I wanted to hear peoples opinions on this, a friend and I argued earlier about it and I'm curious what other people in other parts of the country/world think.

There are stores in my area that don't charge for use of their gaming space. You show up and if there's space, you play, as simple as that. If you want a pop or snack, that's obviously not free, but the space is.

Other places charge for their space. It's not much, maybe five bucks, maybe seven, whatever, but it adds up. If I go play a couple times a month, that's another ship I could have bought.

The quality of the gaming experience varies from place to place as well. Some free spaces are great and have suitably-sized tables, great terrain for Warhammer, lots of space to move around, etc. Some pay-to-play places have zero terrain, small tables, and cramped conditions. I'm just throwing out vague examples here, my point is no gaming store is created equal.

I can understand the idea that, 'Hey, I've got a big gaming store and people wanna come here and play games, why don't a charge 'em to play? It'll be great.' I get it. I understand how it would seem to be a fantastic idea, but ultimately I think it turns some people off. I know it turns me off. I gotta drive to a store, burning fuel, then pay a fee to play a game or two of X-wing or 40k? It just doesn't sit well with me.

My line of thinking is, welcome everyone, make your customers feel valued and respected and they'll reward that with sales. I know, myself, I only really frequent free-to-play places and buy nearly all my gaming stuff from these places.

Keep in mind, I'm talking about pop-in sorta gaming. Showing up, maybe with a friend, looking for games. Organized events and tourneys, sure, charge me, I get that. But yeah, I'm talking about open, unorganized use of a gaming space.

Thanks for letting me ramble. Now, your thoughts?

Also keep in mind, I support all stores in my area. I think they're all great, in different ways. I may favor certain ones over others for different reasons, and only naturally my purchases reflect that, but in the end they're all good guys and I wish 'em success.

I'll gladly pay table fees if the store has to rent out extra space for gaming. If the store is big enough for play space as is I'll typically not go there if they charge table fees.

Stores should charge at least a nominal fee for gaming space. If they're big enough and in some strip mall in the boonies where rent is cheap, then they might decide it's worth not charging as a loss-leader for sales, but they're under no obligation to.

My FLGS doesn't usually charge me because I run a lot of demos, help out during busy times, fix their computers, etc. But they usually charge a small fee that goes to the fund they use to buy education games for teachers or their after-school programs. It's a small store in a ridiculously high-rent area, and space they offer up for open gaming is space that isn't available for product.

I pay a league fee and buy all my game stuff at the FLGS. Play space just promotes their products, so I hope not to pay for a table. I would only pay for a private room to play RPGs in.

I'd be happy if I had any store locally to play in, I'm limited to friends houses.

I can understand store owners not wanting people to just come in and use their tables without buying anything, after all they are paying staff wages and utility bills.

The only "Pay to Play" should be an entry fee for a tournament that has prizes IMO.

The only "Pay to Play" should be an entry fee for a tournament that has prizes IMO.

Agreed Crabbok. Love the channel BTW

Usually a charge is needed if space in the store is at a premium (really needed to show product). Or rent is high as mentioned before. I play at 2 places 1 in a mall and another it's own shop. Both offer free space and even some table props.

There is a place about 4 hour drive from my place and they charge 5 bucks to get in. Though it's fully licensed, and they have a backwall full of boardgames you can just pick and play.

Where I live the closest place to me is very small, and probably couldn't fit more than 4 - 3x3 boards.

They obviously don't charge.

Also magic is the big thing there

My place is completely free. Usually our X-wing crowd fits neatly into my car, so we don't take up too much. Only 1-2 of their 10+ tables. They're always happy to have us there, because it's great advertising for their products. We've had a couple people come over and look, then pick up a core set because it looked great.

If we had to pay to play, none of us would go. We're all broke college kids.

There are two places in my local gaming area that are equal distance. One is a game only shop that charges for table usage. If you buy something (non snack related), he takes that fee out of the table charge and if you buy something every time, you are OK, but otherwise you pay. He has no reward system in place and he charges per chair spot. So, if you play on a 6x4 table, you pay for 6 spots. I HATE this system and refuse to play at the store. I've gone a few times, but the stock he had was terrible and there was no reward program. The owner was surely and I hope to never enter that shop again.

The other store, though, is great! It's huge and it is a mix of a comic shop and a game shop, which has really been the only successful type of game store I've ever seen. There are tons of tables and free terrain. He never charges anyone. There are board game nights when he brings out his immense board game collection for anyone to play. There is a rewards program that gives you free $15 credit for every $100 spent. I go through periods of purchasing things and sometimes I don't buy anything for a couple of months. I am building the scene of whatever game I'm playing and drawing in new players. These guys buy things at the store. So, I always feel like I am contributing to the well being of the local game store. I try to buy everything at this store....except the Tantive IV. It was $90 there and I bought it online for $52. I just can't beat that. It was a matter of buying it or not buying it.

