Where is your gaming room?

[Olive]

we use my living room. it's good. sometimes i need books that aren't to hand.

 

[DungeonKeeperUK]

Where do I game?

1. In a friends living room - cramped but cosy
2. In a friends spare room, ideal, nice table for all players to get round and plenty of wall space if needed...
   [/list=1]
   But the worst place I gamed was in a freinds shed, about 8 of us in a 5 foot square space while it was raining and holes in teh roof, with us all standing.... but at least we were gaming....

 

[Maerdwyn]

[snip]
I can understand the desire to be protective of your family, as I'm married myself. Good gaming, however, requires a certain degree of trust. To be honest, I'd probably be a bit suspicious of someone who *asked me* to join their group, but then refused to let me in their house. [snip]

OTOH, I completely understand - I, for the first time, formed my current gaming group from strangers. I have two kids (well, then it was one), and was new to the geographic area. Because we were gaming only every other week for a few hours, I didn't get to know them well right away - but still wanted to game. We met at a local pizza shop for about 6 months. We got to know each other, collectively booted one of the players who we did not care to get to know or game with further, and moved the game to my house at that point. Been gaming hapily as a group for 3 years now, and we've become good friends.

I do agree though that "control of the space" would seem to be the thing that has to go, unless you can afford to rent something.
BTW, for one group a while back, we got to use their space past closing time by habing one of the employees as a member of the group. Made space issues very easy. Plus, the store had a ton of terrain and minis they let us use

 

[Joust]

For our group, two options have worked out best:

1) Where I, and others from my gaming group, happen to work there are conference rooms of various sizes that we've used. We usually play on weekends so no one is around. They're big, have multi-media options, white boards, and refrigerators for food/drinks. One time we even scanned a dungeon map and projected it up on a wall--it made it much easier to see and visualize than on a small piece of paper.

2) We've also had good success gaming at various homes in our group, but we're all good friends and the "trust" issue is not one. Wherever we play, we all agree that being separated from kids, pets, TV's, etc. is a good thing. We've also had fun having barbecues prior to a gaming session.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Dining room table, mine or one of my players.

We have "set gaming hours" so it's a fairly predictable thing -- roomates & spouses have learned to get along.

 

[Breakdaddy]

back in the gool ole' days one of my players was a local pizza hut manager, so we played there after they were closed twice a week! all the free sodas we wanted! NICE!
So go befriend a pizza hut manager!

 

[Quasqueton]

So, you:

Don't want to let your players into your home
Don't want to play in any of their homes becasue you need "control"
Demand a third-party location that also gives you complete privacy

These are pretty stiff criteria. I can understand the desire to be protective of your family, as I'm married myself. Good gaming, however, requires a certain degree of trust. To be honest, I'd probably be a bit suspicious of someone who *asked me* to join their group, but then refused to let me in their house. That would make me think that the group would end up being fairly impersonal and uncomfortable, and I can't have fun in that sort of environment.

You make it sound so much more sinister and psychotic than I meant. A new game group is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get.

"Don't want to let your players into your home." That's not what I said nor meant. For the first couple of game sessions, everyone will be strangers. And I'm not keen on bringing in a half-dozen strangers to my home and family. (What if one or more is really weird psycho? We've all met those kinds, right. This isn't a Tupperware party I'm getting together.) But even after we are all friends and comfortable with each other, I just don't want to game in my home. My two-year old goes to bed at 8pm. Imagine the difficulty of his bedtime with a bunch of guys (probably all guys) hanging out. My house is not so big that the wings are seperated by soundproof walls. Gaming outside my home is just being polite to my wife, and responsible to my toddler.

"Don't want to play in any of their homes becasue you need 'control'." I've started a few game groups in my gaming career. There is always at least one new player who just doesn't fit in and needs to be "dismissed". Playing at a player's house means I (the DM) have to clear everything with the host. What if a jackhole player that I need to eject is the host's best friend? Or the host is the jackhole? Until a group is established and the roster is settled, I like to have control of the Real World setting. Prevents a lot of problems that can crop up.

"Demand a third-party location that also gives you complete privacy." I would say "prefer" rather than "demand". So I don't want to play in the middle of a restaraunt, or a library, or a comic book shop?

The main thing is just that I want to start the game (for a couple or three sessions) on at least neutral ground. In the past I've started groups in my home, but now family comfort has precedence over gaming comfort.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and ideas.

Quasqueton

 

[Leopold]

Dining room table, mine or one of my players.

We have "set gaming hours" so it's a fairly predictable thing -- roomates & spouses have learned to get along.

way it works with us. We have a massive wood table we put 2 battlemats on and play with that.



i'd say for the first meet goto the LGS or library and meet. make the session short. Introduce everyone, sit, chat, chill. Feel everyone out and see what they are like. See if anyone's got space to use. Try doing that first.

Neutral location first then goto specific if needbe...

 

[Ruined]

Hey Quasqueton,

One of the 'locals' you were asking about. Unfortunately, I've always played at my place or at a friend's house. In some cases, it has to do with our gamers getting older, getting children, and being part of the responsibility of staying near the SO. My game I run is at my place, although if the players ever wanted to offer up their space, I'd be glad to run there. I do have the advantage of having met them previously (usually through other games) and having that friendship established before bringing them around.

Main reason I wanted to chime in is to mention a fairly new gaming store in the Cary area, Fallen Orc Games (or something very similar. I always think of Severed Orc Heads, but I'm sure that's not it). I've been in the store once, it's cool, and I suspect that they have back room space they might be willing to use for local gamers. It promotes the hobby so why not? The game store is just off of Kildaire Farms Rd. where it crosses Maynard (there's a Taco Bell in the lot of the plaza). I found out about it in this thread:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36265

Also, Hobbymaster and Games Galore (both in Raleigh) have some tables open where people play some occasional games. Might be an option for you.

 

[Arnwyn]

I don't want to use my own home (don't want to mix wife & child with 4-6 strangers). And I'd prefer to not play at a player's home, because I'd like to have full control (and responsibility) over the location and environment.

Can you offer any suggestions?

So, where do you play?

I don't think I can offer any suggestions based on your criteria. I play in my own home (I'm the DM) in the basement rec room. During those nights, my SO is either out or stays upstairs and watches movies/TV, reads, or has her own friend(s) over either in the bedroom or the living room.

I only game with friends, so I don't invite strangers into my house.