Poll: A Geek Bar?
- Thread starter PedroSteckecilo
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Calgary has actually been bigger than Edmonton for awhile and we passed 1 Million recently due to the oil boom. We have a terrible infrastructure though, and a worse night life. Something I'm trying to help by making it more accessible to those who avoid pubs during playoff season.KaZZaP said:
So you would let people come right in and stir up as much trouble as they want in yours? Let me know how that works out.IHaveNoCoolness said:
I'd be terrified to try it, although I have no problem with geeks, there's the competitive troll that spends all of his life playing EVE or DoD that makes me wonder what it would be like to have 15 of them in the same place. No doubt everyone else in the bar would leave before we finished a round of TF2.
Why call it a geek bar? Why not a LAN bar?, with pool,wi-fi, drinks,darts,and plenty of games.
Why call it a geek bar? Why not a LAN bar?, with pool,wi-fi, drinks,darts,and plenty of games.
He makes a point, you don't stop customers at the door, you get them to leave when they cause trouble. But the thing about Calgary is that because we have such a poor transit system... often it's just too much damn trouble to go to a bar specifically to be an ass. Most of the bars I go to don't even have "bouncers" proper, just bartenders beefy enough to intimidate the lone jackass who occasionally shows up.Pumpkin_Eater said:
And the idea isn't to cater ONLY to geeks, but rather to have a "geek friendly" atmosphere, rather than the antagonistic air you get in a lot of this cities drinking establishments. I want a bar where a group of people could feel more than at home playing a game of Settlers of Catan while they drink. A place where you aren't being annoyed by the bevy of people out to watch "the game" who are going to be complete douches when things go poorly for "Team A".
Fair enough, but at the same time if you read Pedro's initial post he wants a place that isn't off-putting to the casual customer either. I'd say not letting them in is as off-putting as it gets! You're going to get problem customers in any establishment that sells liqour, but it's the bouncers job to bounce the problems as they become problems... that is, once you've got the cover charge and drink money out of them. You've never been to an bar/pub/club have you pumpkin eater? People do go to these venues to make trouble, however, it is the bouncers job to sort that out... As a business your motive has to be first and foremost to generate revenue by not letting them in, you're dooming your business to failure.Pumpkin_Eater said:
Nimbus brings up an interesting point though... If you're not running it as a profitable business, then anything is possible. However, I think Pedro's asking the question if we think it's a viable business, and me, personally, I don't think that it is. And I've given my reasons why.
If you turn away customers, you're not going to have a functioning business.
Sounds fun, cause that seems like a bar with people that have the same interests as me. But it depends on what kind of geek, the social outcast that can only talk about games, movies, manga and shit, or the casual nerd who likes to talk about those things but is open to other conversations and is more social. I'd socialize with the second one, despite the fact that I'm a social outcast, for a reason I can't tell. I'd guess that people are presumptuous bastards, and won't give me a chance. But, I'm not a mega-nerd, and have many different interests.
Hmmm, it would honestly depend on how it is done to whether or not I would go there, I mean, when I am of age of course >.> (blast you age!)
If it was something where there was a regular bar area, then off to the right or something there were several games consoles with Tv's for gamers, with a selection of games or something, then over at another area there would be old style arcade machines and beat 'em ups, maybe the odd Dance game, little bit of beatmania, another area with a pool table... maybe a seperate room for tabletop gaming, and another for comics or something (this is if you are catering for all of the geeks, not just gamers) then hell yea I would be there aaaaalll the time bro.
If it was something like that, then I guess it would appeal to geeks and non geeks alike, as although the sections are seperated, they are not OBVIOUSLY seperated, I.E there are maybe one or two seperated rooms for the quieter activities such as tabletop gaming, comic books or whatnot, but overall it is one large room that has different areas for different types of activities, and therefore the people who arent geeks and who just want to come in, have a few drinks and chat with their friends can do so without too much distraction.
But as with a lot of things, it is a great idea in theory, it is all in the implementation of it as to whether it becomes a hit or a miss.
If you end up getting this idea off of the ground, good luck to you, but think really carefully about how you do this, as it be a really big hit, but it could be an equally big loss.
If it was something where there was a regular bar area, then off to the right or something there were several games consoles with Tv's for gamers, with a selection of games or something, then over at another area there would be old style arcade machines and beat 'em ups, maybe the odd Dance game, little bit of beatmania, another area with a pool table... maybe a seperate room for tabletop gaming, and another for comics or something (this is if you are catering for all of the geeks, not just gamers) then hell yea I would be there aaaaalll the time bro.
If it was something like that, then I guess it would appeal to geeks and non geeks alike, as although the sections are seperated, they are not OBVIOUSLY seperated, I.E there are maybe one or two seperated rooms for the quieter activities such as tabletop gaming, comic books or whatnot, but overall it is one large room that has different areas for different types of activities, and therefore the people who arent geeks and who just want to come in, have a few drinks and chat with their friends can do so without too much distraction.
But as with a lot of things, it is a great idea in theory, it is all in the implementation of it as to whether it becomes a hit or a miss.
If you end up getting this idea off of the ground, good luck to you, but think really carefully about how you do this, as it be a really big hit, but it could be an equally big loss.
Specifically to geeks, no. Any normal bar would be just fine in my opinion. A geeky bar would be a strange concept, and we all know that there are a lot of geeks that are entirely anti-social, and would prefer sitting at their computers, posting on these forums, oh wait...
I read that Yahtzee and one of the guys from Game Damage are opening a Geek Bar in Australia, so you could try and e-mail one of them to ask for advice (I think you'll have more success getting a reply if you e-mail him via fullyramblomatic.com or Game Damage, rather than sending a PM through this site).PedroSteckecilo said:
I seem to remember a friend of mine talking about this bar in Melbourne where people were encouraged to go and read Manga or other things along those lines - that seems like the sort of thing you're after for your geek bar.
A friend of mine had an idea like this. He wanted to, at some point in his life, get a lounge-like pub set up. There would be a section of the pub set up with high end gaming PCs, another section with consoles, and a third just set up to eat, drink and be merry. We also had the idea of holding various tournaments there, on a large projector screen.
When we have the cash to do it, we may wind up opening a place like this. A bit of a blend of a gaming cafe and a pub.
When we have the cash to do it, we may wind up opening a place like this. A bit of a blend of a gaming cafe and a pub.
Really depends on the set-up, I'm only a geek in the sense I play lots of video games.
I lack all the social ineptitude, although I do come off sometimes as a tad cynical.
Without any solid plans I can't make an informed decisions although I'm leaning towards yes.
I lack all the social ineptitude, although I do come off sometimes as a tad cynical.
Without any solid plans I can't make an informed decisions although I'm leaning towards yes.
