Quote from: Abraxus on May 06, 2022, 02:07:23 PM
Unfortunately not every game store allows one to browse the games.

The FLGS I sometimes go to has a few copies of RPGs to look through. The most are shrink wrapped in plastic. As it should be imo as it's a gaming store not a gamer personal library.

So like it or not YouTube ends up being the place to find out about RPGs for many.

My local game store lacks a decent variety of games outside of 5E and some Pathfinder books.

The bigger issue for me is the fact that while some LGS do have a good variety of books, none in my area offer companion PDFs, whereas ordering from Drivethru or the game company direct, you can get both physical and digital copies of the game. I like to have both.

Quote from: Abraxus on May 06, 2022, 02:07:23 PM
Unfortunately not every game store allows one to browse the games.

The FLGS I sometimes go to has a few copies of RPGs to look through. The most are shrink wrapped in plastic. As it should be imo as it's a gaming store not a gamer personal library.

So like it or not YouTube ends up being the place to find out about RPGs for many.

I've been to a few where the staff is very knowledgeable and reasonably social. They enjoy talking about all manner of games without just pointing you toward D&D and Pathfinder. One even asks knowledgeable players if they want to be on a contact list for more obscure games they buy in case someone has a question. Sadly, none of these are in central Florida.

Quote from: HappyDaze on May 06, 2022, 04:23:00 PM

Quote from: Abraxus on May 06, 2022, 02:07:23 PM
Unfortunately not every game store allows one to browse the games.

The FLGS I sometimes go to has a few copies of RPGs to look through. The most are shrink wrapped in plastic. As it should be imo as it's a gaming store not a gamer personal library.

So like it or not YouTube ends up being the place to find out about RPGs for many.

I've been to a few where the staff is very knowledgeable and reasonably social. They enjoy talking about all manner of games without just pointing you toward D&D and Pathfinder. One even asks knowledgeable players if they want to be on a contact list for more obscure games they buy in case someone has a question. Sadly, none of these are in central Florida.

Not sure where in central FL you are, but I've had a few RPG related conversations with employees at Sci-Fi City on Colonial Dr. in Orlando.

Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 06, 2022, 04:37:51 PM

Quote from: HappyDaze on May 06, 2022, 04:23:00 PM

Quote from: Abraxus on May 06, 2022, 02:07:23 PM
Unfortunately not every game store allows one to browse the games.

The FLGS I sometimes go to has a few copies of RPGs to look through. The most are shrink wrapped in plastic. As it should be imo as it's a gaming store not a gamer personal library.

So like it or not YouTube ends up being the place to find out about RPGs for many.

I've been to a few where the staff is very knowledgeable and reasonably social. They enjoy talking about all manner of games without just pointing you toward D&D and Pathfinder. One even asks knowledgeable players if they want to be on a contact list for more obscure games they buy in case someone has a question. Sadly, none of these are in central Florida.

Not sure where in central FL you are, but I've had a few RPG related conversations with employees at Sci-Fi City on Colonial Dr. in Orlando.

It recently got bought out and will only be featuring D&D, Pathfinder, and a few other RPGs. The focus is shifting towards other, more profitable games that can be played in-store as active advertising (e.g., cards & minis) along with comics. I went in a few weeks ago and the owner was quick to try and sell me things I wasn't interested in while trying to steer me away from things I was looking at because they weren't planning on continuing to carry them. Oddly, he never did ask me what I was looking for and just assumed wrongly that if I was looking at RPGs I must mean D&D.

On the bright side, they are cleaning the place up and opening up the windows to let some light into the place. Hopefully they'll get rid of all of the sun-faded, pale blue stand-up characters that look like a gallery of Force ghosts.

Quote

Not sure where in central FL you are, but I've had a few RPG related conversations with employees at Sci-Fi City on Colonial Dr. in Orlando.

