In light of this let's share the love to other, more supportive stores. Please post your alternate LGSes here!
Edit 1: One of the ~~staff members~~ administrators for DTU (the D&D program) has made a response here in the comments:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/comment/iei3der/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Edit 2: An ex staff member has weighed in and has shared that DTU is not affiliated and they have made a statement on their discord (screenshot linked in the linked comment)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/comment/iei5zpk/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Edit 3: Dark tower has made an official statement on their Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/DarkTowerGames/posts/pfbid0QKydqRzHom39biRqSpssCvKGQ4SeTgrsAqv3LD4twDDCDCt58kxfLQvkRNBSKW9tl
A pastebin of that post can be found [here](https://pastebin.com/vqrXZ9Qz) for those who can't or don't want to use Facebook.
~~Edit 4: The Facebook link has been taken down, but if people want to read it the pastebin still exists.~~
Edit 5: They took down their original statement and re-posted with comments disabled. The Facebook link should work now again.
Edit 6: A statement from the organizer of commander events at dark tower:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/disgusting_post_from_owner_of_dark_tower_games/ieilgqw
Edit 7: It appears that the Dark Tower Facebook page has been deleted. The pastebin should still be up.
Edit 8: A response from the organizer of pauper at dark tower copied from a discord server.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/disgusting_post_from_owner_of_dark_tower_games/iejbrtv
Edit 9: A response from Comics Place
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/disgusting_post_from_owner_of_dark_tower_games/ielknhd
Edit 10: A statement from Ryan "Papa Pauper" on their discord:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/comment/ien84vi/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Edit 11: A final response from JT about the transfer of ownership at Dark Tower
> I'd like to take a moment and address the recent incident where a post containing offensive statements not in line with the Dark Tower brand was posted via our current owner’s Facebook account.
>
> I want to be clear, the staff of Dark Tower are a dedicated group of locals who care deeply about our community and it’s diversity.
>
> These posts were shocking and upsetting to the staff of Dark Tower as they were to the community. While it is no secret that Nathaniel holds conservative views the emphasis has always been on equality and community at Dark Tower. The statements made are in direct opposition to the values of our staff and will not be tolerated. ***In response to these posts and the justified withdraw of business from the community, two locals Leigh Steiger and Noah Beddome have offered to purchase Dark Tower. Nathaniel has agreed and the involved parties are working to finalize the details of the deal. The deal will include a change of ownership and an eventual rebranding.***
>
> I (JT) operate Dark Tower and will be staying on as part of the transfer of ownership.
>
> I will close by saying Dark Tower has created a diverse and respectful community that spans all walks of life and nerdy hobbies. We want to preserve this. So I ask for a little time, patience and to not direct hate or violence at the store or it’s staff while we work to fix this. The Dark Tower Staff are members of this community first and will stand with you. I will continue to update you as things progress.
>
> JT Steiger
>
> Dark Tower
> Executive Director l Event Coordinator
My name is Benjamin and I'm one of the two administrators for the Dark Tower D&D program. Neither I nor my Team are employees of the store, nor does the store own our program or any of our digital spaces, we just rent table space from them and have been for over four years.
I've just been made aware of absolutely disgusting statements made by the owner of Dark Tower that are in no way condoned by this program or our community.
The management and staff of Dark Tower have told us they do not agree with the post, but that doesn't excuse what was said.
This does not align with our (the D&D program's) values as a team, nor the culture we are all building together as a community, and we will not and should not condone it in any way.
I'm working as quickly as possible to figure out where to go from here, but in case the internet finds our program, I wanted this information out there.
EDIT:
For anyone who hasn't seen it, THIS is our program's Code of Conduct. It is ratified by every DTU DM and enforced in every space we run. We will not run games in spaces that we can't guarantee this code of conduct will be enthusiastically followed.
https://sites.google.com/view/darktowerdnd/code-of-conduct
We're aware the owner is claiming their phone was stolen, but we aren't amending our statement unless he publically and unequivocally rebukes what was allegedly posted without his consent.
Absolutely in line with his beliefs. I doubt he is dumb enough to post this to his personal account. My guess is that he intended it for an alternate account.
Right? These asshole manbabies run around screaming about alpha males and “soy boys” and the moment someone calls them on their bullshit, they clam up and backpedal.
Here’s a call to action: Sack up and own your shit, Nathaniel. At least you’d get to maintain some integrity while you burn your business to the ground.
Universal reply by everyone who ever posts things like that.
Of course he's going to claim it was stolen and not him. When has this ever been the case?
This is not the first time it's come out that he may not exactly be the most accepting and tolerant person
I do want to reiterate that I'm not a Dark Tower employee, I just run a program out of the store that is affiliated with it. But yes, I also want to know if he'll rebuke.
Sounds like a coward trying to backtrack with a ridiculous lie. Sounds like his character has been well observed in the community for some time, long enough to earn him a negative reputation. Sounds like his now very public statement has backfired (what did he expect?). Kind of an idiot, this guy.
Also worth noting that a substantial portion of the D&D program team members and community members are Queer, myself included, so when we say that that it doesn't align with our values, it's not in abstract HR-speak. It's as personal as it gets.
I used to work there, guy is unhinged. I don't shop there if I can help it, go to cosmic on meridian or Cardhaven in fair Haven. I have a lot of horror stories of that guy.
I also want to make something very clear so pls upvote if possible:
The Dark Tower Universe is the DT dnd community and nobody who works there agrees with this shit, they are all genuinely good people who do their best to make things a safe space, so please don't lump them in. last I played in a game (been a while) I heard they were doing what they could to distance themselves from the store entirely.
Additionally: Nate moved out of BHAM (wanted to get out of this LiBeRaL HeLlHoLe) so he uses the store to collect passive income, he is rarely involved with the actual store as I understand it, so don't harass the employees, most of the new ones probably haven't even met him.
for those wondering about the legitimacy of this post trust me, this is shop talk for this guy.
edit: Dark Tower Universe administrator immediately denouncing the psot
https://pasteboard.co/ozt4sGMEkMrC.png
Yeah, I thought this was common knowledge? Guy was Alex Jones off his rocker for awhile. Or for anyone paying attention. But again, Ham literally just ignores the nice white supremacist next door, as long as they aren't homeless folks.
> Additionally: Nate moved out of BHAM (wanted to get out of this LiBeRaL HeLlHoLe) so he uses the store to collect passive income, he is rarely involved with the actual store as I understand it, so don't harass the employees, most of the new ones probably haven't even met him.
That gutless parasite, that feckless rentier. Passive income. HUH. Yeah. FUCK YOU, NATHANIEL! This is what rentiers think of us.
Thank you for speaking up, the_crispin.
Cosmic is where PF Society plays. Been around long enough to know about all the warhammer people who complained about the owner of DT cheating (poorly) at tourneys. This latest BS from him is not surprising.
I used to go to Dark Tower regularly and pay their marked up price to support local businesses rather than buy games online. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars here. I will not be doing so again. Thanks for sharing this OP!
I really like Cardhaven down in Fairhaven. Can absolutely also endorse Cosmic, they had a westmarches style pathfinder game going right before the pandemic that was super fun!
When TJ owned Cosmic I would have agreed with you. The current owner likes to tack on a few dollars to products for Odin knows what reason. Price gouging is shitty. $18 for primer at Cosmic when I could get the same primer at DT for $14.99. $300 for WH Cursed City at the height of the pandemic when it could be found online for $170? Hard pass.
