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Gaming Stores

Amazon and I have a relationship. I give them all of my money and they take it. I like them so much I send other people there to spend their money. Part of this is their prices, which are considerably better than local stores. A bigger part of this is I do not like to leave the house, I don't like crowds and traffic ...man, traffic ...homicidal rage time. So I like to shop online. I recently have purchased Fable III and Rules Compendium: 4e and I am sure I will be buying more stuff as Christmas decorations in the stores seem to indicate it is that time of year.

Amazon has almost all of my gaming needs and what they don't have, a lot of downloadable stuff and independent gaming material, I can get at DrivethruRPG. DrivethruRPG has so much great downloadable content it's difficult to cite a few choices, and they have a free section with books, adventures and all sorts of fun stuff. “Free” is one of my favorite words. Along with “chocolate” and “sex.” “Free sex and chocolate” is therefore one of my favorite phrases and one that I do not hear nearly enough.

The thing is, though Amazon and DrivethruRPG have a lot of previews available, I am, at heart, a book person. I like to pick up a physical thing, with pages to flip through (sorry Kindle and iPad) and spend time taking it all in. When I download gaming material I instantly print it out and clip it or staple it together so I can take the pages anywhere—I know, I could take my laptop anywhere (except for maybe the bathtub)—and curl up, mark 'em up and make sense of things. Plus my eyes are at least as old as my body and the 16 hours a day on-line does not do them any favors.

Where local gaming stores shine, besides letting me hold the book (at arm's length so I can see it) is community. My local game stores, as I explore them, all have knowledgeable gamers who can suggest new games based on what I like; who know others in the community that are looking for new players and GMs; and can help with rules or mechanics or whatever questions I have. In addition most of the gaming stores have a place to play, whether it's tables for miniatures or Magic or comfy chairs for a long haul RPG session.

Is it worth the ten, 20 or more % difference in prices? I used to wonder that about local bookstores, if they were worth the higher price. But they have mostly gone out of business. I suppose I wondered too long.

There is something about a game store where you can pick up the box, shake it, read the back, move on to the next one, that I like. Something about the smell of ink and pages, something about touching the dice and look at their sparkley infinite depths—ah dice—that just has a magic (ha) effect on me. I bought Forbidden Island because I picked it up, read the back it, handed it to my son and wife and we all agreed it look interesting. Plus I am a sucker for metal boxes. Chocolate in metal boxes. Guns. Pencils. Whatever.

That is not to say forums and blogs are not communities. They can be. So can guilds and other MMO clans. I am only saying they are a different kind of socializing. This forum is itself a tight knit community with epic tales of friendship and bitter disputes, and I would not for a moment downplay the reality of emotions on-line interactions can engender. But how many of you like to jump off-line every once in a while and visit a local game store?

What's your favorite store and why?

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My favorite FLGS (that's Friendly Local Game Store, in case you somehow managed to avoid that acronym till now) is unfortunately all but gone. Danger Planet was an unassuming little storefront in Waltham, MA where all manner of things that could be called games in one way or another were available. Board games, RPGs, CCGs, TCGs, MCGs, CMGs, miniatures and probably some other kinds were all available backed up by a truly one-of-a-kind staff and owner.

They had two rows of play tables upstairs for people to just walk in off the street and play games at. Games that they brought or games somebody else brought, sometimes even demo games. Danger Planet never charged one dime for that little service. That's classy. Downstairs they had 9 tables set up for miniatures gaming. The tables wee all custom, as was the modular terrain. The quality of both was as high or higher than anything I have seen before or since. Their terrain was actually nicer than what I saw at Games Workshop's own stores. Again they charged not one dime for the use of these facilities. They hosted tournaments for a variety of games, all a low and reasonable prices that basically covered the cost of the provided lunch and the materials for the home-made trophies. Yeah, home-made trophies.

Sadly the cost of doing business in the face of the economic wasteland that followed the housing collapse of 2007 forced them to shut their doors about a year later. You can't replace a place like that, trust me, I've tried.

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Paper Heroes has long been my hometown's only gaming store, having stood the test of time close to twenty years. It began as a little hole in the wall comic shop, and today serves Warrhammer, 40k, Warmachine, various CCG's and even football and baseball cards, in addition to comics and comic memorabilia.

Kevin, the owner and operator is one of the nicest guys I know, and just as big a geek as the clientel. He has fair prices, and if he doesn't have something he'll get it for you.

This was where I was first introduced to Battletech, and as such many of my best memories stem from the shop, in all its locations.

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I have searched all over Cincinnati for a good RPG store but have not been successful. There used to be a few good ones but I think they have all gone out of business or just stopped carrying their RPG stock. This is a fairly big city and I would think that there would be some place here to get some books.

I recently went back home to Tennessee and visited my old gaming store while I was there, Dewayne's World - Comics & Games. The store didn't have everything, but I think it still has more in one store than every store that I have been to in Cincinnati combined. I moved away a decade ago and have changed my look but the owner still recognized me an knew what my interests were. I was amazed by that. His only store is only a shell and doesn't really reflect the actual store. If anyone is ever in Northeast Tennessee I highly recommend checking his store out.

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If you ever find yourself in the area of Dallas, TX, I can heartily recommend visiting Lone Star Comics & Games. I don't live in that region anymore, but they still look to be going strong. When I last visited their establishments (they've got several all over the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area), I was very impressed by the quality & selection they had to offer, especially at their oldest store at Preston & Royal.

OTOH, Half Price Books has a flagship store in Dallas up on the Northwest Highway. I've been there many times, the place is HUGE, and there's no telling what you'll be able to find there. They have a respectable RPG section that I've picked out many hard-to-find items from.

Sadly, there's nothing comparable near my current residence, so my RPG shopping has been limited to Internet purchases of late.

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