Nola RPG (Big Easy Table Top RPGs - New Orleans Roleplaying D&D D20 GURPS)

Liam Stark II PC Staff ShadowRun B oldEsplanade Kallistier WhatNot Rune Bound Esplanade Offline Awesome. Posts: 656	Re: Game stores in NO Reply #15 - Apr 15^th, 2008 at 10:39pm You going to print the URL sideways at the bottom and then precut it so people can tear off a strip and have the URL in their pocket?
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Jaeger

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #16 - Apr 15^th, 2008 at 11:21pm

posting that at the gaming stores is a great idea. the first place gamers check for a table-top group is a gaming store. no doubt there are other gamers that have gone to galactic games, noticed the poor service and lack of rpers, left disappointed, and have decided that there is no role-play scene in new orleans. that's what happened to me. i found this place by chance two years later.

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SombreNote DM Stark DM ShadowRun B Kallistier Intelligent_Life Staff oldEsplanade WhatNot Enlightened Esplanade Offline The DM Posts: 613 Ann Arbor, MI	Re: Game stores in NO Reply #17 - Apr 15^th, 2008 at 11:41pm No. That is the way losers do it. Might make something hip and cool. Like little pieces of paper with the URL on it.
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Liam Stark II PC Staff ShadowRun B oldEsplanade Kallistier WhatNot Rune Bound Esplanade Offline Awesome. Posts: 656	Re: Game stores in NO Reply #18 - Apr 15^th, 2008 at 11:43pm Quote: That is the way losers do it. That's why I asked if you were doing it that way.....
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SombreNote DM Stark DM ShadowRun B Kallistier Intelligent_Life Staff oldEsplanade WhatNot Enlightened Esplanade Offline The DM Posts: 613 Ann Arbor, MI	Re: Game stores in NO Reply #19 - Apr 16^th, 2008 at 1:14am Takes one to know one.
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shawnmtoups

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #20 - Sep 15^th, 2008 at 10:54pm

Galactic Goods in Kenner is actually the shop that I hold my game at. The owners are rather friendly, and usually will greet you when you enter. They don't have a large selections of books, but if they can order it from one of their venders they will but my require some type of deposit. Galactic Games has a larger selection of books but the few times I have been there, they were focused on other games. And FYI Games has moved. Its now at 2424 Williams Blvd in Kenner.

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humboldtscott

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #21 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 4:36am

Aside from whether or not the suburban stores have an atmosphere condusive to a pleasant buying experience, I've got to ask, why isn't there a place in new orleans? The populations that gamers often come from (kids, college students, etc) are often folks without cars. Why isn't there a place, say, in the quarter? It could stock a few tourist-oriented games (monopoly knock-offs, etc, maybe even a few new orleans themed puzzles and things like that to draw in the tourists. Add a few of the more common party games to the stock, to bring in the college kid crowd. Heck, include the CCG's, because, for many kids today, it is their first introduction to the worlds of science fiction and fantasy.

Not that I've got the time to start a shop or anything, I'm just saying, it's very doable. Add some simple, explicit work policies that distinguished between employees on the clock and folks just hanging out at the store; and you'd have a good chance of drawing folks in from the suburbs instead of the other way around.

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Liam

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #22 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 2:44pm

Because NOLA is more like LA than NY. Everyone has a car so metarie and kenner are new orleans. And if you can't afford the car how much would you spend on gaming? People live in the city for the hippie lifestyle.

OK, maybe I exaggerate. Slidell used to have a good gaming store. West bank has or had a few small ones. I was actually surprised to see the two in metarie and kenner. You don't see the stores where people sit and game in the store as much down south.

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Red Priest

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #23 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 3:52pm

humboldtscott wrote on Sep 19^th, 2008 at 4:36am:

Aside from whether or not the suburban stores have an atmosphere condusive to a pleasant buying experience, I've got to ask, why isn't there a place in new orleans? The populations that gamers often come from (kids, college students, etc) are often folks without cars. Why isn't there a place, say, in the quarter? It could stock a few tourist-oriented games (monopoly knock-offs, etc, maybe even a few new orleans themed puzzles and things like that to draw in the tourists. Add a few of the more common party games to the stock, to bring in the college kid crowd. Heck, include the CCG's, because, for many kids today, it is their first introduction to the worlds of science fiction and fantasy.

Not that I've got the time to start a shop or anything, I'm just saying, it's very doable. Add some simple, explicit work policies that distinguished between employees on the clock and folks just hanging out at the store; and you'd have a good chance of drawing folks in from the suburbs instead of the other way around.