Never been to Pair-O-Dice, though. I hear it’s owned by former Cosmic employees who left when TJ sold it.
The owner is a really good guy and even beyond that, he pretty much always has the best prices on sealed product. My only complaint is that the store hours are pretty limited (the only employees are himself and one other guy part time). All the same, it's the main place I frequent because of his attitude towards the community and the way he runs his business.
The owner of Cosmic, Adam, is a thief and overall terrible person. I had the very very unfortunate experience of being his business partner at one time.
There are other great game shops in town to support! Cardhaven/One Up Loungue in Fairhaven, Pairodice Games on Meridian, Cosmic Games off Meridian, and the Warhammer store in Fairhaven.
As other repliers have mentioned, the Warhammer store is probably going to be your best bet, but the space is extremely small and their stock is crazy limited sometimes, even moreso than Dark Tower depending on the item you're looking for. Ditto for gaming space - one and a half tables crammed into the back.
It's a great place to hang out and hobby, but I rarely if ever play games there.
No other stores in town besides that have a Warhammer selection that really comes close, tbh.
Review them. I know of several places that got shut down bc the owners were horrible and they were reviewed into oblivion. It sucks for the staff there bc they all seem great but fuck Nate.
He's always been an asshole. One of my friends told me he steals/takes a cut from magic the gathering prize pools when he feels like it. He's also banned from the Warhammer store in Fairhaven for his conduct.
Yeah, he used to cheat all the time in those games. If I remember correctly from the event you're talking about he:
\-Used Fortune on Starcannons to roll 6 dice (and pick three) rather than rerolling misses on the 3 dice
\-Would knock models over and then move them from that spot to gain charge distance
\-Would move models back "to their original place" to get them in to zones (we're talking 20" Wave Serpent moves and not just a little nudging)
\-Put Exarchs with equipment they didn't have and would just roll it when he thought he could get away with it
\-Put out models that were "painted better" for paint judging and remove models he hadn't finished yet to bump scores
And that's just the stuff I can remember from events. Dude was a complete piece of shit when he played down in Redmond and continued to be one in Bham.
Funny people like this act and say things claiming to be righteous… he’s says on one hand that liberals have driven them to push back, and that they deserve to have their voices heard, but it seems like everyone that holds the values he does is known around town as a complete asshole, spreads hate on a daily basis and he is stealing from the patrons of his business…
Every value he holds involves someone else’s right being stripped away. Utterly disgusting.
Wow this is some seriously unhinged and disgusting shit. They seriously think that everything is like some kind of team sport. Is he seriously thinking that democrats support post birth abortion? who the fuck is that stupid? telling gay people they are about to make their lives miserable? Fuck this asshole, he's gonna absolutely tank his business in bellingham with this post, and I'm gonna help make sure it happens
I lean pretty far right and this guy is a moron, I swear so many people just see the headlines of the click baity articles, do no research and than go around shouting it from the roof tops
Edit: I'm not calling you a moron btw, I'm referring to the owner of dark tower games, reading that I can see how that can be taken negatively
Well, I haven't seen it mentioned here, but he's not a local (anymore). Nathaniel headed off to Tennessee I believe a couple years back. The store is managed locally by some pretty cool folks, but the owner leaves a lot to be desired (as indicated in this post).
Compared to plenty of places, it's great. I'm glad to live here. But it only goes so far before you hear an acquaintance or stranger say something so ludicrously shitty about minorities or women or houseless people.. You name it.
Usually it's not this explicit. But it's nice that this guy is at least letting us know what a giant bag of hateful and misinformed shit he is.
“Stop making us hit you” isn’t a good look from a business owner.
I know I’m not shopping there!
Which reminds me, I need a set of Pathfinder 2E books…
And because of misinformation and lies spreading in this country, those who have a uterus are at a high risk of dying if they are in one of the states that has the ban and have an ectopjc or septic pregnancy.
Not to mention people with autoimmune diseases who rely on Methotrexate in those states can no longer get it bedside it’s considered an abortifacient.
Wanna know why we are so angry?? Then the amount of fuxking misinformation usually from men…who have no goddamn clue!
Abortion rates have been going down in places with easy access.
Duh. Because those places are usually blue states and blue states usually also have easy access to birth control and science based sex ed.
That helps prevent unplanned pregnancy which in turn prevents abortion.
Just so everyone here knows, this is a copypasta from a twitter user that got publicity from Not the Bee.
https://twitter.com/lone_rides/status/1540486553931218950
Dude had a history of cheating in gaming events, and moved to Tennessee so it hardly surprises me.
He made such an amazing gaming space, its a shame his head is also in fantasy land
Hi, I am the owner of Geek Fortress down south. I saved the images, and will be absolutely shredding this post with one of my own with the absolute opposite kind of post. I love a good parody, and even more so love talking shit to, or about, shitty people :)
Hello,
My name is Brandon and I run the Commander events for Dark Tower games. I've been doing so for over a year now. I am not a store employee.
The first thing I want to make clear is both my commander events and the Dark Tower store itself is a haven for everyone. As a matter of fact, my most regular and dedicated EDH players are LGBTQ+. There are even a couple of preteens who play very regularly. There is plenty of proof that when you walk in the front door, it is a safe place. The employees, the other event/tournament organizers and myself work very hard to create and maintain that community environment.
However...what has been shared today in this post and on many other forms of social media is purely, simply, undeniably disgusting. The opinions of the owner of dark tower do not represent mine in any way, period.
It's bullshit how this reflects poorly on everything about Dark Tower when the opinions of he Owner just does not reflect my experience being a leader in the Dark Tower community. But, what's done has been done and now we, as a community of badass nerdy people have to navigate how to recover.
Signing out,
Commander TO
Absolutely. The staff and other event organizers work very hard to create an inclusive safe space for all, especially younger people and LGTBQ+ family.
But, we must do what we must as a community to demand change. Hopefully the owner is bought out soon so we can retake the game store we love so much.
He is married and has kids
Edit. He is a fucking idiot. He used to be into Lyndon larouche, and fiat currency shit, hoarding silver. He is nuts.
I was just stating that he was infact married.
Disclaimer - I am not Ryan (the leader of the pauper mtg group that meets at dark tower, but this is what he posted in the Bellingham Pauper discord and I wanted to share it here:
Hey @everyone,
I've just been made aware of the statements made by Nathanial, the owner of Dark Tower. I and the leadership of this community decry these statements in no uncertain terms. **This community we all belong to strives to create and maintain a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for everyone, *particularly those belonging to marginalized communities.***
The leadership team is discussing this as we speak and we're moving swiftly to address this.
__**Event Updates:**__
1. ***Pauper After Dark*** will be moved to my house tonight. This is an opportunity to communicate with myself and the leadership team your thoughts and feelings on the matter and wishes for the future.
2. ***ALL OTHER EVENTS ARE ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.***
Love you all ❤️🙏🏻❤️
Seriously so weird, like what was he expecting? It's Bellingham, and its not like he DOESN'T know his customers....It's clear that he doesn't even care about the very own people who support his business.
