Parkersburg Game Stores

[deeprlyeh]

Are there any games type stores in the Parkersburg area?

[merb101]

No, not really. The closest you will find these days is Go! Toys and Games in the Grand Central Mall in Vienna. They sell mostly toys and toy-like games. Lots of puzzles, fifty versions of Monopoly, but they are trying to expand their selection of non-traditional board games with some Days of Wonder and Fantasy Flight games.

The one place that sold roleplaying games, Gateway, went out of business in December. Borders, near the mall, has role-playing games and some board games, and you can find some games at places like Toys R Us. Otherwise you'll be doing most of your shopping online.

ME

[deeprlyeh]

I called the comic shop in Marietta today, Asylum, but they don't have anything. They strictly sell comics.

There use to be a game store in Vienna. A long time ago. hmmm

[MorsDraconis]

Truthfully, I don't know why you wouldn't just shop online anyway when it comes to buying stuff for most games. May be a bit more expensive if you are going the Warhammer 40k route or some other game with lots of separate pieces because of the shipping being higher than normal.

But, for the most part, you should be able to find any board game or roleplaying game online for at least 15% cheaper than if you bought it in the store.

I don't know about any in the Parkersburg area, but if you could come to Charleston, the bookstores in the Town Center Mall carry a small selection of gaming stuff and they're pretty good about ordering it for you if they don't have it in stock. Not sure the cost of them special ordering something for you like a board game or something, but I'm pretty positive that special ordering books costs no extra than the normal price of the book (or at least it used to not but since it's been a few years you may want to double check first).

There's also the bookstore up South Ridge called Books-a-Million that has a pretty large selection of books and things. Might give them a call and see if they have want you're looking for or if they can order it for you.

[Travis Reynolds]

Truthfully, I don't know why you wouldn't just shop online anyway when it comes to buying stuff for most games. May be a bit more expensive if you are going the Warhammer 40k route or some other game with lots of separate pieces because of the shipping being higher than normal.

But, for the most part, you should be able to find any board game or roleplaying game online for at least 15% cheaper than if you bought it in the store.

Well, based upon where you live, this is very true. In certain parts of WV, gamers have no option for a FLGS (friendly local game store) or they are sometimes called a Brick & Mortar store (in comparison with all of the virtual stores on the intertubes these days). Heck, in almost all of WV it is like this.

However, if you are lucky enough to have a local store that supports your games, give you a place to play, orders games for you and generally supports your hobby, that is the reason to pay the higher prices. Yes it is nice to save, but you get the whole package from your FLGS and if they put forward the effort to support you, they should receive that effort in return. The internet has put a serious hurting on these stores and they are all struggling to survive. Plus, if you are a regular and buy a good bit of stuff, chances are they probably have a discount program for you of some sort anyway. (speaking of which, a statewide network of FLGS's who offer CharCon attendees a year round discount for showing their badge is one of my longterm projects and part of my goal to network all things game related in the state over time).

Personally, I and several of my gaming buddies will go into a FLGS when we are traveling and if it is well stocked and obviously friendly, go out of our way to buy something just to support them. I encourage you to do the same. Don't get me wrong, we order lots of games over the web. Most of the games we play can not be found in any stores in WV. But, if given the option I definitely say support your FLGS!

These stores are Brick & Mortar and have or will be attending CharCon as a vendor. See them there and visit them in their permanent location:

Lost Legion Games & Comics - Beckley
Treasures - Charleston
Danzig Corridor - Ashland KY
Hometown Hobbies - Huntington
Hobby Exchange - Huntington

TR

[Corey Lake]

Charleston (Saint Albans) also has Dragon Slayer's Stronghold

[Travis Reynolds]

Charleston (Saint Albans) also has Dragon Slayer's Stronghold

Doh, my bad! That's what I get for responding to forum posts to early in the morning before I eat breakfast and my brain actually starts working! Gah!

TR

[merb101]

I called the comic shop in Marietta today, Asylum, but they don't have anything. They strictly sell comics.

