Writing a research driven essay on why GameStop is horrible.

[boltfanSD]

I don't disagree with the points you make, but this reads more like an op-ed piece rather than a research driven essay. Remove all of the "I believe" and "I think" style statements and replace them with definitive statements that you can back up with referenced articles. Hence the research aspect of the essay. For example, take your story about the customer being denied an exchange for his gutted copy of a game. Find this story, reference and quote it, and state it as fact. This will make your conclusion drawn in the next sentence much more effective.

What you have now is definitely a good start and works well to outline your essay, but it needs quite a bit of work and a pretty drastic shift in tone, especially if it's for a class.

[dsheinem]

where's the research?

http://racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... estop+evil

Shouldn't a "research driven essay" cite research?

[noiseredux]

where's the research?

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=18083&hilit=gamestop+evil

Shouldn't a "research driven essay" cite research?

yeah I think he's just going to put the html address to the Gamestop is Evil thread as a citation.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Hm. I just had to do an essay on violent video games for my psychology class.

Is it video game essay month?

Anyways, the body is way too opinionated and robotic. Of course, essays are used to express an opinion but, you should back up everything with a source. If you don't have a source to cite then your essay looses pretty much all credibility. As for which sources to go with, sources with lots of cold hard numbers are always a good thing. Industry analyst pieces are fine too.

This essay may be a little tough to write as we are video game fans and part of a specific niche in the video game market. I had a friend a few years ago that had never questioned why the new copies were opened until I brought it up one evening, and I'm sure there are loads of people that just don't care (though they should, they're hurting the very industry they want to enjoy).

I'm not sure what class or grade level you're in, but, if you're just doing a highschool assignment and you have a good teacher, you could probably skimp a bit on the sources if the piece is well written enough.

[KDub]

As a rebuttal to one point. The "gutted copies" are done so to prevent theft first and foremost. This is especially true when the store is located in a Mall where the merchandise is just sitting near the wide open door on a shelf, it easy for a shopper to just grab it and run.

Though I agree they should stock and provide unopened copies while they have them in stock.
The competing game store I work in handles it in this manor. We get the new release in, open one copy and put the contents away in back stock and reseal the case with a sticker on the front saying it is a New item with nothing inside.
When someone takes this copy off the shelf we take one of the unopened copies out of backstock and give them that until we run out at which point the last copy is opened and the game placed inside for them.

Should the new copies not be used and abused by employees? You bet!
Is opening the new merchandise the best thing? Not really
Is it required? Yeah it actually really is.

If you would like to argue that theft isn't that bad. We sometimes display new releases behind the counter on a wall as well. We've had teams of people come in to steal the newest Madden of all things. They have one or two people distract one employee with questions about some game or toy, wait for another to be ringing a customer out or walk out the the floor. The other leans/jumps the counter grabs the game and runs out followed by his buddies.

Don't blame the method, sadly it is needed. If the game wasn't taken out of the case it would almost always be stolen. But should Gamestop take care of the merchandise and not allow them to become scratched before selling them off as new? Yes, no question there.

[Erik_Twice]

You don't need research, you need reasoning. Which is pretty lacking right now.

[vlame]

You sort of contradict some of your own points. You sort of "yearn" (for lack of a better word) for the game stores of old, which also usually sold used video games and didn't contribute financially to the publishers or the industry; yet blast Gamestop for doing the same thing.
The "classic" video game stores also usually threw out stuff that they couldn't sell that would be considered valuable to some. I remember I walked once into an old store at the mall, and was offered (for free) some Super Nintendo inserts that were being thrown because they were taking space. (I collect some complete video games, but I didn't have any use for the insert to some random game, so I didn't take them)

I didn't feel that there was a position where I made it feel as though I said I yearn for a different store. I just feel GS should fix their shittiness while its easy.

where's the research?

it is not a problem that a news channel would report, the only posts ive seen are from here.

This is a better read than the usual gamestop blasting, but still seems to paint the company in the worst possible light rather than explain the average person's experience.

With the accusation of being a plague upon all of gaming, a better explanation would be nice. As is, you've really only pointed out how they are unfriendly to people who collect, which really isnt their target market.

I hate to come out of the blue with criticism, but I lurk a lot and only post when its about something i feel strongly about.

Their target should be any video game player, my problems with them could be fixed very simply.

What class is this for?

English 105, Community College level. The class before the one you take to graduate to a University.

