ok one bullshit most towns have more then one game shop just not on the same street or within a couple blocks of each other. those opening shops like this try their best not to open near one the is already there. No this is a case of a boy mad at his Dad for firing him so he wants to prove he is better by beating his dad’s store into the ground. The mere fact he bought all the other shops proves this cause he may never make that money back, he is trying to claim he is smart with money but does that.
This is true. It can work. But their are many small towns…that it really is true that they cant support multiple gaming stores, and the second and potentially third ones will always falter and die. The town I live in has 5 game shops. Of them only 2 of them are really succeeding, the other 3 struggle every month to make ends meet.
But yes…building across the street…was deliberately trolling his dad, and through that his brother.
I have one shop within 20 miles of me. A second opened up and had to close because they couldn’t sustain it. Most towns do NOT have more than one game shop. Cities, yes. Towns, no.
I am from a small town… we are talking graduating classes are lucky if they break the 90 student barrier.
If the town had two gaming stores they both would go out of business. The town can literally only support one, and barely at that. So this scenario is very viable.
A few towns over is a college town… that one can support two game stores, but all the revenue comes when college is in session.
While i do agree that the whole multiple business thing can be affected from big and small town mentality, this is what I don’t get.
Dove may be somewhat charismatic, but his jerkishness and his hate for girl gamers make him the worst candidate for a store manager and/or spokes person.
Even if its a smaller cut of your entire audience/business its still there and it wouldn’t do your business to alienate your audience. And like he said, gamers are a tight nit sort of people, dissing of your friend in your shop just because of their gender can and will drive your customer base elsewhere. (this is from watching it happen first hand where I”m from).
Double down on the misogyny with Lee who least far as we know doesn’t have the best record of behavior with women. You have an owner who has no respect for his customer base, and a manager who is an elitist prick and intends to drive the business with the same mind set (and let me tell you taking a dump on a kid playing the pokemon card game is NOT how you gain a future customer…no matter what you think of the game). His business logic is sound but your missing variables a,b,and c in favor of x,y and z cause your business decision is being driven by a desire to screw your family.
If the town can support more than one game shop, Hotelling’s Law suggests they’ll end up close to each other, for the same reason that car dealerships and mattress stores always end up next to each other.
Or, option two, double down. He’s not going to outmodernize the Gaming Haus, that ain’t going to happen in a million years, he’s working on a budget of ‘what’s in the stores pocket’, and that’s it. No, what you do in this scenario is you try to reaffirm why people like you to begin with, you focus on making the terrain a happy place for people and a place where they want to spends some money. Lee’s already shot himself in the foot in that respect because he’s got Phillip F Dove bein’ a snob to all the gamers. Honestly, they’d be safer with Pops at the helm right now, most gamers like seeing the antiques, and respect them pretty hardcore, where Sam’s a bit of a weak link at this moment, which might be -why- Lee opened this shop just now. He waited for Pops to go and -then- picked to open, because people’ll be nervous at the minor ownership change.
Send the occasional mole to Haus to help the “losers” to find a better place after game nights.
Just be better as people.
It’s seriously why my current store has lasted four other stores popping up and failing around us. It’s not like I don’t try out new stores and try and get involved (plenty of time to do it all, for me), but I keep coming back to the guy who’s been playing since the seventies who may as well *be* the ubiquitous ex-adventurer barkeep (complete with battle axe hanging over the register).
Dove is definitely the weak link here and I donno if Lee realizes it. The elitist attitude, despite attracting some whale personality types, is not sustainable and anyone driven out will have the perfect spot right down the street so they benefit from all the free advertising.
How the heck did you know I have a battle axe?!?!?!?!?!?!?! The again I also own a broadsword, Katanas, Diakatanas, Short swords, dirks, Kunai, throwing stars, and several other things, most of which I actually know how to use…….. Don’t judge me I was live role player for a while…. When I wasn’t DMing games or writing mods….
Good analysis, and exactly what I’d suggest to Sam if I were there, because good customer service DOES make a difference in retaining clientele.
What Sam needs to do is face the ownership change head-on and put a positive public image in place to reaffirm that he is old school like his dad, but also open to new ideas -best of both worlds, as it were-, because that will really help to keep people coming back, as well as defuse public attacks from Game Haus insinuating that the ownership change of Dragon’s Den is the final nail in the coffin.
Two positive replies? On one of my posts? It’s more likely then you think! 😀 Seriously though, glad people agree with / like my idea. Thanks for responding.
It’s a pretty sound business plan when all is said and done, except for a rather fatal flaw. And that flaw is one Phillip F. Dove.
If Lee seriously thinks that toxic dump of a person is going to make a good spokesman for the store, he’s in for a helluva disappointment. I give it a month tops, ( because I’m feeling generous), before Philly Boy starts alienating the customers, which will defeat the “Home store” idea Lee’s going for.
