Quote from: Mistwell;718771Game Empire in Pasadena, California is pretty close to my dream.

Last time I was there a month or two ago, I was disappointed.  One of the places I look forward to go when I visit.  The rpg selection has really dropped off including used games.  I left with nothing.  This used to be my go to game store when I lived there.  After visiting another game shop in Chicago and seeing a number of POD games being offered plus games like lotfp and dcc, I was sad to see that the selection had been reduced to what I could find here in small town western NY.  The new space is great but feels like it's primarily catering to the ccg and tabletop wargaming community.

Quote from: Benoist;718603I've never run into belligerent freaks or catpissman or whatnot in a game store. I guess I'm just lucky? A few overly passionate guys or some players of this or that game that keep to themselves looking suspiciously at anyone not part of the clique (like Magic players exchanging cards like it's crack), sure, I've seen that, could do without it, though I just ignore people like this.

One of the greatest stores I've had the chance to visit is Drexoll Games in Vancouver. Nice selection of products, very nice people behind the counter, a few tables to play games, a good ambiance . . . it's a great place. My idea of a game store I would go to regularly to play games and buy stuff if I could.

Amen. I love that store. Been way too long since I last visited BC.

I've never run into skeevy people in gaming stores, so maybe I've been lucky, too. Folks have generally been really nice to me and not creepy at all, whether I'm there by myself or with my SO. I've heard stories, though, some from a friend who managed a local store for years, so I'm sure they're out there.

The single most obnoxious person I ever ran into in a gaming venue was at a con. Not a catpisstype, but the I AM NEVER WRONG AND YOU WILL ALL LISTEN TO MY MONOLOGUE dude. We made a point of dodging him at dinner time because he made horrible scenes in restaurants. I bet his FLGS just luuuuvs when he comes by to foist his brilliance on them.

Quote from: Spinachcat;718866Hell yeah! I run Old School & 4e at the RPG meetup at Game Empire most months. I occasionally playtest stuff I write too.

I don't live there, but my wife is from venice beach and we're looking at moving to LA in the next couple of years.

How's the gaming scene there?

Quote from: Spinachcat;718866I looked on Yelp and its got good reviews, but how is it a geek pub? Do they have RPG and/or boardgame meetups and gaming area? Do you run stuff there?

We've got a wall shelf of boardgames and a few RPGs. The owners are both gamers and they decided that the clientele they wanted to cater to were nerds, geeks, and restaurant people - the running joke is that the first major fight in Green's Tavern will be over Star Wars vs. Star Trek. I've run Labyrinth Lord, d6 Star Wars, and Traveller there at the bar. Others come in for their weekly game of whatever (I work during the week so I miss the VtM and the AD&D/OSRIC groups). A lot of folks are enjoying hands of Cards Against Humanity recently. Every Saturday Night is Doctor Who on BBC America and every Sunday Night while it plays, is Zombie Night with The Walking Dead (we have a couple of bar regulars who were zombie extras in The Walking Dead) so it beats the Hell out of sitting in a sports bar with people screaming and yelling.

I spent Christmas Night there downing pints of Strongbow Cider and watching both the Doctor Who Christmas Special and the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special - not a bad night for a guy whose family has all passed away.

There is a comic book store and a game store down at the corner of the strip mall, so the whole place can be considered nerd/geek territory.

I can't say that I've run any games recently because I'm up for a Supervisor's job at work and my schedule may change abruptly if I get it.

Quote from: Dana;718911The single most obnoxious person I ever ran into in a gaming venue was at a con. Not a catpisstype, but the I AM NEVER WRONG AND YOU WILL ALL LISTEN TO MY MONOLOGUE dude. We made a point of dodging him at dinner time because he made horrible scenes in restaurants. I bet his FLGS just luuuuvs when he comes by to foist his brilliance on them.

Most likely the dude is a Con Gamer.  They being the people who burned all the bridges in their local areas so the only way to game was by going to Cons.  Now with all the new places to go to on the net though... they can get their gaming in by hanging out at G+ and other such places.

Quote from: Gizmoduck5000;718914I don't live there, but my wife is from venice beach and we're looking at moving to LA in the next couple of years.

How's the gaming scene there?

Well, we do have a long running a decent set of gaming conventions (3/year) that happen here every year.  And there are a few good game stores, though the mediocre ones outnumber the good ones.  There's an excellent monthly board game mini-con too.  And of course, we have a lot of colleges.

