The photos look similar to last week’s, but they don’t really tell the whole story. For one thing, the drywall is actually complete now, along with some texturing of the walls. We also have a little bit of new carpet coming in soon, and painting starts next week!

Of course, we’ve also been up to more behind-the-scenes stuff.

• We’ve got a great selection of gorgeous dice and other game accessories on order from Foam Brain Games! Whether you’re looking for a set to go with that new campaign just starting up, or a really nice set that speaks to your identity with every roll, we’ll have what you like.
• This deserves special mention: We will also carry the Ultimate RPG series by James d’Amato. Whether new to tabletop roleplaying or a seasoned storyteller, everyone can learn something from these books. We also recommend another work by the same author, a speedy collaborative game called Oh Captain, My Captain!
• We’re expanding our team already! This whole thing would be a bit much for just three people to handle. You can find out more about our motley crew at the accurately-named “About Us” page of our website.
• Of course, that means more paperwork to do for The Government. There are so many moving parts that won’t move together on their own…
• Lest it seem a slow week, let us assure you that we’ve been working our tails off setting up all the back-end stuff it takes to run a business. There’s so much of it! We’ve always respected folks who start small businesses, and more than ever now that we’re going through the process ourselves.
• We have the usual set of links to point folks toward:
  • Our player survey and creator survey, anonymous and confidental, to help us plan our game offerings;
  • our Mastodon and Bluesky accounts, for staying on top of news and announcements;
  • and our email for any inquiries or to request changes to mailing list subscriptions.

We’re fast approaching our target opening date – early October, if all goes well – so there’ll be plenty more to tell soon. Until then, thank you so much for reading about our ongoing adventure of preparing the Silver Door!

The drywall is done, but the doors still have to go in. Also, by time all of this is complete, the walls will definitely not still be white.

Here’s what else we’ve been up to:

• The majority of our store fixtures – counters, slatwall, and accessories for such – are scheduled for delivery once the construction’s done. It may not seem especially exciting, but it’s one more significant step to shaping the Door.
• Now that we have our official reseller’s license, we’ve been putting together quite the orders for… well, everything. Dice, snacks, and all manner of RPG books are in the works. In all cases, we plan to carry plenty of the familiar favorites, a good deal of more unusual fare for the inquisitive… and a couple extra-special curiosities for the adventurous!
• We’ve begun collating our initial inventory and have started outlining our initial suite of “house games” on offer. If there’s a system you’ve been itching to explore, or a setting you’ve been anticipating, let us know via our player survey! (It’s confidential, and anonymous as you like.) We’re looking to organize regular play sessions and house games as part of our offerings.
• Payroll and taxes! We now have an accountant who can help us finish prepping our business. As they say, no job is complete until the paperwork is done.
• We’ve started our outreach to some Seattle-based role-playing communities and will be organizing a tour of local game stores looking for partnerships and cross-promotion opportunities. If you’ve got suggestions for places to visit, please don’t hesitate to drop us an email.
• Spreadsheets. So many spreadsheets.
• Remember to follow our Mastodon or Bluesky accounts. There’ll be a post pointing to each news item here, as well as announcements of events and urgent news. We promise to keep it very low volume; we know how crowded timelines can get!
• Have you seen a Silver Door flyer in the wild? Would you like to? Let us know!

Those are the big points from this week. Thank you for reading, and joining us on this journey to the Silver Door!

What else have we got going on?

• We’ve ordered a couple dozen nice and sturdy extra-wide chairs to put at our tables. We want everyone of all shapes and sizes to be comfortable!
• While we’re arranging for our initial stock of roleplaying games and accessories, we’d like to shout out our friends over at Heart of the Deernicorn! They’re a distributor for some amazing tabletop RPGs that really break the mold, such as Thirsty Sword Lesbians and Fiasco. We very much look forward to introducing folks to the stuff they carry.
• There’s also a shout-out in order for our very friendly next-door neighbors, North End Makerspace! (In fact, they were once in the space we’re moving into.) A couple of us are members, and we definitely have ideas for stuff to make there that’ll feature prominently in the Door.
• Given the recent bout of wildfire smoke, it seems a good time to mention that we’re planning ahead for future wildfire seasons by ensuring that each room has its own high-capacity air purifier that will remove basically everything from the air while remaining whisper-quiet during game sessions.
• Our mailing list is finally up and running! If you’d like these news posts automatically emailed to you, sign up via the player survey or contact us directly at silverdoor@silverdoor.games and we’ll set you up! Unfortunately, the account mangement console for working with your subscription isn’t yet available, but emailed requests for changes or unsubscription will be handled promptly. (Remember, don’t respond directly to the news post; use the email link above!) Previous posts can be read on our website’s news page.
• If you’re more inclined toward reminders via social media, we’re on Mastodon and, as of very recently, Bluesky!
• Have you spotted one of our flyers out in the wild? Let us know!

Those are the big points from this week. Thank you for reading, and joining us on this journey to the Silver Door!

As you can see, it’s just your average office space right now, but we have a few changes to make. We’re replacing those doors with wider ones that are wheelchair-friendly, and they’ll be solid-core to help keep sound isolated to the individual rooms. A wall’s going in to turn another area (not pictured) into a room. There’s also a little electrical work and plenty of painting to be done. By time it’s finished, this will look like a very different place!