I live in texas near and around houston in my area 2 game shops have come and gone within the last 10 years RIP probably mostly it was bad location but still its actually pretty damn hard to keep a functioning game store open amidst the turmoil that is mmo’s, console games and hell even mobile phone games. To the comic at hand, yes I’m sensing daddy issues here, maybe he feels betrayed he didn’t get the store. But I don’t sense the passion of the craft like sam does I mean ffs he made his own world rules etc so that just shows how deeply involved with table top gaming he is. While lee is well a business man he doesn’t care either way as long as he turns a profit, if he can stick it to his old man and little brother while he’s at it for him its a plus. Now like others are saying Dove being dove he’ll probably drive them away, but we’ll just have to wait and see Ty for this comic and this current arc can’t wait to read it.
Sam. There is clearly only one real option. Put on your business glasses and engage in a gloriously capitalistic expansion of your business. Play your brother at his own game, and really ram his parental issues home.
Reminds me of the “Pretty Woman” story where Richard Gere hated his dad, worked hard, bought his fathers company and then sold it off in pieces. I like it. This is going to be a struggle for Sam and the Den. I know I hate to spend the extra 10%+ on games in the store as opposed to buying them online and delivered to my door. If “the Haus” can cut prices it will be super bad for “the Den”
Just read everything up to this point. Thanks man. That was fun. Great comic, and I dig your game style. That said, I am allergic to cliffhangers, and will likely wait many months to check back.
There is a building nearby where I live. Don’t know what the intended use was, but the owner went bankrupt Close to constructions end. It would make a great shop… it has an underground parking lot for several cars, which would be good space for storage or table top games. It’s right next to public transportations and right in the middle of a triangle of three schools.
If I had the money, I would try to open up a comic/game shop there. It would be perfect on so many levels.
Yes, its just business. Stupid business, but business. As others noted he’s beginning with as many handicaps as he can: he has Dove, a person reviled but almost every gamer in the city; he reopened a store in the same street as an old, estabilished shop with a fixed client base; he spent a lot of money on nothing.
If I was in that city I’ll rather order online than buy from him.
On one hand Lee sort of has a point of how the whole mainstream gaming it changing with all the stuff he mentioned. Buuuuuuut…On the other shoe, he’s also full of bull of how only one store can thrive, if anything both can make good cash with Sam’s place being for casual gamers and Lee’s for the more competitive bunch as both stores clearly cater to different types of gamers, there’s also the possibility of ’em working together. But, Lee clearly has his head shoved so deep up his arse that he can probably see what he had for dinner last night.
How many stores can survive really depends on how much business there is to split between them, taking into account town size, average income, local interest, etc. I don’t know enough about the setting to make a claim, but even if both stores could easily coexist, it seems Game Haus management is hellbent on running the Den out of town by any means necessary.
Someone has Daddy issues, I see. It’s literally the only reason why anyone who “amassed a respectable fortune” would bother with a game store. Owning one is not exactly a path to riches and babes, with a few notable exceptions who were in the right place at the right time.
A true love of the hobby would be another reason to start a game store despite being able to afford not to, I’ve met some people who fit there, but Lee isn’t one of them.
Yeah, if his goal was really to succeed in the gaming business the smart play wouldn’t have been to compete with Sam but to partner up with him. They each have what the other lacks. Instead Lee is teaming up with Dove, who is going to be toxic to the “fierce loyalty” he’s aiming for from his customers.
Addendum: Lee is right about gamers wanting a place to call home, though. A game store is more than just a place to buy shit; it’s a community. That said, I don’t believe two self-absorbed twatwaffles such as he and Dove are anywhere near the right people to provide it.
Yeah, but it’s going to take a bit (a few years maybe) before the community realizes it. That being said, I’ve seen people put up with worse just to play a game of WarmaHordes or Warhammer with the friend who does go there.
Yea and since you made it clear girls arnt welcome at your store you’ve garenteed it won’t be you dumbass femnerds will stick to theden cause they are treated well an manerds will go to the den cause boobs (im over simplifying but you get my point)
Yeah the owner and supervisor are both shown to NOT have the best opinions of women in general (one is a womanizer with seemingly little idea of what NOT to say to a woman much less one with a kid, and the other is straight up misogynistic on top of his other grating character traits). Contrary to popular belief gamers do have girlfriends who often also happen to be gamers…take a guess what happens when their mistreated, disrespected, and otherwise shat on at the local gaming watering hole.
Is there any evidence that Lee thinks of helping anyone but himself? Besides, it appears that he has more in common with Dove than he does with Sam, blood ties notwithstanding, so why the change of heart?
Well, X-Mas is going to suck for Lee. He can lie to his brother, but Santa knows better 😀
I hope to hear more on why he would hire someone with a bad rep like Dove. Especially after the way he treated his own brother and his friends. Lee is going to be very lonely. I already feel sorry for him. However, I shall enjoy his downfall. Even if he gets his “win” He will lose family and friend. Should make for an interesting story. I wonder how local GMs/DMs and other parts of the gaming community will react. Everyone is going to check it out, but will they stay? How much off a douche is Dove going to be? Will Lee be directly involved with the customer base or lurking in the backround??
One thing with this story, while we only see Dove as the representation of chauvanistic, self-absorbed, munchkin style gamers, who knows how many of him are around to take advantage of the new store. Plus, I know new gamers who emulate what they see thinking it is the right way so Dove could be taking the next generation of gamers and bringing them into the fold and letting them see that attitude in play. Much like your typical underdog tale where the crowd favors the jerk until the hero does something to cause them to see through the facade and see them for what they really are in the end. A bit tropey, but everyone loves a hero. And all this smugness needs to be put in its place somehow.