I don't disagree with the points you make, but this reads more like an op-ed piece rather than a research driven essay. Remove all of the "I believe" and "I think" style statements and replace them with definitive statements that you can back up with referenced articles. Hence the research aspect of the essay. For example, take your story about the customer being denied an exchange for his gutted copy of a game. Find this story, reference and quote it, and state it as fact. This will make your conclusion drawn in the next sentence much more effective.

What you have now is definitely a good start and works well to outline your essay, but it needs quite a bit of work and a pretty drastic shift in tone, especially if it's for a class.

That story was from here. I am choosing this essay to be totally reworked at the end of the semester for a new grade. The topic was hard enough for me to pick and is one thing I feel strongly about.

Shouldn't a "research driven essay" cite research?

Everything I've heard that can relate is from here or my own exps.

yeah I think he's just going to put the html address to the Gamestop is Evil thread as a citation.

yes...?

Hm. I just had to do an essay on violent video games for my psychology class.

Is it video game essay month?

Anyways, the body is way too opinionated and robotic. Of course, essays are used to express an opinion but, you should back up everything with a source. If you don't have a source to cite then your essay looses pretty much all credibility. As for which sources to go with, sources with lots of cold hard numbers are always a good thing. Industry analyst pieces are fine too.

This essay may be a little tough to write as we are video game fans and part of a specific niche in the video game market. I had a friend a few years ago that had never questioned why the new copies were opened until I brought it up one evening, and I'm sure there are loads of people that just don't care (though they should, they're hurting the very industry they want to enjoy).

I'm not sure what class or grade level you're in, but, if you're just doing a highschool assignment and you have a good teacher, you could probably skimp a bit on the sources if the piece is well written enough.

I really feel the gutting could be fixed by simply creating a shelf model which could be included by the game's publisher.

As a rebuttal to one point. The "gutted copies" are done so to prevent theft first and foremost. This is especially true when the store is located in a Mall where the merchandise is just sitting near the wide open door on a shelf, it easy for a shopper to just grab it and run.

Though I agree they should stock and provide unopened copies while they have them in stock.
The competing game store I work in handles it in this manor. We get the new release in, open one copy and put the contents away in back stock and reseal the case with a sticker on the front saying it is a New item with nothing inside.
When someone takes this copy off the shelf we take one of the unopened copies out of backstock and give them that until we run out at which point the last copy is opened and the game placed inside for them.

Should the new copies not be used and abused by employees? You bet!
Is opening the new merchandise the best thing? Not really
Is it required? Yeah it actually really is.

If you would like to argue that theft isn't that bad. We sometimes display new releases behind the counter on a wall as well. We've had teams of people come in to steal the newest Madden of all things. They have one or two people distract one employee with questions about some game or toy, wait for another to be ringing a customer out or walk out the the floor. The other leans/jumps the counter grabs the game and runs out followed by his buddies.

Don't blame the method, sadly it is needed. If the game wasn't taken out of the case it would almost always be stolen. But should Gamestop take care of the merchandise and not allow them to become scratched before selling them off as new? Yes, no question there.

See above, they keep every sealed game in locked drawers. why do they single out 1 copy and let it become raped?

You don't need research, you need reasoning. Which is pretty lacking right now.

help me out OH WISE ONE!

[noiseredux]

if you can't find any research on this topic, then it's likely a very poor choice for a research essay.

[dsheinem]

where's the research?

it is not a problem that a news channel would report, the only posts ive seen are from here.

What class is this for?

English 105, Community College level. The class before the one you take to graduate to a University.

Shouldn't a "research driven essay" cite research?

Everything I've heard that can relate is from here or my own exps.

If this is supposed to be an almost-college level paper, then you have a lot of work to do. Your own opinion or research grounded in a website you visit isn't really the kind of quality I look for when students write position papers. Plus, your intro to the company sounds like it is plagiarizing Wikipedia or some other encyclopedia - combining two things very much frowned upon.

It may be helpful for us to see the assignment itself. Do you have it?

[vlame]

If this is supposed to be an almost-college level paper, then you have a lot of work to do. Your own opinion or research grounded in a website you visit isn't really the kind of quality I look for when students write position papers. Plus, your intro to the company sounds like it is plagiarizing Wikipedia or some other encyclopedia - combining two things very much frowned upon.

It may be helpful for us to see the assignment itself. Do you have it?

pdf prompt

the intro wasn't ripped from an encyc, i guess it sounds like it though.

I know it needs a total re-write that's why I want to redo it at the end of the semester, thanks!