With the increasing collapse of the LGS in North America, I was starting to wonder if maybe the "gaming club" model they have down here in South America might even stand a chance of working up there.

The "Gaming Club" here is a place (often even a private house) where people come to run their games.  There's food and tables, there may or may not be books or gaming materials for sale.  What there isn't is an "open door" policy, its not a business, its a club. This means some nominal membership fee might be charged.  The benefits would be use of the tables (which you could book for regular games), plus a hang-out place where you might meet people for pick-up games, or where you can organize a gaming group.

Does anyone know of any place like this in North America (the only ones I could think of were RPG clubs in Universities, which were kind of like that)? Are there any in Australia? Europe?

Do you think that, as the gaming store model folds, the Gaming Club might come to replace it?  Over here, my feeling is that the gaming clubs were formed as a direct response to the fact that there were no FLGSs.

RPGPundit

This is basically what retailers are calling the entertainment model. Not precisely but close. It usually has an open door policy but you need to pay to use tables/computers/what have you. I do not know that a closed club would work as well in NA.

Also, I have encountered a few "I run a game store so I can order product cheap for me and my friends" type operations. Distribution really hates this kind of thing. WOTC will out and out ban you from their programs as well as several other manufacturers. So, it is a kind of touchy subject.

Bill

We have two active gaming clubs in Berlin.
It´s them who organize Conventions etc.

LARPING is also done via clubs.

Actually they are "eingetragene Vereine", which give them special status, law-wise.

Although the clubs are big here, they all have troubles with finding spaces for gaming. They mostly use state-owned youth centers for that.

There is next to no organized gaming in higher education, though.

Quote from: HinterWeltAlso, I have encountered a few "I run a game store so I can order product cheap for me and my friends" type operations. Distribution really hates this kind of thing. WOTC will out and out ban you from their programs as well as several other manufacturers. So, it is a kind of touchy subject.

Bill

Funny, Ryan Dancey started his business just with such an operation, only to be in the D&D/TSR reconstruction team later on.

Quote from: SettembriniFunny, Ryan Dancey started his business just with such an operation, only to be in the D&D/TSR reconstruction team later on.

I think I am missing your point.

Sorry.

Bill

I think it's a great idea -- one I actually thought of in the early 90s with friends. To go one step further, what if you could buy a "group pack" of RPGs at a discount. Take Coyote Trail as an example. Suppose someone wants to run a CT game - he could solicit orders from the group, tell the publisher (well, me in this case) how many copies he's interested in for a bulk discount, get payment from the group, and place the order. Then everyone interested can have their own copy at a good price. While this bypasses the FLGS, it does put more money in the hands of the publisher (better supporting him) and make the game more accessible to those with funding problems or areas with no FLGS, especially in this age of $30 - $40 games.

I'd be open to something like that both as a publisher and a gamer.

And as a side-effect, I think it would also bring a diversity to the group - lots of different GMs with different GMing styles.

I was just saying that R. Dancey came into the "industry" by the model you said would be shunned by WotC and the likes.
He started just buying stuff for his buddies on the cheap, and ended up saving D&D.

Quote from: pigames.netI think it's a great idea -- one I actually thought of in the early 90s with friends. To go one step further, what if you could buy a "group pack" of RPGs at a discount. Take Coyote Trail as an example. Suppose someone wants to run a CT game - he could solicit orders from the group, tell the publisher (well, me in this case) how many copies he's interested in for a bulk discount, get payment from the group, and place the order. Then everyone interested can have their own copy at a good price. While this bypasses the FLGS, it does put more money in the hands of the publisher (better supporting him) and make the game more accessible to those with funding problems or areas with no FLGS, especially in this age of $30 - $40 games.

I'd be open to something like that both as a publisher and a gamer.

And as a side-effect, I think it would also bring a diversity to the group - lots of different GMs with different GMing styles.

That's a great idea, Brett! I'd do that in a heartbeat!

