> Per the successful pub gaming/ pub trivia nights happening in boston: > These weren't much of a success until the smoking ban. Most of the > gamers I know locally wouldn't even consider going to bars back when > they were smoke-filled. So, do you think that there is an inverse relationship between gaming and smoking such that a place with smoke would never accumulate gamer patrons? Or, conversely, a smoker would never want to become a gamer? Is that some kind of common Societal Law... of is it just some anecdotal evidence used to imply an induction? And guess what: my experience almost matches yours, but I have more of a 20% tolerance amongst my local population (but about a 50 to 60% local gamer drinking population, of those I know about from attending every single convention in the area and being on every discussion group). And you know what; so what? MY counter is merely anecdotal, too; and my belief that such a Gamer Bar would actually grow the hobby to other demographics is SPECULATIVE! My dear... what ever are we talking for? Anecdotal dueling and dataless speculation on the future. But I *do* have a theory as to why we see such intolerance, even when in a venue with very good ventilation and even a non-smoking section (clever "smoke-filled" hyperbole, by the way! I almost missed it...). Most of the folks (in my area) that are still willing to game after decades of social rejection tend to ALSO be folks who are happy to flip the rejection onto others or, generally, spurn anything they perceive as being "of the crowd." And they also tend to have other odious habits that, to my nose and even eyes, are FAR more obscene than even the worst cigar (which I can't stand to smell BUT which doesn't force me out of the bar). Just a theory, formed over 25 years of gaming in FLGSs, conventions, homes, and parks in something like 10 different States. > It's possible that the smoke-ban increases pub and restaurant owners' > willingness to consider hosting periodic game nights. Why? Because they are going out of business because folks go to bars at which they can smoke (ex: in a covered courtyard out back--AKA the "Irish Gambit")? ;) > The ultimate problem is that gamers seek out a cheap place to play > games, cheaper than paying some sort of membership (a la a clubhouse > setting), cheaper than paying for enough drinks/food/games per hour to "Gamers" that you know might be so cheap. Someone who can't afford a $5 burger plate and $3 beers isn't in my target demographic. But *I* know quite a few of such gamers; and, further, being highly social, I *also* know a whole LOT of folks that would join in gaming at the pub if it didn't "highlight" them or draw attention to them. Which it does in the usual sports bars, DJ clubs, Irish pubs, and Generica Applebee's-o-morphs in my area. Everyone's first time is awkward; and it's rare folks to do it for the first time right there on the table in the middle of a busy bar. But they always want to do it again and again; and soon they're happily doing it anywhere they get the urge: in parks, on the train or bus, on airplanes, at work during lunch.... (Yet Another Anecdote! We now have, like, three whole data points. A BIT short of the market research most lenders require....) > if gamers were willing to spend that much money for a daily accessible > public location, the FLGSs wouldn't be dying out. Has there ever been such a place as I described? Well OK then.... But as for folks I know wanting to eat dinner and have some beers daily or multiple times a week: I know a LOT of them. A LOT. Anyhow, I refer the readers again to the subject line. If I had any intention of pursuing this business model, I'd never have mentioned it on this list (nor would I spend any time disabusing folks of false conclusions via induction that might persuade them to compete with me). David