2,305 followers with their fires ignited! Yes, I had to look it up. Yes, I realize they might not be local and therefore not potential customers. But Dove has been established as a guy with a certain amount of pull. Enough pull to make Dead Iron fail for the lethal flaw of having been made by a girl, because the reader has to assume that the game was otherwise up to Dallas’s prior successful and critically acclaimed work.
He’s a Delores Umbridge-type villain, one that we loathe because we recognize it clearly and it’s the kind of evil we encounter in day-to-day life. It resonates. He’s Iggins from Invader Zim all grown up and in touch with a bunch of guys just like him. Not saying Dove is at all derivative, just that both characters are inspired by the same kind of smug arrogant jerkass. And you can just imagine him saying, “and that’s why I’m the superior gamer” and it’s completely in character. It’s hilarious.
(Pop culture intertextuality is serious business. Fight me.)
Yeah, but 2,305 followers do not a Legion make, despite Philly-boy’s claims to the contrary. He might have a solid core of “Belibers”, (no, that’s not a typo), and some of them might even be local. But I doubt it could more than a low double digit number. Heck, I’m willing to bet that a significant percentage of his followers are there just to watch, (and laugh at), the ramblings of a self-absorbed tool who never learned that being “Professional” is more than being good at what you do.
gonna be honest, this is reminding me of the last season of The Office where they basically went “oh yeah, there’s totally been this whole side-plot going on that we just didn’t bother to acknowledge until right now.”
And I’d love to see how or why Dove would have any value as a “spokesperson” considering he’s basically an avatar of Gamergate.
Consultant is on thing but Dove is apparently the face of the store. Or at least its community manager on social media. & his behavior is going to shove Game Haus into an even smaller niche. It just doesn’t make sense if Lee’s intention is purely to drive Dragon’s Den out of business.
Of course it’s very likely this will all get resolved in some brawl. The alternative is that the serious-real-world-shit valve getting stuck in the open position.
I kinda hope Lee’s decision to associate with Dove bites him in the ass.
Maybe that’s the point of this arc. Dove drums up business at first but his attitude prevents people from being repeat customers.
You might want to read a series I dearly love written by Tamora Pierce, Circle opens – Cold Fire, its the second series after the Circle of magic series, anyway, the point is that in there they state something highly significant which intertwines with this story. As a seller of items you can tell the customer how great you are and why they should buy from you and maybe make one sale, or, you can invite the buyer into your house, make them feel like a member of the family, listen to them and sell to them on their terms, then they will bring their children in for you to sell to them as well. Paraphrasing there, but you get the idea. Sam has actually run a few campaigns and has worked at the store. Lee worked there too and if he shows his head in the haus others will remember him. They’ll remember he was fired. They’ll even remember the word that was put out when Dove cheated, what he said, what he did, and it will all come back to roost. This is not going to end well. Just keep that in mind.
Yeah, screw the “just business”. “Just business” and family are not mutually exclusive. He knew what his brother’s dream was, there was nothing stopping him from at least talking to Sam and trying to go into a joint venture. Or at least, not building in the same town if he has other options. Nah, he really wanted to screw Sam over to prove to Pops he was the better son. And hiring Dove? Who cannot seem to go one sentence without insulting Sam? Salt to the wound.
Lee is an Asshole.
However, his business plan seems to target specific types of gamers, particularly with Dove there. Sam needs to focus on the market Lee doesn’t cater to, hard though it may be.
Yeah, I can see the Dargon’s Den becoming a “Safe Space” for women and minority gamers of all types to actively be away from gamers like Dove and his ilk.
I’m not sure if safe space is the accurate term for a place where people simply treat each other with a moderate degree of respect on account of understanding that they are all human beings.
Sadly, the terms ‘safe space’ and ‘trigger’ have become toxic due to derision despite the fact both terms describe aspects of dealing with actual trauma from things like warfare and abuse, so I honestly don’t know if I’m even trying to make a point.
I think you are refering a “safe place” for all players. If you say “women and minorities” you are discriminate strait white males. Yes, Assholes exist in all colours and sexes.
Courting an EEO compliant or the attention of the local Pink Hat chapter is no answer either. Lee needs to focus on his business before his problems really start.
Its like listening to a Politician, either democratic, republican, or other, that’s a life long politician and has no other job history in 20+ years. Their all liars at that point trying to serve their own interests. They’ll call someone a racist if they think it will hurt them, they’ll call them a sexist even if they have a history of paying women as much as men. A woman can be more sexist than any man to other women, a black man can be more racially bigoted than any white man could ever dream of. As for the white man, yeah we have our problems too. The point is never trust the words of a politician, any of them, I always double check what they say with actual facts, not fact check, it was built by Soros, but their are other places to find information. Check your facts yourself Look at what a person says, then look into their history yourself, often you find things which show the truth of the matter, including if they are lying, it all comes out when you open your eyes and think for yourself. Sure I may be paranoid, but I’ve seen too many people trying to sell a line that’s just full of it to not be.
