|
Most people who go at least semi-regularly to a FLGS have at least one of these. Share them here with your fellow gamers, let us all fell better knowing that others had those too.
1. We didn't have anywhere to game, so we decided to go to a LGS that one of my players worked in. Since the only time we could play was the weekend, we unfortunately clashed with a MtG tournament which happened every other weekend there. Ah the smell...it was horrible. Every single one of those players smelled. In their own unique way. You could almost see miasma wafting from some of them. We decided not to game there. Ever.
And i thought that the time for gamer stereotypes was gone, and here they were. It was horrible. I wanted to vomit the moment i entered the store. I don't know how my friend could stand it. The worst part is, that when we actually talked to one of the players, he seemed proud that he didn't bathe at all. I mean what the hell?
2. Second was in another FLGS. We came to play Pathfinder and since there were a few people there, they all gathered around our table asking questions and cheering during combats. Now, personally, i hate people who look over my shoulders while i play a game, but the owner of the FLGS had Pathfinder in stock, and if somebody helped him sell books, he gave discounts. So i was really into explaining the rules and the awesomeness of pathfinder, and why people did what they did during combat. This one kid of no more then 11 years walks in with an enormous backpack and starts pulling out deck after deck after deck of Yu-Gi-Oh cards. And he arranges them on two tables, pushes throught the crowd and asks us when are we going to finish because he needs our table to show off his cards. I'm not joking he actually said that. So i say that we'll be playing for at least four more hours and he goes bats***. Starts screaming at us, calling us horrible name (i have not heard of some and i was 24 at the time) and then flips over our game mat and tries to grab some of our books. One of my friends, whose core rulebook the kid grabbed backhanded him and took the book away. Of course, the kid starts sniveling and threatening with parents, and goes to call his mom, and we keep playing. Next thing you know, his mother storms into the shop screaming about savages who ruined their kid (the kid didn't even have a mark, my friend didn't hit hard at all). So i calmly try to explain what happened, and of course she is not listening, so i yell at her to shut up, and that if she actually paid attention to her kid's behavior, and tried to actually bring it up with some manners, it wouldn't get into trouble. So she bristles and starts giving me that crappy bad parent line of "do not tell me how to bring up my own child", when the shop owner steps in and tells her what happened and asks her to leave and politely informs her that her son is no longer welcome in the store. Things that parents allow their children these days.
I went to a FLGS, and when I asked what Pathfinder stuff he carried, he said...
"Pathfinder? I don't carry it."
I think this is a record for winning the thread...
|
|
I got one not so much about gamers at an FLGS but the staff and store itself. So I was heading to the other side of town to check out this store where the meetup was being held. First time in the place. I can tell its a small store in a shared building. The place was probably about 1800 sq ft total for two levels. The basement was where the main gaming tables were and you had to go down a rickety set of stairs. I mean like you are not sure if they will hold your weight set of rickety stairs.
The upstairs is where the merchandise was but since it was so small the owners decided to maximize play space by putting gaming tables all over upstairs. Sometimes literally right in front of merchandise displays. I had to ask a few people to move over so I could look at some peg hook items. The people were nice but seriously what a drag when playing a game. The place had a feel to it that was more like hanging out in some dude's nerd cave then it did a store. I will give the place one thing people felt real comfortable there.
So anyways, I finally find a book I want to pick up and I head over to the counter. I have been in the place about 30 min. Not once did I see anyone at the counter. So somebody sees me at the counter and shoulder taps a fellow who is gaming at one of the tables. The guy gets up and heads over to the counter. He has a bag of buttered micro popcorn in his hand and he is popping handfuls into his mouth. He takes a look and reaches out to pick the book up to scan it. I had to say to him, "mind wiping your hands first please?" He was polite about it and obliged me and cleaned himself up.
I hate to kick a local place with seemingly cool people but I tend to be a tough critic when it comes to a store of any type. I have not gone back since. I heard they sold to someone else maybe if I am on that side of town I will give it another shot.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
With the exception of the FLGS where we play, where we've not had many things to complain about, I only have one story that might qualify.
For several years, the primary (and sometimes only) LGS in the central Arkansas area was in Little Rock. It had a spotty history of being in one location for a couple of years, closing for several months, reopening somewhere else, lather, rinse repeat. The guy who owned it, or at least a majority partner in it, was a complete jerk. I hated doing business at his store, but it was a case of it was that or nothing.
