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My wife would frequent comic book shops before dating me and has similar stories. She tells me that having the boyfriend/husband walk in with you helps to avoid the staring. "A geeky boyfriend on your arm is like gamer mace," she once told me.My horror story was part store employee, but mostly customer. I suppose a regular considering. Apparently neither had ever seen a girl before in their life.
From my own stories, not always true. I've encountered the staring thing, too. Creepier is the following-you-around thing or the "two inches is fine enough for personal space." I never did go back to LGSes for a long time.
I always tried to bring a guy with me, or a family member. Gaming shops were not something I went into alone and it was because of the patrons there. I would have loved to have gone, and to have contributed to some of the events. Often though, they smelled stale, and a person ran into stereotypes.
Which aren't supposed to exist.
I remember after one event, telling a guy friend about an experience at the local store. His reply was, "But he cleaned it up!"
Mine was, "I don't care. I don't enjoy being stalked, and I don't like being stared at like that."
And I've never been back. Too, I told other female gamers about the experience there.
Yeah it doesn't happen most of the time or even all that often. But man when it does it really leaves a impression. Luckily the chain store near where I live that is rarely a issue. Occasionally I get the customer staring at me but thats about it and the stores tend to be clean and well lite always, which I imagine helps. That and they sell a lot of board games for families.
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I mess up 1 letter and look what happens. I de-rail the thread.*slams head on keyboard* I mean mm instead of cm. I ain't british. I mean an Inch or so.Not British. Rather "everyone else in the rest of the world".
de-rail is a strong word. More put a fat cow on the tracks and made a mess as the train plowed threw. :)
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No serious horror stories, though we did have this bit of drama earlier in the year. The offending store if a major MtG spot and on nights where there are tourneys going on it does get rather funky. Unfortunately, it was the only shop in town until the other shop opened their doors ... can you guess where our local PFS plays now? ;)
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de-rail is a strong word. More put a fat cow on the tracks and made a mess as the train plowed threw. :)I mess up 1 letter and look what happens. I de-rail the thread.*slams head on keyboard* I mean mm instead of cm. I ain't british. I mean an Inch or so.Not British. Rather "everyone else in the rest of the world".
Thankyou, Dark Mistress, for that wonderful mental picture.
Why won't the americans convert to the metric sxstem like the rest of the world? Things would be much simpler then...
Because then we would lose our competitive advantage in writing medieval fantasy with that authentic old-timey feel. Duh. ;)
Nah, its still significantly easier, for me at least, to use the English system.
An inch = width of a thumb.
A foot = my shoe length, or those floor tiles used in the mall are 1 foot x 1 foot.
A yard = three feet, or 36 inches. Surprisingly, most fabrics are available in 36" widths (or 44" or 54"). Those shelf-lining papers, with the grids on them, are usually 36" wide (with 1" squares).
Quad Graph Paper: 4 squares to an inch :)
Notebook Paper: 8.5" x 11"
A car is on average 5' x 10'. Most bedrooms are 8' x 8'. A master bedroom is usually 10' x 10'.
I imagine its the same for everyone else still using the English system.
*slams head on keyboard* I mean mm instead of cm. I ain't british. I mean an Inch or so.Not British. Rather "everyone else in the rest of the world".
I think "the rest of the world" doesn't quite get that a LOT of Americans would like to switch to the metric system and get it over with.
But, it's NOT our call. I can switch to metric right now and the moment I got to a store or have to get gas, I'm pretty much forced back to our obsolete system.
You want to gripe and get uppity about how superior the metric system is? Talk to someone in charge that can do something about it. Condescending remarks to common citizens who have no control over the situation solves nothing but sewing frustration and negativity.
...I went to a new store that's just opened up...What store is that?
Gorilla King on Aliceanna Street.
*slams head on keyboard* I mean mm instead of cm. I ain't british. I mean an Inch or so.Not British. Rather "everyone else in the rest of the world".I think "the rest of the world" doesn't quite get that a LOT of Americans would like to switch to the metric system and get it over with.
But, it's NOT our call. I can switch to metric right now and the moment I got to a store or have to get gas, I'm pretty much forced back to our obsolete system.
You want to gripe and get uppity about how superior the metric system is? Talk to someone in charge that can do something about it. Condescending remarks to common citizens who have no control over the situation solves nothing but sewing frustration and negativity.
Easy does it, sparky. The post I responded to specifically said "British" for metric users. It's obviously more than that.
Easy does it, sparky. The post I responded to specifically said "British" for metric users. It's obviously more than that.*slams head on keyboard* I mean mm instead of cm. I ain't british. I mean an Inch or so.Not British. Rather "everyone else in the rest of the world".I think "the rest of the world" doesn't quite get that a LOT of Americans would like to switch to the metric system and get it over with.
