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In my local area all gws have been told that you are no longer aloud to be in store unless you are doing some hobbying or gamng , ths is ridiculos because a) my local gw 3 table to paint well 4 in total but a staff member is always painting , and aswell if a potential customer is comes in you are kicked off from pantng then.

and b) as there are 3 tables in my local gw on gaming night and no gaming in store on week days and the table son weekends are all for beginners

i'm really hacked off at this as there is one other store to play at and thats tbh useless as its mostly card gaming


is this happenng in your local area or is it just our reginal manigere , when i asked the staff the excuse was , that its a shop not a club , to whch i responded , but why not let people loiter on gaming nights , and he just said , that its still a shop then so i didnt bother

what do you think

btw i've sent letters to the standard bearer and to gws customer support as i'm really hacked off by this.

'claw

I don't understand what you're saying. You're only allowed in the store if you're doing something like painting, buying or gaming? i.e. not allowed to come in and loiter?

Or are you annoyed because if a new person needs a table for like, a demo, you're kicked off the table?

Sounds like GW is enforcing a no loitering policy, wonder if its a side of effect of less staff equals harder time watching what everyone is doing.

I see why you might be annoyed claw, but I can also understand why they might put this policy in place. Especially if the store has a 'five fingered discount' issue.

i dont mind leaving to allow a new person to be demoed , but if your painting its a pain in the backside , but no i'm annoyed that i can't go in and talk to my friends and other wargamers

'claw

First thing's first:
This is an Internet Forum. Take some bloody time and write out a well-constructed post, there's not a timelimit. Don't use acronyms. Use spacing and punctuation.

I've rewritten your post, since I couldn't make heads or tails of it otherwise.

blackclaw1 wrote:In my local area all GW have been told that you are no longer allowed to be in the store unless you are doing some hobby work or gaming , this is ridiculous because a) my local GW has 3 tables to paint at, well, 4 in total but a staff member is always painting , and as well if a potential customer is comes in you are kicked off from painting then.

This isn't entirely unreasonable. If the only reason you come in is to use their space, but never buy anything...then tough luck for you. They're not obligated to treat you as a customer if they know that you just come in for exclusively sitting at their paint stations and using their supplies.

and b) as there are 3 tables in my local gw on gaming night and no gaming in store on weekdays and the tables on weekends are all for beginners

How is this a surprise? Wasn't this supposed to have happened almost a year ago in the UK?

I'm really hacked off at this as there is one other store to play at and that place, to be honest, is useless as its mostly card gaming

So talk to that store's owner and see about organizing game nights, etc there?

Is this happening in your local area or is it just our regional manager? When I asked the staff the excuse was "That it's a shop,not a club" to which I responded "But why not let people loiter on gaming nights?" and he just said "That it's still a shop then.", so I didn't bother.

Again: That's not unreasonable if it's a relatively small area. I know that if I were to go in for a Gaming Night and have some half dozen people just standing around doing nothing when they could be playing...I would likely not want to come back.

what do you think?
By the way:I've sent letters to the Standard Bearer and to GW's customer support as I'm really hacked off by this.
'claw

I think that you should ask Kilkrazy and the other UK Dakkites what they do. The big difference, according to them, is that most gamers over in the UK actually set up clubs and play at home or make arrangements to use facilities other than GW/FLGSes.

How big is your store? GWs on the whole tend not to be very large so I can understand if they don't want crowds of people standing around chatting. It's primary function is a shop and it can be an intimidating environment for would be customers if there are load of people in there treating it like a place to hang out.

Just my view point, so don't chew my ear off

Same situation in my local GW, if you're not painting, playing a game, shopping or just browsing they generally don't like you hanging around all day.

Thankfully I always have some models in need of painting on me when I go there. If there's no space on the painting tables I tend to get dragged into helping get stock priced up and on the shelves or rearranging the tables for gaming night.

@kanluwen , the people in the store who do loiter ,are the same people , it's a reasonably large store ,and theres loads of room

@morathi , its not going be a problem as theres about 6 people who regularly loiter including me , so its not due to theft.

@nick , it doesn't bother me about not loitering on non gaming nights its just on gaming night thats a problem , and i'm going ot just always have brush ,mini and paint with me

I'm sorry, but WTF, its a SHOP, you don't go into to TESCO or SAINSBURYS to chat to your mates, you go in to buy a loaf of bread (or whatever!)