There use to be a game store in Vienna. A long time ago. hmmm

To my knowledge the shop in Vienna went out of business years ago, and there is a baseball shop in Marietta that only sells baseball cards. They used to sell some collectible card games, but don't anymore.

ME

[MorsDraconis]

Personally, I and several of my gaming buddies will go into a FLGS when we are traveling and if it is well stocked and obviously friendly, go out of our way to buy something just to support them. I encourage you to do the same. Don't get me wrong, we order lots of games over the web. Most of the games we play can not be found in any stores in WV. But, if given the option I definitely say support your FLGS!

I absolutely agree! I didn't mean by what I said before to be anything differently. By all means, if there was a decent FLGS nearby my normal stomping ground, I'd be over there all the time, but, sadly, living in Dunbar/downtown Charleston, there isn't anything like that.

I actually didn't realize there were as many FLGSs around anymore as there are. The last one that I used to go to all the time for my MtG needs was The Ogre's Lair (renamed to something retarded after it was taken over by poor management that ran it into the ground) and I severely miss it because of the atmosphere that it had and the stuff that they'd do all the time there. How I wish, no that I'm older and have a normal income that allows me to blow money on things like this, that they were still around.

There was also a place called Eva's in South Charleston near the mound but, sadly, like all interesting places in the Charleston/Metro Area it died because of poor business practices.

I would LOVE for there to be more places like what the Ogre's Lair was or what the Stronghold appears to be attempting to do. Treasures is an ok place (I've been there a few times) but their prices are actually higher than normal retail, which seems pretty ridiculous (granted it's been a few years since the last time I looked at their stuff so I may be completely incorrect about it but I remember looking at some MtG preconstructed decks and them being $15 when they normally sold for $12-$13).

I will definitely have to check out the two places in Huntington next time I'm down that way.

[Travis Orders]

There was also a place called Eva's in South Charleston near the mound but, sadly, like all interesting places in the Charleston/Metro Area it died because of poor business practices.

Hehe, more like poor personal practices. Its too bad Larry effed up & we lost Eva's!

[deeprlyeh]

I was looking for gaming stores for people.

[MorsDraconis]

Hehe, more like poor personal practices. Its too bad Larry effed up & we lost Eva's!

That's exactly my point and what happened with The Gamer's Horde (what the Ogre's Lair was called afterwards) as well.

[deeprlyeh]

Didn't the Eva store get busted for slinging drugs?

The Ogre's Lair stopped dealing primarily in Magic cards. When it changed hands the last time. The guy brought in a lot of miniature stuff.

Plus he didn't rule the shop with an iron hand either so it kinda got out of control.

[MorsDraconis]

Plus he didn't rule the shop with an iron hand either so it kinda got out of control.

Yup, when it got taken over the last time, the guy basically just let his friends run it most of the time and instead of ordering stuff for customers, most of the time, they'd order stuff for themselves and that was it so that they could get it for wholesale.

[Travis Reynolds]

Didn't the Eva store get busted for slinging drugs?

More like slinging lollipops...

TR

[Corey Lake]

More like slinging lollipops...

TR

Wow.

[artempress]

I'm happy that the Dragonslayers Stronghold is trying to fill that lack of FLGS in the Charleston area. I hope they have enough success to grow and continue to support the large gamer community Charleston has. As Huntington is smaller than Charleston and can support two gaming shops, I don't see why Charleston can't support one as well.

[herogamer-parkersburg]

For some reason Parkersburg is a waste of space on a map :(

Go to the Net, it's you best chance.

[Travis Orders]

More like slinging lollipops...

TR


LOL

The word on the street is that Larry was busted for having consentual "relations" with someone who was not Eva. The big problem was that the non-eva was a minor.

[tedcheatham]

A friend of mine got a purchasing license (actually I don't know what it is called) to buy from wholesalers. He needs a certain volume, but there may be enough Charcon business for us to consider this and do monthly or quarterly orders. Actually, I know two folks that do this to keep their "status". If interested, I could try to follow up.
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