Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Overall I know that it all depends where you live but out of the story's you have read which do you think is a worse gaming environment?

Personally it's GW for me and all it took was a boastful (cheating) 10 year old...

So what do you think?

Cheers to all comments.

A store that only sells one range of products is always inferior to a store that sells a variety of products.

i saiad FLGS because i can't get in, i'm too young, alot of gaming is for young adults

I said GW, because

A. They pulled out of the North East, a move that still puzzles me.

B. My FLGS is good, and everyone is very friendly and not at all pushy.

They're both pretty much awful.

GW is basically a used car lot lot. Here in this philly area the GW is generally populated by friendless hulks who are completely obnoxious to play with. To quote a friend of mine "I hate everyone here who isn't us."

LGS is a crap shoot, generally they're terrible and gakky or the home to some insular clique of super dorks who either don't wanna play with you or will do so only to clown on you. If you do happen to find an LGS with a good community, it will likely be destroyed at any second by drama, generally involving some ugly trollop of a woman. Finally, there's the business end of every LGS on the east coast: It seems like the owner is pathetically begging you to buy from him at increased prices in order to keep the "community" going. We've had so many LGS close down this year alone that it's almost funny that people are still willing to do business with the overgrown man babies who operate these clubhouses for the unpopular.

TLDR: both are terrible places

Chowderhead wrote:I said GW, because

A. They pulled out of the North East, a move that still puzzles me.

B. My FLGS is good, and everyone is very friendly and not at all pushy.

http://www.gamesofwar.co.uk/

Do you come here?

happygolucky wrote:

Chowderhead wrote:I said GW, because

A. They pulled out of the North East, a move that still puzzles me.

B. My FLGS is good, and everyone is very friendly and not at all pushy.

http://www.gamesofwar.co.uk/

Do you come here?

What? No. I live in the USA. I go to Toys n' Things.

FLGS, simply because their selection can't even begin to touch that of a GW outlet.

I find that wargaming and role-playing at home with friends and family to be the most safest. But I would say GW stores are worse....seems like the sales people would force you to buy stuff, and when you tell them you're not going to buy something, everyone in the store just wants you out of there. And then there are one or two people in that store who seem to be regulars, who are probably the ones who give the picture of a wargamer a bad name. Terrible acne problems, no deodorant, (either that or extremely strong deodorant) annoying snorting laughs, loud and obnoxious, bushy eyebrows, and all around unhealthy hygiene. Out of all my experiences in this hobby, being in a GW hobby store is my least comfortable experience of all. If you don't fit in with the crowd there, the only thing about you that is welcome there would be your wallet.

Why does every other thread have to be so goddamn negative? Even so, this varies too much by location to make an accurate poll about it.

Brother SRM wrote:Why does every other thread have to be so goddamn negative? Even so, this varies too much by location to make an accurate poll about it.

Overall I know that it all depends where you live but out of the story's you have read which do you think is a worse gaming environment?

please read the post before typing in stuff.

Back to topic now...

Neither, private club is way better.

Independent stores are nearly always better, GW sells only one type of stock and increasingly they don't even stock a full range, it's all on their webstore. Waste of time.

I've been in some distinctly un-friendly games stores though, but generally they are run by decent people. GW is just a bit dull and corporate, even the better GWs aren't great, just tolerable. Shame.

I like the gaming stores more, since there's 4 that I know of here and only 1 gw

happygolucky wrote:Overall I know that it all depends where you live but out of the story's you have read which do you think is a worse gaming environment

Do you want to hear people's experiences or just their opinion of other people's experiences?

From what I've read GW stores are full of horrible pushy staff and indy stores are run by socially slowed neckbeards. I've never encountered either myself.

I am really torn by this question, because I used to go to GW macclesfield back when I lived in England, and it was a really lovely place, with great staff and friendly people (those were the days!).
Then I moved to Alsace and experienced GW mulhouse. I hate that place now, and instead I go to a FLGS in Basel. So I voted GW becuase I really think times have changed

Neither. It all depends on the staff, and the customers for if it will be an enjoyable experience or not.

Last December GW closed down their local store in the mall, and havn't opened a new one yet, but there is still one about a 40 minute drive away. I've been to both stores, and never had a problem, the staff were friendly in both locations, and they never really tried to push sales on you, if you looked lost, instead of selling you the biggest box in the store, they'd ask what you were working on, and if you had a lot of unfinished stuff, they'd suggest something small like a BL book(they still have to try to sell you something being salespeople and all, but at least their not trying to sell me a batttleforce or Baneblade) They would also observe people's games, and if they noticed someone playing an illegal list, or try to cheat in any way, they would step in and mention it, but other then that, no interference. I've also made some really good friends from playing at GW, and even though the local store has closed down, we still hang out and play on a regular basis.

Lately I've been playing a lot at FLGS because GW is too far to drive to now, and I've enjoyed it. There are two stores within a 20 minute drive from my house with gaming area, and I like them both, but I do have a preference for one over the other. They both have a larger selection of terrain, and also have more options for paints, tools, and other fun stuff for purchase. The downside though is there is the possibility that if I go in hoping for a game of 40K, that everyone else will be playing Magic instead.... lol

North East england, I only know of one flgs and that is games of war, which I really like going to. I usually game at GW Newcastle though and I equally like it. GW metrocenter has no gaming space so I wouldn't go there for gaming, just to browse and I've never been to GW Sunderland.