Since you brought up Politics, its like this: 45 has all the trouble he has due he can’t keep all the Bile inside. He runs that Twitter 24/7 and wonders why he keeps losing in court. Lee has a Twitter type problem too, its Dove. Lee needs to disassociate himself from Dove, FAST before he gets sunk. The local government is going to start making his life difficult.
The reason Retailers cater to Women is they make up 52% of the population. This means women have 52% of the money. You can’t insult 52% of the buying public and expect to stay in business.
…..Lee spends a significant amount of time becoming rich enough and successful enough to be able to buy out a undisclosed number of game stores, and then decides that the best use of his time is to try to drive his little brother out of business?
That is a terrible driving force behind any business, and not one that will lead to any significant gains compared to another business model not built on childish revenge fantasies.
TL;DR: When it comes to making money, revenge is about as useful as a copper d2 in a jewlery store.
Oooh! Oooh! It took me a second, but copper d2 is a euphemism for a penny, yes? I’d honestly never heard of it phrased that way but I find it utterly delightful.
If someone says ‘it’s just business’, it isn’t just business. Lee is probably pissed that his plans didn’t come to fruition before the game shop was handed off to Sam.
This wasn’t an attack on Sam. This was an attack on Pops.
But Lee will take what he can get.
Actually Lee’s right and wrong. Both stores should be able to do fine. Why? Dove. Dove is a sexist misogynistic douchebag. There are some gamers that think like him and will flock to his store because of that. However I will walk out of any store that’s like that and refuse to shop in such establishments. Since I am not arrogant enough to believe I am the only one to feel that way Sam’s store will attract all of the people who can’t stand Dove’s brand of bullshit.
After the whole “Players wont a home” speach…
Calling it now!
Dove will drive local Players that doesn’t fit his “Perfect Picture of a Player” away and Sam will get them as Support. First Example: -all Female Player Groups- . like the one he played Cuthulu with.
Lee is overlooking a critical details it seems and I hope this comes to pass in the future, though I will patiently wait for events to unfold.
As many have already mentioned, Dove and Love’s elitism is likely to drive people away to some degree. This is because there is one crucial aspect in the “Gamer’s are looking for a home” view that they don’t seem to grasp.
What really makes a home, is the family you share that home with. An affluent home can be toxic if the parents have no idea how to care for a family or abide only by a strict and unbending idea of what is acceptable, the siblings forced to compete with each other rather than respect their differences and compliment their strengths. Meanwhile a poor home that scraps by is often shared by the bond of family, holding the group together through the worst of struggles thrown at them.
I’m kinda split about Lee in this strip. On one side, what he says about game stores is completely accurate: If I can get what I want with a few mouse-clicks and not have to deal with traffic, parking, and that one wheezy fat guy who smells like he showered in liquid butt and REALLY wants to tell me about his Pathfinder character, merely having items in stock is not enough reason for me to go to the game store. If game stores are going to survive into the 21st century they’re going to have to morph from retail spaces with gaming areas in the back to community centers that sell games on the side.
On the other side anytime Lee opens his mouth the exact words that come out doesn’t matter, what he says is ‘i’m a douchebag’. The whole crack about ‘I was out in the real world’ made me want to introduce him to the fun-filled world of junk-punching. He’s throwing his so-called ‘respectable fortune’ into a cheap revenge plot based on his obvious daddy issues…
in one theory yes…. but “community centres” don’t pay the bills, especially staff wages, electricity, and rates.
one of the big reasons PnP games took off is young folk could play at home, no hall to rent, no-one needed to drive them to the grounds/hall and back, sure the books cost a lot but then so does equipment for sports.
The fatal flaw in “Big Bro’s” Plan is Dove; that guy is going to earn his new business an EEO complaint that wont go away. All Sam has to do is contact the local Pink Hat chapter and point them in the Game Haus direction. It won’t matter if Big Bro is cheaper, he’ll have a boycott.
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HOVER-TEXT: Yep, I recycled some panel art. Don’t @ me about it.
@Brian Wassup noticed you reused some panel art……Well……Frankly that’s fine by me. also I love your comic. and I Adore Brett.
…I get it, It’s vengeance aimed at dad using his brother as proxy.
Daddy issues all the way. SOMEONE’S salty he wasn’t the favorite.
And its pretty obvious by his current behaviors why he wasn’t the favorite. 🙂
It’s just good business…
So there can only be one then? Let me find my “A Kind of Magic” album and some broadswords…
Maybe not princes of the universe but definitely one vision.
Less princes of the universe more like one vision.
ok one bullshit most towns have more then one game shop just not on the same street or within a couple blocks of each other. those opening shops like this try their best not to open near one the is already there. No this is a case of a boy mad at his Dad for firing him so he wants to prove he is better by beating his dad’s store into the ground. The mere fact he bought all the other shops proves this cause he may never make that money back, he is trying to claim he is smart with money but does that.
This is true. It can work. But their are many small towns…that it really is true that they cant support multiple gaming stores, and the second and potentially third ones will always falter and die. The town I live in has 5 game shops. Of them only 2 of them are really succeeding, the other 3 struggle every month to make ends meet.