Overall, unless you are hurting as a game store, you shouldn't charge rent for tables. Maybe in large cities or something, but in the suburbs? Never.

Wait...there are stores that charge you to use table space?! This is a real thing?!

You try and charge me to use your space, you should expect me to never show up again. Ever. You let me pay for free, and I'll consistently use your space and purchase from your store on quite a regular basis.

My FLGS has no charge. My wife spent a Saturday in there playing around with Carcassone expansions and bought $80~ worth of merchandise. A huge win for the store.

As for tournies, I'll gladly pay a fee if you've done leg work to get a bunch of players together!

I'm admittedly dumbfounded that stores charge their customers to play games there. It just seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot.

Wait...there are stores that charge you to use table space?! This is a real thing?!

That's what I said the first time I heard about it. A guy lived local there and I tried it out once. Never again.

I think the table space is just part of the price of doing business, a store that has spaces to play at can expect to have more people there, people who will spend money there then one that simply sells stuff but has no space to play on.

To me it's just overhead like utilities and the rest.

A place that charges for table space will most likely see fewer people paying there, so it's iffy if they'll see a net increase in income or not.

What I'm completely fine with though is charging rent for terrain, especially painted and cool stuff. Like what they offer at the FFG event center.

Currently I am playing X-wing regularly in a "game" bar, so while we don't pay an entrance fee, we're expected to have drinks/to eat. I am perfectly fine with that, although I wish the tables were 2 inches wider...

One place I have been to was a gaming cafe where you would pay a fee per game and per person. A bit less than a dollar, but if you want to play multiple games, or games with expansions you would have ended up paying a premium each night. Given that you also pay for drinks and food (which were priced sufficiently high to potentially cover the gaming fee), i thought it was too much. You weren't allowed to play your own games if they also had them, but you could play for free any game of yours that they didn't have there.

If it is strictly a space with tables for playing, then yes I'd pay because that's the point of the store/space. If it's a game store with tables and they tried to charge me to play (bring people in and get them to buy product) then they can take a long walk off a short pier.

I spend money on snacks and drinks. But no, i wouldn't go to a place where i am charged to play. I am already willing to spend money on goodies, but i am also advertising the products they sell, helping the community in various ways, either by just showing up and having games (so people have people to play with, therefore, people is more like to spend money on the game) or teaching new players or people who are just around and want to try it out.

Currently I am playing X-wing regularly in a "game" bar, so while we don't pay an entrance fee, we're expected to have drinks/to eat. I am perfectly fine with that, although I wish the tables were 2 inches wider...

That sounds like an awesome place! Now I wish I had a store (er, Bar?) like that around here...

There are about 5 stores within driving distance that I've frequented at one time or another, and none of them charge a table fee, heck I didn't even know that was a thing until this thread. I understand the "logic" behind it - they're paying for the space for you to use (in one form or another, either in actual rent, or the opportunity cost to have more inventory on the shelf). But that doesn't excuse it. It's part of the baked in overhead of running a game store imo. A restaurant doesn't charge you to use the bathroom, even though they're paying for the overhead on it.

I am of the opinion that my FLGS is providing me a place to play and an environment where I can enjoy playing with similar minded folks. This is worth something to me. As such, I make sure that I express my gratitude by buying my X wing stuff there, bringing them profit they otherwise would not have had.

There'd have to be a perk for payment for me to do that. There are plenty of libraries and universities that'd let us use space for free, and pubs that'd be happy to have us as long as we ordered a beer or two. If a store wanted to charge a fee, they'd need to have something to make that up.

That being said, a local place has some rooms for rent for parties and events and such, which I've taken advantage of, but even then, the cost of the room is reduced by the price of any foods/drinks ordered by folks in the rooms. It often ends up being free, unless you have a really sedate group.

If a store wants to increase revenue, this is probably the wrong way to do it.

In Ottawa/Gatineau we only have stores that let us play for free.

Les Freres de Battailes (FdB)

Wizards Tower

Kobolds Korner

Fandom II

There is also a new store in the east end, Kessel Run, but as it only opened last week, I dont know if its free to play (I am assuming it is).

The problem with stores not charging is that they are businesses, which have to make money. So they hold a lot of Magic the Gathering tournaments. Wizards Tower is really bad for that. They have events EVERY time we have our bi-weekly Xwing night. Between the smelly and poor hygene MTG crowd and the Pathfinder players who "need" to monopolize 3 tables to play a pen and paper game, we usually have a corner to play in. I would be willing to pay a 2 dollar fee to play at Wizards Tower just to keep the %$&*ing MTG plebes out of my sight and olfactory senses.

