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I live in a rather small city and got introduced into the hobby in my FLGS. There where many battles and discussions, but someday the owner of said FLGS had to close it due to bad sales due to horrible prices- so the questions are: Do you think your community would run on without your FLGS or would it die ?
Did your community start with it or does it run without a FLGS since it was founded or brought into town ?

Well, I've seen FLGS' come and go in towns and it tends to come down to whether they're run like a business or not. The folks who open shops entirely to feed the habit generally don't last. Sad but true fact.

In terms of can the hobby run in a community without an FLGS? I think it can, it's just a little tougher. You tend to lack the central place where gamers meet in town and that sort of thing. At the very least, it tends to take more effort for gamers to meet, set up tourneys and events and the like. If you're just running home games, then all it means is that you travel or order online for your minis and paints. If you're a tourney player though, it means that you're traveling out of town for every event. If you're in a populous area, you're fine, but if you live in a place like my parent's town, you're looking at a two hour trip each way before you find a shop.

FLGS's tend not to be the life blood of the hobby, but they certainly are a valuable social club and gathering point and they do make things easier for the local hobby community.

My FLGS does just fine, but that's because it's an independant retailer (it has good ties with GW because it's the only one around here) that is part of a store that sells comics, TCGs, anime, etc. They call themselves a 'popular culture company'.

There are a lot of people who go there to get comics and whatnot and end up getting into a GW game. They do quite well.

I haven't played at a gaming store since 1st ed of 40K - nearly all my playing is and has been at clubs.

Scott-S6 wrote:I haven't played at a gaming store since 1st ed of 40K - nearly all my playing is and has been at clubs.

What sort of 'club' are you referring to? Because clubs around here are places you go at night to dance & drink...

Gamer clubs, I'm sure. They have more of those in the UK that are independent of
gaming stores than you hear about in the US.

Our group tries to support the FLGS. The two we have in town have not been accomadating to the gamers so we have moved to home playing. I prefer playing at a FLGS if it is a nice location like a HobbyTown USA. The dark dank holes in the wall do not attract new players since people are scared or disgusted to walk in.

Home play is nice because we can be as loud as we want, drink, eat, and curse till the neighbors call the cops. Its a lot of fun but does not attract new players. Our club runs fine without FLGS but I prefer to have them to attract new players who are window shopping.

As far as analogies go, FLGS aren't the life blood of the community, that role is the gamers themselves. But a store can be the heart of a local community, supporting clubs and gamers, giving them a place to be introduced to the games, learn to play and paint, and a gathering spot on weekends. Many people play in groups at someones home, but made the connections at the local store.

I'm obviously quite biased, but my opinion is that while not absolutely needed, a FLGS is an important part of the local gaming community.

There is a difference , I think, between us Brits and our brothers accross the pond.

Being smaller I do not think we are so reliant on stores for our gaming. We will tend to try and set up gaming groups, find suitable premises and go from there - I have never been a fan of GW's repressed wargaming model.

So, no store, so what...

My last club was great. We had a big space from 6pm till 11pm on a Tuesday and 12 till 10pm on a Saturday. The club's been around for 70+ years so piles of tables, scenery, etc (although we'd periodically get everyone to pitch in and build more stuff).

And a cheap bar with good food in the same building that would let us take glasses and plates up there.

My current one is good but limited for time and no food or booze available on site.

Not only having a FLGS is important, but I think having a few of them. Where I live, there are three that I can think of off the top of my head. There are more that I have heard of, but have never been to as far as going their for a gaming event. This is nice because different stores seem to promote a different gaming culture. At the store I game at, painting and beer and pretzels play style are highly promoted, making me feel a bit self conscious due to my Wolves not quite up to the standard of some of the other painters...

I digress, it also provides a place for new players to see the game, and be able to see what else is available ala the store's stock. I think that there might be some that would feel uncomfortable showing up to a "private" location, especially if there is an air of intense tourney level play going on.

That is true of some clubs.

If you've got a good friendly atmosphere then the opposite can be true because you can give a demo without any sales pressure.

Don't know how typical a gamer I am, but I never game at FLGS or GW.
We've got a small (4-5) group of friends who play together (when not playing RPGs or CCGs etc), and are also looking at expanding to campaigns using Dark Heresy, Planetary Empires etc.
We make house-rules, play scenarios, mix things up, proxy models etc. We have an aim for WYSIWYG, but its not a RULE.
Pick-up games vs random kids is not what we are looking for in the game.
We met at the local Uni Games Club, and have kept a close group ever since.
(Having 2 uni's in the city, both with Games Clubs, plus a GW, a FLGS, a Comic store and several modelling (Hornby, balsa-wood planes, etc) shops helps!)

There is a club (RPG/wargame) nearby that some good friends go to , and some of us occasionally attend.
Our FLGS is handy for picking up discount models/terrain, but I make a lot of our scenery from polystyrene packing, cardboard and any stuff I find
It can be fun to chat with the kids there, pick up ideas, show off conversions, swap tactics etc, but our battles are all at home.
Our local GW is quite active, always full of people looking for games, painting, etc, and they put on a lot of custom games/mini-tournaments etc.

On a bigger scale, I do think that FLGSs are a good idea, as they are a place to go and chat, rather than be sold to (although they are still a shop, trying to make a living). We can pick up Valejo paints, 3rd party terrain, etc, and selling at lower-than-GW means that people who can only border-line afford to play/collect can still join in, and won't be chastised for bringing their converted-from-£1-shop-tractors models (me!)

(Note: Not trying to offend anyone by referring to 'kids'. We're all 35+, so anyone under 25 is a 'kid' )

I started the gaming group at my FLGS

If it weren't for the store I wouldn't have met any of the good friends I've made gaming there. If the store were to close down we might still be able to get some games at my place or something, but I think it's not terribly likely.

Also, I get a discount there, so I buy all my stuff from the store. Feels good to support small businesses and save while you do it.

I don't play at FLGS for more than 6 years now, despite living <15 mins from the LA Bunker.

Very important I would say because its a good way for form a local group/community and meet people.