The problem of the FLGS
The Lasombra
having a presence in the friendly local game stores.
http://www.anarchfreepress.com/vtesuk/viewtopic.php?t=740&start=45
What is your FLGS doing to keep you buying and playing locally?
wumpus
On Nov 2, 12:46 pm, The Lasombra <TheLasom...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> It seems that one of the biggest barriers to growing a CCG is not
> having a presence in the friendly local game stores.
I can definitely confirm this. When I moved to Seattle in 2002 the
local play group had a home in a game store that had plenty of tables
and a LAN and hosted all sorts of games (mostly M:tG, miniatures, and
MMORPG). When that place shut down, we were lost in the wilderness
for a long while. Various other stores were tried, but nothing stuck,
in large part because those other stores were either marginal
themselves or just not real enthusiastic about V:tES, stocking it
irregularly, having only tiny play areas, charging to use the space,
short hours, etc.
Now we've found a new location (Fire & Sword in Lake City; the Tacoma
group play at Game Matrix and the Bremerton group [new!] play at
Discordia), where the owner is a once and future player and we have
recruited staff to play as well. They not only stock cards, but order
release kits on their own initiative! Having a standing player or two
available at most times makes it really easy to get together 4 (and
that they don't _have_ to play makes getting 6-7 not suck as much as
it can). Plus they stay open arbitrarily late and THEY ENCOURAGE
BEER! (They may even start selling it at some point.) I mean, it's
like the gods want us to play V:tES.
> http://www.anarchfreepress.com/vtesuk/viewtopic.php?t=740&start=45
>
> What is your FLGS doing to keep you buying and playing locally?
See above. Mostly being actual gamers who play and like V:tES seems
to be the key. It is mostly a miniatures place, so maybe that gives
them an older customer base than more card-oriented stores?
As to us supporting the store: I know people still buy boxes and
singles online and such, but you can't buy packs at a store that
doesn't stock them. And I find that I've got more money than time
these days, so I actually end up buying starters and boosters while
I'm in the store rather than taking the time to put together an online
order.
Hope that helps,
Alex
brandonsantacruz
I can vouch for Fire and Sword. I've been there and they are a great
place to play. I really liked that they stay open late, are very
welcoming, and carry enough product. Thanks again for the hospitality,
Alex!
Game stores in my area are often courteous enough to let you play at
their tables, but not always. Hours are lame at many stores, like the
one that chases you out promptly at 6:00 during tournaments. Eudemonia
in Berkeley, about 80 miles from me, has big tables and stays open late
(sometimes later for events). On the con side, parking is tough and
their product ordering/knowledge can be shaky.
I don't know if game stores feel like they are going under and don't
care to innovate, but some get it and some don't. Many may be
comfortable with Magic and Yuh Gi Oh or whatever and don't feel like
having more ccgs(like VTES) will pad their bottom line. I believe that
Ian (Curvei) has written about this a few times.
Brandon
G Chan
wrote:
I definitely agree. Back home in singapore I got into VTES via the
local FLGS, Paradigm Infinitum. The community there's very dynamic and
we traded knowledge about various games frequently. There I played
D&D4 and 40k for a while until one day I saw other people getting it
on with VTES at the next table. Couple of chats later, I was handed a
deck to try and the rest is history.
Without a location that allows for game playing (or demonstrations,
which amounts to the same) and potential players to converge, VTES
grows only via word of mouth and the internet. That's prob why the
store owners filled half the store (in singapore, space is a serious
premium) with tables for us to play on until the wee hours. I tend to
think of such stores as the city's Elysiums or the prince's court. The
community cannot grow in numbers and mindset without common ground.
Hodgestar
Outer Limits [1], our FLGS, is often our tournament venue, but they're
not open after hours during the week or on Sunday's so it's seldom
used as a social venue. They do stock VtES but supply is limited and
erratic and it's about twice as expensive as buying directly. The card
sales they do are mostly impulse buys -- either new players wanting to
get some cards now or existing players buying a few boosters or a
starter for the fun of it.