So when WotC's "Book of Vile Darkness" came out, I managed to find where the store had moved to (again) and go there. I get there and the place is small, and stuffed to the rafters with unshelved books and trash littered tables. The guy I referred to is sitting behind the counter with his back toward me chatting on Yahoo Messenger. I asked him if the book had arrived yet, and he mumbles under his breath, gets up and hands me a box cutter and says, "It's in one of those boxes in front of you" before sitting back down to his chat.
I don't say anything and open the box on top, which luckily contained the book. A friend had asked me to pick up a copy for him as well, so there I was, cash in hand for two books, waiting at the counter. I do the clearing my throat thing and get no response. I finally tell him I'd like to buy two of them, and he doesn't respond. I say it again, a little louder, and without turning around he says, "Look, I'm kind of busy here. You're going to have to hold on."
I throw the books over the counter into the floor behind him and walk out. I have vowed to never darken door of any shop he has any part in for the rest of my life. So far, so good.
Why didn't you simply take the books with you? The a~~@+&+ would have to deal with them missing...
Because that would have been outright theft?
So the closest gaming store to my place was the biggest in town. I used to go there a lot back in the D&D 3rd Ed days. Bought a lot of stuff. Used to buy whole cases of miniatures there. Then 4th Ed. Came out and I tried it didn't really enjoy it and decided to to go the Pathfinder route. However the store owner became a 4th ed fanatic. Not like he was fine with people buying one or the other, he outright refused to sell Pathfinder. He told me one day "Rule updates happen for a reason, because it improves the game. If your still playing 3rd ed or a 3rd ed based ruleset your playing with a broken ruleset". I tried to respectfully disagree, and anytime I would enter the store I would get ranted at. Funny thing was I am not anti 4th Ed at all, I just prefer Pathfinder. But eventually I just stopped going to the store completely. And decided to buy all my stuff online. I moved cities recently, and a friend from back in town told me he is having a going out of business sale. I'm not surprised if that's how he treated all his customers.
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Why didn't you simply take the books with you? The a~~@+&+ would have to deal with them missing...Because that would have been outright theft?
Well the guy did hand him a boxcutter and tell him to find them himself. At that point he is a worker, not a customer. The books are his payment. ;)
|
|
And how would they be able to prove it that he stole them? The douche dude had his back turned chatting.
Oh yeah, i came in in one of the LGSs and asked if they had any pathfinder material. They said no, because nobody on staff liked or played it. Wtf. And then i was told that the owner of the store knows jack about gaming and listens to advice of his employees. No wonder that the store closed recently.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Not necessarily a horror story, but I figure I'd share for amusement.
Two years ago, I walked into a LGS on the west side of Columbus (and that would be The Guard Tower, for those who are following) and went to purchase a set of dice. The guy at the register asked me if I knew how to use them.
"I roll them on the table, I suppose," was my off-hand remark. He briefly explained to me what they were for. I thanked him and told them I thought they looked cool.
After he rang me up, he asked me if I wanted to be included in their database and I replied, "sure." Gave him my name and he noticed that one was already in the database.
"There's another guy in there by this name." "No, I'm pretty sure it's me." He noticed that it's been registered since the early 90's.
"Did I just patronize you?"
"Yes. Here's your sign."
At least I don't fit the stereotype.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
|
Not a horror story, but the previous store owner of my local store was not the type of person you wanted to answer questions. You would be stuck there listening for a good chunk of time as he went on to explain everything in detail. This was great if you had time and patience, but otherwise a bit much.
The new owner is great. His only flaw is his lack of knowledge when it comes to RPGs. He thinks that Paizo and Wizards of the Coast are the same company.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
FACEPALMHe thinks that Paizo and Wizards of the Coast are the same company.
Not good enough. I'll climb on top of a very tall building and jump off. You bee at the bottom. I will aim for you and smash my palm in your face. Perhaps if i do it at terminal velocity, we will achieve enough power for a facepalm worthy of this kind of stupidity and ignorance.
|
Its not really a "Horror" story from my part, just a little inconvenient. I tried to order a Vassal of Menoth figurine. Its a nice and easily painted mini that has a lot of flavor. Instead, they got the Avatar of Menoth. I used links to show off the difference in minis. The owners of the store were really nice and said "Oh, we're sorry. Your mini will be here in a few days." I went back in a week, and they got another Avatar of Menoth mini instead of the Vassal of Menoth mini I wanted. The difference was that the other store owner ordered it in, and made the exact same mistake. 6 months later, and one of the Avatars was still there.
Also, the problem with the site I showed you is that you can't really get a good look at the actual size of the minis. The Vassal of Menoth is on a 30cm base while the Avatar of Menoth is on a 50cm base.