But yes…building across the street…was deliberately trolling his dad, and through that his brother.
I have one shop within 20 miles of me. A second opened up and had to close because they couldn’t sustain it. Most towns do NOT have more than one game shop. Cities, yes. Towns, no.
I am from a small town… we are talking graduating classes are lucky if they break the 90 student barrier.
If the town had two gaming stores they both would go out of business. The town can literally only support one, and barely at that. So this scenario is very viable.
A few towns over is a college town… that one can support two game stores, but all the revenue comes when college is in session.
While i do agree that the whole multiple business thing can be affected from big and small town mentality, this is what I don’t get.
Dove may be somewhat charismatic, but his jerkishness and his hate for girl gamers make him the worst candidate for a store manager and/or spokes person.
Even if its a smaller cut of your entire audience/business its still there and it wouldn’t do your business to alienate your audience. And like he said, gamers are a tight nit sort of people, dissing of your friend in your shop just because of their gender can and will drive your customer base elsewhere. (this is from watching it happen first hand where I”m from).
Double down on the misogyny with Lee who least far as we know doesn’t have the best record of behavior with women. You have an owner who has no respect for his customer base, and a manager who is an elitist prick and intends to drive the business with the same mind set (and let me tell you taking a dump on a kid playing the pokemon card game is NOT how you gain a future customer…no matter what you think of the game). His business logic is sound but your missing variables a,b,and c in favor of x,y and z cause your business decision is being driven by a desire to screw your family.
My town has 1, the owners work second jobs elsewhere, because it doesn’t make enough money.
If the town can support more than one game shop, Hotelling’s Law suggests they’ll end up close to each other, for the same reason that car dealerships and mattress stores always end up next to each other.
Ok Sam, time to innovate and reinvent your business model…
Or, option two, double down. He’s not going to outmodernize the Gaming Haus, that ain’t going to happen in a million years, he’s working on a budget of ‘what’s in the stores pocket’, and that’s it. No, what you do in this scenario is you try to reaffirm why people like you to begin with, you focus on making the terrain a happy place for people and a place where they want to spends some money. Lee’s already shot himself in the foot in that respect because he’s got Phillip F Dove bein’ a snob to all the gamers. Honestly, they’d be safer with Pops at the helm right now, most gamers like seeing the antiques, and respect them pretty hardcore, where Sam’s a bit of a weak link at this moment, which might be -why- Lee opened this shop just now. He waited for Pops to go and -then- picked to open, because people’ll be nervous at the minor ownership change.
Yup. I really want this to be the answer.
Send the occasional mole to Haus to help the “losers” to find a better place after game nights.
Just be better as people.
It’s seriously why my current store has lasted four other stores popping up and failing around us. It’s not like I don’t try out new stores and try and get involved (plenty of time to do it all, for me), but I keep coming back to the guy who’s been playing since the seventies who may as well *be* the ubiquitous ex-adventurer barkeep (complete with battle axe hanging over the register).
Dove is definitely the weak link here and I donno if Lee realizes it. The elitist attitude, despite attracting some whale personality types, is not sustainable and anyone driven out will have the perfect spot right down the street so they benefit from all the free advertising.
How the heck did you know I have a battle axe?!?!?!?!?!?!?! The again I also own a broadsword, Katanas, Diakatanas, Short swords, dirks, Kunai, throwing stars, and several other things, most of which I actually know how to use…….. Don’t judge me I was live role player for a while…. When I wasn’t DMing games or writing mods….
Good analysis, and exactly what I’d suggest to Sam if I were there, because good customer service DOES make a difference in retaining clientele.
What Sam needs to do is face the ownership change head-on and put a positive public image in place to reaffirm that he is old school like his dad, but also open to new ideas -best of both worlds, as it were-, because that will really help to keep people coming back, as well as defuse public attacks from Game Haus insinuating that the ownership change of Dragon’s Den is the final nail in the coffin.
Two positive replies? On one of my posts? It’s more likely then you think! 😀 Seriously though, glad people agree with / like my idea. Thanks for responding.
There’s some real Barbershop 2 shit going down here. And I mean that as a compliment.
Good point!
It’s a pretty sound business plan when all is said and done, except for a rather fatal flaw. And that flaw is one Phillip F. Dove.
If Lee seriously thinks that toxic dump of a person is going to make a good spokesman for the store, he’s in for a helluva disappointment. I give it a month tops, ( because I’m feeling generous), before Philly Boy starts alienating the customers, which will defeat the “Home store” idea Lee’s going for.
I live in texas near and around houston in my area 2 game shops have come and gone within the last 10 years RIP probably mostly it was bad location but still its actually pretty damn hard to keep a functioning game store open amidst the turmoil that is mmo’s, console games and hell even mobile phone games. To the comic at hand, yes I’m sensing daddy issues here, maybe he feels betrayed he didn’t get the store. But I don’t sense the passion of the craft like sam does I mean ffs he made his own world rules etc so that just shows how deeply involved with table top gaming he is. While lee is well a business man he doesn’t care either way as long as he turns a profit, if he can stick it to his old man and little brother while he’s at it for him its a plus. Now like others are saying Dove being dove he’ll probably drive them away, but we’ll just have to wait and see Ty for this comic and this current arc can’t wait to read it.
