Michael Barnes wrote: Spending that kind of money on a gaming table goes against everything I believe in.
If I am spending $5k-$10k on furniture, I'm going to be looking at vintage mid century pieces or current designers. Not something with fucking dice drawers and snack holders.
I'm with you on that, I mean, a nice table is a nice thing, hand crafted in your local area. Play games on that. Nobody needs dice drawers and fucking snack holders. Its the same bullshit as people who spend actual money on "storage solutions" in games and other tosh thats nothing to do with playing games, just obsessing over them as trinkets.
i would have loved to have played on one of these expensive tables just to see if the owner is really sensitive about it (like Annette Benning in American Beauty with the italian silk couch). We'd be playing some game and people would get rowdy and start slamming their beverages on the table in excitement and the owner be all, "guise! GUISE! It's GEEK CHIC!!!" it seems like moments like that would make the cost well worth it.
Funnily enough, one of my big geek goals is to build an O-shaped table to house my monitors, my collection of games and be able to run my trains on top.
As someone who wargames, the recessed table bit is attractive to me. The other bits of these game table things aren't a big draw. But if you're busting out a long game to solo or play with an opponent there is a lot to like (IMHO) if you can put the normal table topper back on and continue later.
Yeah I had no use for the mega tables with drink holders, DM screen backers, etc. But a simple well made table with a shallow recessed area that could be covered. That I could totally envision being a nice thing to have. It would also be an easier sell to a spouse rather than a one off much more expensive thing you can't also serve Thanksgiving dinner on.
I retrofitted a coffee table with a game recess a few years ago. I loved having it the few weeks I did, a visitor offered me alot more for it than I had in it. The issue is I play alot of games with figures, so the table either has to be deep (3-4 inches) or you have to lay minis down ever time you want to put the top on. For a kitchen table that would be fine, but for a coffee table it starts to look like a pregnant cow.
I recently ran into an old friend at a birthday party. He was bragging up how he has been turning his basement into the ultimate gaming space. One particular improvement was his new custom gaming table. It includes a large flat screen tv installed horizontally into the center of the table. He hooks up his laptop to the tv and displays a scan of a miniature scale map for whatever section of a dungeon they are in. He told me how much he paid the carpenter to make this table, but my mind rejected the number. It wasn't fantastically expensive, and certainly cheaper than one of the Geek Chic tables, but it was still way more than I would willingly spend at this point in my life.
It seems to me you gotta decide why you pursue the hobbies you do. If it's about looking the part then hell yeah, this is about as all-in as you're ever going to get in board gaming. But jeeze, I think my lifetime gaming budget is under $8,000, and that's the price of one of these slabs without chairs sitting around it (which were $300 apiece by the way, as absurd as the table but labeled "8 hour chairs" so they need to cost double that of "4 hour chairs".)
I live in a 2500 sq foot house. One of these gothic altars would look ridiculous in it. Even if it was about looking the part for me I'd look stupid with it sitting in my living room. I wouldn't buy it for $250 just because of what it is, not what it cost.
Sell me simple, clean lines, with a big surface and plenty of open space under it so I can stretch my legs out in all directions.
When I bought my house several years ago, I immediately got my gaming table: a Bjursta from Ikea for $199 USD. With two insertable extensions, it seats 8 and is just big enough for Arkham Horror for 8 with all the expansions. It turns out that is also big enough for any other game I own except for Zombies!!! with multiple expansions. Sometimes it would be nice if it was a few inches wider, but 37.5" is usually fine.
Erik Twice wrote: Funnily enough, one of my big geek goals is to build an O-shaped table to house my monitors, my collection of games and be able to run my trains on top.
You're gonna show people your O-place? Oh... oh... oh...
On the recess in the table: I could definitely see something like that being useful. I've had between two and five cats over the past 30 years (just two now) and have often wanted to leave a long game like Siege of Jerusalem set up, but knew that it would be pointless since any place you don't want them is the first place they'll go. I could have just gotten a sheet of plexiglass for old Avalon Hill, but certainly being able to encase them or for things like block wargames would be cool. Still not worth $5K.