Couple of weeks ago I was in Utrecht for the Magic: the Gathering Grand Prix, which is the highest level open tournament in the game. As usual, I regard these more like excuses to visit certain cities, so why not stay a full week at the former capital of the Kingdom of Holland.
One of the points of interests in the city for me personally, was Oudegracht (the Old Canal), as for some peculiar reason, there are seven shops dedicated to all things geeky (although, I seem to have missed one).
There’s an open call by Sami Koponen to write about the Finnish RPG scene. I don’t really consider myself a part of it, or at best I’m on the fringes, but that might just be good, since that means my perspective will be different and that’s important for discussion. So, here’s my take on something for the long run I’ve been thinking about lately.
I frequent two gaming stores regularly. They are both within a few blocks of my workplace, and I play MtG in each every once in a while. Between rounds I like to browse (and sometimes buy). I like to support these places, because I like their existence. I like there to be two, because that produces competition and competition produces (hopefully) better service and more options.
However, even though I do play more MtG and at times more PC games or board games (although that’s unusual), I like to think of myself as a roleplaying gamer at heart. What do these two LGSs do for me in that regard? Not much.