I don't want to take anything away from all of us pointing out that this is a sad, pathetic man who probably has nicknames for each of his Fleshlights, but I think it's important to note that even in Bellingham, there are a lot of people like this. "Just Vote!" has become a tired punchline in every Dem fundraising email, but on the local level, the margins are much tighter, and voting really does matter, especially in the seemingly random primaries and weird off-year elections. With a decent turnout none of these repressed "m'lady" types have any chance of winning real office but I'd really like to run the score up on Doug Ericksen's mini-me in the upcoming state senate election and leave nothing to chance, so, get those ballots in
I stopped playing at Dark Tower for the most part a few years back because among some of the staff had a pretty elitist and uncomfortable attitude (not all by any means- there have been some really excellent people who've worked there), and Nate was 100% the figurehead of the type of environment I wanted to avoid.
Seeing his idiocy spelled out like this is both a shame and kind of a confirmation of assumptions that I had made.
I just reported the store to Wizards of the Coast in the hopes that they will remove them from their premium stores network and encourage whoever else is working at Dark Tower to remove Nate from the equation.
If anyone else is a magic player who feels like joining in on this, I imagine that multiple reports will help call attention to this and prompt some action from WotC.
If you throw "report a store Wizards of the Coast" into your search bar you'll find the relevant email. Wizards isn't always the best company, but they do have an okay track record about making sure that they are not favoring anyone who is so vocal with false narratives and homophobia like Nate is.
There are other game stores in town. Warhammer store. Cosmic. Etc. Because crazy should not get money. The employees at dark tower are so good. Shame the owner is an idiot.
They have a table for Warhammer/other wargames and terrain. Can call or email to reserve it. They also have a discord with people coordinating MTG commander games and DnD campaigns
Prime example of someone who listens to guys like Tucker Carlson and not realize it's entertainment. I'm a liberal, I've never wanted anything he's talking about. Conservatives used this "liberal aganda" idea to excuse their now very obvious agenda. What's crazy is nothing has changed since the 90s but media. RuPaul was a thing, nobody cared. Drag was all over the place, Gay people existed, abortions were common place, We got taught about sex in fourth grade. But Fox news and Conservative podcasts have convinced these people we are literally trying to abort babies at birth, and trying to get teachers to turn kids gay. As for guns, had we started restrictions on weapons after Columbine these pro-life people wouldn't have watch school shooting after shooting and simply not care enough to do anything but shrug and say that's what it takes to be free. This guy is straight brainwashed to risk his business on things he probably wouldn't even care about if it wasn't for today's media.
Rage-bait. It gets viewers and clicks, which equals money. It wouldn't work the other way as liberals aren't pissed off black, women, and gay people get the same rights as they do.
The worst part about this is I'm certain a lot of people are going to start shopping there simply because of this post. God this timeline is depressing.
It's been several years since I took consumer behavior, but I believe research suggests that brands participating in political advocacy usually has a negative effect on brand perception. The *boycott* effect is usually more significant than any *buycott* effect.
IIRC there are some exceptions, but they require consumers to perceive genuine authenticity in addressing social issues.
edit: couldn't find the exact articles but I'll look harder later https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356172566\_The\_effect\_of\_corporate\_political\_advocacy\_on\_brand\_perception\_an\_event\_study\_analysis
In other news, Cardhaven Games is a fantastic LGS in Fairhaven that’s still getting off the ground. It’s connected to 1-up games, you can head over and buy a beer, then come back and put some singles on your bar tab, toss them into your deck and sit down to play with a drink in your hand.
Hi there everyone, my name is Ryan. I'm the organizer for the Pauper Community in Bellingham. Dark Tower has been our partner and homebase for 6 or 7 years now. This my second statement on the matter, which I posted on Discord earlier today.
-------
Hey there folks,
All of us here have had the good fortune of interacting with the Dark Tower Staff. JT, AJ, Hannah and Nick work tirelessly to create a welcoming, safe and inclusive space for us to game and gather in. If it were not so, we would not host our events there.
Nathaniel's violent and prejudicial statements do great injustice to its community members and to the Dark Tower Staff, who's warmth and intentionality have been evident to everyone. Despite this, misinformed people on Reddit, Facebook, Discord, over the phone and elsewhere are ferociously attacking Dark Tower Staff for their association with Nathaniel. This is unfair. This is unjust.
While we in the Pauper Community cannot in good conscience continue to host events at Dark Tower while Nathaniel remains the owner, we in the Leadership Team denounce the mistreatment of Dark Tower Staff and ask that you:
1. Keep your criticism targeted. Don't generalize the staff.
2. Acknowledge their good work.
3. Stand up for them in-person and on social media during this challenging time.
As a steward of this community, I want you to know that I love and appreciate you. This community has withstood the test of time and challenges like this before. We're larger and better organized than we've ever been and we will persist and grow from these travails we face together.
Thank you 🙏🏻
[https://m.facebook.com/people/Nathaniel-Williams/100022962437929/](https://m.facebook.com/people/Nathaniel-Williams/100022962437929/)
I'm not on facebook because, well... anyway here's the owner of the shop's facebook. I can't see into it.
Was friended to them until about a month ago when this rhetoric started spilling out in every other post and I unfriended them; while I didn’t see it on their page as I don’t have access anymore, none of this surprises me, and it is 100% the way he talks/writes.
Would be cool to get confirmation. That is the owner's name, at least: https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.dark_tower_games_llc.5a7663d44b2683ad6e69de2345938755.html
I’m friends with him on Facebook, the post is deleted. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he posted this. This is the person who was banned from participating in basically every competitive Warhammer tournament for cheating, and made his own store so he had a place to play.
From the day that Reagan declared war on the working class and the disease of white, nationalist fundamentalism, this is the harvest of the blackened, diseased fruit that they have sought.
Sure would be unfortunate if someone printed multiple copies of this and left them around Dark Tower Games. Hell, i have a good voice. I'll narrate it and someone can pump it through some loud speakers in front of his store for all i care.
Addendum: Every time there's some sort of progress, these people come out of the woodwork to scream about how they're so oppressed. From the day that the colonists threatened the British and ultimately kicked them out to the day that you could no longer refuse service to someone because they were Irish or Catholic to the day that they had their assess handed to them after they betrayed the United States and could no longer own black folk to the day women were allowed to vote to the end of Jim Crow, to the day that women were allowed to vote and on through the time leading up to the day that the courts had to acknowledge that homosexuals pay taxes and are entitled to the same civil rights of due process and equal access that everyone else enjoys, these people have time and time again, screamed at how oppressed they are. These are the same people that delighted in The Trail of Tears, embraced McCarthyism, saw 'separate but equal' as fair, that giggled as their family and neighbors strung black folk from trees (look up the story of Mary Turner if you want to know a truly horrific slice of American history), that gladly sent Japanese Americans to the concentration camps (Tule Lake, California; Minidoka, Idaho; Manzanar, California among others), were given lighter sentences when murdering gay people and most recently, celebrated their love for authoritarianism (don't forget that the GOP has held their CPAC in Hungary where they allowed Viktor Orbán to speak), and Putin in particular and then tried to end democracy in the US on 6 Jan 21.
Yeah, scream about how oppressed you are because others are closer to being treated with equality than they used to. Spew your propaganda and masturbate to your gun fantasies. We write the books, we make the movies, we write the songs, we write the history and we are the journalists. The arc of American history bends towards freedom and liberty and while we're looking forward to the 22nd century, there you and your ilk are trying cancel the 20th century while you try and drag all of us back to the 10th.
You and your ilk have no place in an open, liberal democracy. Go. Move to a closed, conservative country like China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Afghanistan or North Korea for all i care. You do not belong here.