In a nutshell. Cost. Doing business in New Orleans is vewy 'spensive. It's probably too expensive for FLGS.

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humboldtscott

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #24 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 3:55pm

Liam wrote on Sep 19^th, 2008 at 2:44pm:

Because NOLA is more like LA than NY. Everyone has a car so metarie and kenner are new orleans. And if you can't afford the car how much would you spend on gaming? People live in the city for the hippie lifestyle.

Define "hippie lifestyle?"

For me, it's not a matter of being able to afford a car, it's a matter of priorities. For example, ever seen a frathouse fridge? No food, just beer. I choose not to have a car because I consider that an unnecessary luxury. I buy gaming books, which I consider to be a necessity.

Your statement may be true for the masses, but I can think of many exceptions. Also, consider this - even with a car, at the current price of gas is it really cost-effective to drive out to the suburbs to buy a game product? I think there are ways to make it happen. The game shop I used to visit in Northern California managed to stay in business for 20+ years. One strategy - work with the indie publishers directly, rather than thru distributors. Offer to take stuff on consignment. That allowed him to stock more product than he could otherwise afford, and them to reach a market they otherwise couldn't.

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Liam

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #25 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 6:50pm

Yes, I was being a little disingenuous.

By hippie lifestyle in the New Orleans context I meant living in a tiny place or sharing with a few too many others a place in the quarter. Not having a TV, working part time, and spending time listening/making music. Basically living outside ‘normal’ society. It’s a freer, less expensive lifestyle that works for some. Then you have the students who can’t afford much. Not having a car means assigning a priority to living close to school or the quarter or whatever brings you here.
I don’t mean to imply there is anything wrong with it but these people don’t spend much money because they don’t have it.

Since New Orleans is so big on music and music history there is less room for gamers. Look at how hard it is to find gamers to play with.

There just isn’t a walking-based customer population in the city so once a car is needed to find a gaming store, the stores will be
in places with lower rent. The places in the city can make more money catering to tourists. Their profit margin is higher than a gaming store so they can outbid them for location.

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david

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #26 - Sep 20^th, 2008 at 10:36pm

as for cost in a gaming store, i tend to go straight to amazon for my needs. it is cheaper to order a book for $10-20 than to drive anywhere and pay retail or even $5 off (which tends to still be $20+ at best). as for finding gamers, it is gamer-made sites like this that are most likely to get my attention. it seems to me a sad state that technology has brought upon the world that we are all less likely to go places to get things and meet people now that we don't have to do so anymore. modern society encourages less human contact, and then we wonder why people get fat and lazy and xenophobic. i've driven by galactic games in metairie, but i've never been in it. i've never been to any gaming stores since i moved here over a year and a half ago, mostly because i've never had any reason to go. i found a few gamers with networking capability via this forum and meetup.com, and books are cheaper online if you actually even buy hard copies (with the emergence of PDF format and a laptop, why buy at all?). real life is just going out of style, it seems. it almost makes me sad, except i'm a heartless fiend and all. and broke. oh well, what are ya gonna do? support apathy if you care.

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Darklordjim

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #27 - Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 8:13pm

A few months after Katrina I was getting my gaming crave again and went to Galactic Games and joined a D20 game run by the owner. I wasn't particulary excited over the game because of the style of the game, not anything against him, just not my style of play. But thanks to that game I did put together my own group which is still going today, of course players have come and gone during that time, but the group has remained. Galactic Games isn't run as a service industry. It is run a place to go to get together with people to play wargames or the occassional table top game that also happens to sell items. Not the best bussiness practice, but obviously they do sell enough to keep the doors open. I wouldn't knock their ways under those circumstances.

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Red Priest

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #28 - Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 10:25pm

Darklordjim wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 8:13pm:

Not the best bussiness practice, but obviously they do sell enough to keep the doors open. I wouldn't knock their ways under those circumstances.

Actually, if my source is correct, then GG is run as a .. hobby .. in that, it's not actually profitable.

If my source is correct.

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Krazny Octobr

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Re: Game stores in NO
Reply #29 - Nov 5^th, 2008 at 4:24pm

Driving by Galactic Games, well driving all the way to the front row of parking spots, I noticed the store seems empty and the posters removed. Did the store finally close? I know they weren't exactly the greatest for customer service or sales, but I'd be surprised if they just up and vanished. Of course Wargames and Fantasy did the same thing it seemed so perhaps that wouldn't be such a surprise. Does this make Baton Rouge the only place to find a well stocked RPG store?

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