Why didn't you simply take the books with you? The a~~@+&+ would have to deal with them missing...Because that would have been outright theft?
Outright theft has never been a stumbling block for me. I just didn't think of it at the time. LOL
I have a few, from over the years. I'll start with one that still makes my blood pressure go up by just thinking about it.
This story doesn't actually involve gaming, but does involve the manager of an LGS who was a miserable excuse for a human being.
Back in the early 1990s, there were two stores in town that sold RPG stuff-- an old-school "hobby shop" (that mostly sold plastic model airplane kits, HO-scale electric model trains, and model rocketry supplies) and a comic shop. The latter had better gaming selection, so I usually bought RPG stuff there. Another thing I liked about the comic shop was that the general manager (who actually did look a lot like "Comic Book Guy" from The Simpsons) often brought along his elderly black Labrador, a very friendly dog who would usually curl up in a corner and sleep. I'm not usually a dog person, but I really liked that dog.
Anyway, I was browsing at the comic shop circa 1991, when two young kids came in. They must have been 9 years old or so. The store general manager was the only employee in the shop, and his dog was there too, asleep on the floor as usual. Besides me and the kids, there was one other patron in the shop-- I didn't know his name but he was also a regular customer there.
So, one of the kids apparently didn't notice the sleeping dog on the floor and must have stepped on him. The dog yowled, leaped to its feet, and started barking. The kids were themselves startled, and both jumped backward... into each other. One of the kids falls backwards, arms flailing wildly, into a shelf of plastic Star Trek and Doctor Who collectibles, knocking down the shelf. Plastic pieces of the flimsy-but-expensive toys go flying everywhere.
So the kid's on the floor, crying, bleeding from cutting himself on the metal shelf, and what does the manager do? Starts yelling at the top of his lungs, "What the hell did you do to my dog!? And you just destroyed a thousand buck worth of stuff? Are you going to pay for it now??" The kid that didn't fall made a run for the door. The manager tried to grab him before he got to the door, but the kid was too fast. Before the other kid can pick himself up, the manager grabs the kid by the elbow, and starts shouting, "Your parents need to pay me for that stuff you broke! Tell me your name and your phone number! NOW!" The dog is barking wildly at all this too.
Of course, the kid is now crying hysterically, and also trying to push the manager away. That's when the other customer said, "Hey-- let the kid go! You can't manhandle other people's kids like that!" So, then the manager and the other regular start arguing, and while they're arguing, the kid pulls free and runs out, and that's when the manager really lost it, and took a swing at the other patron. The patron executed a perfect judo block, grabbed the manager's arm and twisted it behind his back, getting the manager in a hold. "Bad idea," he said.
After holding him for a few seconds, he released the manager, and the two glared at each other. I chimed in, "I saw the whole thing, and it was a total accident. If anything, the issue was your dog, not the kids. Forget your merchandise-- let's hope that you and the store don't get sued for injuring that kid." At that, I turned on my heel and walked out, followed closely by the other patron.
I never went back to that comic store. Ironically, it's still in business, while about ten other hobby and gaming stores have come and gone.
|
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.
So I walk up to the store, the employee(so skinny he could model for stick figures) is standing behind the counter. The customer(who looked a LOT like Comic Book guy from the Simpsons) is sitting on a upside down bucket, one of those ones about 2ft tall. I had seen them talking up a storm, moving their hands about obviously very engaged threw the window. I walk in and the both just shut up at once and stare. I don't mean look I mean unblinking stare, they don't say a word, just stare. So knowing what I wanted I ignored them and went to look at WoD books. I take a couple of glances and the only change is the customer stood up. So I decided to completely ignore them. A few minutes later I feel breath on my neck. I turn and customer is standing behind my right shoulder practically leaning against me, still just staring.
At this point I was starting to get creeped out big time. I take a step away and look back at the shelf and I see the employee standing on the other side looking at me. Customer closes half the distance I stepped away still uncomfortable close, but not so close I can feel him breathing on me. After several more moments of this creep factor, the employee finally asks if I need help. I tell him no i know what I am looking for. Customer butts in and asks if I play. I say yes I had been for awhile. Employee finally I guess gets some sense, he tells me if I need help just ask, then he seems to reluctantly go back to the counter slowly. Though he continues the stare the rest of the time I am in the store.
Customer then launches into how great it is to see girls playing RPG's and how he wished more did. I politely nodded and would occasionally say yeah or uh-uh. Then he launches into all of his best heroic characters and how great they was and the "relationships" they had had with the princesses etc they had rescued. Occasionally inter-spaced with questions on what I thought or the type of characters I like to play.
