Why should I care about the FLGS?

[jester47]

I ind that LGS's are very handy in getting the stuff that smaller publishers write. There are just certain titles that the big guys wont carry and the "zshops" after shipping harge just as much for.

Aaron

 

[Elemental]

I'm cursed with a brilliant FLGS, one that is clean, well-organised, with helpful and friendly staff, and always has the latest stuff, and a huge variety of games, as well as some real gems in the second-hand stuff. As such, I can never use online buying in good conscience. For an example, I reserved the Sidereals book for 'Exalted' in July, because I knew I'd forget about it later. As I did. I popped in to get something else two months later, and the proprietor mentioned "Hey, Paul, your book's here."

But if you've got one of those horror story stinking hellpits run by a bunch of moronic fanboys who like nothing better to tell you why your favourite game sucks, as you're buying stuff for it from them, then screw them--let them go out of business, in the name of Darwin.

 

[spacecrime.com]

I am increasingly convinced that it is counterproductive for LGS fans to exhort other people into "supporting" local game stores. When it comes right down to it, there is no good reason to "support your FLGS", and telling people to do so just creates backlash threads like this one.

Maybe it's time to change the message to "shop wherever you like to shop" -- that it doesn't matter whether that place is a traditional bricks-and-mortar store, eBay, or an online discounter. If there's a particular venue you like, talk it up -- but don't try to change where other people shop just because it's not the kind of shop you like.

"I like to shop at Amazon because..." or "Castle Perilous is great because..." just seems like a more effective message than telling people to shop in certain kinds of stores for altruistic reasons.

cheers,

 

[Tolen Mar]

"I like to shop at Amazon because..." or "Castle Perilous is great because..."

You've been in my neck of the woods then? That's the name of the LGS here, and the one I don't much care for anymore. I used to spend hours there hanging out with the clientele, and browsing the shelves. (Heck most of what I ever bought there came from the used racks!) Lately, though, if it isnt some variation on pokebrat or Vampyre the anguish, they don't have it.

And I don't know about the costume birthday thing. So far as I know, no one has ever had their birthday that close to hallowen before. My b'day is close, but not close enough. Would be neat to try it once. (Anybody know where I can get a fake id made up? )

 

[spacecrime.com]

You've been in my neck of the woods then?

Probably not. If you're talking about Castle Perilous in Illinois, though, I have a chatting acquaintance with the owner. No first-hand experience with the store, I just like the guy who runs it.

cheers,

 

[Vocenoctum]

I just looked it up online and it looks metro accessible (I am, alas, a poor grad student and therefore metro bound), but perhaps you could confirm that for me? I am dying of Shadowrun starvation and the stores I've been to have laughable selections. Though perhaps you're not an expert on that either. Ah, well, worth a shot...

More on topic...SR books are a very poor buy online as they tend to be overpriced and with a very poor selection. I am spoiled by my FLGS back home which carries a ridiculously wide selection of games, including sourcebooks from the old Palladium Robotech RPG. It's really hard to get that kind of selection and service online, anywhere I've been at least...

A quick note, but I get all my Shadowrun from www.stiggybaby.com
They usually have the stuff fairly quickly.

 

[Vocenoctum]

My LGS's: (Broward county Fl)
Twisty Land: 2 minutes from my house, this is dedicated to CCG, CMG, C*G, whatever! The store isn't big, except for the 4 acre's of tables for the kiddies. The D20 section is a 5' long shelf near the door, which has the newer releases from WotC only. There's one guy that's fairly informed about release dates, so once they transfer me to him I can get the info, and they hold it for me. (Though, by "hold it for me" I think they just don't put them on the shelf right away. So if you called for one, they go in teh back and grab one, "just for you!"
Nice enough shop, though the guy did try to engage me in conversation once, about his rogue... Luckily I made it out.

Past Present Future: 45 minutes away, all the game books are in bags, which you can take to the counter and they'll open it for you, while supervising... I'm 31, that's not something I'm going to do, it's a waste of my time and theirs. they have a 40% off section that's a bunch of old stuff, none in bags, and it's fun to skim that section. (Edit: and the shelves are horrible. They are about 1 foot deep, and very low at the bottom, so to see the books on the bottom shelf, which are face out not spine out, you have to practically lie down!)

Local book chains (Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, Borders): I usually frequent the local Borders (across the street from Twisty Land) when I want to read through a book before purchasing. For whatever reason, if reading a book in a particular store is the reason I'm buying the book, I'll buy it at that store.

So, anyway, lately if it's something I know I'm buying, but don't need right away, I get it from Buy.com. They're cheaper than Amazon, offering the same free shipping. Walmart.com charges shipping on top of the same price as Buy.com, so that's useless to me, especially when you add in Walmart charging me sales tax.

For stuff I HAVE TO HAVE RIGHT NOW, I go to Twisty land, if I'm near PPF, I'll poke through the stacks, but don't go there on purpose.

www.stiggybaby.com is for Shadowrun and other assorted Can't Find stuff.

 

[Stormfalcon]

I'll be honest in that I am biased in that I work retail (a Christian bookstore, to be precise) and that contributes to my strong preference for local retail over going online for my shopping. I'd rather that my money be kept in the local economy as much as possible, especially with the way things have been the past few years.

Of course, it helps that the area I have has a good selection of LGS, some with the F and some without, and that I can afford to be picky about which ones I go to. If the store provides great service along with a great selection, I don't mind paying full price on my books. If the store doesn't, I go to one that does. The ones in my local area that I do frequent much more than others would be Gamescape in Palo Alto (as opposed to the SF one) and Legends in both Cupertino and South San Jose.

Gamescape gets the nod because of great service (if I ask for something and they don't have it, they immediately ask if I want to order and they get it in just a few days tops), great selection (including shelves of older stuff at a discount!) and a great environment to browse in. They also have a good bulletin board and you'll often find a game going on there, whether it be in the back room or on the table on the sales floor.

Legends also gets the nod because of a good selection, friendly service (also asking if you'd like to order something they don't have), and they maintain a frequent-buyer card program (buy $120 worth of purchases over time and you get a 15% discount off the next purchase). Of course, it helps that they carry comics and toys/figures alongside the gaming merchandise.

With stores like that, why would I want to go online? To save a few bucks? Meh...I'd rather pay for good service and selection and those stores give it to me in spades.

 

[Tolen Mar]

Probably not. If you're talking about Castle Perilous in Illinois, though, I have a chatting acquaintance with the owner. No first-hand experience with the store, I just like the guy who runs it.

cheers,

'tis the very one. I don't know why I dislike Scott so much. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way. He'd no doubt be surprised if he knew who I really was and that I felt this way.

Of course, maybe a lot of it is that I have to drive nearly 40 minutes to get there anymore only to find he doesn't carry anything I want for the prices I'd be willing to pay. (I used to live in Carbondale, but had to move.) Online shopping has ruined me. Why drive all that way for a buck or two off the cover price, when Amazon et al gives me a better discount and they come to me? On top of that, I like some fairly oddball things, and he just doesn't carry them often. At least online, I can find more of them.

 

[johnsemlak]

My response to the first post in the thread is that I would prefer people don't post the 'Support your FLGS' rants in the middle of otherwise unrelated threads.