Is it worth "saving"? And if not, what should it be replaced by? Nothing? Just online community?

RPGPundit

In the Midwest the FLGS serves as a de facto game club.  Some days I think the hobby would be better served by clubs that serve as defacto stores.

Quote from: jrients;306409In the Midwest the FLGS serves as a de facto game club.  Some days I think the hobby would be better served by clubs that serve as defacto stores.

That is mostly what we get springing up around here.  The selection is terrible, the place is tiny, and the 'owner(s)' are clearly using it as a tax dodge so they have a place to flip cards.  And they disappear as quickly as they arrive.  Not really the best alternative.

The one place here that has been around forever has game tables, a good selection of RPGs, all kinds of CCG product, and a fair number of board games.  The store is clean, the employees helpful, and the location is somewhat accessible.

Quote from: RPGPundit;306407Is it worth "saving"? And if not, what should it be replaced by? Nothing? Just online community?

Game stores are vital to both the industry and the hobby.   The stores who are surviving have realized they must become centers for gaming gatherings.

Online "communities" are bullshit.   People sit down at tables at game stores and actually play games instead of just bitching about how they're confused how its not 1983 or whining about some rule in a game they will never actually play.

FLGS are a necessity. Gamers play face-to-face, thus gamers must meet face-to-face. Thus, gamers must have a place to meet face-to-face nearby.

And, if gamers have a place to buy stuff, they will go there. If it has tables, they will meet and play games. And people will go in the FLGS, wondering what it is about. And thus, a new generation of gamers is born.

My LGS is far from F, so I can't give an unbiased opinion.  I'd be happy to see them go under, and I'll buy from Amazon.

I think they need to change with the times.  The best game store I'm nearest to is Games Plus in Mount Prospect.  They most likely own the building they are occupying, run a successful online business (selling the same products), and offer a boutique experience similar to many high end retailers.  They also have a huge selection of older and more obscure stuff (historical minis being a big one).

A game store needs to be more of a place to play, get together, and buy supplies and things.  Of course supporting local business is always a good thing, so people should shop at a game store.  Special orders are NOT the way to do business anymore.  If I want to wait for something, I'll get it cheaper and have it sent to my house.  A store needs to be large (like Games Plus) in order to have a ton of stock AND a large and useful gaming space.

Game stores are not useful for community, since most don't have one - they're a business, not a social club. They're not useful for creating new gamers, since most gamers are made by current gamers, a sort of apprenticeship system.

Game stores are useful for offering physical products, and for giving gamers some enthusiasm for it. You just feel more gamerish standing in a store full of books and dice and figurines than you do on the train or something. You page through all the books and think of the wonderful possibilities of play. Keeping that enthusiasm up is important; not keeping it up is why so many people play a lot at say university, but then ten years later never touch dice again.

Game stores are mostly small businesses, and like most small businesses are pretty poorly-run. Gamers have no duty to make game stores survive, anymore than diners have a duty to make restaurants survive, or book readers have a duty to make bookstores survive, etc. This idea of a duty to save a business from itself shows a distressing streak of communism in Westerners. If the game store is well-run then it'll prosper, and deserves to. If it's a shithole then it'll perish like so many other small businesses, and good riddance, it deserves to perish.

I disagree about supporting local business being communistic, Mr. Aaron.  I agree that I would not patronize a shitty store, but I like being a member of my community, and supporting those business in my community that cater to my wants and needs.  I don't see how that's communist.

Quote from: joewolz;306462I think they need to change with the times.  The best game store I'm nearest to is Games Plus in Mount Prospect.

Games Plus is indeed a spectacular store.  I've had the pleasure of visiting it a couple of times during trips to the Chicago area.

Sadly, it is by far the exception.  Most games stores I see have marginalized RPGs so much, it barely makes sense to visit them (there is a halfway decent store in town that opened up recently, though it is still far from Games Plus quality).  All too many of them barely have more than one or two different lines, with most of the store devoted to mini and card games.

As I've said before, if they don't have a RPG section bigger than a large chain bookstore, there's no point for me.  I want to be able to browse things I'm not sure if I want (as I've said many times before, I could care less about the socialization aspect - I've rarely if ever met anyone I've wanted to game with at a store, nor gamed at a store).

Quote from: joewolz;306474I agree that I would not patronize a shitty store, but I like being a member of my community, and supporting those business in my community that cater to my wants and needs.  I don't see how that's communist.

It's not.

I said that we have no duty to any particular business - local or not. Where we choose to spend our money is up to us. But sometimes you'll hear people say, "you should support your local game store," or "if we're thrifty, then what about the economy?" We have no duty to spend money in general, and certainly not to spend it at any particular place.

If they're good, local or not, they'll do well. If they're not, they won't.

It's the idea that we have a duty to spend money, or to keep a particular person employed however unproductive they are, or a particular shop or factory open however poor their service and products, that's where we see the communist strain in the West come in.

My gamer friends and I meet at one of our houses, and not out in a public place.

I don't purchase items in game stores anymore, because I don't play D&D4e, Exalted or New World of Darkness.

I can't say as I otherwise give much thought to game stores anymore.

Quote from: RPGPundit;306407Is it worth "saving"? And if not, what should it be replaced by? Nothing? Just online community?

RPGPundit

You WOULD start this thread while I was at the game store on the closing shift...


....and of corse their worth saving - the better ones are.


- Ed C.

The thing is that the Gaming Store is not "community", or not meant to be, its meant to be a business; but essentially (in north america at least) it tends to become a de-facto source for community.
Only, more often than not it really sucks as community. The thing I think people are afraid of losing if the FLGSes go under is not Fatbeard-comicbookguys trying to sell you overpriced stuff and bad attitudes, what they're afraid of losing is that (however tenuous) concept of a physical place for the gaming community to meet and communicate.

So the real question is whether the only two alternatives are Gaming stores (some of which are ok at doing the community thing, and others that utterly suck at it), or online-community only; or if there is a third way that involves creating things like physical gaming clubs that provide that community element (and maybe even some of the commercial element).

RPGPundit

Personally I think the local gaming store is great. I like being able to physically see the product I am about to shell out my hard-earned for is a plus for me, especially for my gaming related addictions of dice and miniatures.

That said I've never been a fan of them as a community substitute, except in one store that was more club than store.