Sam. There is clearly only one real option. Put on your business glasses and engage in a gloriously capitalistic expansion of your business. Play your brother at his own game, and really ram his parental issues home.
Typo alert in panel 3…”amased” should be “amassed”
Reminds me of the “Pretty Woman” story where Richard Gere hated his dad, worked hard, bought his fathers company and then sold it off in pieces. I like it. This is going to be a struggle for Sam and the Den. I know I hate to spend the extra 10%+ on games in the store as opposed to buying them online and delivered to my door. If “the Haus” can cut prices it will be super bad for “the Den”
There can be only one! This town ain’t big enough for the two of us! Slap fight in the street as a Walmart bag blows past.
I see now why you ignored me asking about the Game Hous the other day when you replied to my comment 🙂
Just read everything up to this point. Thanks man. That was fun. Great comic, and I dig your game style. That said, I am allergic to cliffhangers, and will likely wait many months to check back.
There is a building nearby where I live. Don’t know what the intended use was, but the owner went bankrupt Close to constructions end. It would make a great shop… it has an underground parking lot for several cars, which would be good space for storage or table top games. It’s right next to public transportations and right in the middle of a triangle of three schools.
If I had the money, I would try to open up a comic/game shop there. It would be perfect on so many levels.
Yes, its just business. Stupid business, but business. As others noted he’s beginning with as many handicaps as he can: he has Dove, a person reviled but almost every gamer in the city; he reopened a store in the same street as an old, estabilished shop with a fixed client base; he spent a lot of money on nothing.
If I was in that city I’ll rather order online than buy from him.
On one hand Lee sort of has a point of how the whole mainstream gaming it changing with all the stuff he mentioned. Buuuuuuut…On the other shoe, he’s also full of bull of how only one store can thrive, if anything both can make good cash with Sam’s place being for casual gamers and Lee’s for the more competitive bunch as both stores clearly cater to different types of gamers, there’s also the possibility of ’em working together. But, Lee clearly has his head shoved so deep up his arse that he can probably see what he had for dinner last night.
How many stores can survive really depends on how much business there is to split between them, taking into account town size, average income, local interest, etc. I don’t know enough about the setting to make a claim, but even if both stores could easily coexist, it seems Game Haus management is hellbent on running the Den out of town by any means necessary.
Why yes he can see the dinner he had last night, it was brandy cooked tenderloin with a mushroom sauce, rice pilaf, and a chardonnay.
Says he isn’t gonna monologue like a comic book villain, does it anyways.
Ozymandias he is not.
Hell he aint even Proffesor Chaos
Someone has Daddy issues, I see. It’s literally the only reason why anyone who “amassed a respectable fortune” would bother with a game store. Owning one is not exactly a path to riches and babes, with a few notable exceptions who were in the right place at the right time.
A true love of the hobby would be another reason to start a game store despite being able to afford not to, I’ve met some people who fit there, but Lee isn’t one of them.
Yeah, if his goal was really to succeed in the gaming business the smart play wouldn’t have been to compete with Sam but to partner up with him. They each have what the other lacks. Instead Lee is teaming up with Dove, who is going to be toxic to the “fierce loyalty” he’s aiming for from his customers.
Addendum: Lee is right about gamers wanting a place to call home, though. A game store is more than just a place to buy shit; it’s a community. That said, I don’t believe two self-absorbed twatwaffles such as he and Dove are anywhere near the right people to provide it.
Yeah, but it’s going to take a bit (a few years maybe) before the community realizes it. That being said, I’ve seen people put up with worse just to play a game of WarmaHordes or Warhammer with the friend who does go there.
Yea and since you made it clear girls arnt welcome at your store you’ve garenteed it won’t be you dumbass femnerds will stick to theden cause they are treated well an manerds will go to the den cause boobs (im over simplifying but you get my point)
Yeah the owner and supervisor are both shown to NOT have the best opinions of women in general (one is a womanizer with seemingly little idea of what NOT to say to a woman much less one with a kid, and the other is straight up misogynistic on top of his other grating character traits). Contrary to popular belief gamers do have girlfriends who often also happen to be gamers…take a guess what happens when their mistreated, disrespected, and otherwise shat on at the local gaming watering hole.
Unless…
What if Lee’s playing the villain and setting up Dove to get fucked over?
Magic Eight Ball says: Don’t Count On It
Is there any evidence that Lee thinks of helping anyone but himself? Besides, it appears that he has more in common with Dove than he does with Sam, blood ties notwithstanding, so why the change of heart?
Wait guys, in the last part of this one he’s trying to literally buy Sam into the business…… This smells really, really, rotten.
Well, X-Mas is going to suck for Lee. He can lie to his brother, but Santa knows better 😀
I hope to hear more on why he would hire someone with a bad rep like Dove. Especially after the way he treated his own brother and his friends. Lee is going to be very lonely. I already feel sorry for him. However, I shall enjoy his downfall. Even if he gets his “win” He will lose family and friend. Should make for an interesting story. I wonder how local GMs/DMs and other parts of the gaming community will react. Everyone is going to check it out, but will they stay? How much off a douche is Dove going to be? Will Lee be directly involved with the customer base or lurking in the backround??