FdB is clean and well lit, and is a little more conscious of not constantly overlapping Magic tournaments on Xwing nights.

Fandom II is a hole in the ground slime pit full of tetanus, mildew and broken dreams from the early 80s. I wont go there even if they paid me to play. And the owner is a total an al sphincter. I would rather gnaw my thumbs off that deal with him. He actually gave me a hard time for asking for his help to find something I was going to buy. He knows where he can go. I have told him on numerous occasions.

There are some board game cafes/bars that charge to play in, and I am also fine with that.

In the end, if a place is charging, it better be sparkling clean. The tables better be maintained, the chairs not broken, if there is a toilet, it better be cleaned often. Terrain and mats should be provided, and god forbid, they better have bleach and stain removal detergent, because if I have to share a table with some acne covered, greasy haired, malodorous Magic the Gathering drone waxing on how someone opened a sealed Alpha pack and found a Black Lotus worth over $25,000, I will $%&*ing shiv them with my hard 3 template and there will be a mess to clean up.

Our local FLGS that does have a good amount of gaming space charges £3.50 for a days gaming if you're using the wargaming tables, less if you're using the smaller tables for card/board games. The group I game with prefers to pay the fee and not have to worry about making sure to buy something or buy refreshments regularly that other locations use. I suspect it also helps that the owner is really good, always organising events, keeping interest up in a variety of games, and knows who people are (learns names, what games people play) and the gaming space is large and clean (there's about 20 6x4 tables plus additional tables around the edges of the area). It's worth noting that tourney entrance includes this fee, so if you compete in an evening tourney you can start playing from noon when the store opens if you wish.

Here's the thing, if it's worth it, I'd pay a small fee. The question is, what exactly constitutes this worth?

We've all played on poor tables. We've all played on great tables. I'm talking about the height, the surface area, etc. Great tables would work towards a gaming space gaining worth, I suppose.

Snacks availability? Heh, I don't know. Music? Air Conditioning? Comfortable places to sit?

It's hard to judge.

I'll tell you one thing, if I go to a place that's hot and cramped and has two uneven plastic tables pushed together for me to play on, my money stays in my pocket.

I understand the the whole game bar thing. If I wanna go play some board game I don't own, sure I gotta pay. But X-wing's different. I'm not renting ships. More often than not I'm bring a my own mat to play on... I don't know. This fee thing, it strikes me as so chintzy and so apologetically a money grab.

Yes, the standard sustaining income model has been MTG tournaments, they're consistent and reliable. It isn't bad inherently, but I have a few places I avoid for various reasons related to the MTG events.

I think we will start seeing some new models crop up soon. The FLGS vs Online retailer gap is only increasing, will likely continue to do so. Event centers/gaming pubs and restaurants/other new models I haven't thought of are going to be the way of the future. It is far easier to make money off food/alcohol then it is off of board games, and they supplement each other well.

Charging for space is a bad route to go, methinks. Even if it goes into maintaining a tip top space, it wont take long until folks start to get frustrated with money for nothing. If I were determined to make this happen, I'd go aggressive with leagues. Find a person with a laser cutter, get some good participation prizes, and really reward folks for coming in. Probably also make it monthly, so it feels like swarm of bees-y.

I think zoccola nailed it, having to deal with the Magic crowd is certainly my biggest complain, luckily we have a "no magic" day at the closest store, where we can go to play.

I am lucky enough to have a store which has literally tons of space and accommodates all the games AND keeps it free, including leagues/OP stuff. They only charge for tournaments to contribute to prize support/etc and even then the owner usually takes a loss (sometimes large) to ensure the prizes are juicy enough.

I am heavily in favor of this. The owner of our store recognizes that his sales are directly proportional to the amount of people that come in on a weekly basis. He takes the burden of some of the cost, since it makes him much more money in the long term. Also, it keeps people from going online to some degree, since everyone will gladly shell out the extra 4-10 bucks since the store is so awesome about building/encouraging gaming communities. As an example, the X-Wing regional we hosted he gave away literally over a thousand dollars of prize support and only charged $10 entry. The result? many people from around the area enjoyed the experience and wanted to come back and play. Which then meant he sold more ships. Which meant more people started playing. Which meant he sold more ships. See the cycle there?

I have played at places which charged for space, and always felt it was a big turn off. I could play for free at home, but I have to pay to go to your store? Get real. Coincidentally, I rarely, if ever, bought product from those stores since I always felt like I had already contributed. Those stores did not last, since the player base was driven away. This is a bad business model.

Why would you EVER pay to play at a store? Either just be a (small) store and only sell stuff (but you might loose to online retailers) or be a store that has a few tables for customers to practice their hobby for free. (and make money from selling drinks and snacks) Charging for space is rediculous! They might aswell charge entrance fee, put up a "no browsing" sign and ask money for bathroom use...