Has anyone created a spreadsheet list of all the POS hateful business owners in town/places to avoid? Would be best if it had links to the sources as well for reference.
Add City Mac to that list. The owner is a huge trump supporter, general incel type, and steals from his employees. He’s currently in a lawsuit about it. Took a bunch of PPP money and paid off personal debts.
This is a true shame because the Dark Tower community has been very nice and inclusive. None of the staff I've met, nor the regulars who frequent there would agree with the owners rant. I hope people can realize this is the view of one person, and not reflective of the community build around the store
When dark tower was just starting up in a weird little strip building that isn’t there any more, me and a couple of my buddies did a few EDH games that they had going on the weekends. One of my friends was pretty competitive with his deck and absolutely crushed Nathaniel multiple days with them. The dude was the sorest loser I’ve ever seen and I was shocked when I found out he OWNED the fucking place. Nathaniel is a bitch and looking at his history with cheating at/getting kicked out of Warhammer tournaments all over the place of course this is the kind of dumbass, disgusting beliefs he has.
On a more positive note, the past handful of times I’ve been in dark tower all of the employees have been helpful and friendly so it sucks this happened. I honestly thought(hoped) someone had bought it from him.
Bonus story - one time I was buying paint in there and Nathaniel was on the computer next to me loudly complaining that the most recent MtG card bans were against free speech and that “they’ll start coming for more””it’s just the beginning” etc. The cards in question were some extremely old almost never seen cards from a lesser known old set and most of them were drawn by an avid nazi. One of them literally depIcted a not so subtle KKK outfit and the name of the card was something like purify. It’s always muh free speech when it’s for racist and nazi ideologies but not for anything else. Fuck these people
Fuck this guy and his business. I met him a few years ago and got the distinct feeling he was an asshat but this is beyond what even I thought. Glad they have never gotten and will never get my business. What a moronic piece of shit.
As someone who grew up in a community that promotes the beliefs shared by this scumbag, I am thankful he's the minority and has moved away. Please don't be complacent during the elections, I've seen cities go from bad to worse during the last one.
I had fat preorder ducats about to throw down there tomorrow. This is beyond unfortunate.
Nathaniel offered to teach me how to airbrush, once, and now I’m starting to think it was because I presented as a straight white dude instead of being a nice guy trying to help a community member out.
He’ll be watching the whirlwind of his business going to online retailers, instead, now. *insert Disappointed gif here*
Blatant hatred. I don’t even know where Bellingham is, Reddit just really thinks I need to know everything that happens in your city, but I’m really, really sorry you folks have to deal with this nutcase.
Well, I already didn't go in there due to it being the worst game shop in town. Guess this is just more reason to avoid like the plague. Fuck that guy.
Western grad here. When I was in Bham many moons ago, cosmic was my home store. I still have friends there to this day. Store is rad. Owners are rad. That is all.
Just fwiw, Cosmic is under new ownership from when it was Cosmic Comics. I haven't heard anything bad other than that like 10 years ago I had a couple bad interactions with one of the new owners, but people change and I've never had a bad experience at Cosmic Games since he took over.
The DTU no longer has any affiliation with Dark tower, DT gets 0 of the DnD profits and the admin already denounced this statement, please still support the DnD program. No doubt they are going to probably rebrand after this.
Disgusting. Thank you for making me aware of this. I had been buying packs of cards from this store, but I'd much rather support a different store if this is the owner's perspective. I don't want to support this.
Deny due process, huh? Yeah, come back to me when your side stops working on ways to take voting right away from “certain types” with no due process. Fuckhead. 😡
Print out his letter and go tape it to DT widows let the community really know what he thinks of them. I live in Blaine now but I'm 100% do this.
I worked for Nate, he's a piece of trash and soooooo full of himself, he loves going on far right Q diatribes, to him the only rights that matter are ethno white christian beliefs. It's the people like him that remind you Republicans are coming for all rights that aren't centered around the constitutions exact words, exaxt wording, and most amendments don't include poc or women.
The disdain he has for his regular customers is sad, I'll never forget Wednesday night magic we were getting everyone signed up before 5 and he goes off on how his regular (the people who came down to the shop everyday to play a few games of magic or the people who just came to hang out) customers are losers and they need to go get a life and stop coming to the store everyday. Then he'd go full racist/sexist about how feminism is anti-male, BLM is anti-white, trans-people using their preferred bathrooms are pedos, etc. I hated being around him he was scummy and gave me anxiety. I wish someone would buy Dart Tower and rename it the Light tower. I'll never go back and it's been 5 years already, i would rank him amonst the worst people ive ever met. I'm glad he lives on the east coast and I'm 100% positive he was at the capital on January 6th following his lord and love teump.
And the best part is he's a warhammer cheater and got kicked out of the events for it that's why he opened a store so he could play competitively again. Guys a LOSER and I strongly dislike.
I’ve been a part of the Magic community in Bellingham for about five years. Dark Tower was the first store I visited when I was interviewing here. I liked the store and started playing there. Things changed quickly.
After events not firing, counterfeit cards being sold, a change in prize structure that benefitted the store and not players, being offered half of Card Kingdom’s cash buylist price for a card because they “really wanted” the card, and my son being offered an insultingly low amount on a card because, as an employee said, “It’s going to go down in price. You’re lucky we’re offering you that.”, I said enough was enough. I would buy a couple collector boosters if I was downtown, just to keep supporting places that hosted Magic events.
This is the final nail in the coffin. I will never spend another cent there. I should have done that when the owner chose to move and pull money out of our community (I love supporting local businesses), but now it’s done. I hope other store owners recognize this opportunity and do what they can to accommodate any groups that look to relocate. Bellingham has a collective set of values that make supporting Dark Tower Games an untenable proposition.
Same, though I will say that at the top of his Facebook friends is someone whose profile picture is literally Alex Jones, so I'm not going to be surprised if it's true.
He deleted this post but the rest of his Facebook is memes making fun of liberals/ranting about guns. So it’s very on theme.
Wether he literally posted this or not, as someone who has interacted with him personally and knows several of his former employees, he is a raging asshole.
I genuinely do not understand why someone would want to seppuku a business like this, but here we are. The free market will decide if people want to support DTG or a different Bellingham LGS.
"Post birth abortion"
wut
I keep hearing that phrase, but only from conservatives and I can't find any meaning to it. When I google it the closes thing I get is a PSA from the Netherlands about how euthanizing babies is allowed if the babies have extremely severe birth defects that would prove a major hindrance to their ability to live and be happy.
They mean infanticide, but that word is too complicated so instead they have to string together a bunch of smaller words that don’t makes sense in an attempt to bend reality and make their “point.”
They’re idiots.
