meh....
Frankly, while I appreciate the service aspect of small business' that provide a service, I do not need it for RPGs. Some of my other hobbies, yes, but not RPGs. RPGs do not require maintenance, nor do I need a salesman to walk me through features, or to consider warranty issues. If the only means I had to play was at a store, then I could see supporting it by paying full retail at these establishments for my gaming materials.
And while I am glad some people have great FLG Stores, 90% of the ones I have been in since the late 1970s, suck, big time. The employees are more interested in playing warhammer/magic/pokemon/reading comics and talking with their buddies than helping a customer out , or their main income is comix, anime, geek knick knacks (action figures, posters of Kaley Cuaco, replicas of Comic book character weapons, etc.) , and trading card games, which I have absolutely no use for. There maybe a couple of token D&D items from years past or even the D20 glut. One of the better stores I used to frequent fairly local had a couple of pets that ruled the roost and one pissed all over my son as an infant while I was holding him in his car carrier, and the place smells like wet dog/dog piss when ya walk in. I am not too sensitive to such smells for short time periods, but it is wretch inducing there. So I stopped going there about 10 years ago. I saw the other day where there another shop recently opened that I will check out, but it also seems centered on card games, so why should I feel a kindred spirit need to support these businesses "for the good of the hobby" ? I would not support any other business, whether a car dealer, grocery store, or pharmacy that was piss-poor. Nor would I expect anyone else too.
That said, there are some great shops out there- I enjoy going to The Citadel, in Groton, CT when I am in the region on vacay (just went there last month, bought some goodies) and back home in NOVA, The Game Parlor in Chantilly when I go to visit my family. I support them when I am there, because they are exceptions to the rule.