So, GW has said you can only come in if you're playing a game, buying something, or painting....erm, thats what the shop was created for, I think....I don't believe GW opened all these outlets as competition for Starbucks.

If you need to chat with mates, use twitter, skype or go round their house and have a cup of tea, if you want to meet new people and PLAY a game, go to your local GW....

I don't know, I'm not seeing a problem here.

because its nearly impossible now to get a pickup game as wel las you either have to plan an opponent , or book a table.

It's always seemed a bit odd to want to play a game in a shop anyway. Some shops, particularly the independent ones, have a gaming area out the back. But meeting up to play on the shop floor doesn't appeal to me.

Anyway, I imagine GW create this confusion and thus resentment in their customers by an unclear approach to using the premises. The shop floor is clearly for sales purposes and primarily for attracting and selling to customers, but they also promote the social side of things, getting people into the shop to paint and game. To attempt to do both in a limited space will create conflict.

Howard A Treesong wrote:But meeting up to play on the shop floor doesn't appeal to me.

Me, either. But (in the US at least) it's that or home. And the shops are a good place to meet friends. FLGSs, I mean. Sounds like OP wants a FLGS experience, which GW is not interested in providing in any sense.

blackclaw1 wrote:@kanluwen , the people in the store who do loiter ,are the same people , it's a reasonably large store ,and theres loads of room
@morathi , its not going be a problem as theres about 6 people who regularly loiter including me , so its not due to theft.

Okay, so it's not a space issue. It's likely an image issue. If all a potential customer sees is the "same people" continually hanging around...they might think there's a clique and not be interested in trying to browse there, thinking they'll have to compete with you and the other loiterers for the employees' attentions.

@nick , it doesn't bother me about not loitering on non gaming nights its just on gaming night thats a problem , and i'm going ot just always have brush ,mini and paint with me

No, it's really not a problem.

They're likely not saying "If you're in between games--YOU CANNOT STAND AROUND HERE! YOU HAVE TO GET OUT!". It's likely a case of "We don't want random people who aren't actively playing or waiting for a game after finishing to just hang around".

because its nearly impossible now to get a pickup game as well as you either have to plan an opponent , or book a table.

And this is a problem why? Set up a gaming club like the one I've got in my sig. We talk things over with the shop owner and set up gaming appropriately.

Pick-up games are for chumps anyway.

Manchu wrote:

Howard A Treesong wrote:But meeting up to play on the shop floor doesn't appeal to me.

Me, either. But (in the US at least) it's that or home. And the shops are a good place to meet friends. FLGSs, I mean. Sounds like OP wants a FLGS experience, which GW is not interested in providing in any sense.

Thats not entirely true, I think thats what the GW bunkers are meant to do. Wish I still had the bunker in the People's Republic of Glen Burnie. Now that I have time to game, its gone. :(

I recently walked into a small one man GW shop that was jam packed with people playing, but mostly watching, with the four painting stations filled up and the store manager showing a new recruit to the hobby. The manager runs a great shop and he's a cool dude, but if I had wanted to, I could've easily pocketed what I had gone there to purchase. If I were in his shoes, I would've cleared half of the folks out.

Just sounds to me like they are instituting a zero tolerance no loitering policy, which I can respect.

@kanluwen how are pick up games for chumps , i want to meet new people , play gainst different armies , and i doubt anyones going to take a 15 year old seriously trying ot set up a club

@manchu ,, basically i do want an flgs experience i'm probably going to carry on going to gw on gaming nights but other wise it's the flgs from now on

BLACKCLAW1
as a retail manager i can tell you that on top of trying to juggle things like rotas /costs/replen/sales/targets and customer service not to mention stuff like brand image and profit protection as well as dealing with all the customers asking random qrestions like "what is bestest" and do you have a toilet ?
the last thing i want is for my store to have random people hanging around all day useing it like a social club and getting in the way of paying customers and genraly makeing the place look untidy not to mention that stuff will go walkies of the shelf when theres a higher customerto staff ratio..
as stated above it is a shop not a youth club. do you take your xbox into gamestation and moan that theres no where for you to play mw2 ?

as for the problem of getting games speak to your year head at school they will be happy to set you aside a room one day a week after school for you to use especaily when you state its a stratagy game based on statistics/odds/geomatry/game theory etc.
and set up a local gameing page on facebook that players can use to to set up games.

but at the end of the day your not being hard done by for being asked not to sit around makeing the place look like a pigs stye ,
the painting stations a nd game tables are a loss leader for gw they dont make there money back so just be thankfull there ther at all !