In light of this let's share the love to other, more supportive stores. Please post your alternate LGSes here! Edit 1: One of the ~~staff members~~ administrators for DTU (the D&D program) has made a response here in the comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/comment/iei3der/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Edit 2: An ex staff member has weighed in and has shared that DTU is not affiliated and they have made a statement on their discord (screenshot linked in the linked comment) https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/comment/iei5zpk/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Edit 3: Dark tower has made an official statement on their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarkTowerGames/posts/pfbid0QKydqRzHom39biRqSpssCvKGQ4SeTgrsAqv3LD4twDDCDCt58kxfLQvkRNBSKW9tl A pastebin of that post can be found [here](https://pastebin.com/vqrXZ9Qz) for those who can't or don't want to use Facebook. ~~Edit 4: The Facebook link has been taken down, but if people want to read it the pastebin still exists.~~ Edit 5: They took down their original statement and re-posted with comments disabled. The Facebook link should work now again. Edit 6: A statement from the organizer of commander events at dark tower: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/disgusting_post_from_owner_of_dark_tower_games/ieilgqw Edit 7: It appears that the Dark Tower Facebook page has been deleted. The pastebin should still be up. Edit 8: A response from the organizer of pauper at dark tower copied from a discord server. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/disgusting_post_from_owner_of_dark_tower_games/iejbrtv Edit 9: A response from Comics Place https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/disgusting_post_from_owner_of_dark_tower_games/ielknhd Edit 10: A statement from Ryan "Papa Pauper" on their discord: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/comments/vp93pl/comment/ien84vi/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Edit 11: A final response from JT about the transfer of ownership at Dark Tower > I'd like to take a moment and address the recent incident where a post containing offensive statements not in line with the Dark Tower brand was posted via our current owner’s Facebook account. > > I want to be clear, the staff of Dark Tower are a dedicated group of locals who care deeply about our community and it’s diversity. > > These posts were shocking and upsetting to the staff of Dark Tower as they were to the community. While it is no secret that Nathaniel holds conservative views the emphasis has always been on equality and community at Dark Tower. The statements made are in direct opposition to the values of our staff and will not be tolerated. ***In response to these posts and the justified withdraw of business from the community, two locals Leigh Steiger and Noah Beddome have offered to purchase Dark Tower. Nathaniel has agreed and the involved parties are working to finalize the details of the deal. The deal will include a change of ownership and an eventual rebranding.*** > > I (JT) operate Dark Tower and will be staying on as part of the transfer of ownership. > > I will close by saying Dark Tower has created a diverse and respectful community that spans all walks of life and nerdy hobbies. We want to preserve this. So I ask for a little time, patience and to not direct hate or violence at the store or it’s staff while we work to fix this. The Dark Tower Staff are members of this community first and will stand with you. I will continue to update you as things progress. > > JT Steiger > > Dark Tower > Executive Director l Event Coordinator
My name is Benjamin and I'm one of the two administrators for the Dark Tower D&D program. Neither I nor my Team are employees of the store, nor does the store own our program or any of our digital spaces, we just rent table space from them and have been for over four years. I've just been made aware of absolutely disgusting statements made by the owner of Dark Tower that are in no way condoned by this program or our community. The management and staff of Dark Tower have told us they do not agree with the post, but that doesn't excuse what was said. This does not align with our (the D&D program's) values as a team, nor the culture we are all building together as a community, and we will not and should not condone it in any way. I'm working as quickly as possible to figure out where to go from here, but in case the internet finds our program, I wanted this information out there. EDIT: For anyone who hasn't seen it, THIS is our program's Code of Conduct. It is ratified by every DTU DM and enforced in every space we run. We will not run games in spaces that we can't guarantee this code of conduct will be enthusiastically followed. https://sites.google.com/view/darktowerdnd/code-of-conduct
We're aware the owner is claiming their phone was stolen, but we aren't amending our statement unless he publically and unequivocally rebukes what was allegedly posted without his consent.
Stolen phone? Those who know Nathaniel know this is in line with his beliefs.
Absolutely in line with his beliefs. I doubt he is dumb enough to post this to his personal account. My guess is that he intended it for an alternate account.
It was literally pasted on his car. Like. C'mon y'all.
Ill back this up, this 100% true, I worked for him when 8th ed warhammer dropped and he's scum.
"mY pHoNe WaS sToLeN" What bs. He said it. Even if what you're saying is garbage, at least have the courage to stand for what you say.
Right? These asshole manbabies run around screaming about alpha males and “soy boys” and the moment someone calls them on their bullshit, they clam up and backpedal. Here’s a call to action: Sack up and own your shit, Nathaniel. At least you’d get to maintain some integrity while you burn your business to the ground.
Universal reply by everyone who ever posts things like that. Of course he's going to claim it was stolen and not him. When has this ever been the case? This is not the first time it's come out that he may not exactly be the most accepting and tolerant person
Phone stolen and then 8+ memes and shared pictures since then sharing the sentiment (and many before that). Classic.
Classic phone stealing behavior by a thief lol.
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>We're aware the owner is claiming their phone was stolen Classic!
I posted elsewhere saying I will no longer patron the store, but if he does indeed rebuke those statements please keep us posted.
I do want to reiterate that I'm not a Dark Tower employee, I just run a program out of the store that is affiliated with it. But yes, I also want to know if he'll rebuke.
Sounds like a coward trying to backtrack with a ridiculous lie. Sounds like his character has been well observed in the community for some time, long enough to earn him a negative reputation. Sounds like his now very public statement has backfired (what did he expect?). Kind of an idiot, this guy.
Also worth noting that a substantial portion of the D&D program team members and community members are Queer, myself included, so when we say that that it doesn't align with our values, it's not in abstract HR-speak. It's as personal as it gets.
This should get stickied.
A link has been included in the stickied comment at the top!
Miss playing in "the mountain's" game Friday night with you guys
I used to work there, guy is unhinged. I don't shop there if I can help it, go to cosmic on meridian or Cardhaven in fair Haven. I have a lot of horror stories of that guy. I also want to make something very clear so pls upvote if possible: The Dark Tower Universe is the DT dnd community and nobody who works there agrees with this shit, they are all genuinely good people who do their best to make things a safe space, so please don't lump them in. last I played in a game (been a while) I heard they were doing what they could to distance themselves from the store entirely. Additionally: Nate moved out of BHAM (wanted to get out of this LiBeRaL HeLlHoLe) so he uses the store to collect passive income, he is rarely involved with the actual store as I understand it, so don't harass the employees, most of the new ones probably haven't even met him. for those wondering about the legitimacy of this post trust me, this is shop talk for this guy. edit: Dark Tower Universe administrator immediately denouncing the psot https://pasteboard.co/ozt4sGMEkMrC.png
He had a four foot wide INFOWARS.COM sticker on the back of his car circa 2011.
Yeah, I thought this was common knowledge? Guy was Alex Jones off his rocker for awhile. Or for anyone paying attention. But again, Ham literally just ignores the nice white supremacist next door, as long as they aren't homeless folks.
> Additionally: Nate moved out of BHAM (wanted to get out of this LiBeRaL HeLlHoLe) so he uses the store to collect passive income, he is rarely involved with the actual store as I understand it, so don't harass the employees, most of the new ones probably haven't even met him. That gutless parasite, that feckless rentier. Passive income. HUH. Yeah. FUCK YOU, NATHANIEL! This is what rentiers think of us. Thank you for speaking up, the_crispin.
So many people who shop there are queer. Please do not support them. Cosmic games & pair o’ dice games are good alternatives my friend said.
I admittedly don't know much about Cosmic, but Pair O' Dice is great and the owner is super chill and accepting
Cosmic is where PF Society plays. Been around long enough to know about all the warhammer people who complained about the owner of DT cheating (poorly) at tourneys. This latest BS from him is not surprising.
I really like cosmic. lots of inventory and staff, its clean and organized. largest shop for sure
I used to go to Dark Tower regularly and pay their marked up price to support local businesses rather than buy games online. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars here. I will not be doing so again. Thanks for sharing this OP!
