Would you play your game here?

[vongarr]

This could be the wrong forum, but here it goes...

Would you be willing to pay for a gaming location?
It would be a "game store" but rather than focusing on the retail side, it would focus on renting tables to gamers. There would be different sections for different games, mini's, RPG's, CCG's, to name a few. You could still buy thing's retail, but the walking around and looking at everything aspect would be limited.

So let's say in this RPG section, you have a large, adjustable table (perhaps with battlemats built into them) . You also have comfortable, durable, matching adjustable chairs. You could rent set's of pre-painted miniatures. At night, the bar would open. But it would be a gamer's bar. No drunks. It'd be like cheers, but with dice. There would be some kind of food to buy, along with non-alcoholic drinks as well. You could have as little/much exposure for your game as you like. The rate would be reasonable, a flat rate for the table per hour. All of the nessacry stuff would be there to buy, like character sheets and pencils, if they are forgotten.

Would you play here? And if not, why not? What would you need to play there?

Personally, I would.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I can't imagine paying to play somewhere. If nobody in the gaming group is willing to host, there's a bigger problem.

And even then, many FLGSs have gaming rooms that don't cost anything.

 

[vongarr]

This is true. But those LGS's also usually have a hodgepodge of tables and chairs, no privacy (If you want it) and your table could be filled by someone else when you intend to play there. Think of it as a dave & busters for a game store.

 

[Arkhandus]

......And they still have to get by on meager profits, don't they, because games aren't a terribly profitable business unless you're talking about computer games and video games....

I don't think it'd work. You have to focus on the sale of gaming materials and, most likely, CCGs/TCGs and CMGs to make a decent profit as a game store. Running tournaments for CCGs and whatnot (with a small entry fee of course) is probably also becoming more important to making profit as a game store.

Having computer time to sell can also be profitable (as one of the FLGSes here did; every day they had at least a couple of people around all day, paying a bit of cash for each hour of computer time with one of the store's computers; they were set up in a Local Area Network together and connected to the Internet, so folks could play computer games and stuff like WoW or Diablo II there).

 

[SteelDraco]

It would have to be a very impressive setup, in a convenient location, to justify any kind of a cost for me.

I'm trying to think of what I'd have to get for my money to make that worthwhile. A waiter, for one, who brings snacks and fills up my glass of water. And a very impressive gaming board, probably with an electronic display of some kind, so that I could project maps and visual aids. I'd also need a convenient method for creating and storing said materials - a local computer with custom-built web applications, so that I could develop stuff at home, and use it at the gaming center, for example.

Yeah, that might make it worthwhile, if it was equally convenient for everyone. Not having to clean up after the gaming session and a setup that would be prohibitively expensive for me to invest in myself. And a waiter.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It would depend upon my options.

Currently, I have a place where I can easily host games, a huge library of games & RPGs, Minis from various genres and a table (admittedly on the small side) that can be set up for weeks on end.

OTOH, in the past, I have gamed in various game shops or pizza joints. When I gamed in a game shop, none of them charged for the service, but I bought product out of courtesy & thanks. In pizza joints, I'd order extra stuff (to share or take home with me) and leave a generous tip on my purchases (30%+). Essentially, that works out to the same concept.

Still, a game store that actually had decent food & drink on premises might do well in the right environment.

There was a place in Aurora Colorado called "Under the Yum-Yum Tree"- essentially a free-standing food court. You'd go in, get a meal ticket, get your egg rolls, bratwurst, taco salad, get ice-cream, and pay for all of the stuff on your ticket on your way out.

Almost everything a gamer could want...

A setup like that- really more of a food court but with rentable party rooms would probably float.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I'm not particularly interested in playing D&D in public, so I don't see much reason to pay for even a very comfortable setup.

There's also the issue of distractions - even with private rooms, if you are encouraging players to check out what might be on offer you're distracting from the game.

The closest analogy to such a place that I can think of is the LAN cafe - but the service offered there is not "a place to play" but "internet access and games on powerful machines" - i.e., "things you don't have". The only reasonable analogy for that service that I can imagine would involve battlemats and miniatures . . . and the sort of people who don't already have them for their games tend to be the kind of people who don't want to use them.

 

[crazy_cat]

No. We've all got houses and are willing and able to host games.

 

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Well, seeing that most people have houses, I don't really see the "demand" for this kind of service. At my place, or my friends that I game with--we have our music; we have all the rules and books we could ever want; we have our laptop computers; we have a refrigerator with all the soda and beer needed; we have comfortable chairs, couches, and a livingroom table to play at; and, everyone who wants to smoke their cigarettes or a good cigar can do so, without any restriction or concern for someone else whining.

Oh, and there's no time-limit or concern for when the place "closes" either--we can play until whenever the group decides it's time to call it a night and stop the game session.

I suspect that the vast majority of people enjoy a similar arrangement. I can't imagine too many people not having such a set-up; certainly there would not be enough of such disenfranchised people to warrant a special store that would cater to them--and make enough profit to be profitable enough to pay the building rental, the electric bill, insurance, and so on to make it worthwhile.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[delericho]

Yes, but...

In order to persuade me to pay, the venue would have to offer a markedly better experience than I would get by having one of my players host. Thus, it would require a fixed table with comfy (but not too comfy) chairs, preferably dice/books that can be rented or borrowed, print services, wireless internet access (and, preferably, a built-in PC station for a DM who doesn't have his own laptop). Waiter service would be a huge asset (with a variety of foods and beverages available).

The absolute ideal would be a place where the only thing I need to bring for the game is myself, or perhaps a USB key-drive (or paper folder) containing my notes for the game.

As SHARK said, I really don't see the market for such a location, certainly not at a price I would be willing to pay.