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Im not sure if it is just my store or have all stores experienced similar things...

rules that just dont suit a so called "friendly local gaming club"

such as:
1 - no sitting on stools unless you are doing some hobby, even if you are the only one in the store! staff tell people to stand up straight away and have even plled stools from underneath people!
2 - this one i think is absolutely outrageous, topic of conversation, has to be about hobby and nothing else. i can understand if the conversation could be offensive to others, however if two friends were just discussing a program they saw on TV the other night for example, surely that should not be against the store rules?? i experienced this today when two regulars were told to stop their conversation because it was not hobby related. what right do people have to choose what topic of conversation you have with a friend??
3 - no watching others play games! why the hell not! as long as you are not interfering i dont see a problem with this.
4 - no forge world models! i mean wth! they sell imperial armour books and i have seen posters displaying forgeworld models (apocalypse posters for example)
5 - no food or drink, i can understand food to a certain extent, but drink? you are not even allowed a sip of water from a bottle, you have to go outside to do so.
6 - no use of store tape measures, dice or templates, incase they need them for an intro, im not being funny but they have all the time in the world to do intros during the normal working hours.

they seem to be so focused on grabbing new customers rather than valuing their regular and loyal customers, even on a gaming night! where one odd stray may come in and after some persuasion try an intro game. we are only allowed to use two of the four tables, as they have to have two tables free for 40k and fantasy.

our gaming night at my local store used to be relaxed and enjoyable, the doors would be shut at 6 o clock and only be open to the gaming club, we were even allowed to use the staff toilet ( regulars who the staff trusted) but lately there have been so many rules introduced via orders from head office so ive heard. all the staff from these times have quite rapidly dissapeared, and i dont blame them

has anybody else experienced similar things or feels like gw is no longer what it used to be?

1-4 I would probably report the staff to HQ.

In regards to pulling stools out from under people specifically, this is extremely dangerous and can result in serious injury (not to mention damage to anyone/thing that they fall onto or into).

Ive heard some of these as well but most arent really enforced, sounds like you just got the crap luck of the draw when it comes to GW managers and got the one psycho that takes suggestions to mean dogma.

The food drink thing I understand because the bastard little bastards leave garbage everywhere and knock them over.

The seat time is more of to make space for people that actually want to paint, its not a hang out, its a place of business, more often then not the guys that loaf all day dont spend a dime.

Wow...I thought some of our local GW's were bad, but that's just absurd! I don't usually play in stores anyway because I am a sore loser, but if I did, that sort of garbage would certainly put me off! Assuming the prices didn't already...(which over here they did long ago!)

I think that those are mostly problems with your local GW. I play almost exclusively at my local GW store, and None of those apply. Granted, part of that is that i play at a Bunker instead of a tiny store, but it still seems to be a localized problem.

1 just seems dangours but I have not been to a GW in quite some time so I can not say about a recent policy change. I know about the food or dirnk thing I had a person almost spilled soda on the board and all over my guys man was I mad I nearly took him outside and had a nice "chat" before the staff stopped me, but they were nice to me and my friends when we used to go alot. Since they moved out of my local mall the nearest one is like 1 hour away so we don't go any more.

cmjs123 wrote:Im not sure if it is just my store or have all stores experienced similar things...

rules that just dont suit a so called "friendly local gaming club"

such as:
1 - no sitting on stools unless you are doing some hobby, even if you are the only one in the store! staff tell people to stand up straight away and have even plled stools from underneath people!
2 - this one i think is absolutely outrageous, topic of conversation, has to be about hobby and nothing else. i can understand if the conversation could be offensive to others, however if two friends were just discussing a program they saw on TV the other night for example, surely that should not be against the store rules?? i experienced this today when two regulars were told to stop their conversation because it was not hobby related. what right do people have to choose what topic of conversation you have with a friend??
3 - no watching others play games! why the hell not! as long as you are not interfering i dont see a problem with this.
4 - no forge world models! i mean wth! they sell imperial armour books and i have seen posters displaying forgeworld models (apocalypse posters for example)
5 - no food or drink, i can understand food to a certain extent, but drink? you are not even allowed a sip of water from a bottle, you have to go outside to do so.
6 - no use of store tape measures, dice or templates, incase they need them for an intro, im not being funny but they have all the time in the world to do intros during the normal working hours.

they seem to be so focused on grabbing new customers rather than valuing their regular and loyal customers, even on a gaming night! where one odd stray may come in and after some persuasion try an intro game. we are only allowed to use two of the four tables, as they have to have two tables free for 40k and fantasy.

our gaming night at my local store used to be relaxed and enjoyable, the doors would be shut at 6 o clock and only be open to the gaming club, we were even allowed to use the staff toilet ( regulars who the staff trusted) but lately there have been so many rules introduced via orders from head office so ive heard. all the staff from these times have quite rapidly dissapeared, and i dont blame them

has anybody else experienced similar things or feels like gw is no longer what it used to be?

