[NobleNick]

Well, even though I'm only just finishing the Vale, I finally got convinced by you guys (and gals) on this forum, to go out and acquire HOW. I think my experience is worth sharing. Here is what happened:

Feb 6, 2002:

Visited WalMart and Fred Meyer (FM) dept. stores. They both have IWD, but don't have HOW on the shelves, and they don't stock it. Funny, I thought I'd seen it on their shelves, just a few weeks back.... FM clerk suggests I try specialty software shops.

Feb 7, 2002:

Visit a large local mall. GameStop (GS) has HOW listed for $15; but it is not in stock, and is listed as "discontinued." Electronics Boutique (EB) has HOW listed for $10; but also not in stock and clerk can't remember seeing it since before Christmas. Finally, Wizards Of The Coast (WOTC) has it . . . . for $30 !!! No way . . . I only paid $18 for IWD!

A nearby software specialty shop, outside the mall, has only one USED copy that they'll part with for $30. With effort, I suppress my laughter, and make no rude comments. No thanks.

On to a Circuit City (large electronics oriented "department" store) in another town near Seattle. They have a huge software department, and have HOW listed for $30 . . . but, of course, it is not in stock. Another GS store: not in stock and marked as "discontinued." They call a sister store, and they don't have it, either.

Now I'm starting to sweat.

On to another very large mall: GS doesn't have it. another WOTC doesn't have it, doesn't remember when they last had it; but would charge $30, if they did have it. At another EB in the mall, I query the clerk; and while he goes into a back room to see what he can dredge up, I mosey on over to the shelves where I see a solitary lonely copy of IWD. No HOW. I'm about to leave when the clerk comes back . . . with a returned copy of HOW in his hand!! No glitz, no glamour, no box: just the manual, shrink-wrapped to the cd case . . . $5 !!!!

After gushing all over the clerk as to how he'd made my day, I left the store $5 lighter and with the slim packet in my pocket. Then something triggered and I turned back.

I asked the clerk, "How come I can't find this software anywhere, when I saw it in stores all over just a month ago?"

He did some kind of electronic search from his register and said, "It's out of print."

I ask, "Is it really out of print, or is EB just not carrying it anymore?"

The clerk said, "No, it's listed as 'discontinued'. That means it is not being published; because if it were still available to us, we'd carry it."

So, there you have it. Evidently, HOW is going to be very hard to come by in retail stores in the very near future, and it AIN"T because people are buying them as soon as they are stocked: it's because they aren't being stocked!

Now, I'm sure that HOW will resurface, probably repackaged with IWD and TOTL on a 4-CD set. I don't know what the internet shopping situation for this title is; but if you want HOW in the near future, from a brick and mortar outlet, I suggest you get your fannies over to your local retail shop, yesterday!

Regards,