Stopped by the local B&N today, and it was lots of D&D, some Pathfinder and Starfinder and Zweihander, and that's it.

Lots of copies of Strixhaven. I wonder if it wound up not being the hit other D&D books have been.

Quote from: Jam The MF on July 27, 2022, 02:12:17 PM
I visited the local Books a Million and Barnes & Noble locations this week, and I witnessed a shrinkage to half the volume of RPG bookshelf space i witnessed in past years; and an exclusive focus upon D&D 5E and Pathfinder.  Most of the Pathfinder books were for 2E, with a few pocket editions for 1E.

Yes.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on July 30, 2022, 05:05:47 PM

Quote from: Jam The MF on July 27, 2022, 02:12:17 PM
I visited the local Books a Million and Barnes & Noble locations this week, and I witnessed a shrinkage to half the volume of RPG bookshelf space i witnessed in past years; and an exclusive focus upon D&D 5E and Pathfinder.  Most of the Pathfinder books were for 2E, with a few pocket editions for 1E.

Yes.

I heard that spoken in a Vorlon accent.

Quote from: Jam The MF on July 27, 2022, 02:12:17 PM
I visited the local Books a Million and Barnes & Noble locations this week, and I witnessed a shrinkage to half the volume of RPG bookshelf space i witnessed in past years; and an exclusive focus upon D&D 5E and Pathfinder.  Most of the Pathfinder books were for 2E, with a few pocket editions for 1E.

No shelf space given to alternative RPGs.

The only FLGS I can think of, is pretty much the same way now.  There was another FLGS, but they closed their doors this year.

No in person exposure to other RPGs.

That's a shame.  My FLGS here in Orlando is open to all sorts of gaming, their shelves are fairly bursting with S&W, Pathfinder, 5e, and they get used 1e, 2e, and 3e stuff in from time to time as well.  They recently found a haul of Holmes Basic D&D sets in shrinkwrap at a warehouse that was sold to them!  Those went for $500 apiece!!!  But for us mere mortals yeah they get some 1e and even OD&D oddities in from time to time.  It's very cool.

As to the local Barnes & Noble I haven't been in a while, however, I have seen Black Blade OSRIC on the shelf (how odd it is to see my name in a book on a shelf in a major bookstore...), as well as their in house "version" of the Art & Arcana book (and the large boxed set).  I think while it was a hot property they had the Stranger Things D&D adventure game but that hardly counts.  By all accounts it's garbage.  It may be different now, though.

EDIT:

Target sells some TTRPG stuff although it's just 5e, dice the starter set, and curiously some WH40k boardgame that has 5 different colored marines, the bad guy "miniatures" are flat counters.

Greetings!

I have one game store that is about 30 minutes from me, and is good about offering paints, miniatures, dice, game groups and gaming tables and events, though most of their actual RPG books are, of course, entirely dominated by D&D 5E. They have maybe one or two small shelves that offer other game books.

Another game store, about an hour away, I also dominated by D&D 5E, though they provide a few more shelves of other game books and systems.

As I play D&D 5E much of the time, such dynamics aren't really a problem for me. I have largely given up on expecting much from local game stores anymore. I can hop online, and look through an endless variety of game books, miniatures, paint, and dice--far more varied, thorough, and complete than any game store is going to provide. I have spent huge amounts of money buying game books, game dice, miniatures, paints, brushes, and other accessories from online shops and stores.

I don't expect much at all from a bookstore like Barnes & Noble, for example.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 I have five gamestores in my area. most of what is stocked is D&D 5e and Pathfinder 2e and Warhammer 40K with a small selection of other games. I run other games for them and people seem to enjoy my games but the stores must stock what sells.