But, it's NOT our call. I can switch to metric right now and the moment I got to a store or have to get gas, I'm pretty much forced back to our obsolete system.
You want to gripe and get uppity about how superior the metric system is? Talk to someone in charge that can do something about it. Condescending remarks to common citizens who have no control over the situation solves nothing but sewing frustration and negativity.
Okay, I'll admit I started out just responding to your post and kid of ran with it on a tangent.
I still mean what I say though. As an American, if we switched to the metric system tomorrow, I'd be thrilled. If I thought I had the power to do so and live in this country, I would. I know a lot of people from other countries, and they talk down at times like all of us Americans are all about every idiotic thing we're perceived as on television.
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I still mean what I say though. As an American, if we switched to the metric system tomorrow, I'd be thrilled. If I thought I had the power to do so and live in this country, I would. I know a lot of people from other countries, and they talk down at times like all of us Americans are all about every idiotic thing we're perceived as on television.
This is an interesting topic. I think it should be discussed (if somebody wants to discuss it further) in the off-topic section. I could just barely hold back and not discuss the matter further here.
I don´t have any really horrific LGS stories to share, other than the usual gripes with grumpy clerks or nerdy customers, but nothing out of the usual range. The FLGS I go to now is new in the business, but owned by a long-time gamer and her husband (with whom we started to play a P&P game a while ago) and with really nice people working and for the most part visiting there.
We had another gaming store in town that ran for a few years in the late '90s / early aughts. It started out decent enough-- pretty good selection of D&D 3E, WOD, GURPS, and a few other somewhat more obscure games. They had some third-party supplements, magazines, dice, minis, paint, and a large selection of CCGs. They also had some play space in the back room, which quickly became so popular that they set up a few tables in the main sales area. This became a bit of a problem, as the table space interfered with people trying to browse. More than once, when I was trying to shop, I'd have to ask a player to move away from a shelf, and would get a "Hey-- I'm playing a game!" attitude.
A year or so in, the store started selling used materials, and would take used items for in-store credit. Unfortunately, what that meant was that their stock quickly shifted from being new stock to being outdated and/or obscure games and source materials. (And not the collectible kind-- just the "didn't sell well because it was crap" kind.) They pretty much stopped buying new merchandise-- the only new stuff on the shelves were poorly-reviewed items that just didn't sell. And you could tell that almost all of them had been flipped through multiple times by people with greasy fingers.
As time progressed, the play space morphed from open gaming space for the local gamers into "hang-out" space for the owner's sketchy-looking friends, who mostly played poker, ate pizza, and didn't bathe. If a customer walked in, they'd all suddenly become quiet and would all watch you-- very creepy, and not good for business. Once, I walked in, and the owner was asleep behind the counter. His "friends" were "watching" the place. And by that, I mean taking cash out of the register. I could tell that this place wasn't long for the earth.
I walked by there about a week later to see two sheriff patrol cars parked in front of the store. They were padlocking the front doors, and hung up a sign in the window: "Seized by State Tax Bureau for Non-Payment of Taxes." Turns out that the owner had ceased reporting the sales taxes collected, and had skipped town. I heard he was arrested not long after for selling cocaine.
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Thankyou, Dark Mistress, for that wonderful mental picture.de-rail is a strong word. More put a fat cow on the tracks and made a mess as the train plowed threw. :)I mess up 1 letter and look what happens. I de-rail the thread.*slams head on keyboard* I mean mm instead of cm. I ain't british. I mean an Inch or so.Not British. Rather "everyone else in the rest of the world".
You are very welcome and glad I could help. :)
I heard he was arrested not long after for selling cocaine.
Ah, that makes more sense than my initial guess while reading through the post, which was meth. I should've realized from his "friends" and their quiet, creepy watching; meth makes people twitchy, whereas coke makes them paranoid.
A car is on average 5' x 10'. Most bedrooms are 8' x 8'. A master bedroom is usually 10' x 10'.
Huh what?
Right right, I know that part.
My room is something around 10' x 16'-18'.
Arazni probably lives in a big city, like New York or London. They don't get as much space, because each square foot costs so much.
That, and "average" cars being 5x10? No.
COMPACT cars, like a Geo Metro or Honda CRX are 5.5' x 12.5' and they're not "average".
8' x 8' is not a bedroom. It's a jail cell. :) My cube at one of my office locations is 8' x 8'.
That, and "average" cars being 5x10? No.
COMPACT cars, like a Geo Metro or Honda CRX are 5.5' x 12.5' and they're not "average".
8' x 8' is not a bedroom. It's a jail cell. :) My cube at one of my office locations is 8' x 8'.
