To chime in just a little here - frankly, I get sick of seeing *EVERYTHING* bend over backwards to be "family-friendly." Even action/horror movies these days are pitched more PG-13 than R, only to get released as "unrated" DVDs that are often tamer than an R would have been to begin with. I'd *like* to have a place to go where I wouldn't have to worry about the Pokecrowd or the Cult of Magic. I wouldn't have to worry (as much) about casual card-mangling, limited attention spans, or occasional risque humor...like I do every other place I hold a game. As far as responding to a couple of specific points: > > 2) Bar: The playing space moves out to a full-service alcohol > > bar and coffee shop. > > The coffee shop I like, but why the bar? Strategy and roleplaying > games (which is what we're talking about here) are all about > mental challenges. Although I've run games for intoxicated folks before, I don't generally prefer it - but then, I would hope someone drunk enough to be *drunk* would have already been removed from the premises. In short, I have the same concerns here that I generally have with young kids. ;) Food and games also don't mesh well together, in many cases.... > > The key to the concept is being TOTALLY and OPENLY supportive of > > gaming in your area. Some schmucks come in and start mocking > > "those geeks playing in the corner": throw them out! > > No! As long as they're not causing a disturbance, let them say > their piece. Throwing them out would not be "supportive of > gaming"; it would just be unsupportive of customers. Perhaps I'm the oddball here, but if I'm running a place and some of my customers are openly mocking other customers, I'm going to consider the first group to be jerks and give them what Lady Sally called "an invitation to the world." If nothing else, it's doing my part to pick up litter on the civility highway. Ask yourself - if some schmucks came in and started mocking "those [racial epithet]s in the corner," would you throw THEM out? Why not give gamers the same respect? > I wonder. If I were in your store, and saw you throw out a group > of customers who were making disparaging comments about gamers and > doing nothing worse, I don't think I'd come back. After all, if I > see that happen, I wonder how carefully *I* have to tread. And > that's just not worth it. There's a difference between making a snide comment to your companions and being a jerk...and it's not exactly a fine line, in my experience. Furthermore, the same standards apply to everybody: be civil or be elsewhere. > > It's a sad fact that 90% of the gamers in my area WON'T play at > > the FLGS because of the kids; they meet at each other's homes > > instead. > > Yes, a lot of kids who hang out at FLGSs are very annoying (the > 13-year-old Magic geek stereotype?). Some, however, are exactly > the sort of people who'd make good bunnies to raise into the next > generation of rabbits. Why shut them out? There is a place for kids. There is also a place for no kids. There is room for gaming in both types of places. Sure, if we're describing the Only Game Shop For 100 Miles, there's an obligation to be inclusive and cater to all tastes. Otherwise, the standard model is the kid-friendly one; there's room for a no-kids version, too, and I would tend to prefer a no-kids FLGS. By the same token, if we're blue-skying it here, why not go whole hog about it? Applebee's-style restaurant with light bar, game tables, AND CHILD CARE. Kids get a supervised place that's age-appropriate, adults get a place to go out and not have to deal with unsupervised tykes.... -- Robert Hood - Hixson, TN SJG MIB #8595 - Looney Labs Rabbit - Atlas Games Mook Next con: Hallowcon, October 26-28 - http://www.hallowcon.com