If IKEA Made a Dedicated Gaming Table, Would You Buy It?

[Pbartender]

Wow...

Out of curiosity, why so much hate for IKEA?

We've bought a few bits of furniture from them, and never had a problem... Nothing made of particle board and nothing that looks like it belongs in a Dali painting (not that they don't sell stuff like that, but it's not ALL like that). Like any other store, you just have to pay attention to what you're buying.

If they sold a gaming table, I'd definitely think about buying it, but it'd definitely depend on its utility and construction.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

All you Ikea-Haters are just envious that you can't afford Bertby display cases for your miniatures I have 6 of them in the Dungeon, and plan to buy another two sometimes this year. I also have 2 Flärke bookshelves.

I find them to be quite good (in both quality and looks, as well as assembly), and reasonably-priced, too.

If Ikea were to make a proper gaming table with all the trimmings, with a reasonable quality and an equally reasonable price, I'd of course buy it.

It depends on what they'd put into it, of course. I'd say a big area for the battlemat with minis and buildings and tiles and whatever, and a second tier below that where each player has enough space for his character sheet, a (small) pile of books, some dice rolling space, and place for a small bowl of offerings to the Snack God as well as a glass. It would have to accomodate 6 people all in all (maybe even 8) and have some extra love for the DM:

With a built-in DM screen with a pin-board to either side so you can pin pics, charts, and stuff to it, and retract it into the table if you don't need it for the moment.

Maybe some space for mouse, keyboard, and flatscreen.

Extra space for more paper and books.

And, of course, buttons to electrify disruptive players.

Have no fear, there's an IKEA in the Chicago area - Schaumberg to be more exact. And they're looking at putting one in Milwaukee.

The city naming thing never ceases to amase me. I'm living a couple of km away of the real Schaumberg. it's got a small tower on it (there was a castle on it once), which had a huge cross on it. That cross were to be taken down from the tower and wrecked a couple of decades ago, but the workers (a pious lot apparently) refused to destroy the holy symbol and instead took it to a small hill a couple of km further.

I can see the famous Schaumbergkreuz whenever I drive off the A1 (which I do daily).

 

[Wombat]

I'm not even certain what a "gaming table" would offer than a normal table wouldn't.

I can't imagine spending extra money for something perfectly ordinary.

 

[Pbartender]

I'm not even certain what a "gaming table" would offer than a normal table wouldn't.

Do a Google search on homemade game tables...

It'd likely include things like a built-in battlemat top, cup holders, trays and drawers for books and papers... stuff like that.

 

[kenobi65]

The city naming thing never ceases to amase me. I'm living a couple of km away of the real Schaumberg. it's got a small tower on it (there was a castle on it once), which had a huge cross on it. That cross were to be taken down from the tower and wrecked a couple of decades ago, but the workers (a pious lot apparently) refused to destroy the holy symbol and instead took it to a small hill a couple of km further.

I can see the famous Schaumbergkreuz whenever I drive off the A1 (which I do daily).

I think your Schaumberg is a bit different from ours.

Schaumberg IL is in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. It's mostly noteworthy for being home to a huge shopping mall (Woodfield, which was, at one point, the largest mall in the world), and many subsidiary mini-malls, restaurants, and free-standing stores have sprung up around it. As a result, traffic in the area around Woodfield is notoriously bad, particularly on weekends.

The Schaumberg IKEA was, I think, the first IKEA in the Midwest, and was, for quite a while, the biggest free-standing store in the world.

For some folks in this area, "Schaumberg" is a synonym for "tacky suburbia". I recall doing a focus group with teenaged girls some years ago on hair-care products, and they referred to one particularly low-end brand of products as "totally Schaumberg."

 

[jmucchiello]

I've always wanted to create a gaming table table-top. A clear piece of plexiglass 12 inches shorter in both directions than the target table. There is a one-inch grid screened onto the glass. The sheet has 5-inch tall metal feet with rubber tips to hold it above the surface of the table. This gives you room to store books on the table, under the battlemap. Your character sheet can be under the battlemap, which being clear allows you to still read the mat. You can roll dice under the mat so you don't knock over the minis. And of course plexiglass will display wet-erase marker quite nicely. Finally, remove it and put it away when using the table for its intended purpose, most likely dining. Anything else would be too specialized, IMO.

 

[Jdvn1]

I've always wanted to create a gaming table table-top. A clear piece of plexiglass 12 inches shorter in both directions than the target table.

Better yet, two clear pieces of plexiglass, so you can put your custom (and non-custom) maps in between and not have to worry about drawing on them.

 

[noseman]

IKEA on-line...

I like the idea of portable table "sectionals" that attach to a main table. The main tabletop would have the dry erase surface (two-sided, battlemap and plain), or better yet, a Tac-tile like surface, and each station would "quick-snap" to the main table. This provides customization for different number of players. Main set comes with base table, DM sectional, and 3-5 player sectionals. Buy additional "main sections" and "DM/Player sections" for an additional cost, depending on the number of players. It's all about customization and portability.

Each section (DM or Player) comes with various useful items, like built in dice tray, central place for character sheet/notes, pencil holder, dicebag hook, magazine-like rack for reference books, etc, etc.

 

[werk]

I have nothing from IKEA in my home, I don't think I'd change just for a gaming table.

Gaming table, good idea, IKEA, not feeling it.

 

[was]

doesn't appeal to me...sorry