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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 7781728" data-attributes="member: 18182">They do, huh? Certainly different folks value different things in a retail store. But I'm not alone in finding a free, clean, well-lit, well-ventilated, friendly play space to be a huge draw. There are folks who use those spaces and then go shopping online . . . those people suck, but it's part of the business environment gaming stores have to navigate. In my area, all of the local stores have free gaming areas, but only one fits my description above. It's the most successful store in the area, although they don't rely solely on their awesome play area . . . they also have a significant online retail presence as well, they are well-stocked in a variety of games, and their employees aren't gamer troglodytes. It's tough to run a successful gaming store today, much tougher than it was back when I was a kid. But some stores manage to thrive nonetheless.Sure. I imagine things are much tougher in high-rent cities, I don't have a lot of experience in those types of environments. But the basic premise is the same, the local retail store has to offer me something more than just "buy local, because" to pull my business away from online retailers and high discounts. If I moved to LA, and none of my nearby stores had nice, free play areas, I would probably check out the stores with nice, not-free play areas and start weighing my options. If the fee to play was reasonable and the play area a great environment, I might patronize that store. But if I wasn't impressed, even a small play fee would send me back online.Meh. Kickstarter is definitely part of the environment now, but I doubt it has as large of an impact as many folks assume. Many of the games kickstarted on the site would not exist otherwise, and many of the kickstarters have retailer pledge levels to get those games onto retailer shelves. If I were a retailer, I wouldn't worry about Kickstarter (or other crowdfunding sites) because it's simply not possible to compete with them in any meaningful way. I would also watch the tabletop games section of Kickstarter to see if I want to risk a pledge to get some of those games on my store shelves.</blockquote>

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