-clash

Quote from: RPGPunditDo you think that, as the gaming store model folds, the Gaming Club might come to replace it?  Over here, my feeling is that the gaming clubs were formed as a direct response to the fact that there were no FLGSs.

I wonder if you could get some sort of grant for a club like this. After all roleplaying is used in some areas for education (a college professor and a few teachers use my games in the classroom/camp environment).

Quote from: pigames.netI wonder if you could get some sort of grant for a club like this. After all roleplaying is used in some areas for education (a college professor and a few teachers use my games in the classroom/camp environment).

What do you think this is, Finland?

-clash

There is a club here in Knoxville.  They rent store space in a small shopping center and run weekly games.  I've never attended it due to it being on the other side of town.  I do know that it has existed for many years and does charge yearly membership dues.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/yankeepeddler/

There also used to be another one here a couple of years ago called The Round Table that was more of a club than a gaming store.  Unfortunately, the owners were completely clueless about how to make it work and it shut down.  They had very little product to sell, did not charge admission or membership fees, and the store space was filthy.  There were lots of people there playing D&D, Vampire, Mechwarrior, MTG, etc. most nights though.

Quote from: RPGPunditDoes anyone know of any place like this in North America (the only ones I could think of were RPG clubs in Universities, which were kind of like that)? Are there any in Australia? Europe?

Do you think that, as the gaming store model folds, the Gaming Club might come to replace it?  Over here, my feeling is that the gaming clubs were formed as a direct response to the fact that there were no FLGSs.

RPGPundit

There used to be a successful gaming club in Knoxville, TN known as the Adventurers Inn. The place was small and had a dedicated group of members that kept it going. The place finally died an ignoble death when one of the owners had a severe medical problem (cancer) and had to sell his share in order to fund treatment. The new co-owner tried to run the place like the Comic Book Guy from the Simpson's and ran it into the ground. Up until that point, it was a great place to go and catch a game or even just decompress from work.

I think that the Gaming Club is a viable business model since profits are being made from the sale of snacks as well as special orders plus regular member fees to keep it afloat.

Quote from: mhensleyThere is a club here in Knoxville.  They rent store space in a small shopping center and run weekly games.  I've never attended it due to it being on the other side of town.  I do know that it has existed for many years and does charge yearly membership dues.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/yankeepeddler/

There also used to be another one here a couple of years ago called The Round Table that was more of a club than a gaming store.  Unfortunately, the owners were completely clueless about how to make it work and it shut down.  They had very little product to sell, did not charge admission or membership fees, and the store space was filthy.  There were lots of people there playing D&D, Vampire, Mechwarrior, MTG, etc. most nights though.

The Yankee Peddler has been around for over twenty years, it used to be a game/hobby store. I remember this since it was where I first picked up a copy of Classic Traveller. Ah, nostalgia...

The Round Table owners were about as fucked up as a soup sandwich. The husband and wife team would harass gamers who were running games run by those who didn't suck up to them. I used to run a Star Wars game there and the owner and his wife would come by the table and pester myself and my players until we had enough, then we moved the game out of the Round Table. I'm not sure, but I think the reason we got bothered so much was because in an earlier Star Wars game run at the successor to the Adventurers Inn, the owner of the Round Table did something stupid in-game and got his character killed.

EDIT: Come to think of it, there were some other really suspicious shenanigans going on in that back office of the owners. I'm not really sad that the place went out of business, even without the harassment there was some creepy stuff going on.

How much are the fees for your (any) gaming club? $5/month?

Approximately how many members?

I think game clubs in the US run into issues with who to let in, who to leave out, and how to grow. You don't want weirdos and spazzes to overrun the club, but you need some level of open membership to build a critical mass. Even when you have that mass, you need an easy way to get new members in, or the club stagnates.

I wonder if conventions and game days serve a similar purpose, bringing people together to form game groups, without the hassle of managing and ongoing club.