Would you play your game here?

[Khairn]

I'm assuming that the motivation for playing at the store is that there are no other places to play or no better choices. In that case ... sure!

But if I have a choice of options, the store had better provide some features that I cannot duplicate anywhere else. Examples would be extensive terrain models, or mini's ... or maybe its a library of books I can use as a resource.

 

[TroyXavier]

A couple years back, we organized a group that met at a restaurant and played. We were hoping that the central location would draw gamers, while the restaurant would get a boost from the extra people coming to eat while they played. Unfortunately, after a while it peetered out. A lot of people got tired of paying (though it was only for the food) and eventually the group just kinda fell apart. That is why I would definitely not expect that selling food is going to appeal to enough gamers.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I would only pay if they could guarantee steady, good players. Space is easy to get, players aren't.

 

[was]

depending on price, I'd say yes...however, I don't know if you'd make enough to keep it going..especially, without the walk-through store side of it

 

[carborundum]

I can't really imagine it, but if we all fancied a one-off game and they could provide, for example, a pile of miniatures we didn't have and couldn't imagine using often, then it's just about conceivable.
The only other situation I can imagine is if we were considering buying a beamer/ projector setup and wanted to test it out.

 

[Dykstrav]

This weekend, it occured to me what conditions under which I'd be willing to pay for a place to game.

Terrain. Reasonably good terrain. Like at least $1500-2000 worth of Dwarven Forge or something. You'd also need to have a decent selection of props too, things like tables, beds, evil altars, et cetera so I could dress the dungeon.

But this is simply what isn't available to me at home. I got about $300 worth of Dwarven Forge for my birthday a few years back and it's neat, but it just isn't enough to do a really cool dungeon setup.

 

[rgard]

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.

Yep, no way in public. Especially when the DM decides it's "dress in character" night.

 

[rgard]

Fortunately, the freeloaders are at a minimum. You know the sort, the ones that buy online to save money but still show up and use the store's resources. In fact, the worst of them decry it as a right (these are CCG and miniature gamers, though).

Yep, those guys are great. I used to have a couple of Heroclix players come in once every two to three weeks with some huge boxes of minis. The filled up two tables, had massive battles and never spent a dime. They were nice enough guys, not rude or anything.

The last time they came in was after one of the clix releases. I had sold 2 1/2 bricks worth of the new release and only had the balance, 6 (single boosters) IIRC left. The one clix player asked if I had a brick of the new release and how much of a discount he could get. I told him I didn't currently have a brick, but would get more in the following Thursday if he definitely wanted them and if yes, we would work a discount. He says he'll think about it. He and his friend go to the back of the store to set up their minis. Then they pack up 5 minutes later, left without saying a word (didn't respond to my standard, "take care, guys") and I never saw them again.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[rgard]

To answer the OP.

From my experience, it wouldn't fly. I never charged for table space in my store and I've heard too many stories from customers and former FLGS owners that it doesn't work.

The flow of events from these anecdotal sources is:

1. The freeloaders stop coming to the store.
2. Regular customers (those that buy stuff and play in the store) may pay initially, but then they stop coming to the store.

Net result is you have less people playing games in the store and less sales. People playing in the store, whether they bought the stuff from you or not, is most always a good thing. Folks will watch the game being played and may then buy a copy from the store or ask for a special order if you don't carry it.

From personal experience some freeloaders can be annoying bunch. They get warm in the winter courtesy of me paying the gas bill and cool in the summer courtesy of me paying electric bill. That said, if they are part of a local gaming group that plays at your store, you just put up with it. You can't afford to piss off the gamers who do play at the store and do buy stuff from you.

All that said, I did occasionally turn off the heat on a given freezing night when there were no paying customers in sight and all I had were freeloaders in the store. "Hey Rich, it's cold in here."

"Yes, that's why I'm wearing my coat."

Thanks,
Rich

 

[kenobi65]

That makes sense. But it does beg the question: why shouldn't people game at restaurants, especially during the afternoon lull between lunch and dinner.

If you have an existing relationship with the manager / owner of the restaurant, and let them know ahead of time, I suppose it might work (esp. if it's a local, non-chain place).

Part of the issue may be that that "lull" isn't terribly long, or conveniently placed -- probably only from 1:30pm until about 5pm on weekdays. It may not be long enough for some groups, and I imagine that most players are at work or in school at that time.