SCGA

South Coast Gaming Association

This was not so much a place as an era of my life. The year was 1995, to be specific. I was doing my usual thing with my life at that time, which was nothing. I worked a brief stint at Kokomo’s in Irvine, providing security for under aged drinkers. Not a high point in my life.

It was probably Tony that introduced me to SCGA (Pronounced SKAY-GA). It was a little shop front in Costa Mesa on Mesa Verde West (Above Totally Coffee). It was a hobby shop that specialized in Role-playing Games and miniatures. More than that, it was a place to gather and play said games. Really, it was a place to gather and meet the weirdoes in the neighborhood.

The funny thing, as I look back, is that I never actually became a member. I just hung out there. More to the point, I hung out in front of there. There was no smoking allowed inside, so you had to go outside onto the balcony. I didn’t smoke, but everybody else did. Everybody. The shop was only open until Midnight, which was always a problem. We’d end up standing around out front until 2am, deciding what Denny’s we were going to end up at.

As one could imagine, the place was packed with drama. When you have that many creative, imaginative people in one place, they find creative, imaginative ways to get on each others nerves. There was also a lot of cross over between here and Virtual World (Same era, but that will get it’s own entry).

I didn’t get to spend as much time at SCGA as I would have liked (I had no car, I was always in rehearsal). They moved locations at least 2 times I can remember (all in the same strip mall). Each time, it lost a little of the same magic, until finally it closed up. Apparently, you can’t make money just being a hangout. If he had had an underage liquor license, the place would probably still be open today.

The place was magical to me. It was the first time I had made friends outside of my close High School circle. I was liked for just being me. There are a lot of stories. Game stories. Real life stories. Even a Love Story. But that is for another time…

Outlaw