Ok which store just so I can avoid it. And 1 - 4 do seem nuts. Pulling stools out? Hmm second thoughts would love to have a lawsuit for them knackering my disks up more as my back hits the ground after they do it... Let's go visit them!
Small aside though the gaming evenings at GW's were always the evenings where they were open until 8 usually a Thursday, so no doors closing this part seems odd to me...

SilverMK2 wrote:1-4 I would probably report the staff to HQ.

In regards to pulling stools out from under people specifically, this is extremely dangerous and can result in serious injury (not to mention damage to anyone/thing that they fall onto or into).

Definitely. If this place is as bad as you say, a well worded letter to head office followed by a phone call is in order.

Basement gaming- no having to deal with bullcrap and you can drink all you want. Who cares about gaming nights at stores?

Ok which store just so I can avoid it. And 1 - 4 do seem nuts. Pulling stools out? Hmm second thoughts would love to have a lawsuit for them knackering my disks up more as my back hits the ground after they do it... Let's go visit them!
Small aside though the gaming evenings at GW's were always the evenings where they were open until 8 usually a Thursday, so no doors closing this part seems odd to me...

They need a new manager. That's bad service, and some pretty odd rules.

Can't watch a game?

Well that seem's a little ridiculous, with our Vet's night the rule's for conversation are to not be offensive (especially if there are kid's in the store) and to be polite.
For food the only rule is that it can't be smelly and you've got to clean up after yourself, so Big Mac's are a no but a sandwich or biscuits is fine. I cannot understand that rule for drinks.
Normally during Vet's nights the stools are put under the table purely because it's a small store and we need the space, however they normally leave one out for people like me with arthritis.

I'm rather glad that GW Canterbury still upholds the basic rules of common sense.

solofalcon

I never said I hate the game, the store or the community. I simply listed a new set of rules that seem a little ridiculous and most seem to agree with me. I wanted to know if these rules were a general thing across the company or just at my local store which it seems to be. I was not whining simply just expressing my concern for the changes that have occured at my store and how it has ruined this once great gaming club.

mikhaila wrote:They need a new manager. That's bad service, and some pretty odd rules.

Can't watch a game?

I dunno Mikhaila, some of those rules don't seem too odd.

If I was running a small shop like the GW shop I went to ages ago (Carousel Center in Syracuse, New York) and had a "dedicated gaming night", where the shop was scheduled to have 4 tables full of players--I wouldn't want spectators just hanging around. That place was a hole in the wall.

The "No Forge World models" rule seems more like it's aimed towards pick-up games where, let's face it, people aren't interested in having to learn Forge World rules or figure out if the book they're in has an update, etc.
Food+drink make sense, again, as they likely are trying to keep things "clean". The behavior of some people(even adults!) in shops is ludicrous. I've personally seen individuals at the mall(THE MALL!) spill drinks or drop chunks of food on the ground and just keep walking like they're a dog being taken out for a walk and the mall's maintenance staff are their owners who have to clean up their messes.

The "no use of store tape measures, dice, or templates" one I can understand. I've had my own personal tape measures, dice, or templates mysteriously "walk off" during pick-up games.
In some cases it's truly accidental--someone honestly thinks it's theirs, and that they hadn't packed their stuff up so they're cleaning up after themselves.
In some cases it's people getting lightfingered because hey--why not. Someone tried to walk off with my copy of Imperial Armour 3 some years back, claiming that they "thought it was theirs, honest" when said person an hour beforehand was complaining about how he "wished he had the money to blow on Forge World books".

If I were a shop likely understaffed and staying open late for gaming, --you're dang right I'd say "no use of store material unless it's for an introductory game or you give me some kind of collateral".

But eh. Maybe I'm just overly suspicious.

Sounds like a manager that likes to run his shop like right out of 1984. Beat he even has a helmet cage with rats in it.

Heh, I just watched the movie Super, then read this. I got an image of Frank hitting a guy with a wrench and telling him "Don't sit on the stool of you're not doing a hobby!"

5 and 6 I can understand. I would even support #5, knowing some of the kids I have seen at my local GW that I wouldn't even trust with water. 1-4 seem excessive to dangerous and I would report them.

the forge world rule i think is debatable, if someone fairly new to the game is playing someone with FW models than ok suggest not using them, however two players who know the rules and are familiar with FW and both have FW units, why shouldnt they be allowed to use them? even down to things like armour packs, a friend of mine has a plague marine army which consists of alot of forge world conversion packs etc. he was told he isnt allowed to use them??? no different in gaming sense so why not, its not exactly a rival companies models.

"Forge World models" usually means (at least in my own experience, YMMV) things that only have rules from Forge World, not simply models from Forge World.

Your friend's Plague Marines would be fine, because hey--they're Plague Marines.

But if he had a Chaos Greater Spined Beast or Plague Hulks and Blight Drones--those likely would not be fine as they only have rules in Forge World's publications.