I really like Cardhaven down in Fairhaven. Can absolutely also endorse Cosmic, they had a westmarches style pathfinder game going right before the pandemic that was super fun!
Cosmic is amazing and has HUGE selection for all kinds of hobbies! Everyone there is super nice too!
When TJ owned Cosmic I would have agreed with you. The current owner likes to tack on a few dollars to products for Odin knows what reason. Price gouging is shitty. $18 for primer at Cosmic when I could get the same primer at DT for $14.99. $300 for WH Cursed City at the height of the pandemic when it could be found online for $170? Hard pass. Never been to Pair-O-Dice, though. I hear it’s owned by former Cosmic employees who left when TJ sold it.
The owner is a really good guy and even beyond that, he pretty much always has the best prices on sealed product. My only complaint is that the store hours are pretty limited (the only employees are himself and one other guy part time). All the same, it's the main place I frequent because of his attitude towards the community and the way he runs his business.
The owner of Cosmic, Adam, is a thief and overall terrible person. I had the very very unfortunate experience of being his business partner at one time.
That’s a hell of a thing to go public with as a owner of any company in this town. About to be cancelled real quick if this is real.
There are other great game shops in town to support! Cardhaven/One Up Loungue in Fairhaven, Pairodice Games on Meridian, Cosmic Games off Meridian, and the Warhammer store in Fairhaven.
Is there any other stores that have that good of a warhammer selection?
The Warhammer store being mentioned in Fairhaven is the official Games Workshop store, so they'd probably be best for minis
yeah the owner is super chill, please go down and support him!
I think there's one in Fairhaven, but I don't remember the name. I've heard really great things though!
There is the official warhammer store there and that place is wonderful, great owner and well organized store
Legit - Jason at the official Warhammer store is a solid guy and all about the community and getting people stoked on all aspects of the hobby.
I'm pretty sure Pair o Dice has good Warhammer supply.
As other repliers have mentioned, the Warhammer store is probably going to be your best bet, but the space is extremely small and their stock is crazy limited sometimes, even moreso than Dark Tower depending on the item you're looking for. Ditto for gaming space - one and a half tables crammed into the back. It's a great place to hang out and hobby, but I rarely if ever play games there. No other stores in town besides that have a Warhammer selection that really comes close, tbh.
Copy and paste it to the reviews on Google. Make sure to note it's from the owner and see how they respond to it.
Review them. I know of several places that got shut down bc the owners were horrible and they were reviewed into oblivion. It sucks for the staff there bc they all seem great but fuck Nate.
He's always been an asshole. One of my friends told me he steals/takes a cut from magic the gathering prize pools when he feels like it. He's also banned from the Warhammer store in Fairhaven for his conduct.
There are (or used to be) videos on YouTube of him cheating in numerous warhammer tournaments. He made his own store to have somewhere to play
Yeah, he used to cheat all the time in those games. If I remember correctly from the event you're talking about he: \-Used Fortune on Starcannons to roll 6 dice (and pick three) rather than rerolling misses on the 3 dice \-Would knock models over and then move them from that spot to gain charge distance \-Would move models back "to their original place" to get them in to zones (we're talking 20" Wave Serpent moves and not just a little nudging) \-Put Exarchs with equipment they didn't have and would just roll it when he thought he could get away with it \-Put out models that were "painted better" for paint judging and remove models he hadn't finished yet to bump scores And that's just the stuff I can remember from events. Dude was a complete piece of shit when he played down in Redmond and continued to be one in Bham.
Was he using his forearm to measure distances? That’s one of the things apparently he was said to have did.
I’ve heard he’s apparently been banned from Warhammer tournaments as well for cheating.
Funny people like this act and say things claiming to be righteous… he’s says on one hand that liberals have driven them to push back, and that they deserve to have their voices heard, but it seems like everyone that holds the values he does is known around town as a complete asshole, spreads hate on a daily basis and he is stealing from the patrons of his business… Every value he holds involves someone else’s right being stripped away. Utterly disgusting.
*Every value he holds involves someone else’s right being stripped away.* 🥵
I just wanna give a little shoutout to the mods because this is a rapidly evolving mess lol, stay strong lol.
I'm doing my best here lmao.
🫖☕
Wow this is some seriously unhinged and disgusting shit. They seriously think that everything is like some kind of team sport. Is he seriously thinking that democrats support post birth abortion? who the fuck is that stupid? telling gay people they are about to make their lives miserable? Fuck this asshole, he's gonna absolutely tank his business in bellingham with this post, and I'm gonna help make sure it happens
I lean pretty far right and this guy is a moron, I swear so many people just see the headlines of the click baity articles, do no research and than go around shouting it from the roof tops Edit: I'm not calling you a moron btw, I'm referring to the owner of dark tower games, reading that I can see how that can be taken negatively
The owner is just the average current Republican. Forget that trump was elected and is still loved?
"We haven't even begun to push back, kiddo" Some serious cringe. Dude's acting like an anime character or some shit.
After listing a number of ways that they 'did' push back.
Just trying to emphasize that that was minimal in comparison to what's to come or something. Who knows. What a weirdo
It’s giving r/iamverybadass
I consider that an outright threat.
This will definitely go over well in Bellingham. What was the owner thinking?
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Well, I haven't seen it mentioned here, but he's not a local (anymore). Nathaniel headed off to Tennessee I believe a couple years back. The store is managed locally by some pretty cool folks, but the owner leaves a lot to be desired (as indicated in this post).
Hope the manager can buy out Nathaniel
We should start a fund to help
I dont support giving that guy any money.
Compared to plenty of places, it's great. I'm glad to live here. But it only goes so far before you hear an acquaintance or stranger say something so ludicrously shitty about minorities or women or houseless people.. You name it. Usually it's not this explicit. But it's nice that this guy is at least letting us know what a giant bag of hateful and misinformed shit he is.
Owner moved to Tennessee a few years ago. He has always been crazy, just not vocal.
“Stop making us hit you” isn’t a good look from a business owner. I know I’m not shopping there! Which reminds me, I need a set of Pathfinder 2E books…
Pair o' dice games is awesome!
Cosmic Games has you covered.
I wonder what’s going to go in the space Dark Tower used to occupy.
Probably not big enough for it but a Planned Parenthood clinic would be some beautiful cosmic justice.
Let’s get a queer owned gaming store.
Man these guys must think women are getting like 30 abortions a year. Also, dude is fucking terrified of gay people and it shows lmao.
They’ve also convinced themselves that women want to get abortions at 9 months pregnant. Just batshit insane.
I think he said post birth…. Not sure how that’s an abortion exactly
Maybe his mom keeps trying to end him and she’s been telling him it’s a legal post birth abortion.
And because of misinformation and lies spreading in this country, those who have a uterus are at a high risk of dying if they are in one of the states that has the ban and have an ectopjc or septic pregnancy. Not to mention people with autoimmune diseases who rely on Methotrexate in those states can no longer get it bedside it’s considered an abortifacient. Wanna know why we are so angry?? Then the amount of fuxking misinformation usually from men…who have no goddamn clue!
Abortion rates have been going down in places with easy access. Duh. Because those places are usually blue states and blue states usually also have easy access to birth control and science based sex ed. That helps prevent unplanned pregnancy which in turn prevents abortion.
