The WotC Store

[RangerWickett]

My roommate and I were talking about game stores, and he'd been to the WotC store in . . . Seattle, was it? He described it thus:

"The Wizards of the Coast store is halfway between a Moroccan opium den and Lothlorien."

 

[Mercule]

"The Wizards of the Coast store is halfway between a Moroccan opium den and Lothlorien."

After reading that description, I've never been more sad to live in mercantilely backward Iowa. I have _so_ got to find a WotC store.

 

[kengar]

After reading that description, I've never been more sad to live in mercantilely backward Iowa. I have _so_ got to find a WotC store.

Maybe the Seatlle WotC store is something special, but the ones that are/were around here (DC) were nothing to jump up & down about. Just another hobby shop in a mall.

 

[diaglo]

RW,

you have not obviously visited the ones in GA. they are da pits.

more like the lost oasis with no water left.

 

[Datt]

Are there actual WoTC stores that sell RPG stuff? The one that I see here in the DFW area has nothing but Hasbro games. They have Texasopoly right up front. It's the UT version of Monopoly. And since it has a big picture of long horns on the front I have to turn it upside down.
Boomer Sooner!

 

[Wombat]

I don't know about other WotC stores, but my local one (Pleasant Hill) is just terrible. It recently moved from being a fair sized store in a mall to a shotgun shack kind of arrangement, feeling horribly claustraphobic.

Worse yet, it is (and has always been) primarily board games and puzzles, with rpgs shunted over into a corner, almost in embarassment. No one in the store seemed to know anything about anything aside from the Magic ccg.

I do as little business as possible with them.

 

[Davelozzi]

The main WotC store in Seattle (the Game Center in the U-District) has been closed for 2-3 years, it's now a Tower Records. But it was probably the one your friend was talking about. It had the store section (similar to any other WotC gaming store at the time), a video arcade (which included some pod like machines that you sit in as well as several PC terminals), and a whole lower level for gaming. There was also an attached fast-food restaurant called Dalmuti's, that originally had boardgames available to play at the table, although that didn't last long, since no one ever returned the pieces. Soon, you were lucky to get a handful of mismatched trivia cards and pretty sure even that was gone. The food quality started out okay (somewhere around Friendly's quality, a step or so below Round Robin) but got continualyl worse until it was on par with the other fast food chains. The restaurant is closed now too.

All of the other WotC stores in the Seattle area were nothing special when I lived there (3 years ago). Lots of board games, some computer games, halfway decent RPG stuff tucked away in a corner and a few game tables or PCs. From what I understand, since then they all got a lot worse, following the same trend as Wizard's other chain The Game Keeper, which was that the RPG/miniature stock continued to dwindle while the focus shifted to family friendly board games and some puzzles. Now the only Game Keeper around here (Boston) is closed. I was in Seattle a few weeks ago and didn't get a chance to check out any of the WotC stores still open but I did get a chance to check out a local game store in the U-district a few blocks up from the old game center and they sure seem to be doing a lot better without the competion.

 

[Bloodsparrow]

The WoTC here in Orange, CA is much the same. With the exception being that most of the people who work there (currently) do seem to play RPGs. Last time I was there, they were having a huge sale to get rid of their 2ed and non-WoTC RPG stuff. It seems that section has been shrunk down to an endcap with only D&D books.

They do carry all shapes of dice, but, as said before, it's mostly family friendly games, and CCGs... And Hero Clix.

They used to have video games and lots of minis, but the Block also has a EB and a Games Workshop store... So I suppose it was over kill for them.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

WotC....

So, as a Wizard's employee, I've got to say a few things...

After Hasbro bought WoTC, a lot changed... granted, Wizards has always been a haven for board games-- it just used to have a lot more funds and the like to support other types of gaming...
The lack of funds is directly related to one thing: the downfall of Pokemon. If Pokemon was still as popular as it was two years ago, the arcades, gaming stations and the like would still exist. However, it doesn't and so, Wizards banks of that which is profitable... little trinkets, board games, and magic...
That also lead to the removal of all non-wizards books... which, though a sucky deal, is, once again, profitable.

I work in the DC area and, though we do not have a huge RPG section, everyone that works in my store has a wealth of DnD knowledge... I'm not necessarily happy with the direction that Wizards has gone... but, I do my best to provide an excellent environment for gamers...

I know WoTC isn't what it used to be but, the company is doing all it can to prevent becoming a run-of-the-mill everyday toystore... we try our hardest to maintain a quasi-gaming environment...

So, anyone that lives in the DC area, stop by Pentagon City and see me...

--Queen Dopplepopolis

 

[shouit]

The Mall of America one is kinda pathetic. The only good thing is that there is a really good hobby store, about 15 minutes away from there.