Where Do You Game?

There are the misconceptions that all role playing happens in someone's Mom's basement or some such. While I have had the occasion to partake in the occasion basement game, more often than not we've generally taken over the dining room table or even a front room with our tabletop games. When I moved to a larger house in high school, I had the entire upstairs to myself... complete with a half-bath. I originally had a large table with chairs setup in the room adjoining my bedroom. This was my little slice of heaven.



When my city gained a new gaming store, there was a back room that we used for many of our games. If the location was better, it would have been perfect. Granted, for many years it was situated between a bar and a liquor store, but there was not much else within short distance. Now that the store has moved to a better location, there are a plethora of options available including a mall within reasonable walking distance.



The back room of this specific store is well suited for our tabletop needs, but it seems like the tables and chairs have been through a great many gamers sitting on them. I'm to understand that the owners of this establishment are looking to replace them at the time of my writing. As it is, the location is ideal, the room is very useful and the fee to use the private room is reasonable.



There is now another gaming store that has rooms available for private use. Sure, this other store is not as convenient to get to and it's only opened recently and is still growing in stock and clientele. The fee's to use the private rooms (yes, multiple rooms are available) are still fairly reasonable... especially if you happen to schedule them in advance... yes, I meant a discount.



The problem of playing in a store that has competition is that you will always find at least 1 person who will put down the other store... asked to or not. I understand competition, but bad-mouthing another store is very disrespectful and it only breeds contempt. When I have a complaint about a specific store, I generally let the management or owner know about it. In this respect, they hear what's wrong and can work to resolve the issue. If the issues are not brought to the attention of the management, then they will never be fixed.



There have been homes that have specific setup's for gaming, and then there are those that simply use a front room where it's comfortable. As much as I like playing at a table, I also enjoy feeling comfortable if I'm going to be spending several hours in a location. For many years, I have dreamed of creating the ultimate gaming nirvana if I were to ever win a large lottery. If I ever do when, you can bet your final dollar that I will post about it here. :-)