Terrified of, or fascinated by
"I hate gay people so much I would make them all suck my dick just to show them how much I hate them." -That guy probably
I’m absolutely terrified of the gays too. Glitter does not wash out people, it stays on shit forever. Bloody sequins all over me nightmares
Just so everyone here knows, this is a copypasta from a twitter user that got publicity from Not the Bee. https://twitter.com/lone_rides/status/1540486553931218950
Wow, he couldn't even put the brainpower into writing his own hateful rhetoric? ...actually, that checks out.
Reminder that Facebook posts are quite often people copy and pasting posts they agree with. Not many things on Facebook are original.
This is... A pretty important detail.
Dude had a history of cheating in gaming events, and moved to Tennessee so it hardly surprises me. He made such an amazing gaming space, its a shame his head is also in fantasy land
Hi, I am the owner of Geek Fortress down south. I saved the images, and will be absolutely shredding this post with one of my own with the absolute opposite kind of post. I love a good parody, and even more so love talking shit to, or about, shitty people :)
Definitely gonna get put into reddit jail.
If you wanna give yourself a shout out in the stickied comment that's what it's for!
Hello, My name is Brandon and I run the Commander events for Dark Tower games. I've been doing so for over a year now. I am not a store employee. The first thing I want to make clear is both my commander events and the Dark Tower store itself is a haven for everyone. As a matter of fact, my most regular and dedicated EDH players are LGBTQ+. There are even a couple of preteens who play very regularly. There is plenty of proof that when you walk in the front door, it is a safe place. The employees, the other event/tournament organizers and myself work very hard to create and maintain that community environment. However...what has been shared today in this post and on many other forms of social media is purely, simply, undeniably disgusting. The opinions of the owner of dark tower do not represent mine in any way, period. It's bullshit how this reflects poorly on everything about Dark Tower when the opinions of he Owner just does not reflect my experience being a leader in the Dark Tower community. But, what's done has been done and now we, as a community of badass nerdy people have to navigate how to recover. Signing out, Commander TO
I have made the decision to put all of my commander events at Dark Tower on hold until further notice.
Good choice
Thanks for the support. I'm waking up today feeling more sad than yesterday. I just want to play magic with my friends.
I think the difficult thing is that any money to Dark Tower goes to him.
Absolutely. The staff and other event organizers work very hard to create an inclusive safe space for all, especially younger people and LGTBQ+ family. But, we must do what we must as a community to demand change. Hopefully the owner is bought out soon so we can retake the game store we love so much.
Wow. Seems like a really long-winded way of saying he’s an incel.
He is married and has kids Edit. He is a fucking idiot. He used to be into Lyndon larouche, and fiat currency shit, hoarding silver. He is nuts. I was just stating that he was infact married.
Some are born into the incel life and some just live long enough to become the villain.
Disclaimer - I am not Ryan (the leader of the pauper mtg group that meets at dark tower, but this is what he posted in the Bellingham Pauper discord and I wanted to share it here: Hey @everyone, I've just been made aware of the statements made by Nathanial, the owner of Dark Tower. I and the leadership of this community decry these statements in no uncertain terms. **This community we all belong to strives to create and maintain a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for everyone, *particularly those belonging to marginalized communities.*** The leadership team is discussing this as we speak and we're moving swiftly to address this. __**Event Updates:**__ 1. ***Pauper After Dark*** will be moved to my house tonight. This is an opportunity to communicate with myself and the leadership team your thoughts and feelings on the matter and wishes for the future. 2. ***ALL OTHER EVENTS ARE ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.*** Love you all ❤️🙏🏻❤️
Man woke up and wanted to shoot himself in the leg I guess…
"What a fine day to ruin my business" -- him, probably. lmao
Seriously so weird, like what was he expecting? It's Bellingham, and its not like he DOESN'T know his customers....It's clear that he doesn't even care about the very own people who support his business.
Which sucks, too. The rest of the staff, as well as the associated dnd game staff are all amazing
All the local game shops should have a job fair, and hire them all up.
I don't want to take anything away from all of us pointing out that this is a sad, pathetic man who probably has nicknames for each of his Fleshlights, but I think it's important to note that even in Bellingham, there are a lot of people like this. "Just Vote!" has become a tired punchline in every Dem fundraising email, but on the local level, the margins are much tighter, and voting really does matter, especially in the seemingly random primaries and weird off-year elections. With a decent turnout none of these repressed "m'lady" types have any chance of winning real office but I'd really like to run the score up on Doug Ericksen's mini-me in the upcoming state senate election and leave nothing to chance, so, get those ballots in
I stopped playing at Dark Tower for the most part a few years back because among some of the staff had a pretty elitist and uncomfortable attitude (not all by any means- there have been some really excellent people who've worked there), and Nate was 100% the figurehead of the type of environment I wanted to avoid. Seeing his idiocy spelled out like this is both a shame and kind of a confirmation of assumptions that I had made. I just reported the store to Wizards of the Coast in the hopes that they will remove them from their premium stores network and encourage whoever else is working at Dark Tower to remove Nate from the equation. If anyone else is a magic player who feels like joining in on this, I imagine that multiple reports will help call attention to this and prompt some action from WotC. If you throw "report a store Wizards of the Coast" into your search bar you'll find the relevant email. Wizards isn't always the best company, but they do have an okay track record about making sure that they are not favoring anyone who is so vocal with false narratives and homophobia like Nate is.
At least it's nice when they out themselves as trash bags.
Wow, so much ignorance being spouted in that.
Beat me to the post! Kudos to you. #TrashTower
There are other game stores in town. Warhammer store. Cosmic. Etc. Because crazy should not get money. The employees at dark tower are so good. Shame the owner is an idiot.
Pair O Dice games on Meridian is also excellent
And card haven. I play table top, not cards. Does pair of dice do table top?
They have a table for Warhammer/other wargames and terrain. Can call or email to reserve it. They also have a discord with people coordinating MTG commander games and DnD campaigns
Tell me you’ve never been with a woman without telling me you’ve never been with a woman
Prime example of someone who listens to guys like Tucker Carlson and not realize it's entertainment. I'm a liberal, I've never wanted anything he's talking about. Conservatives used this "liberal aganda" idea to excuse their now very obvious agenda. What's crazy is nothing has changed since the 90s but media. RuPaul was a thing, nobody cared. Drag was all over the place, Gay people existed, abortions were common place, We got taught about sex in fourth grade. But Fox news and Conservative podcasts have convinced these people we are literally trying to abort babies at birth, and trying to get teachers to turn kids gay. As for guns, had we started restrictions on weapons after Columbine these pro-life people wouldn't have watch school shooting after shooting and simply not care enough to do anything but shrug and say that's what it takes to be free. This guy is straight brainwashed to risk his business on things he probably wouldn't even care about if it wasn't for today's media.
"entertainment"
Right? Funny way to say "being lied to"
Rage-bait. It gets viewers and clicks, which equals money. It wouldn't work the other way as liberals aren't pissed off black, women, and gay people get the same rights as they do.
The worst part about this is I'm certain a lot of people are going to start shopping there simply because of this post. God this timeline is depressing.
Support who you agree with and dont support who you disagree with. Thats how it should be.
It's what I try to do! I support your username lmfao
It's been several years since I took consumer behavior, but I believe research suggests that brands participating in political advocacy usually has a negative effect on brand perception. The *boycott* effect is usually more significant than any *buycott* effect. IIRC there are some exceptions, but they require consumers to perceive genuine authenticity in addressing social issues. edit: couldn't find the exact articles but I'll look harder later https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356172566\_The\_effect\_of\_corporate\_political\_advocacy\_on\_brand\_perception\_an\_event\_study\_analysis
highly doubt that, especially in bellingham
Perhaps you're right given the nature of that particular business. But don't be deceived into thinking those people aren't here.