A lot of rules seem to be coming from GW HQ, not the Store Managers who risk losing their jobs if they don't abide by them.

Leaving stools for those modelling/painting is enforced at my GW too (although not as aggressively as your store is described), as is no food or drink (drinks are a bit hit and miss; water is fine, cola is not). But since we have all the intro stuff set up all the time apart from Vet's Night, there is always equipment leftover for use during pick-up games whilst ensuring that intro games are stocked; and since it's a one-man store, multiple intros are very unlikely (see: impossible) to happen. However, I can understand it, but only for one reason: to make you buy their dice cubes and tape measures there and then when you're asked for a game.

The FW models isn't an issue here, since nobody uses them, but it sounds like BS considering it's part of the same system.

No watching can be understood if people get particularly rude or rowdy, or simply crowd the table and nobody can get past, but apart from that, it's unreasonable.

Topic of conversation, though... If all you came in to do was chat with your mate in the corner about the wonders of My Little Pony, then fair enough, you're wasting store space on what is essentially a chat-room conversation, but if it's friendly conversation during a game or whilst modelling/painting, then I don't understand it; you're already participating in store activity (see: not being a waste of space), and it seems absolutely nonsensical.

cmjs123 wrote:the forge world rule i think is debatable, if someone fairly new to the game is playing someone with FW models than ok suggest not using them, however two players who know the rules and are familiar with FW and both have FW units, why shouldnt they be allowed to use them? even down to things like armour packs, a friend of mine has a plague marine army which consists of alot of forge world conversion packs etc. he was told he isnt allowed to use them??? no different in gaming sense so why not, its not exactly a rival companies models.

What you just said, is exactly the same as me saying "You're not allowed to use Failcast."

the conversation, both guys were painting at the time and were just chatting while doing so. I was there for 4 and a half hours today hoping for a game, but ended up just painting waiting for someone to turn up. which was usually not a problem as there were plenty of players available, with all tables full and paint stations too. they have discouraged pretty much every regular gamer who used to turn up every week.

considering its meant to be a veterans gaming night for adults. i dont understand why these rules are in place, they have saturdays for kids, sundays for beginners.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Dracheous wrote:

cmjs123 wrote:the forge world rule i think is debatable, if someone fairly new to the game is playing someone with FW models than ok suggest not using them, however two players who know the rules and are familiar with FW and both have FW units, why shouldnt they be allowed to use them? even down to things like armour packs, a friend of mine has a plague marine army which consists of alot of forge world conversion packs etc. he was told he isnt allowed to use them??? no different in gaming sense so why not, its not exactly a rival companies models.

What you just said, is exactly the same as me saying "You're not allowed to use Failcast."

im not quite sure what you mean by this? the hit and miss quality of finecast is similar to nurgle? lol

Being told you can't use plague marines with FW upgrades in a GW store is really fething stupid. Is that really true? Can't imagine any GW store in the US that I've been to enforcing it.

I really doubt it's true Mikhaila.

Please bear in mind:
I'm not accusing cmjs123 of lying or purposely misleading us. I think the Forge World thing is a misunderstanding.

Them banning cosmetic upgrades is very, very, very, very unlikely. It's like saying that "There's no Brown Orks allowed"--there's no point to the rule, it affects nothing outside of people with Brown Orks.

I can see it more as the rule, if called to task, is there to ensure that people don't go springing models from Imperial Armour books on people.

my local GW isn't bad
i enjoy going there here and there (mostly I just hate traveling on the bus)
that and 5th ed bothers me lol

Thank Mork I live near the Chicago bunker, those are some of the nicest, chillest GW employees I've ever known. Probably helps that I have kinda fallen into the circle of friends that includes half the guys who work there, but hey whatev's....

Kanluwen wrote:I really doubt it's true Mikhaila.

Please bear in mind:
I'm not accusing cmjs123 of lying or purposely misleading us. I think the Forge World thing is a misunderstanding.

Them banning cosmetic upgrades is very, very, very, very unlikely. It's like saying that "There's no Brown Orks allowed"--there's no point to the rule, it affects nothing outside of people with Brown Orks.

I can see it more as the rule, if called to task, is there to ensure that people don't go springing models from Imperial Armour books on people.

Probably true. I will blame my knee jerk reaction on having just decided to do a Plauge Marine army with as much FW as I can fit in.)
About to order the shoulder pads/torsos for 40 infantry, along with many sets of rhino doors, LR doors, and a plague hulk. I would bludgeon someones head with a dreadsock if they didn't let me play once I'm done.)

Why does your GW Manager sound like the soup nazi?
This just seems like odd behavior and you said I believe that he is not new but rather he is just enforcing new rules. Could you not calmly talk to him about perhaps some leniency?

Is this happening in England? No wonder you're all rioting over there.

Resisting... urge... to... white... knight...

PSA: Games Workshops are not your personal hang outs, they are shops.

My GW Store is nothing like that,,