Behind the scenes, we’ve been busy:

• The builders have officially started work! Next week, we’ll have photos of the early steps.
• So much paperwork. Financial stuff, administrative stuff, setting up our Internet provider…
• We have so many things to purchase and receive, but we can’t store it in the space until the construction is done, so it’s beginning to arrive at our homes. It’s all lightweight stuff for now, such as office supplies, custom lanyards (the closest we’ll get to a “uniform”) and a hand-sewn pride flag to hang behind the counter. In not too long we’ll start seeing books, office equipment, furniture, and more.
• Some of that involves more than just picking items off shelves or a website. We’ve been reaching out to specific vendors such as Exalted Funeral and contributing to crowdfunded projects like Gallerie so we can bring you a wide variety of roleplaying games to explore!
• We’re looking forward to our Wyrmwood Gaming tables, but they won’t be ready until at least March. To cover the interim months we’ve invested in more traditional tables… that happen to match the types of wood that the Wyrmwood tables will be! This makes our designer unreasonably happy.
• Our mailing list is still in the works, but other matters have kept us busy. In the meantime, we have a news feed perfect for whatever RSS/Atom news reader you like.
• Of course, you can also follow us on Mastodon! We don’t just link to our news posts there; if there should be any urgent news about the Door, that’ll be the first place we announce it.
• As with previous news posts, we simply must mention our player survey and creator survey. Tell your friends that whether they’re experienced roleplayers or interested newbies, we’d love to hear from them! And of course, many thanks to everyone who’s responded so far.
• We’ve already put up a few flyers to introduce ourselves, but only a few. If you’ve found a good spot for a flyer – a community pinboard, a hobby shop, a fan convention, a favorite tree – please e-mail us about it at silverdoor@silverdoor.games and help us spread the word!
• It’s a little too soon to be completely certain about our timetable; construction times can vary, shipping can be delayed, and so on. That having been said, if all goes well we’ll be able to open near the start of October. That feels simultaneously very distant and startlingly close.

That about wraps up this week’s news. Thank you so much for following the ongoing story of the Silver Door!

• Our architects at Board & Vellum and our builders at Triple Bottom Line Construction are in agreement that everything’s going to look fantastic. Work inside the space begins soon!
• We’ve been digging through paperwork. So much paperwork. Granted, most of it’s been electronic, so why do we still call it paperwork? And now we’ve said “paperwork” so much it’s starting to lose its meaning. Paperwork. Paperwork? Paperwork!
• It’s official! We’ll have a printer capable of printing huge maps up to three feet wide and… gosh, we’re not sure yet how long the prints can get! Put an epic battle map under your minis’ feet without having to trim and tape together a dozen 8½"×11" pages.
• It’s confirmed: We’ll have a dedicated, customized Bluetooth speaker in each room for background ambience, light music, or even a soundboard if that’s how you roll! And if you’re not up for providing your own background sound, we can help out with that.
• In addition to our remote server, we’ve now got our point-of-sale and back-of-house systems set up! Our POS will handle guest registrations and retail checkout, while our BoH system will handle all our design and printing software so we can build all those cool props we’ve been discussing! That’s also where our mailing list software will live, so expect to hear more about that Soon™.
• Have you had a chance to fill out our player survey and creator survey? They’re anonymous and confidential; nobody’s buying our data and we’re not selling it. (Imagine that we’ve inserted a little rant about the modern state of data privacy, here.)
• We still have quite a few flyers just waiting to announce us to the world. If you know a good place to post where roleplayers are likely to see, drop us a line at silverdoor@silverdoor.games and we’ll make sure to put one on display.

That covers it for this week. From here, things get even more exciting. Once we’ve stirred up some dust from construction, we’ll post photos of the process. In the meanwhile, all kinds of stuff is starting to arrive, and what spare room we have in our homes will soon be filled with everything waiting to go through the Silver Door. (So much stuff…) Thanks for following along on our journey!

• Right now, the place looks like a plain, empty office – boring white walls, thin doors with windows in them, and fluorescent lighting that’s way too much like daylight. Within the next few weeks, there shall be a new wall to form our third gamespace, new doors that are wide enough for wheelchair access, and light fixtures modified for adjustable LED lighting!
• Until one starts a brick-and-mortar business, it’s hard to fathom just how much purchasing has to happen. We’ve got a list of everything that needs buying, all the way from plain staples to pride flags to quiet air purifiers to incredibly nice wooden gaming tables.
• Oh, did we mention the incredibly nice wooden gaming tables? We’ll be starting out with perfectly adequate tables, but within a few months we’ll get to enjoy specialized gaming tables and accessories hand-made by the good folks at Wyrmwood Gaming! Put the topper on for a normal table, or take it off to reveal a recessed felt-lined center perfect for rolling dice and moving minis around dungeon maps.
• There’s been a lot of technical work behind the scenes to get all of our systems up and running… including the mailing list software, which is running slightly behind schedule. One advantage of going all in on Linux is that we can operate without being locked in to proprietary solutions for the most part, but it does mean a bit more initial setup effort than a turnkey system would offer. It’s well worth it, though!
• We now have proper business cards to give out, and flyers to post wherever we can. If you know a great spot for a flyer where roleplayers are likely to see it, let us know at silverdoor@silverdoor.games and we’ll try to make it happen.
• Speaking of getting the word out, we’ve only seen a couple responses to our player survey and creator survey. We’d love to have your input! They’re completely anonymous (unless you want to tell us who you are) and confidential, and it really helps us to know what folks are looking for that we might not have already thought of.
• Did we mention the tables? We’re just that excited about them!

That wraps it up for this week, so it’s back to work for us. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your interest in the Silver Door!

As of today, Silver Door Gamespaces is officially in “imminent reality” mode. We’re beginning the process of converting an empty office space in Seattle into a tabletop roleplaying third space – a place where players can come together and step into a different world, together.

Throughout this process, we’ll post updates and photos as we can. Once we open, this is where we’ll share important news about the Door, both within and beyond.

Thank you for coming with us on this journey! We look forward to serving you.