D&D General Micro transactions, D&D and bookstores


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aco175

Legend
I guess if I'm playing at a store that sells these, but it is kind of like cheating. I would be more cool with it if the money was going to charity or something though.
 

Tony Vargas

Legend
Stores were charging to play back in the 80s, and some have been, in this area (where, to be fair, commercial rent is outrageous) since 3e brought D&D back on the scene.

Fortune cards didn't exactly provoke a violent revolution, either.

Of course, MtG is still popular, too, so hardly unfamiliar.

If it helps keep the FLGS doors open, what the heck.
 

Reynard

Legend
It's not a big surprise considering players (in the rare instance they bother to buy a book at all) frequent Amszon rather than their FLGS and WotC helps push DnDBeyond as an alternative to a dead tree library. You can't really blame the stores for trying to figure out how to get some revenue from their table space, especially considering Magic has a built in model for doing so.

Here's the thing: tabletop RPGs are the cheapest, best dollar to time entertainment value there is. That's awesome for the user but makes it hard to monetize. I can buy a PHB and some dice and literally be good for a decade. That's a tough pill to swallow for a store with monthly overhead.

I think stores should make good, welcoming, safe places to play and go ahead and charge a price for that space IN STORE CREDIT. One of the FLGS around here does that and it's brilliant: you can still get product for your money, but it guarantees sales.
 

I'm all for FLGSs trying new things. The old model (free gaming space and making money off of product sales) certainly isn't going to keep them profitable. So charging for space or something like this doesn't bother me.

It of course assumes the DM's all have to allow them, but the stores can make the rules for playing in them so that's fine.
 


Zardnaar

Legend
I like the idea of a table charge for store credit. Pain to keep track of though.

Our one is gold coin donation or buy something. Something cannot be a can of drink, I don't get charged as I'm buying the books off him and DM.
 

We pay here (Canberra, Australia) to play at the game store with the DMs getting free drink and store credit, so I have no issue with this at all as it helps keep the shop open and the service running.
The idea of money having in game effects is something I can never get on board with no matter how micro the transaction - if this happened I would simple leave the game (as I have done with a couple of computer games already.
 

Shiroiken

Legend
IME, it depends on what the stores focus is. I've not done much RPG at FLGS, but I have done a lot of board gaming. Most stores seem to focus on CCGs as their primary revenue, as they are by far the most lucrative product. For them, unless there's a CCG event where they need the space, they don't care much if the tables are used for other activities, as they pickup some revenue from selling snacks/drinks. I know of one store that focuses on miniature gaming, and they get a large chunk of extra revenue by renting out storage lockers (which is really convenient for any type of gaming, really). Another store focuses almost entirely on RPG and board games, but they supplement it with a video game center with recliners and big screen TVs (they don't sell video games, so I think it's strange). If a store wanted to charge for table space, we'd certainly find somewhere else to play.

The biggest issue with micro-transactions for gaming bonuses is getting everyone to agree to accept them. As a DM, if the requirement to run a game at the store was to allow them, I'd probably do so, but it would reduce my seriousness of this game. The store could also try the same thing for board games, allowing a re-roll, bonus resource, or card draw, but I don't think most board gamers would even consider allowing such a thing (I'd view it as cheating).
 

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