From chatting to the owner and the staff I get the impression that the
big obstacles to stocking more VtES cards are the difficulty of
maintaining a wide selection of stock, the unpredictability of demand
and lead times getting cards shipped out to this neck of the woods.
I also have the impression that Outer Limits have restrictions on who
they can import stock from placed on them by large suppliers like
Diamond who they get their comics from. Being a tiny store in a large
uncaring supply chain means that they regular get shafted by orders
being shipped to the wrong place or being forgotten and there is
little they can do to make the large suppliers feel the pain this
brings them (and their customers).
[1] http://www.outerlimits.co.za (they can always do with some free
advertising :D).
Schiavo
Simon
j-train
In Scranton PA, I have started to have twice a month demos at the
FLGS ,The Unknown Comics and Games. They have some free tables in the
back for this purpose and the new owner was very open to supporting
things of this nature. He is slowly getting in more stock of RPG's
etc ,so with my storyline event coming up I figure he might get some
more V:tes cards for other people will be interested in trying it.
Jazzbeaux
In my experience it is very rare for games shops in the UK to have any
space for games tables. So demonstrating a game is much more
difficult, as it either needs to be done at a public venue (pub) or
private venue both of which have different problems of age
restrictions and inviting strangers to your home.
Back to Lasombras initial post, there is no reason to go to the FLGS.
Its not friendly, and its not local.
Sam
js_vtes
the support of Thunderground Comics and Collectibles.
On the product side, there is usually stock from the most recent set
or sets on the shelf -- this despite its tendency to only sell on VTES
event days. Most of the players here buy their stuff from
Thunderground, but it's all in one shot -- a new set comes out, people
pick up their pre-ordered box(es), and that's that.
But more importantly, Thunderground's proprietor, Roy Kim, puts the F
in FLGS (not THAT F -- the GOOD F). There is ample, free table space,
and he enthusiastically supports tournaments and events. Like, with
free food! At last June's Ebony Kingdom launch event, he barbecued a
ridiculous number of hot dogs (at least, I ate a ridiculous number of
them...). And should an event happen to fall even close to my birthday
(and with new sets often coming out in November, this has happened
several times), he brings in a cake! A CAKE!!
Roy has an uncanny ability to remember the name of anyone who has ever
walked into his store. He can address every player by name, even when
he hasn't seen them for months. It's almost unnerving. But just the
simple act of saying, "Hi, Joe!" makes said Joe feel very welcome.
Thunderground helps make our VTES events true EVENTS, creating signage
and appropriate decor for the occasion. Roy creates an environment
people can get excited about going back to. In short, we play and buy
there because we WANT to.
Check out http://www.thundergroundcomics.com/ The first listing is in
support of a customer's fundraising drive for prostate cancer
research. THAT's the kind of person we have the pleasure of dealing
with.
Jason Switner
Prince of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
wumpus
On Nov 2, 12:46 pm, The Lasombra <TheLasom...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On a related topic - not trying to threadjack, honest - I keep meaning
to post signs on other local games stores' 'game boards' to alert all
and sundry to the existence of our biweekly Fire & Sword game nights.
Every time I remember that I want to do that, I think, "Oh, yeah, I
should check and see if White Wolf or somebody has some sort of bad-
ass prefab V:tES announcement poster template-thingy that I could just
fill in the time and location fields of and print out. Something with
tri-snakes or hot vampire chicks or both." And then I get distracted
by the thought of hot vampire chicks and forget to follow up.
So, uh, where was I going with that? Wait, yeah, so, do we have
something like that available that I could just fill in, print out,
and tack up in other (not-quite-so)FLGSs? There is at least one other
store in town that actually stocks V:tES and has a 'game board' and
would happily let me post a sign. I could make my own, I suppose, but
my 133t Photoshop skillz, uh, they do not exist. And it'd probably be
convenient to a lot of people to have this sort of thing available.
A slightly different one for tournament announcements would be good
too.
Thanks,
Alex
librarian
As a former store owner, I would frown on a poster for an event at
another store, unless vetted by me (the owner) personally first.