Curnrow , that it true , , and i i understand that it sounds like i'm demanding the right to play in store i'm just annoyed that out of the blue they are stopping something like this which has been going on for ages , i do see what people mean about we don't get to play pc games in game it'd just something i've always assumed if that makes sense , but anyway it's gw so very little it going to change based on the customers so moaning about it's useless *sigh*

Set up your own weekly club or look to see if one already exists in your area.

I'm sure the local GW can point you in the direction of an existing club nearby.

blackclaw1 wrote:In my local area all gws have been told that you are no longer aloud to be in store unless you are doing some hobbying or gamng , ths is ridiculos because a) my local gw 3 table to paint well 4 in total but a staff member is always painting , and aswell if a potential customer is comes in you are kicked off from pantng then.

and b) as there are 3 tables in my local gw on gaming night and no gaming in store on week days and the table son weekends are all for beginners

i'm really hacked off at this as there is one other store to play at and thats tbh useless as its mostly card gaming


is this happenng in your local area or is it just our reginal manigere , when i asked the staff the excuse was , that its a shop not a club , to whch i responded , but why not let people loiter on gaming nights , and he just said , that its still a shop then so i didnt bother

what do you think

btw i've sent letters to the standard bearer and to gws customer support as i'm really hacked off by this.

'claw

And why should they allow you to just 'hang out'. You said it yourself, it's a STORE, not a community centre. I know how this rule works. You want to hang around in store? Bring an army, or something to paint, or hey, here's a novel idea, why not buy something to build/paint whilst you're there. As mentioned in other threads, I used to work in the stores, and let me tell you, being treated like a creche by parents is bad enough, but when the teenagers and other assorted oiks just come in and do nothing but make a mess (and you do, deny it all you like) it's even worse.

Name me one other store which allows you to just mong about?

Can't play in store? Shut up whinging, build a board and play at home. Easy, simple, and you get to enforce whatever rules you see fit.

OP, you're also about 23 miles from Nottingham... y'know, that place where they have Warhammer World...


Get on the bus pal.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:OP, you're also about 23 miles from Nottingham... y'know, that place where they have Warhammer World...


Get on the bus pal.

QFT!

Great day out, awesome tables purely for gaming, no chance of having to stop so an intro can be run, and good food available in Bugman's.

Mr Mystery wrote:

blackclaw1 wrote:In my local area all gws have been told that you are no longer aloud to be in store unless you are doing some hobbying or gamng , ths is ridiculos because a) my local gw 3 table to paint well 4 in total but a staff member is always painting , and aswell if a potential customer is comes in you are kicked off from pantng then.

and b) as there are 3 tables in my local gw on gaming night and no gaming in store on week days and the table son weekends are all for beginners

i'm really hacked off at this as there is one other store to play at and thats tbh useless as its mostly card gaming


is this happenng in your local area or is it just our reginal manigere , when i asked the staff the excuse was , that its a shop not a club , to whch i responded , but why not let people loiter on gaming nights , and he just said , that its still a shop then so i didnt bother

what do you think

btw i've sent letters to the standard bearer and to gws customer support as i'm really hacked off by this.

'claw

And why should they allow you to just 'hang out'. You said it yourself, it's a STORE, not a community centre. I know how this rule works. You want to hang around in store? Bring an army, or something to paint, or hey, here's a novel idea, why not buy something to build/paint whilst you're there. As mentioned in other threads, I used to work in the stores, and let me tell you, being treated like a creche by parents is bad enough, but when the teenagers and other assorted oiks just come in and do nothing but make a mess (and you do, deny it all you like) it's even worse.

Name me one other store which allows you to just mong about?

Can't play in store? Shut up whining, build a board and play at home. Easy, simple, and you get to enforce whatever rules you see fit.

Read the above post i've accepted it , and i'm not gonna just sit and complain about it , i've said my piece about some thing i disagree with and , like i said , in future i plan to always have something to paint with me , but I'm not going to buy something just for the privilege of sitting and painting , and i believe that referring to me and other people i spend time with in store as oiks , that to far , theres no need to resort to that , when in store we just hand around and talk , and i'm not denying that we mess about but so do that staff , neither am i denying that it is treated like a crèche , what i was saying is that i disagree with it .

and meangreen stompa, in future i plan to more often , just gw stoke is within 10 minutes of my house so is convenience .
and the food in bugmans is win , it's a dam site better than eating a mars bar in the snow.