It recently got bought out and will only be featuring D&D, Pathfinder, and a few other RPGs. The focus is shifting towards other, more profitable games that can be played in-store as active advertising (e.g., cards & minis) along with comics. I went in a few weeks ago and the owner was quick to try and sell me things I wasn't interested in while trying to steer me away from things I was looking at because they weren't planning on continuing to carry them. Oddly, he never did ask me what I was looking for and just assumed wrongly that if I was looking at RPGs I must mean D&D.

On the bright side, they are cleaning the place up and opening up the windows to let some light into the place. Hopefully they'll get rid of all of the sun-faded, pale blue stand-up characters that look like a gallery of Force ghosts.
[/quote]

Well that sucks. Sad that it went from the HUGE store at the other end of the shopping center, to the much smaller store, to now, this. It was always a stop any time I am in the area from WPB.

But if they are shifting to D&D mainly, what are they doing with the old stock? If they are trying to clear it out, might be worth a trip.

Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 07, 2022, 09:19:56 AM

Quote

Not sure where in central FL you are, but I've had a few RPG related conversations with employees at Sci-Fi City on Colonial Dr. in Orlando.

It recently got bought out and will only be featuring D&D, Pathfinder, and a few other RPGs. The focus is shifting towards other, more profitable games that can be played in-store as active advertising (e.g., cards & minis) along with comics. I went in a few weeks ago and the owner was quick to try and sell me things I wasn't interested in while trying to steer me away from things I was looking at because they weren't planning on continuing to carry them. Oddly, he never did ask me what I was looking for and just assumed wrongly that if I was looking at RPGs I must mean D&D.

On the bright side, they are cleaning the place up and opening up the windows to let some light into the place. Hopefully they'll get rid of all of the sun-faded, pale blue stand-up characters that look like a gallery of Force ghosts.

Well that sucks. Sad that it went from the HUGE store at the other end of the shopping center, to the much smaller store, to now, this. It was always a stop any time I am in the area from WPB.

But if they are shifting to D&D mainly, what are they doing with the old stock? If they are trying to clear it out, might be worth a trip.
[/quote]
When I was there, they were condensing them all into a "collectable and out-of-print" section at no discount (some even marked up). Nevermind that many of them are not in any condition to be collectable (sun-faded, sagging covers, cracked spines, etc.) nor are they all out-of-print. I was buying a few Shadow of the Demon Lord titles and the guy was telling me those were OOP. I raised a Spock eyebrow at him and didn't bother to correct him. He's either poorly informed or deliberately spreading misinformation to refocus attention back on the products he wants to sell, so I didn't see any point.

Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 06, 2022, 04:15:49 PM
The bigger issue for me is the fact that while some LGS do have a good variety of books, none in my area offer companion PDFs, whereas ordering from Drivethru or the game company direct, you can get both physical and digital copies of the game. I like to have both.

A good number of publishers are a part of "Bits and Mortar" -- this means that if you pick up a title from a local game store, either the store can send you a PDF thru the Bits and Mortar website, or the publisher will do so if you contact them. You can check a list of publishers here: https://www.bits-and-mortar.com/publishers

This is one of the major reasons for one of my policies as a marketplace that sells to FLGS.

We have a PDF guarantee through my Marketplace. So any title that we've carried for any of our publishers, we will provide a complimentary PDF to anyone reaching out and letting us know they got a physical copy in store. You can see a list of our publishers here: https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/index.php?route=product/category&path=60
Just use a contact form to let us know.
We like to know the FLGS you picked the game up at and some kind of identifier - like a picture of you and the book, or something you wouldn't likely know if you didn't have a physical copy.
The point is you get both, and it ends up on your order history with us so you can re-download the PDF whenever you like.

Doesn't matter if the book was originally sold to the store by us or not.

Quote from: hedgehobbit on May 05, 2022, 11:40:34 AMYouTube has been significantly more useful for learning about new games than browsing a game store ever was.

Learning? Yes. So do textbooks. Learning and playing physically together is 100% a different thing. For some strange reason, its much easier to meet new people interested in a hobby at a 3rd party venue dedicated to said hobby then meeting somebody randomly and agreeing to let them do stuff at your house. Assuming you even have the space for 6+ people.