That may not be what you are meaning to say, but it's how I read it...
best -
chris
The Lasombra
>On a related topic - not trying to threadjack, honest - I keep meaning
>to post signs on other local games stores' 'game boards' to alert all
>and sundry to the existence of our biweekly Fire & Sword game nights.
>Every time I remember that I want to do that, I think, "Oh, yeah, I
>should check and see if White Wolf or somebody has some sort of bad-
>ass prefab V:tES announcement poster template-thingy that I could just
>fill in the time and location fields of and print out. Something with
>tri-snakes or hot vampire chicks or both."
How about these?
http://columbusvtes.tripod.com/flyers.htm
http://columbusvtes.tripod.com/VTESad4.doc
http://columbusvtes.tripod.com/VTESad5.doc
http://columbusvtes.tripod.com/VTESad6.doc
http://columbusvtes.tripod.com/VTESad7.doc
or these?
http://www.white-wolf.com/downloads.php?category_id=53
Petra hawtness:
http://download.white-wolf.com/download/download.php?file_id=508
12 clans:
http://download.white-wolf.com/download/download.php?file_id=153
12 clans, tournament:
http://download.white-wolf.com/download/download.php?file_id=152
12 clans, demo:
http://download.white-wolf.com/download/download.php?file_id=151
wumpus
On Nov 5, 6:25 pm, The Lasombra <TheLasom...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 4 Nov 2009 19:11:30 -0800 (PST), wumpus wrote:
> >On a related topic - not trying to threadjack, honest - I keep meaning
> >to post signs on other local games stores' 'game boards' to alert all
> >and sundry to the existence of our biweekly Fire & Sword game nights.
> >Every time I remember that I want to do that, I think, "Oh, yeah, I
> >should check and see if White Wolf or somebody has some sort of bad-
> >ass prefab V:tES announcement poster template-thingy that I could just
> >fill in the time and location fields of and print out. Something with
> >tri-snakes or hot vampire chicks or both."
>
> How about these?
>
> http://columbusvtes.tripod.com/flyers.htm
>
> http://columbusvtes.tripod.com/VTESad4.dochttp://columbusvtes.tripod.com/VTESad5.dochttp://columbusvtes.tripod.com/VTESad6.dochttp://columbusvtes.tripod.com/VTESad7.doc
These are nice, but awfully specific. I could probably hack 'em
around to make them more my own, but would probably start from scratch
if I did that.
> or these?
>
> http://www.white-wolf.com/downloads.php?category_id=53
>
> Petra hawtness:http://download.white-wolf.com/download/download.php?file_id=508
>
> 12 clans:http://download.white-wolf.com/download/download.php?file_id=153
>
> 12 clans, tournament:http://download.white-wolf.com/download/download.php?file_id=152
>
> 12 clans, demo:http://download.white-wolf.com/download/download.php?file_id=151
These, though, are exactly what I was looking for. Awesome!
Thanks,
Alex
wumpus
> As a former store owner, I would frown on a poster for an event at
> another store, unless vetted by me (the owner) personally first.
>
> That may not be what you are meaning to say, but it's how I read it...
That's exactly what I was meaning to say.
There are probably a dozen games (CCG, RPG, miniatures, tabletop,
hobby, and/or comics) stores in town that I frequent, and almost all
of them have boards for people to post notices looking for other
players. These are usually pretty small, index-cardy things with
handwritten campaign descriptions and email/phone numbers. I guess it
would be unusual to have one that listed a regular game at another
store, but really, it's not that different than listing a regular game
at some player's house (which is quite common for stores with no real
play space). The net effect is the same - connecting players with
other players, and encouraging them to continue to play and to buy
product.
Of course, I was also thinking of giving flyers to college-age types
(if we still have any) and letting them put some up in the relevant
places on campus. Really, I'm kind of stunned at how few local
players seem to frequent the internet at all. And if you don't go
online period, it's hard to find a local playgroup other than by
flyer.
Anyway, I can always ask. Most of the stores I've asked about posting
signs have seemed totally fine with it.
Alex