Okay this is NOT an article about religion. Let me just get that out of the way. But I grew up in a church going family. My grandfather was a Baptist preacher. So I've spent a lot of time in church. While it was a gathering of religiosos, old women with wrinkly skin who covered the smell of their halitosis with Dentyne, and pot lucks. A church is also a place where people of a like-mind can meet, talk, and find strength and inspiration by mingling with their people.
In a way, a gaming/hobby store is very similar to that. I found my gaming church last week, and I'm really happy about it.
I live in a small town. It's a great place to raise my kids, but it's a horrible place to nurture my gaming passion. I may not be the only person in the area that plays 40K, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was. Not only is there no real gaming community in this small town, there isn't a gaming/hobby store within an hour of there either. Hell, there isn't even a comic book store probably within 30 minutes of that town.
So for the most part I've had other people buy things for me to save on shipping. That's cool, as I could get the stuff I needed. However it kept me from having some place I could connect with other gamers. A place I could talk about the game with people who know and cared (beyond my circle of gaming friends). A place I could breathe deep the sweaty air of nerds in their glory, and be strengthened in my own nerdery. And a place I could actually buy my own stuff too.
I've found that place, and I'm excited about it. The place, EAC Games in Maumee, Ohio, is still an hour away from where I live, but it's not that far from our remote facility for the company I work for. I'm down there at least once a week, so I have ample opportunity to stop in there. I can talk to people who are knowledgeable. I can get input and ideas from other people. I can be inspired in all things nerdy.
Basically I have found a church of gaming that I can join my people and find acceptance as I worship Gork and Mork (believe me they are a lot more fun to worship than that Emperor dude).
Oh, and I can buy stuff too.
Good grief, an hour? I never make it to the GW/LFGS more than a couple times a month, and they're 5-15 minutes from me. Is it just that it's such a good environment that it's worth the trip or is it just a case of nothing else nearby. (Although looking at the hour radius around Maumee, I would be surprised if there wasn't something closer to you.) I live in Ypsilanti, MI.
ReplyDeleteHonestly there's really nothing else nearby. The GW store in Ypsilanti is about an hour from me. And there are a couple independent retailers in the Toledo, OH area, but again it takes about an hour to get there. I checked a couple stores before I found EAC Games, but 40K was such a small part of what everyone else offered. Besides, it's the closest store to the remote site for the company I work for. And since I'm down there at least once a week, stopping in isn't a problem.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you are talking about. I live in Rutledge, Tn and Knoxville is about an hour away. I moved here about a year ago and I still had virtual no local friends. A couple of trips to the "local" hobby shop and what can I say... Nerds of a feather flocking together... to game.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from. I lived in Santa Fe for a while which had I gaming store who no longer really got GW stuff since he had account problems with them. He could order it from Allaince but that was about it. I currently live outside of Ann Arbor so I am pretty good for stores now.
ReplyDeleteI don't have such a place yet. I live in NYC. The LGS in Manhattan is ok. The staff is cool, but the place is too tiny.
ReplyDeleteMy friend goes to a place an hour away upstate, but I hate it. The people are geeked out. They all look like the kind of people I would rob for lunch money in high school. I guess my friend likes to intinidate the nerdy types there- which is like everyone, but that's not my style. I need to find someplace relaxed with cool people. I swear one of the upstate kids who plays Necrons never speaks, and looks (and smells) like he tortures small animals. Very scary. The rest of the crowd looks like the type to line up 3 days early for a movie with 'Star' as the first word in the title.
Or I can play in my friend's garage with the usual suspects. But it's summer. In the Bronx.
So I get thugs for entertainment, or mouth breathers.
Is there no middle ground?