I mean I have been lucky with both good FLGS's and places to play, but I wouldn't have met my gaming group of 5+ years if it wasn't for a FLGS.

Quote from: Thondor on May 08, 2022, 02:22:22 PM

Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 06, 2022, 04:15:49 PM
The bigger issue for me is the fact that while some LGS do have a good variety of books, none in my area offer companion PDFs, whereas ordering from Drivethru or the game company direct, you can get both physical and digital copies of the game. I like to have both.

A good number of publishers are a part of "Bits and Mortar" -- this means that if you pick up a title from a local game store, either the store can send you a PDF thru the Bits and Mortar website, or the publisher will do so if you contact them. You can check a list of publishers here: https://www.bits-and-mortar.com/publishers

This is one of the major reasons for one of my policies as a marketplace that sells to FLGS.

We have a PDF guarantee through my Marketplace. So any title that we've carried for any of our publishers, we will provide a complimentary PDF to anyone reaching out and letting us know they got a physical copy in store. You can see a list of our publishers here: https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/index.php?route=product/category&path=60
Just use a contact form to let us know.
We like to know the FLGS you picked the game up at and some kind of identifier - like a picture of you and the book, or something you wouldn't likely know if you didn't have a physical copy.
The point is you get both, and it ends up on your order history with us so you can re-download the PDF whenever you like.

Doesn't matter if the book was originally sold to the store by us or not.

Thanks for the info!

I'm sad to say I always wanted to support my FLGS. But they never had anything I wanted (except D&D... meh). So sadly I had to buy all my stuff online.

And now that I exclusively buy pdfs - so that's not an option again as I'm forced to buy from 'redact title'-Thru. Which sucks major balls, but what can you do?

My local game store is fairly small, with limited selection, and not very friendly.  They do sometimes carry slightly less mainstream titles like OSE and most of the Free League & Fantasy Flight stuff.  They also have limited DCC items.  But I've only purchased from them a couple times.  They never have sales and when you factor in sales tax and cover price, you might end up paying 20-30% more than you would online.  And why have them special order when I can get it faster and cheaper, delivered right to my house?

They do have some open games, but never anything I play.  I may try to get my own game together, but not sure there would be much interest in the OSR/retroclones I typically play. 

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on May 11, 2022, 01:44:43 PM
I'm sad to say I always wanted to support my FLGS. But they never had anything I wanted (except D&D... meh). So sadly I had to buy all my stuff online.

And now that I exclusively buy pdfs - so that's not an option again as I'm forced to buy from 'redact title'-Thru. Which sucks major balls, but what can you do?

Well, there are alternative places to buy PDFs. IndiePressRevolution, the https://www.opengamingstore.com is fairly "d20" focused, at least one other I am blanking on. Studio2Publishing seems to just do physical books, but I could be wrong.
My Marketplace is Canadian focused, but we sell PDFs of everything we carry, including lots of PDF Only titles. I certainly don't plan on ever "redacting" a title, only way that happens is if a publishers asks me to, a court order, or it's determined something is illegal.

Quote from: Persimmon on May 11, 2022, 09:01:20 PM
My local game store is fairly small, with limited selection, and not very friendly.  They do sometimes carry slightly less mainstream titles like OSE and most of the Free League & Fantasy Flight stuff.  They also have limited DCC items.  But I've only purchased from them a couple times.  They never have sales and when you factor in sales tax and cover price, you might end up paying 20-30% more than you would online.  And why have them special order when I can get it faster and cheaper, delivered right to my house?

They do have some open games, but never anything I play.  I may try to get my own game together, but not sure there would be much interest in the OSR/retroclones I typically play. 

That's not a bad array of titles. I do a "ship-to-store" option for Canadian FLGS that are interested. For direct customers this means they get notably discounted shipping. The store gets to see the book and gets a small credit to get other titles from us.
Nice value add for both I hope.