I think it depends entirely upon the staff and the actually building itself. Fortunately, I have a gw and a flgs within 20 minutes drive that are both great places to game.


grammar edit.

Hahaha, a bit of a loaded question, isn't it? Which is worse?

Shouldn't it be, which do you prefer?

Anyway, it is a question that is 100% local. Every shop, be it a GW or a FLGS, is different.

Where I live, we have lots of game stores, and several GWs. It all depends on the manager and staff running the place. GW Alamo is one of the most fun game stores I have been to. The LA Battle Bunker was amazing when I lived there. Why? The staff was fun, knowledgeable and the environment was positive. I have been to really terrible GWs too, where there is no room to game and the employees try to sell you stuff you don't want or need. Often, they don't even know that much about the game.

Conversely I have been in private clubs which can be good fun too, and FLGS's that were both good and bad. The bad ones were often poorly run, dirty, and unresponsive to their customer base. The good ones were awesome places to play games with friends, hang out and be a part of a community.

Again, it is the people you are with that make a community/store good or bad. The type of store is really a distant second to the people in it.

Reecius wrote:Hahaha, a bit of a loaded question, isn't it? Which is worse?

Shouldn't it be, which do you prefer?

Anyway, it is a question that is 100% local. Every shop, be it a GW or a FLGS, is different.

Sums it up perfectly... I didn't vote.

I have an awesome local GW, which exceeds my local FLGS. But there's another independent store 2 hours from me that's better than both. It just depends on the specific store.

I can't game at the local GW. I play Warmachine.

Nocturn wrote:FLGS, simply because their selection can't even begin to touch that of a GW outlet.

Really? I pity you then. You need to move north. I know for a fact that I have more stock in my store than the local GW's. We can carry direct only items that they can't, order FW for customers, sell used miniatures, and stock enough of everything to fill customers needs. That's just considering GW. The non GW product we carry offers many more options. 6 paint racks beats 1 paint rack. On the other side of PA, Legions also carries enough stock to rival GW stores. And both of us have space equal to the GW bunkers, especially legions with an absurd amount of square footage.

Yep, mikhaila's is the store I was referring to . Although as I said, my local GW beats my actually Local FLGS...

But only at Mike's store can you do something like walk in and buy 2 hellcannons with no notice given . Now, if I could just get them painted up before next weekend to use at Blobs Park...

But it really depends, as the independent store closer to me has almost no stock at all...

I chose "View Results".

I've only been to a GW store years before I knew what 40k was and ran out screaming after they tried to sell me a baneblade.

Err... my LGS is a Games Workshop.

GW is 10 minutes walk, gaming store is 30 minutes drive. But I've never played in either, I play at a gaming club held in a community hall.

I guess it is all down to peoples local stores though as to which is better. I've been to some pretty unfriendly gaming stores over the years. My local GW is great.

My FLGS is far better in terms of both a gaming environment and a store.

As a gaming environment, they have a large gaming hall with craploads of tables. Everyone in there is friendly, staff are helpful and there's just a great vibe in there.

Unless you wonder over to the MTG tables.

As a store, the owner takes the effort to get to know regular customers, stocks everything imaginable, and gives frequent discounts even on things not marked as being discounted.

My local GW is a tiny store with a few staff (I'm surprised they still have more than 1 staff) and all 3 tables are set up as demo tables. I've occasionally seen a game being played in there, but not often. Even Thursday nights are empty there. I will give them one good word - the staff aren't terrible.

In my youth, when many GWs were dark and with the staff's choice of music playing (usually some kind of heavy metal or rock), and there were a couple of long haired guys nestled in the corner of the store rolling dice and who may or may not have wanted to sell something to you, I would say that most GWs offered a pretty good experience.

Agreed though that a private club, especially ones where pints of beer are served, are a far better option

Pacific wrote:In my youth, when many GWs were dark and with the staff's choice of music playing (usually some kind of heavy metal or rock)

My local GW isn't dark, but it Does have the staff's choice of music playing

You had me there as well Chowder!
I was about to ask you why GW Newcastle upon Tyne had closed!

I have neither in the immediate area (GW is 3 hours away, nearest FLGS is 1.5 and I've never been), but my old town had a fantastic FLGS. They carried a great selection of EVERYTHING hobby related, including a vast amount of board games, card games, and roleplaying games. They also have a sizeable gaming area (about 8 6x4 tables), with a huge selection of great terrain. The owner was a great guy who knew everything about any game or system, and most of the employees were also great. The regular clientele was also of good quality, most players being military or ex-military, so most of us got along quite well.

The only reason I didn't play there as much as I did was because my college club was a better place to game.

I started the hobby rather spoiled in terms of people to game with, rulesets I was exposed to, and how to enjoy the hobby as a whole.

All the GWs I've been to are meh at best. The staff is normally obnoxious, the store too small, and the people generally smelly. I will not game with smelly people.

So in short, GW normally sucks. I support FLGS stores everywhere I go unless the owner is pants on head stupid.