One thing with this story, while we only see Dove as the representation of chauvanistic, self-absorbed, munchkin style gamers, who knows how many of him are around to take advantage of the new store. Plus, I know new gamers who emulate what they see thinking it is the right way so Dove could be taking the next generation of gamers and bringing them into the fold and letting them see that attitude in play. Much like your typical underdog tale where the crowd favors the jerk until the hero does something to cause them to see through the facade and see them for what they really are in the end. A bit tropey, but everyone loves a hero. And all this smugness needs to be put in its place somehow.
2,305 followers with their fires ignited! Yes, I had to look it up. Yes, I realize they might not be local and therefore not potential customers. But Dove has been established as a guy with a certain amount of pull. Enough pull to make Dead Iron fail for the lethal flaw of having been made by a girl, because the reader has to assume that the game was otherwise up to Dallas’s prior successful and critically acclaimed work.
He’s a Delores Umbridge-type villain, one that we loathe because we recognize it clearly and it’s the kind of evil we encounter in day-to-day life. It resonates. He’s Iggins from Invader Zim all grown up and in touch with a bunch of guys just like him. Not saying Dove is at all derivative, just that both characters are inspired by the same kind of smug arrogant jerkass. And you can just imagine him saying, “and that’s why I’m the superior gamer” and it’s completely in character. It’s hilarious.
(Pop culture intertextuality is serious business. Fight me.)
Yeah, but 2,305 followers do not a Legion make, despite Philly-boy’s claims to the contrary. He might have a solid core of “Belibers”, (no, that’s not a typo), and some of them might even be local. But I doubt it could more than a low double digit number. Heck, I’m willing to bet that a significant percentage of his followers are there just to watch, (and laugh at), the ramblings of a self-absorbed tool who never learned that being “Professional” is more than being good at what you do.
Pretty sure Dove is a symptom of what caused Dead Iron to fail, not the cause.
gonna be honest, this is reminding me of the last season of The Office where they basically went “oh yeah, there’s totally been this whole side-plot going on that we just didn’t bother to acknowledge until right now.”
And I’d love to see how or why Dove would have any value as a “spokesperson” considering he’s basically an avatar of Gamergate.
“And I’d love to see how or why Dove would have any value as a “spokesperson†considering he’s basically an avatar of Gamergate.”
Same reason 5E listed some toxic folks as “consultants”. Care about volume of the message rather than the content.
Consultant is on thing but Dove is apparently the face of the store. Or at least its community manager on social media. & his behavior is going to shove Game Haus into an even smaller niche. It just doesn’t make sense if Lee’s intention is purely to drive Dragon’s Den out of business.
Of course it’s very likely this will all get resolved in some brawl. The alternative is that the serious-real-world-shit valve getting stuck in the open position.
I kinda hope Lee’s decision to associate with Dove bites him in the ass.
Maybe that’s the point of this arc. Dove drums up business at first but his attitude prevents people from being repeat customers.
You might want to read a series I dearly love written by Tamora Pierce, Circle opens – Cold Fire, its the second series after the Circle of magic series, anyway, the point is that in there they state something highly significant which intertwines with this story. As a seller of items you can tell the customer how great you are and why they should buy from you and maybe make one sale, or, you can invite the buyer into your house, make them feel like a member of the family, listen to them and sell to them on their terms, then they will bring their children in for you to sell to them as well. Paraphrasing there, but you get the idea. Sam has actually run a few campaigns and has worked at the store. Lee worked there too and if he shows his head in the haus others will remember him. They’ll remember he was fired. They’ll even remember the word that was put out when Dove cheated, what he said, what he did, and it will all come back to roost. This is not going to end well. Just keep that in mind.
Yeah, screw the “just business”. “Just business” and family are not mutually exclusive. He knew what his brother’s dream was, there was nothing stopping him from at least talking to Sam and trying to go into a joint venture. Or at least, not building in the same town if he has other options. Nah, he really wanted to screw Sam over to prove to Pops he was the better son. And hiring Dove? Who cannot seem to go one sentence without insulting Sam? Salt to the wound.
Lee is an Asshole.
However, his business plan seems to target specific types of gamers, particularly with Dove there. Sam needs to focus on the market Lee doesn’t cater to, hard though it may be.
Yeah, I can see the Dargon’s Den becoming a “Safe Space” for women and minority gamers of all types to actively be away from gamers like Dove and his ilk.
I’m not sure if safe space is the accurate term for a place where people simply treat each other with a moderate degree of respect on account of understanding that they are all human beings.
Sadly, the terms ‘safe space’ and ‘trigger’ have become toxic due to derision despite the fact both terms describe aspects of dealing with actual trauma from things like warfare and abuse, so I honestly don’t know if I’m even trying to make a point.
I think you are refering a “safe place” for all players. If you say “women and minorities” you are discriminate strait white males. Yes, Assholes exist in all colours and sexes.
