> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//SoftQuad Software//DTD HoTMetaL PRO 6.0::19990601::extensions to HTML 4.0//EN" "hmpro6.dtd"> <html><head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"><title>Welcome to Ad Astra Games</title> <link href="adastrastyle.css" rel="STYLESHEET">  <BASE TARGET="_top"> <link href="adastrastyle.css" rel="STYLESHEET"></head></html> <html> <head> </head> <body bgcolor="#000000" vlink="#ff0000" style="margin:0.1em 0em 5em 0em; padding-top:0;"> <div width="100%"> <h1>Support For Our Products </h1> <table width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td width="50%" valign="top"> <h2>For Retailers </h2> <h3>Distributors</h3> <p>Ad Astra Games' product line is carried by:</p> <ul> <li>Alliance Hobbies and Games</li> <li>ACD</li> <li>Blackhawk</li> <li>Esdevium</li> </ul> <h3>In-Store and Convention Demonstrations</h3> <p>To create an active player base, Ad Astra has created the Pathfinder program, a support program for stores and conventions who want someone to come out and demo the game. If you run a retail store or organize a convention we can send a Pathfinder to your site to demonstrate and teach a product. E-mail us at <a href="mailto:design@adastragames.com">design@adastragames.com</a> for more information, including what we require on your end.</p> <p> We firmly believe in supporting the retail arm of the adventure game industry. It's sales at game stores that bring new people into the adventure gaming hobby. In this day of Internet sales and “online discounters,” an active, store-supported gaming community is essential to the survive of all tiers of the industry.</p> <p>We also want people to actively <strong>play</strong> our games, rather than buy them, read them, admire them, and put them on the shelf wishing there was someone to play with. Active players create other active players, who buy more products at game stores, causing distributors to orders more products from us.</p></td> <td width="50%" valign="top"><h2><strong>For Educators</strong></h2> <p>Ad Astra believes that games should engage the mind, and so educate as well as entertain. All of our games have educational uses in the classroom.</p> <p>Educators receive a 20% discount on direct mail orders from Ad Astra Games. You have three options to qualify for the discount:</p> <ul> <li>Place an order from a school's email address</li> <li>Use the school's address as the shipping address</li> <li>Send a purchase order from a school</li> </ul> <p>We also encourage educators to frequent our <a href="http://www.adastragames.com/forums" title="Ad Astra's dicussion forums: check out Science Questions section down the page!" target="_top">Forums</a>, where we have topics discussing scientific questions from students and interested bystanders. </p> <h2>Volunteers</h2> <p>If you own one of our games and would like to demo it at a store or convention, please e-mail us at <a href="mailto:design@adastragames.com">design@adastragames.com</a>. Include your name, the name of the store, and the store's contact information (including e-mail address, if possible). Let us know that a demo is going to be run (posting it in the <a href="http://www.adastragames.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=2" title="Direct link to the Conventions and Demos topic. You must register with your real name if you want to post a message." target="_top">Conventions and Demos</a> topic on the Forums will suffice).</p> <p> After a demo, have the store or convention organizer send us a quick e-mail to say when it happened, so we can put you in the Pathfinder program and get you accruing Hazard Pay.</p> <p>If you have to cancel a demo, please contact the store or convention organizer ahead of time so they can use the space for something else.</p> <h3>Perks</h3> <ul> <li>Pathfinders can redeem Hazard Pay for vouchers for Ad Astra Games products.</li> <li>Certain materials are available only to Pathfinders.</li> <li>When we commission fiction pieces for Nexus Journal and other products, we auction off the names and and traits of characters (or the names of ships) to Pathfinders, giving them a chance to shape the future of the Ten Worlds setting.</li> </ul> <p>What do we look for in a Pathfinder? First and foremost, a good relationship with the people who're hosting your demo. We <strong>do</strong> check back with stores and convention organizers to say, “Hey, according to our records, so and so was supposed to run a demo...how did it go?” This gets us information on what helps our products move.</p> <p> </p> <h3>How to Run a Successful Demo</h3> <ul> <li>Let the store or convention organizer know about the demo ahead of time; feel free to print out any of the promotional flyers on the web site to garner interest.</li> <li> Be prompt.</li> <li>Be prepared. The first chapter of most of our rulebooks have a demo script built in to get people into the game with the minimum of fuss.</li> <li>Take along a friend (even a non-gaming friend!). It's much easier to lure in <span style="text-decoration:line-through;">prey</span> new players if you're already talking about the game to someone else. </li> <li>Put on your best “talk to strangers” face. Smile! </li> <li>Don't be afraid to teach the game to younger players. The golden age of gaming is 12 to 14 … and demo experience from previous Pathfinders shows that younger players learn our games more readily than adults! </li> <li><b>Never, ever</b> denigrate someone else's game of choice! (Even if you feel one of ours is blatantly superior.) Offer to play their game if they'll play yours at the demo today—build cross-overs.</li> <li>Clean up the area after you're done demoing. Check in with your contact person at the store or convention.</li> </ul></td> </tr> </table> </div> <div class="footer" style="margin-top:6em;"> <P><A HREF="index.html">Home</A> | <A HREF="http://www.genreconnections.com/shop/index.php?p=catalog&parent=62&pg=1">Products</A> | <A HREF="universe.html">Universe</A> | <A HREF="discus.html">Forums</A> | <A HREF="playtesting.html">Playtesting</A> | <A HREF="downloads.html">Downloads</A> | <A HREF="new.html">What's New</A> | <A HREF="support.html">Support</A></B></FONT></P> <P class="copyright">All contents copyright © 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008 Ad Astra Games.</P> <P class="copyright">Any unauthorized reproduction or third party alteration of the content, including redirection or addition of hyperlinks, will be prosecuted as a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.</P> <P>Web site problems? Questions? Contact <A HREF="mailto:design@adastragames.com">design@adastragames.com</A>.</P> </div> <div class="footer"> <p class="copyright"> Last Modified on: Wednesday, 14-Nov-2007 16:54:48 CST </p> </div> </body> </html> </BODY>