And you probably have an RPG group's worth of posters here on this board that live in LA.

My dream game store would be a joint Lulu/DriveThruRPG physical storefront complete with on-the-spot PoD, at the corner of my street. Sure, they'd have a few books and minis and gewgaws out there to display, but the chief business would be to pick up anything from their PoD catalogue without paying the (prohibitive, to me) shipping rates.

My local seems to be doing pretty well. 13,000 square feet standalone building. Stocks multiple copies of every RPG book, euro game, wargame, CCG, and miniature published in North America. Fantasy and SF novels. Has tens of thousands of out of print items. Enough table space for 70 or 80 gamers. Place is packed every weekend.

Testimonial video

Sentry Box tour

If you're looking for the gold standard of FLGs, that's it. Hint: own the building.

The Sentry Box is indeed fantastic.  I remember back when they were in beside Similing Budda tattooes and then on the corner of a few blocks from there.  I don't remember their original location which I am told was small and isolated.

I'd love to be able to take a store to that level.  However, I'm ill suited to it being the D&D and Magic and Warhammer hating grognard that I am.  Still there's only one of those three with no redeeming qualities beyond its ability to pump wallets for change.

I may have to think about it more.  I don't know, I'd rather bring in Osprey and Fireforge and Northstar (especially a nice Louis XIV pike and shotte army) and Avatars of War and Khurassin (dudes!  how can you not have a retail discount?  not even a bulk discount!)  But little by little down the line I suppose I'll have to bring in some Magic and D&D.  Warhammer takes a big chunk of change up front and has very restrictive policies so it'll be further down the line.

On the other hand I might get in a bad mood and give my notice on the 31st  and blow the stock out on e-bay.  That's one nice thing about being little is the option of just walking away is always on the table.

I know it's been discussed upthread, but my ideal game store would look like a coffee shop. It would have tables, and coffee machines, and serve food, and have cups with stupid names which I'd change every week and everyone would just ignore and say "large" anyway. In fact, to the untrained eye, you could probably mistake it for a coffee shop. But it would also, coincidentally, be a gamer-friendly space, with tables suitable for CCG and RPG play (But not wargames like 3.xfinder or Warhammer, mainly due to space required) and doing gamer-type hours (Probably 12 - 11 weekdays).

Stock-wise, probably not much (Because this if a coffee shop), but the willingness to order (I'm sure there are some people who still refuse to use Amazon) and stocks of the recent CCG releases. Just a few high-turnover gaming items, really.

We've actually discussed this locally, and the problem in this city is that retail space is too expensive. Edinburgh does have a place that is like this, though.

That geek pub sounds great.

Dice, indie/OSR stuff, old used stuff. That's it.

No music, no snacks, no pub.

In and out.

Yeah Drexoll is great, but boy did they piss me off this Xmas. They got in a bunch of boardgame stock and left it piled in front of the rpg section making it inaccessible for 2weeks. They lost hundreds from me actually because most of my friends get RPGs for Xmas. Thier loss was Imperial's gain though.

The concept of a dream game store doesn't exist for me anymore. I rarely visit game stores now, have never used them as a place to meet other gamers, and purchase everything through online sources.

Quote from: Gizmoduck5000;718914How's the gaming scene there?

Compared to the SF Bay Area, the LA gaming scene sucks donkey balls. The great weather, the innumerable entertainment options and the transient nature of SoCal all contribute to much flakier, less coherent gaming groups. It's a big complaint among GMs I know, but I know a couple whose crews are all natives who have been together for decades. But they are much more rare than in NorCal.

Quote from: jeff37923;718932The owners are both gamers and they decided that the clientele they wanted to cater to were nerds, geeks, and restaurant people - the running joke is that the first major fight in Green's Tavern will be over Star Wars vs. Star Trek.

That place sounds great!

This sounds like a prime destination for Xenocide Soldier to visit and meet with the owners.

Has anyone heard of (or been to) another Geek Pub that's comparable?

Quote from: Benoist;718603One of the greatest stores I've had the chance to visit is Drexoll Games in Vancouver. Nice selection of products, very nice people behind the counter, a few tables to play games, a good ambiance . . . it's a great place. My idea of a game store I would go to regularly to play games and buy stuff if I could.

Drexoll is an awesome store; so is the 'comic shop' (not sure if that was the real name; something along those lines) that was within a couple of blocks of it, at least as of the last time I was in Vancouver, several years back.