Courting an EEO compliant or the attention of the local Pink Hat chapter is no answer either. Lee needs to focus on his business before his problems really start.
Oh noes! Who will think of the sad plight of straight white males?!!1 They’re never welcome in game shops!
Its like listening to a Politician, either democratic, republican, or other, that’s a life long politician and has no other job history in 20+ years. Their all liars at that point trying to serve their own interests. They’ll call someone a racist if they think it will hurt them, they’ll call them a sexist even if they have a history of paying women as much as men. A woman can be more sexist than any man to other women, a black man can be more racially bigoted than any white man could ever dream of. As for the white man, yeah we have our problems too. The point is never trust the words of a politician, any of them, I always double check what they say with actual facts, not fact check, it was built by Soros, but their are other places to find information. Check your facts yourself Look at what a person says, then look into their history yourself, often you find things which show the truth of the matter, including if they are lying, it all comes out when you open your eyes and think for yourself. Sure I may be paranoid, but I’ve seen too many people trying to sell a line that’s just full of it to not be.
Since you brought up Politics, its like this: 45 has all the trouble he has due he can’t keep all the Bile inside. He runs that Twitter 24/7 and wonders why he keeps losing in court. Lee has a Twitter type problem too, its Dove. Lee needs to disassociate himself from Dove, FAST before he gets sunk. The local government is going to start making his life difficult.
The reason Retailers cater to Women is they make up 52% of the population. This means women have 52% of the money. You can’t insult 52% of the buying public and expect to stay in business.
…..Lee spends a significant amount of time becoming rich enough and successful enough to be able to buy out a undisclosed number of game stores, and then decides that the best use of his time is to try to drive his little brother out of business?
That is a terrible driving force behind any business, and not one that will lead to any significant gains compared to another business model not built on childish revenge fantasies.
TL;DR: When it comes to making money, revenge is about as useful as a copper d2 in a jewlery store.
Oooh! Oooh! It took me a second, but copper d2 is a euphemism for a penny, yes? I’d honestly never heard of it phrased that way but I find it utterly delightful.
If someone says ‘it’s just business’, it isn’t just business. Lee is probably pissed that his plans didn’t come to fruition before the game shop was handed off to Sam.
This wasn’t an attack on Sam. This was an attack on Pops.
But Lee will take what he can get.
Actually Lee’s right and wrong. Both stores should be able to do fine. Why? Dove. Dove is a sexist misogynistic douchebag. There are some gamers that think like him and will flock to his store because of that. However I will walk out of any store that’s like that and refuse to shop in such establishments. Since I am not arrogant enough to believe I am the only one to feel that way Sam’s store will attract all of the people who can’t stand Dove’s brand of bullshit.
After the whole “Players wont a home” speach…
Calling it now!
Dove will drive local Players that doesn’t fit his “Perfect Picture of a Player” away and Sam will get them as Support. First Example: -all Female Player Groups- . like the one he played Cuthulu with.
i mean “want a home”. stupid typos
Lee is overlooking a critical details it seems and I hope this comes to pass in the future, though I will patiently wait for events to unfold.
As many have already mentioned, Dove and Love’s elitism is likely to drive people away to some degree. This is because there is one crucial aspect in the “Gamer’s are looking for a home” view that they don’t seem to grasp.
What really makes a home, is the family you share that home with. An affluent home can be toxic if the parents have no idea how to care for a family or abide only by a strict and unbending idea of what is acceptable, the siblings forced to compete with each other rather than respect their differences and compliment their strengths. Meanwhile a poor home that scraps by is often shared by the bond of family, holding the group together through the worst of struggles thrown at them.
I’m kinda split about Lee in this strip. On one side, what he says about game stores is completely accurate: If I can get what I want with a few mouse-clicks and not have to deal with traffic, parking, and that one wheezy fat guy who smells like he showered in liquid butt and REALLY wants to tell me about his Pathfinder character, merely having items in stock is not enough reason for me to go to the game store. If game stores are going to survive into the 21st century they’re going to have to morph from retail spaces with gaming areas in the back to community centers that sell games on the side.
On the other side anytime Lee opens his mouth the exact words that come out doesn’t matter, what he says is ‘i’m a douchebag’. The whole crack about ‘I was out in the real world’ made me want to introduce him to the fun-filled world of junk-punching. He’s throwing his so-called ‘respectable fortune’ into a cheap revenge plot based on his obvious daddy issues…
in one theory yes…. but “community centres” don’t pay the bills, especially staff wages, electricity, and rates.
one of the big reasons PnP games took off is young folk could play at home, no hall to rent, no-one needed to drive them to the grounds/hall and back, sure the books cost a lot but then so does equipment for sports.
and one thing that most gamers are as well as loyal…is cheap.
The fatal flaw in “Big Bro’s” Plan is Dove; that guy is going to earn his new business an EEO complaint that wont go away. All Sam has to do is contact the local Pink Hat chapter and point them in the Game Haus direction. It won’t matter if Big Bro is cheaper, he’ll have a boycott.
@Brian – Third panel. ‘Amassed’ is missing an S. Just so it doesn’t get lost in the archive that way. 🙂
Lets see how paying for rates on all those empty stores works out for your “business investment” bro…