Concerning buying D&D 4th Edition

[Nosey Goblin]

I've been lucky enough to have a very helpful, friendly game shop that I have been a customer of for about seventeen years or so now. They have never been local, but they mail order. The service is great, the staff are firendly, and I can count on an e-mail when soemhting I would be interested in comes out.

I could save 30% or so if I bought online, I am sure, but where I can I'll spend my money with the Gameskeeper because the staff there deserve my loyalty.

Regards,

Shane

 

[Moon-Lancer]

i preorderd the 3box set online and won the lottery so to speak, but I also have a preorder for the players handbook at a local game store. I am a cheap. I know this. But I also did my part. Hopefully it was enough.

 

[Mr Jack]

I buy from the people who give the best overall experience.

That means online.

Cheap, easy to browse, excellent range of stock and they deliver right to the door.

 

[arscott]

Unfortunately, there's a big gap between services that a game store "can and should provide", and services that they actually do provide.

I'll continue to make purchases at my local game store, but right now the discount that Amazon.com provides is worth far more than the store's meager customer service.

 

[Heselbine]

I think the point is, if you have a FLGS and it provides you with service above and beyond Amazon or whatever, then buying from Amazon just because it's cheaper is going to threaten the FLGS.

My (not particularly) local game shop, the Gamers' Guild in Redhill, has a huge room which can be hired for games, it has a friendly and knowledgeable staff who don't mind talking about D&D and they run lots of events. I am buying my D&D from them even though I can get it substantially cheaper, and I'm encouraging my gaming group to buy from them, because I want them to survive.

I've seen many shops come and go, and frankly they deserved to because they didn't get the point that they need to provide something extra. If your FLGS does get this point, then support them!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Sorry, but I'd prefer that gaming stores win my business by offering real and valuable services, rather than trying to guilt me into keeping them in business through an emotional appeal of "please keep us in business!" Welcome to capitalism: compete or die. It improves the breed.

I'm sure it's just the places I've lived, but I've never once* seen a local gaming store make an active attempt to recruit, advertise, or reach out to the community via value-added services, etc. I know places do ... but I couldn't even tell you where the nearest gaming store in this area is, so any around here aren't succeeding.

*Edit: To be precise, I mean this for RPGs. I've been to two gaming stores, one in Killeen TX and one in Atlanta GA, that I though did an excellent job of supporting their core gaming market, which was wargamers and GW games specifically. They had tournaments, intro sessions, painting seminars, good gaming tables with terrain available, etc.

Frankly, I don't blame gaming store owners for not supporting the RPG market, as I think it's a niche area that is hard to support and there is better return on investment in other gaming segments. But anytime someone comes here and preaches "Support your FLGS!" my answer is: it's a two way street. The FLGS should support me. Until then, I vote with my dollars.

 

[cangrejoide]

I am sorry, but no matter how good or entertaining a FLGS maybe, you can't pass out on a good deal.

If you were to buy an PS3..would you go to gamestop and pay $500 or would you rather pay $300 at an online retailer?

40%+ is not short change, especially when you are buying 5 core sets and 2 player's handbook (that was the total order of my gaming group).

I understand FLGS maybe the livelyhood of some people, but you cannot expect people to just hand you free money.

The way I see it FLGS are a dying breed, unless they branch out into other merhcandise that can garner a better profit margin. After all in the end a FLGS is a business.

 

[william_nova]

Sorry, but I'd prefer that gaming stores win my business by offering real and valuable services, rather than trying to guilt me into keeping them in business through an emotional appeal of "please keep us in business!" Welcome to capitalism: compete or die. It improves the breed.

I do not agree with this whatsoever. Some of your other points are spot on. Just had to say it.

I've been to two gaming stores, one in Killeen TX and one in Atlanta GA, that I though did an excellent job of supporting their core gaming market, which was wargamers and GW games specifically. They had tournaments, intro sessions, painting seminars, good gaming tables with terrain available, etc.

Frankly, I don't blame gaming store owners for not supporting the RPG market, as I think it's a niche area that is hard to support and there is better return on investment in other gaming segments. But anytime someone comes here and preaches "Support your FLGS!" my answer is: it's a two way street. The FLGS should support me. Until then, I vote with my dollars.

I've had similar experiences. Visiting my FLGSs I see tweens playing card games, board games, video games, everything but RPG games, and in others I feel the need to shower immediately and simultaneously have to grit my teeth to keep from busting the shop owner in the chops.

Large smelly men with no social skills whatsoever, not to mention retail skills, who ignore you when you come in, ignore you when you ask questions, and ignore you when you walk out. They will not help me find books, seem to have no knowledge about any aspect of the industry whatsoever, and when they do deign to take special orders they mysteriously either never arrive along with any record that I'd ever placed the order, or are sold off before I can get there to pick them up. These have been my experiences.

The only FLGSs that appear to be thriving are ones that support wargaming, card and board games, but not through sales. Their in-house stock of that is dismal. What they do is rent out space for tournaments, conduct LAN parties of video games, and allow groups to hold their weekly games there. They've become a rehearsal studio basically.

If I had a local store that wasn't staffed by cretins I'd be more than happy to support them. Unfortunately they've brought my ire down on them and my dollars away from them, with their completely unprofessional attitudes.

Edited out political reference. --Dinkeldog/Moderator

 

[Toryx]

I do not agree with this whatsoever. Some of your other points are spot on, but rampant capitalism destroys souls. Just had to say it.

I complete agree with that.

I'd like to buy more often at my local gaming store but the truth is, some of the measures they've taken to keep in business are too much for me to handle. Hot, crowded, noisy rooms filled with unwashed Pokemon and Magic players are just not inviting me to come in and spend my money. And with gas prices the way they are, I'm not going to be going miles out of my way to the only store in the general area that doesn't fit that description.

 

[pogminky]

If I thought it was at all possible to make a living from a game store I'd be seriously tempted to set one up. I very much doubt that I could do worse than some of the stores I've seen with regards to advertising, promotion, cleanliness, friendliness, knowledge etc.

However, I can't really see being the owner of a FLGS bringing in enough money to pay the bills. And in ten years I'll be suprised if there's any left outside college cities. In twenty years I'll be suprised if there's any-period!