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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 991157" data-attributes="member: 99">Going back to an earlier thread in this conversation, I wanted to toss out a few thoughts about the much vaunted benefits of the brick and mortar game store vs. the cold void of internet purchasing.Whenever this topic comes up, I always see people talking about how cool it is to have an actual place to go and buy stuff where the staff is friendly and the potential exists to rub elbows with fellow gamers and even play games on the premises.&nbsp; This is usually mentioned as &quot;extra value&quot; gained by going to such a store that justifies the higher prices folks would pay for gaming material there as opposed to buying them at Walmart or Amazon or someplace like that.&nbsp; Many people say that such &quot;extras&quot; are &quot;worth a lot&quot;.The trick is that any time I've asked people if they would be willing to pay for such services (mostly in terms of having a place to play), they answer, &quot;NO.&quot;&nbsp; So I was especially intrigued to see spacecrime.com talking about how he had toyed with the idea but hadn't found a way to make it feasible yet.I contend that &quot;place to play&quot; services appeal to a small enough market segment with few enough disposable dollars and enough other options that are free (if less convenient) that it will, in almost every case, not be a viable business.&nbsp; I think that gamers are happy to avail themselves of such a service if it is free and that they will expound at great length about how &quot;valuable&quot; it is that the FLGS offers it.&nbsp; But when it comes to parting with cash, they will find other alternatives.I also think that most of the other benefits of the FLGS are rapidly being usurped by the internet.&nbsp; The &quot;knowlegable staff&quot; is very nice, but they can't know everything about every game and I think it is probably easier to find out what you want to know about a product by reading online reviews or posting a thread about it on a messageboard like this one.&nbsp; The &quot;meeting fellow gamers&quot; angle is also addressed by places like the Gamers Seeking Gamers forum here.&nbsp; While you might say, &quot;But not every local gamer posts on ENWorld.&quot;, the fact is that not every local gamer visits the FLGS either.&nbsp; Spacecrime.com even says that he only captures about 10% of his local gamer market.As far as the &quot;place to play&quot; thing goes, many stores don't even offer this or have very minimal space to do it in.&nbsp; And to a degree, even this is being gobbled up by the internet as many folks will &quot;play by post&quot; on messageboards like this one.&nbsp; With cameras and teleconferencing software, you can even play &quot;face to face&quot; online if you are willing to front some capital costs.None of which is to say that I don't like my FLGS or that I think they should just die out like the dinosaurs.&nbsp; I actually like my local gaming store quite a bit and the guy who runs it is very nice.&nbsp; I buy from him frequently.&nbsp; Perhaps I spend a few more bucks here and there by buying from him rather than Amazon.&nbsp; But if I'm making a &quot;major purchase&quot; like all the 3.5 books then we're talking about more than just a few bucks.&nbsp; I could be saving the cost of an entire book by paying closer to $20 than $30 per core rulebook.Anyhow, my main point is that our society is, more and more becoming the sort where people ask themselves, &quot;Can I get this product or service cheaper (or for free) on the internet than at the brick and mortar store that I have to leave home to get to?&quot;&nbsp; I will be watching with interest to see how the FLGS adapts to this change.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rel, post: 991157, member: 99"] Going back to an earlier thread in this conversation, I wanted to toss out a few thoughts about the much vaunted benefits of the brick and mortar game store vs. the cold void of internet purchasing. Whenever this topic comes up, I always see people talking about how cool it is to have an actual place to go and buy stuff where the staff is friendly and the potential exists to rub elbows with fellow gamers and even play games on the premises. This is usually mentioned as "extra value" gained by going to such a store that justifies the higher prices folks would pay for gaming material there as opposed to buying them at Walmart or Amazon or someplace like that. Many people say that such "extras" are "worth a lot". The trick is that any time I've asked people if they would be willing to [b]pay[/b] for such services (mostly in terms of having a place to play), they answer, "NO." So I was especially intrigued to see spacecrime.com talking about how he had toyed with the idea but hadn't found a way to make it feasible yet. I contend that "place to play" services appeal to a small enough market segment with few enough disposable dollars and enough other options that are free (if less convenient) that it will, in almost every case, not be a viable business. I think that gamers are happy to avail themselves of such a service if it is free and that they will expound at great length about how "valuable" it is that the FLGS offers it. But when it comes to parting with cash, they will find other alternatives. I also think that most of the other benefits of the FLGS are rapidly being usurped by the internet. The "knowlegable staff" is very nice, but they can't know everything about every game and I think it is probably easier to find out what you want to know about a product by reading online reviews or posting a thread about it on a messageboard like this one. The "meeting fellow gamers" angle is also addressed by places like the Gamers Seeking Gamers forum here. While you might say, "But not every local gamer posts on ENWorld.", the fact is that not every local gamer visits the FLGS either. Spacecrime.com even says that he only captures about 10% of his local gamer market. As far as the "place to play" thing goes, many stores don't even offer this or have very minimal space to do it in. And to a degree, even this is being gobbled up by the internet as many folks will "play by post" on messageboards like this one. With cameras and teleconferencing software, you can even play "face to face" online if you are willing to front some capital costs. None of which is to say that I don't like my FLGS or that I think they should just die out like the dinosaurs. I actually like my local gaming store quite a bit and the guy who runs it is very nice. I buy from him frequently. Perhaps I spend a few more bucks here and there by buying from him rather than Amazon. But if I'm making a "major purchase" like all the 3.5 books then we're talking about more than just a few bucks. I could be saving the cost of an entire book by paying closer to $20 than $30 per core rulebook. Anyhow, my main point is that our society is, more and more becoming the sort where people ask themselves, "Can I get this product or service cheaper (or for free) on the internet than at the brick and mortar store that I have to leave home to get to?" I will be watching with interest to see how the FLGS adapts to this change. [/QUOTE]

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