Would you play your game here?

[SolitonMan]

As others have said, I wouldn't pay unless the amenities were spectacular. For example, the gaming table would have to support surface computing (see http://www.microsoft.com/surface), there would have to be food and drink available, comfortable chairs, plenty of extra surface area to support minis and open books without interfering with the play of the game, and the room would have to be private, and preferably soundproof.

I think that there are few locations that would support the required space and the accessibility that would make such a scheme work. I live in a rural area in central PA, and there are few game stores, let alone the demographics to believe such a place would be feasible. But if it were, I'd probably use it, if my group agreed.

 

[Dykstrav]

The short answer for me is that it depends on the situation.

Paying for a place to play D&D? Probably not. I've got a pretty sweet gaming setup at home. I'm such a gamer nerd that having a room specifically to host games was one of my criteria when I bought my house. So I got a house with two living rooms: the back living room is tricked out into a home theatre (movie nerd too), the front living room is a game room with all the amenities I've ever needed (including all the bookcases/mini storage I need, a dedicated computer just to run game material and play music, and even a full-size refrigerator to hold beer and other game-related potables and edibiles). It'd have to be a pretty damned sweet setup for me to consider not hosting myself, much less paying to host somewhere else.

There was a game store in Modesto, CA when I lived there called the Gauntlet. They had a huge back room, but I'd consider paying a modest fee to play there (say, around $5.00-10.00 a night). This is because they have massive amounts of fabricated terrain for wargaming that was incredibly well-made and the owners just let regular customers use it. He also kept the rowdies out and actually kicked people out if they were being jerks. And it was located on the same block as a really good cafe and a bar.

Now if you're talking about a LARP game, it's seems to be the norm to pay for a place to play. But you're also hosting a large group of semi-scary weirdly costumed folks and expect a degree of privacy.

I could conceivably see a service like this, perhaps targeted at younger gamers that don't have their own house. For example, college kids still in their first apartment and the like, who just don't have the space at home to host. But if I'm paying something for a table I'd expect more than just a table for X amount of time. If the place served food and drinks, I'd expect that the deal would be the tables are free but it's expected that your group buys food and drinks, for example. Or if you're paying for the table, maybe that allows the DM to raid a big box of D&D minis to use, free characters sheets, something.

 

[sjmiller]

If I am paying to play a game, I better be wearing a badge and be staying at a hotel. I would not pay to play in anything outside of a convention. I currently have a nice home with a large room with an expanding table, a liquior cabinet filled with what I prefer to drink, all my games and game books are there, and I have a really comfortable chair to sit in. I like gaming at home, it's cofortable.

Besides, if nobody in a game group is willing to host a game, there is something wrong with the game group.

 

[Arnwyn]

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

Nope, I certainly wouldn't.

Why not? I already have a rather fantastic set-up at home. We play in my rec room, in my own home. We have a large gaming surface (covered pool table) and my library is there as well, which means every single one of my game books are within easy reach. Finally, my home theater is there, so my entire music collection is ready to go with a touch of my remote.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I've had this idea...

If I were to open it, I wouldn't have people paying for space.

What I would have, includes the following:

• Big tables, comfy chairs: The point is to get people to hang out there for as long as possible I'll come to "why" in a minute...
• Rentals for dice, books, maps, and minis: You could always BYO, and for those who don't, a small fee ($1/hr maybe?; maybe $3/hr for books) gets you what you need.
• Food, drink, etc.: Here's the moneymaker. You don't need much; you could rig it up like diner food or a cafe or something, offer a few "healthy alternatives," have chips and sodas available to buy. Everyone comes by for dinner and sticks around to game. And as the time passes, they eat more, they drink more...it's golden.
• "Game Store": You can buy your gaming supplies here, too. If you want to own rather than rent, for instance.
• Computers with Internet Access and eLibraries of books: A by-minute access fee (something like 25 cents) gets you all the rules references you need. You could even pay to just read the pdf file on the computer screen, in theory.
• Membership Programs: Sick of paying rental fees for books and dice and maps and minis? Get a membership. $20-30/month and we'll even throw in our "member's tables" and our newsletter about what's going on at the club, and in gaming.
• Advertising: We've got a newsletter, we've got space to put adds, and even to run "promo games" of new stuff that's coming out. This should be priced so even homebrew systems can take advantage of it, so if you've got a kickass setting you want to play in or a new system you want to run, you can find players for it.
• Find-A-Gamer: Want to run a game? Need to play? For a small fee (maybe $10, free for members) we'll match you up with a group that hits your stated likes and dislikes. Because we see you in person and get to do an interview, we'll get a better sense of who you'll match up with. A professional gamer match service! Heck, you don't even HAVE to play here. Of course, if you come back kicked out of a lot of groups, we might not be able to help you, here...
• Bookstore: What better place to buy your gaming books (and other books -- sci-fi/fantasy books, comic books, magazines, etc.) than here? Perhaps go the Border's route and populate it with music and movies and videogames, too.
• Events: New nerdy movie coming out? Marvel or DC doing something epic with their core line? Maybe we'll do some members-only discounts on the next Batman movie, or 30% off the next Star Wars novel or WotC book.
• Private Rooms: For an actual fee you can get tricked out private rooms with projections, laptop hook-ups, surround sound for the ambient noises, a waiter who would bring your group food, etc. I could see these going for maybe $30/night (maybe $5-10/hr).

