Gaming Community and Misunderstood signals?

Friends, I bid you welcome back to New Year, New Perspectives. It has been a couple of weeks since I have graced you all with some writing prowess. Well I am back to drop some mad word prowess on you all, so lets go!

This weekend was Magic Game Day and I was lucky to attend both  Alluring Treasures and Gamer's Path's Game Days. Both store had great players and cool deck lists to look at. What struck me about the events were how jam packed Gamer's Path was vs Alluring Treasures. At first, I thought it was because that same weekend we had a PTQ and as such our competitive group went out to do their jobs and bring home a win. However, I am not entirely sure if that is the case. I have a sneaking suspicion that Alluring Treasure's community, while competitive and thriving, does lack the close knit bond of a community of gamers.

Gamer's Path seems to have a community of people who know each other, seem genuinely nice to one another, and are not about what the next big event or deck is. At Alluring, I see players huddled around tables talking about the next big deck, events to go to, or what the hot card in Standard, Modern, or Legacy is. I rarely see people hanging around the tables, playing games, just bullshitting and enjoying the company of a community, a gaming family, mind you. I feel Alluring Treasures casual community is in need of a boost of rejuvenation, otherwise the shop may just degenerate into a shark pool. A place where players come teeth first into the store for product, discuss magic items and just leave. There seems to be little sense of making the community better, outside of Magic. While the player base continues to grow, the players themselves seem sequestered to pods o players they may be acquainted with, rather than a giant community where we can discuss things, Magic and Non magic items, freely.

Perhaps, I am misunderstood about this point. Maybe I am wishing too much for this community, when there is already a decent community in place. However, my feelings still stand. Where is the gaming community at Alluring Treasures? I would love to see some more gaming outside of Magic show up in the shop. More importantly, I would love to see casual players not feel intimidated by the experienced players at the shop. We all play Magic. Who says we can not be friends, regardless of whether we are good or bad at the game?

Also Congrats to Chia Lee for Top 8ing at the PTQ this past weekend! Get there brother!