My last bedroom was that size. But UK car parking spaces are 2400 (6')x 6000 (15') usually.
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If you ever walk into a gaming store that doesn't sell dice, get out. Get out right now, and don't look back...
Many years ago in the city of Mesa, Az., there was a store that had a little silhouette of a tank above their logo and billed themselves as more of a wargaming shop, but their ad in the phonebook claimed they sold D&D and other RPG materials so I decided to check it out.
The proprietor of the joint, a thin man in a flat cap and horn-rimmed glasses, was standing behind the counter, speaking to whom I could only assume was a regular patron, a pasty, fat, white guy, while Rush Limbaugh (also a pasty, fat, white guy) spewed vitriol over a radio in the background (can you guess where this is going?) The shopkeep seemed to size me up as I came through the door and then, either disinterested or feeling I was no threat, went back to his discussion while I browsed his wares. Aside from me, Mr. Glasses and Fat Guy are the only people in the store.
Most of the small selection of stock was composed of minis-based, modern warfare strategy games and racks of hexagonal grid sheets, but I spotted a few TSR products near the register. As I made my way to the back of the store, I caught snippets of the conversation taking place between Mr. Glasses and Fat Guy. They were discussing the sad state of affairs in the U.S. and complaining about the policies of then-President, Bill Clinton.
Anyway, I get to the meager handful of 1st Edition D&D books and, mixed in with them, I find copies of The Anarchist Cookbook and The Turner Diaries. At this point, Mr. Glasses asks me if I'm finding anything of interest and, because I'm a dumb kid who up to now assumes these two are just the regular sorts of blustering-but-harmless, militant, right-wing nutjobs I'm used to dealing with in the fine state of Arizona, I ask him if he's got any 2nd Edition stuff (all the rage at the time) or, at least, ya know, some dice instead of silently and slowly exiting the store. He seems disappointed I'm not a frothing-at-the-mouth member of the NVA and tells me "he's got some stuff on order." I can tell Fat Guy is just as heartbroken.
I ended up telling Mr. Glasses I might come back to the store in a few weeks to see if anything new had come in, but that was a lie. I never went back because the guys at Waterloo Games in Gilbert were way less creepy and they carried tons of TSR, Call of Cthulhu and Shadowrun stuff. Also, they sold dice. And I'm pretty sure they weren't a front for an Aryan Nation militia recruiting operation.
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I may have been a little heavy-handed but, for the record, I didn't leave that stuff in to be political or to disparage conservatives, Republicans, whoever. I know full well that these guys were part of the lunatic fringe and the vast majority of conservatives would deplore their actions. I left it in because it's true, and I was setting the stage and building up to the revelation that these two were, most likely, crackpot, Unabomber types.
Many apologies for unintentionally making this sound like a polticial attack and being such a dramatist.
NO! STOP! STOP MAKING UP!
WE WERE SO CLOSE TO A THREADJACK!
This isn't how it's done, blast it!
NO! STOP! STOP MAKING UP!
WE WERE SO CLOSE TO A THREADJACK!
This isn't how it's done, blast it!
Apparently if you want a decent political flame war you have to do it yourself instead of counting on others.
NO! STOP! STOP MAKING UP!
WE WERE SO CLOSE TO A THREADJACK!
This isn't how it's done, blast it!Apparently if you want a decent political flame war you have to do it yourself instead of counting on others.
Good show!
Wait, this bomb's been--
...activated.
So I've a good story about a local FLGS.
We've a new, small place that is opening up, and the two of us went to visit. It was clean, appeared well-kept. We purchased a few games and intend to go back. If it doesn't turn out to be creepy, I'd like to host some local games there. ... :D
I've also told the owner about Pathfinder Society. Is there a brochure anywhere I could print off? I'd intended to send him to the website, but. Sometimes printed material can make for an easier, faster sell.
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I've also told the owner about Pathfinder Society. Is there a brochure anywhere I could print off? I'd intended to send him to the website, but. Sometimes printed material can make for an easier, faster sell.
Have you seen the download on the PFS Get Involved page? It's under 'Spread the word'. Is that what you are after?
I've also told the owner about Pathfinder Society. Is there a brochure anywhere I could print off? I'd intended to send him to the website, but. Sometimes printed material can make for an easier, faster sell.Have you seen the download on the PFS Get Involved page? It's under 'Spread the word'. Is that what you are after?
That is the page I'm going to point him to. I suppose I was thinking of a flyer or "sales material" I might use. He's potentially interested, and a bit of paper is easier to share during a live conversation.
I'll see how it goes! We have one place our here that sells Pathfinder; they just have no gaming space, and given the type of store it is, this isn't going to happen. PFS is an area he could potentially benefit from, then.
Thank you. :D I will see how it goes...