I think of it something like the "full package" experience. The challenge would be to lure shy gamers out of their own basements and to indulge their nerdy desires. Give it a community feel, make sure they never need to go anywhere else, and don't charge them just to hang out there. Instead, offer a million little services, charge them for that, and don't be affraid about kicking out people who just loiter.

 

[Dykstrav]

Finally, my home theater is there, so my entire music collection is ready to go with a touch of my remote.

First thing I did when I got my new surround sound system was take the old one into the game room. Properly selected music really does make an amazing difference to the overall energy/interest of a game. Being able to play my own music alone is reason enough to play at my place.

 

[Mallus]

At night, the bar would open. But it would be a gamer's bar. No drunks. It'd be like cheers, but with dice.... snip... along with non-alcoholic drinks as well.

You are using a definition of 'bar' (not to mention 'gamer') that I am unfamiliar with.

 

[fusangite]

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

Very succinct Mouseferatu. The only consumers of this service would be groups united by mutual, highly adverse social and economic conditions.

And this would then provide another disincentive. The other people with whom one was sharing the gaming store space would be groups dominated by or exclusively composed of people with serious issues. So, in addition to preferring the comfort of my own home to that of a store, I would probably be trying to give the game store space renters a wide berth. I could have a very nice free Indian meal at my local Hare Krishna temple but don't because I don't really want to share space with a pile of people who have trouble scoring a meal any other way.

 

[Rothe]

Yes, most definitively IF...

It is conveniently located. This is everything.
It is private.
It is climate controlled, not cold in winter or swealtering in summer.
We can bring our own beer, or buy suitable at the location. (We are fairly picky)
We can bring the snacks we like, or buy suitable at the location. (We are fairly picky)

What I really like is:
Having a big table with lots of room.
The ability to rent miniatures, especially if we could "call" ahead and say we need 30 orcs, 20 hill giants, and assorted trolls; and they are ready and painted.
A projector to do maps on the table would be really nice, or some battlemap prep help.

As for your business plan, I'd focus on the higher end of the market and not rely on instore sells to support this. Think of this as providing a service to people with far more money than time, not a service to those with inadequate space. You are basically setting up a club, where the well-heeled gamer can buy convenience.

I'd structure the costs two ways, a fee to join (may be monthly or annual) and a few to use the room. I'd keep it a flat fee, maybe half day and full day. Since you are providing a high end service you may even want to consider it a reservation fee, that is refunded if you show up. You are only going to have a small number of groups because you don't want to tell your customers, sorry that night is booked.

Given that you should charge mayb $50 per month, maybe $100. Seem high? Not at all. We are talking about catering to people who are making well above $100K a year. Convnenice is everything, a $50 dollar price point is nothing. Renting miniatures should be "cheap" to encourage it and it is really a huge margin in the end. Maybe $2 to rent up to 12, $5 up to 20; $10 up to 50; if more than 50 negotiate. On food and drink, this can get touchy deending on local regulations, obviously you'll want to avoid having to get some food or beverage license. Providing a fridge may be enough OR picking it up for the group and charging a 10% of item cost for the service could work. Handling the logisitcs of ording pizza, providing plastic plate and real glass to drink out would be nice. Again time is money, you save me an hour of time, you saved me about $100.
However, even selling cans of soda and bags of chips could require a license.

I know I'm not common in this desire for convenience or the ability to pay for it, but then again if you can turn a profit on just a handful of groups then you could probably find 6 other groups like ours near a big city. We are also great customers when the expereince is convenient. For example, I get offers to custom order things for me that are not in stock. I don''t do it because I don't have the time to plan on coming back, booking a trip to the game store is low on my calander. However, if I was there regularily, I'd easily buy things custom order, and wouldn't think twice about spending $100 a month.

I'd like to see something like this, hence my lengthy response.

 

[vongarr]

How many tables how close together?

For the RPG section, I'm thinking 3 at the most, table's being 4X4 and each table have 7 feet or so on each side for player space. So you're looking at 14 feet from one table to another, with walls in between.

What limits on snacks?

Nothing too greasy or staining. There would be a good caffeine section, with the mocha-latte-chino's to be had. There'd also be free refills for cokes and what not. Food-wise, it depends. If it could be pulled off, it would be a full diner. Since it probably couldn't be, you're looking at a deli.

What limits on who could enter and what could be said?

Realistically, I am more worried about player interaction than I am about pesky things like battleboards & miniatures...

If that's your space, it's your space. Unless you want it, people will NOT go over and harrass your game. Not sure what you mean on what could be said. It'd be in America, so as long as you're not being a distraction, you can say whatever you want.

The store's motto would be "Every gamer a King."