So i finally decided what book i want to buy. Head up to the counter, customer still following still talking non-stop. Clerk tries to join in when I get close but costumer plows over him talking. After I buy my book and start to head out customer who still has not introduced himself, told me his name or bothered to ask mine. Finally asks if I want to go out some time. I told him thanks but I have a BF already(which was actually true), then he gets a little mad and says something like "Damnit why are all the gamer girls I see with a guy already or are lesbians" I struggle not to laugh and manage it and say something along the lines of, bad luck I guess then leave the store as quickly as i can with out it looking like I am fleeing for my sanity and virtue.
As I am leaving I hear customer lunch into a rant about how there needs to be more gamer girls and he wishes games wasn't so popular with lesbians so maybe more straight girls would join, cause he needed a girl friend.
That trip to a game shop was a surreal at times, very uncomfortably creepy at times, and tragically amusing at times.
|
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
|
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.
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.
|
I've not had one but a couple years ago someone came on the Boards here and shared his experience -- it was memorable enough to me to mention it again (maybe y'all remember).
A customer really wanted to get Paizo's Free RPG Day module but the only LGS was a hundred miles away or somesuch distance. That was no problem for him, though, to drive a couple hours to enjoy Free RPG Day and get his Paizo module.
He leaves his house very early, in time to arrive at the LGS a good hour or so before it opens so that, assuming a line of people forms waiting for Free RPG Day goodies, he'll be able to get his Paizo goodness.
No one else arrives at the LGS before it opens.
The owner/ proprietor shows up 15 minutes late to open the store.
That's when the trouble begins: The owner refuses to give the customer the Free Paizo Module. See, he's come up with his own clever little gimmick -- he will have his customers roll a d20 and whatever they roll, that's what item they get.
The customer who drove over an hour to get there, the only customer in the store mind you, rolls and gets some random Free RPG Day product. Then he waits another hour or so as a couple other customers eventually stroll in, often not even aware it's Free RPG Day, and they each roll a d20 -- the original customer hoping to trade his useless item (probably WotC crap) for the Paizo Module.
But it never happens.
Eventually he just drives back home and the folks at Paizo send him one in the mail without charging the $5 for a print copy.
Also, the problem with the site I showed you is that you can't really get a good look at the actual size of the minis. The Vassal of Menoth is on a 30cm base while the Avatar of Menoth is on a 50cm base.
Those are some huge miniatures. O_O
(I assume you meant millimeters, rather than centimeters.)
went to FLGS that I had been going to for years, bought Munchkin Zombies for the kids for a present, when I paid for it I thought, wow SJG raised prices, couple day later I'm at B&N, and I see it for the old list price...I'm like..."huh"
Investigated it, and it seems that my FLGS was raising all their prices 10-20% above MSRP...WHAT?? You want to compete with Amazon and Ebay by going higher than MSRP? I only buy used stuff from that particular store these days...
30cm might be right. What's that in English, about a foot?Also, the problem with the site I showed you is that you can't really get a good look at the actual size of the minis. The Vassal of Menoth is on a 30cm base while the Avatar of Menoth is on a 50cm base.Those are some huge miniatures. O_O
(I assume you meant millimeters, rather than centimeters.)
Yup. 30.48 cm is one foot.
|
|
went to FLGS that I had been going to for years, bought Munchkin Zombies for the kids for a present, when I paid for it I thought, wow SJG raised prices, couple day later I'm at B&N, and I see it for the old list price...I'm like..."huh"
Investigated it, and it seems that my FLGS was raising all their prices 10-20% above MSRP...WHAT?? You want to compete with Amazon and Ebay by going higher than MSRP? I only buy used stuff from that particular store these days...
So, that store still open?
|
|
Also, the problem with the site I showed you is that you can't really get a good look at the actual size of the minis. The Vassal of Menoth is on a 30cm base while the Avatar of Menoth is on a 50cm base.Those are some huge miniatures. O_O
(I assume you meant millimeters, rather than centimeters.)
*slams head on keyboard* I mean mm instead of cm. I ain't british. I mean an Inch or so.
I don't really have any actual "horror stories." My experience with FLGS are usually pretty quick; get in, buy what I'm looking for, get out. My gaming groups have nice play areas set up, so I've honestly never gamed in a store.
Hi there.
