francisca
I got dice older than you.
The greater Lafayette, Indiana area is pretty good for gaming, though not as good as it could be, I think (not that I'm doing anything about it.....mind you.)
First, West Lafayette is where Purdue University is located. Purdue is largely an Engineering/Science/Ag school (though many of the other programs are quite good and improving year by year as well). As you might guess, geeks are pretty common here. I haven't looked in a few years, but there used to be 3 distinct student organizations dedicated to gaming. Friday night through sunday afternoon they used to pack a couple good sized rooms in the student union building. The RPGA used to be a pretty big deal around here, and that is where many of the games were held.
Working at the university, I can't swing a dead cat without hitting a gamer. its been quite easy to get a group going, for any edition. Even if people haven't played before, you might say they are predisposed.
But even outside of the University, there are plenty of gamers around here.
There are 3 game stores in town. One is part of a regional chain based in Indianapolis (The Game Preserve), another is a classic small FLGS (The Sages Shoppe), and the third is your classic "packed to the ceiling" comic book/gaming/anime lifestyle shop run by a nice family (Castle Comics and Games). All three have in-store gaming, though minis seem to be more prevalent right now. I still see D&D and PF on the schedule in at least one of the stores when I swing by. So, people here are buying games, though I think its mostly minis, cards, and boardgames. Flames of War and War Hammer 40K seem to do well (hell, my kid's middle school has a 40K club.)
Indianapolis is 70 minutes down the road, so GenCon is practically in our backyard. Also, there are a half dozen regional cons within a 4 hour drive (GaryCon, PentaCon, Winter War, FlatCon, Little Wars, RockCon) that I can think of right off the top of my head, and Chicago Gameday is a few hours away as well.
And to top it off, there is a bit of history in the area. The guy who created Squad Leader (John Hill) did so in the 70s while living in Lafayette, and running a game store called The Scale. Jeff Grub is a Purdue alum, and I believe he created what became the DragonLance pantheon while a student here. Finally, the creator of the old Telengard 8-bit computer game, Dan Lawrence, lived here. Dan also created his own roleplaying game, and used to have huge network of interconnected games, complete with regular DM meetings, etc....
So, yeah, its pretty good here. RPGs are kinda on the wane right now, but there are boardgame nights at schools and in churches (and I don't mean Sorry and Monopoly, I mean stuff like the Catan Series, Race for the Galaxy, Caylus, Agricola, etc...) and there are always people in the gamestores when I visit them.
Now, the downside is, its pretty insular. I mean, I had to go to Lake Geneva, WI to meet one of the locals, and still missed another. There is a lot of "don't make eye contact" typical nerdy sheepishness in the stores, the exception being the complete opposite stereotype, and in the worst ways, if you know what I mean.
So, while I think the area could use some better communication within the gaming community, I still rate this place as Warm, though not as good as it could be. That said, I've never lacked for gaming here, so I'm unlikely to start any sort of movement to rectify this perceived problem. I imagine many others are in the same situation.
First, West Lafayette is where Purdue University is located. Purdue is largely an Engineering/Science/Ag school (though many of the other programs are quite good and improving year by year as well). As you might guess, geeks are pretty common here. I haven't looked in a few years, but there used to be 3 distinct student organizations dedicated to gaming. Friday night through sunday afternoon they used to pack a couple good sized rooms in the student union building. The RPGA used to be a pretty big deal around here, and that is where many of the games were held.
Working at the university, I can't swing a dead cat without hitting a gamer. its been quite easy to get a group going, for any edition. Even if people haven't played before, you might say they are predisposed.
But even outside of the University, there are plenty of gamers around here.
There are 3 game stores in town. One is part of a regional chain based in Indianapolis (The Game Preserve), another is a classic small FLGS (The Sages Shoppe), and the third is your classic "packed to the ceiling" comic book/gaming/anime lifestyle shop run by a nice family (Castle Comics and Games). All three have in-store gaming, though minis seem to be more prevalent right now. I still see D&D and PF on the schedule in at least one of the stores when I swing by. So, people here are buying games, though I think its mostly minis, cards, and boardgames. Flames of War and War Hammer 40K seem to do well (hell, my kid's middle school has a 40K club.)
Indianapolis is 70 minutes down the road, so GenCon is practically in our backyard. Also, there are a half dozen regional cons within a 4 hour drive (GaryCon, PentaCon, Winter War, FlatCon, Little Wars, RockCon) that I can think of right off the top of my head, and Chicago Gameday is a few hours away as well.
And to top it off, there is a bit of history in the area. The guy who created Squad Leader (John Hill) did so in the 70s while living in Lafayette, and running a game store called The Scale. Jeff Grub is a Purdue alum, and I believe he created what became the DragonLance pantheon while a student here. Finally, the creator of the old Telengard 8-bit computer game, Dan Lawrence, lived here. Dan also created his own roleplaying game, and used to have huge network of interconnected games, complete with regular DM meetings, etc....
So, yeah, its pretty good here. RPGs are kinda on the wane right now, but there are boardgame nights at schools and in churches (and I don't mean Sorry and Monopoly, I mean stuff like the Catan Series, Race for the Galaxy, Caylus, Agricola, etc...) and there are always people in the gamestores when I visit them.
Now, the downside is, its pretty insular. I mean, I had to go to Lake Geneva, WI to meet one of the locals, and still missed another. There is a lot of "don't make eye contact" typical nerdy sheepishness in the stores, the exception being the complete opposite stereotype, and in the worst ways, if you know what I mean.
So, while I think the area could use some better communication within the gaming community, I still rate this place as Warm, though not as good as it could be. That said, I've never lacked for gaming here, so I'm unlikely to start any sort of movement to rectify this perceived problem. I imagine many others are in the same situation.