blackclaw1 wrote:In my local area all gws have been told that you are no longer aloud to be in store unless you are doing some hobbying or gamng , ths is ridiculos because a) my local gw 3 table to paint well 4 in total but a staff member is always painting , and aswell if a potential customer is comes in you are kicked off from pantng then.

and b) as there are 3 tables in my local gw on gaming night and no gaming in store on week days and the table son weekends are all for beginners

i'm really hacked off at this as there is one other store to play at and thats tbh useless as its mostly card gaming


is this happenng in your local area or is it just our reginal manigere , when i asked the staff the excuse was , that its a shop not a club , to whch i responded , but why not let people loiter on gaming nights , and he just said , that its still a shop then so i didnt bother

what do you think

btw i've sent letters to the standard bearer and to gws customer support as i'm really hacked off by this.

'claw

If you are resonable and don't go at it with a clawhammer approach, you will be one of the guys that can play if you use a little manners, and not act like a toolbag. I've found that being halfway civl, minding your P's and Q's, and actually having a genuine interest in gaming does wonders for you in that the store actually wants you there, and even sometimes gets you in on some great snacks here and there in the game of your playing.

On the other hand...
You do know that you are talking about a McDonalds resturant for gaming, don't you? One thing about chain stores is that they are interested in profit, not with promoting the genuine gaming store atmosphere that you are honestly expecting. In short, you have been sold the image that they have established to get people into the stores. Thier issue, and always has been, is that now that you have someone in the store, you have your scripted sales ploy to engage someone, and then after the allotted time, if no sale has been established, it is thier job to get the shill out of the area, so that the time is available for the next muppet.

If you want that experience, sure, go ahead and stomp around and get mad, and send useless letters to someone who honestly doesn't care. OR you vote with your wallet and let them die a slow agonzing death as they cut the golden gooses throat and drive away thier base audience.

You should just go to other stores, or buy online, and let them do what they want to. They will figure it out when they get cut in the next downsizing excersize that GW yearly goes through.

If you want to start a gaming club, you might just have to get together with a couple of other players and start something up. Don't depend on McDonalds to make dinner for you...

I dont like GW stores, I like hobby shops that support gaming.

3 tables is a joke, and I dont like that atmosphere.

Smitty0305 wrote:I dont like GW stores, I like hobby shops that support gaming.

3 tables is a joke, and I dont like that atmosphere.

This^

I much more prefer my FLGS's atmosphere

What's it called again?

Oh, that's right. A 'tabletop wargame'.

Are you guys seriously so devoid of tables in your own homes and community centres? You know that Games Workshop hobby centres are hobby centres, right? Not gaming clubs, playgrounds, restaurants or train stations?

It's a shop, not a café. Find a club or some mates, or pre-arrange games rather than just hanging out in the store.

Hmmm, all of the gamesworkshops around where I am aren't like this at all. They really encourage people to come in, paint, game, hangout whenever they want. Mind you I usually just play at a privately owned hobby store because it's closer and I know the people.

You try opening a venue that caters to fat, non-showering nerds that leave their chee-to's dust and/or "Wendy's" fast food bags laying around and ramble on about their latest WoW raid even though you don't even play/arent interested.

Those people are annoying. It's nice to have a way to get rid of them.

Maybe its not so much a rule as it is a way for them to get rid of people that are in the way of selling product and, you know, making money.

If they tell you to "get out" perhaps you need to make a life change. I've heard rules like this before, they've never pissed me off, but then again I've never been asked to leave.

Its a store, not a place for people to hang out when their mom is telling them to get out of the house in an attempt to actually force you to socialise rather than let you simply continue on with your WoW romance.

Deadshane1 wrote:You try opening a venue that caters to fat, non-showering nerds that leave their chee-to's dust and/or "Wendy's" fast food bags laying around and ramble on about their latest WoW raid even though you don't even play/arent interested.

Those people are annoying. It's nice to have a way to get rid of them.

Maybe its not so much a rule as it is a way for them to get rid of people that are in the way of selling product and, you know, making money.

If they tell you to "get out" perhaps you need to make a life change. I've heard rules like this before, they've never pissed me off, but then again I've never been asked to leave.

Its a store, not a place for people to hang out when their mom is telling them to get out of the house in an attempt to actually force you to socialise rather than let you simply continue on with your WoW romance.

Hmm, yea i suppose I have never been asked to leave either because i'm never really there and i'm always purchasing when I am there... so maybe that's why they encourage me to come back hahaha.