Not really a horror story, but just an amusing recollection of my first FLGS when I was significantly younger. This was when I was about 13-14 years old, and the advanced D&D PHB had just come out (someone else can work out what year that was!!). Anyway.... this was in Birmimgham UK, and there was a shop (long since moved on) called Dungeons and Starships... It was situated behind the Birmingham Central Library (a lovely 1960's poured concrete monstrosity), down some stairs. What I remember most, though, was that it was next door to a sex-shop... The shop itself was wonderful - helpful people, good stock (for the time), just that it was next door to the sex shop. I would be browing the RPG stuff (original traveller, T&T etc) whilst my mind was wandering elsewhere... It even got to the stage I would walk past the sex shop, heading to D&S very obviously NOT staring at the shop next door, and then nip into D&S while no-one was looking :-)
As I sad - a LONG time ago heheheh
Aiddar
-I have always wanted to go into a sex shop and say "I'll have a demi-kilo of sex, please. Don't cut it to thick." And see what would happen.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Why won't the americans convert to the metric sxstem like the rest of the world? Things would be much simpler then...
Why won't other countries drive on the right side of the road?
Why won't the americans convert to the metric system like the rest of the world? Things would be much simpler then...
[POLITICS] Americans REALLY don't like it when they perceive that other countries are telling us what to do. A good way to get an American politician voted out of office is to accuse him or her of kowtowing to foreign interests. That's one big reason the US tends not to sign international agreements or protocols (e.g. Ottawa Convention against land mines; Kyoto Protocols on climate change; International Criminal Court, etc). [/POLITICS]
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah but screw it metric is just easier to remember, everything is in multiples of 100 and everything. Doing it the other way is almost symbolic of willingly embracing some kind of cognitive dissonance or something, I don't know. Like we want it to be confusing so we can all be confused together and pick on the smart guys while we drink watered down beer.
[MORE POLITICS]There was a concerted effort in the 1970s to move the US to the metric system, and the Carter Administration was a strong supporter of the effort to bring the US more in line with the rest of the international community.
Reagan successfully painted Carter's moves toward internationalism as an attempt to water-down what made America great.
And it worked! Reagan moved the US to a position of unilateralism, and it's become political gospel (mostly, but not exclusively, on the right) that unilateralism = greatness.
I think it's arrogance, and that in this regard we're our own worst enemy. You can only play the bully for so long before your friends start to abandon you.[/MORE POLITICS]
I have another more recent "local gaming store horror story," but it will have to wait a few hours for me to share it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Metric may be great for everyday use in the modern age, but I'd never want to use it when writing or playing fantasy — it's got no SOUL! Besides, I'd rather drive 5-10 mph over the speed limit instead of 5-10 kmph over the limit. ;)
Now if only I had an F/LGS to write about...
Most of my horror stories, which are fortunately few in number, involve some guy who tries to get WAY up in my face and start talking to me about all the comic books he subscribes to/D&D books he's bought while trying to carefully analyze what's under my shirt.
This is apparently believed to be the way to win a girl's heart. Staring at my boobs while describing your ENORMOUS.... Spider-Man collection. Wow.
Most of the stores around here are okay. The one has gone downhill--I told the story elsewhere about the smelly Magic player and how the eternal Magic events make it impossible to shop in the store in peace or hang out, but I can't think of anything generally monstrous.
For a GOOD story, I went to a new store that's just opened up, and was asking the guy about gaming events, and he said, "Yeah, we've got a D&D game every Wednesday..." and I said, "Would you be open to someone running a Pathfinder game as well?" And he blinked and did a double take and said, "Actually, the Wednesday game is a Pathfinder game, I just normally say D&D 'cause... well, that's usually what people... Anyway, of course, the more the merrier." ALWAYS happy to see Pathfinder showing up!
Nothing to share, just wanna say that hearing stories like this make me appreciate the FLGS I frequented back in Arizona before I moved. Never had issues with any of the customers, the proprietors were friendly and personable and remembered us every time, and they had PF stuff almost as soon as it got released and have kept it in stock ever since.
|
|
Most of my horror stories, which are fortunately few in number, involve some guy who tries to get WAY up in my face and start talking to me about all the comic books he subscribes to/D&D books he's bought while trying to carefully analyze what's under my shirt.
This is apparently believed to be the way to win a girl's heart.
She knows too much.
|
|
Nothing to share, just wanna say that hearing stories like this make me appreciate the FLGS I frequented back in Arizona before I moved. Never had issues with any of the customers, the proprietors were friendly and personable and remembered us every time, and they had PF stuff almost as soon as it got released and have kept it in stock ever since.
I agree, the story I shared was pretty "Oh, sorry man, let me try that again." The rest of the time, the story was great. And the other three were also great, nothing really to complain about.
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.
*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".