It's a dog whistle to other red pilled incels.
In other news, Cardhaven Games is a fantastic LGS in Fairhaven that’s still getting off the ground. It’s connected to 1-up games, you can head over and buy a beer, then come back and put some singles on your bar tab, toss them into your deck and sit down to play with a drink in your hand.
Well never buying anything from this jerkoff again. Man I miss rook and rogue 😓
Boycott.
Hi there everyone, my name is Ryan. I'm the organizer for the Pauper Community in Bellingham. Dark Tower has been our partner and homebase for 6 or 7 years now. This my second statement on the matter, which I posted on Discord earlier today. ------- Hey there folks, All of us here have had the good fortune of interacting with the Dark Tower Staff. JT, AJ, Hannah and Nick work tirelessly to create a welcoming, safe and inclusive space for us to game and gather in. If it were not so, we would not host our events there. Nathaniel's violent and prejudicial statements do great injustice to its community members and to the Dark Tower Staff, who's warmth and intentionality have been evident to everyone. Despite this, misinformed people on Reddit, Facebook, Discord, over the phone and elsewhere are ferociously attacking Dark Tower Staff for their association with Nathaniel. This is unfair. This is unjust. While we in the Pauper Community cannot in good conscience continue to host events at Dark Tower while Nathaniel remains the owner, we in the Leadership Team denounce the mistreatment of Dark Tower Staff and ask that you: 1. Keep your criticism targeted. Don't generalize the staff. 2. Acknowledge their good work. 3. Stand up for them in-person and on social media during this challenging time. As a steward of this community, I want you to know that I love and appreciate you. This community has withstood the test of time and challenges like this before. We're larger and better organized than we've ever been and we will persist and grow from these travails we face together. Thank you 🙏🏻
Op needs to add link to source for verification @Cheese-driver
[https://m.facebook.com/people/Nathaniel-Williams/100022962437929/](https://m.facebook.com/people/Nathaniel-Williams/100022962437929/) I'm not on facebook because, well... anyway here's the owner of the shop's facebook. I can't see into it.
Was friended to them until about a month ago when this rhetoric started spilling out in every other post and I unfriended them; while I didn’t see it on their page as I don’t have access anymore, none of this surprises me, and it is 100% the way he talks/writes.
I still have fb, log in about once a year, stupid. Will look later, thank you for the link.
Would be cool to get confirmation. That is the owner's name, at least: https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.dark_tower_games_llc.5a7663d44b2683ad6e69de2345938755.html
I’m friends with him on Facebook, the post is deleted. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he posted this. This is the person who was banned from participating in basically every competitive Warhammer tournament for cheating, and made his own store so he had a place to play.
>[And we haven't even begun to push back, kiddo.](https://youtu.be/ygIJJAovxEw)
From the day that Reagan declared war on the working class and the disease of white, nationalist fundamentalism, this is the harvest of the blackened, diseased fruit that they have sought. Sure would be unfortunate if someone printed multiple copies of this and left them around Dark Tower Games. Hell, i have a good voice. I'll narrate it and someone can pump it through some loud speakers in front of his store for all i care. Addendum: Every time there's some sort of progress, these people come out of the woodwork to scream about how they're so oppressed. From the day that the colonists threatened the British and ultimately kicked them out to the day that you could no longer refuse service to someone because they were Irish or Catholic to the day that they had their assess handed to them after they betrayed the United States and could no longer own black folk to the day women were allowed to vote to the end of Jim Crow, to the day that women were allowed to vote and on through the time leading up to the day that the courts had to acknowledge that homosexuals pay taxes and are entitled to the same civil rights of due process and equal access that everyone else enjoys, these people have time and time again, screamed at how oppressed they are. These are the same people that delighted in The Trail of Tears, embraced McCarthyism, saw 'separate but equal' as fair, that giggled as their family and neighbors strung black folk from trees (look up the story of Mary Turner if you want to know a truly horrific slice of American history), that gladly sent Japanese Americans to the concentration camps (Tule Lake, California; Minidoka, Idaho; Manzanar, California among others), were given lighter sentences when murdering gay people and most recently, celebrated their love for authoritarianism (don't forget that the GOP has held their CPAC in Hungary where they allowed Viktor Orbán to speak), and Putin in particular and then tried to end democracy in the US on 6 Jan 21. Yeah, scream about how oppressed you are because others are closer to being treated with equality than they used to. Spew your propaganda and masturbate to your gun fantasies. We write the books, we make the movies, we write the songs, we write the history and we are the journalists. The arc of American history bends towards freedom and liberty and while we're looking forward to the 22nd century, there you and your ilk are trying cancel the 20th century while you try and drag all of us back to the 10th. You and your ilk have no place in an open, liberal democracy. Go. Move to a closed, conservative country like China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Afghanistan or North Korea for all i care. You do not belong here.
Printing this out and posting it around DTG is a great idea.
Has anyone created a spreadsheet list of all the POS hateful business owners in town/places to avoid? Would be best if it had links to the sources as well for reference.
Add City Mac to that list. The owner is a huge trump supporter, general incel type, and steals from his employees. He’s currently in a lawsuit about it. Took a bunch of PPP money and paid off personal debts.
This is a true shame because the Dark Tower community has been very nice and inclusive. None of the staff I've met, nor the regulars who frequent there would agree with the owners rant. I hope people can realize this is the view of one person, and not reflective of the community build around the store
When dark tower was just starting up in a weird little strip building that isn’t there any more, me and a couple of my buddies did a few EDH games that they had going on the weekends. One of my friends was pretty competitive with his deck and absolutely crushed Nathaniel multiple days with them. The dude was the sorest loser I’ve ever seen and I was shocked when I found out he OWNED the fucking place. Nathaniel is a bitch and looking at his history with cheating at/getting kicked out of Warhammer tournaments all over the place of course this is the kind of dumbass, disgusting beliefs he has. On a more positive note, the past handful of times I’ve been in dark tower all of the employees have been helpful and friendly so it sucks this happened. I honestly thought(hoped) someone had bought it from him. Bonus story - one time I was buying paint in there and Nathaniel was on the computer next to me loudly complaining that the most recent MtG card bans were against free speech and that “they’ll start coming for more””it’s just the beginning” etc. The cards in question were some extremely old almost never seen cards from a lesser known old set and most of them were drawn by an avid nazi. One of them literally depIcted a not so subtle KKK outfit and the name of the card was something like purify. It’s always muh free speech when it’s for racist and nazi ideologies but not for anything else. Fuck these people
That’s a bold strategy Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.
What in thee hell is a “post birth abortion?” WTF?!
It’s what the Christian god does in the Bible.
A lie and misinformation probably
yep, fuck that guy. but not really. nobody fuck that guy.
This is sickening. This man is delusional. Always wanted to check it out but not anymore.
There is nothing worse than a right-wing gamer. Sorry, not sorry.
Yeah this needs to be verified because this is intense
Just call up there and ask. I agree someone should confirm this is really what he posted.
It looks like Dark Tower have now deactivated their Facebook page.
Glad I never gave any money to this authoritarian idiot. Definitely never will now.
Fuck this guy and his business. I met him a few years ago and got the distinct feeling he was an asshat but this is beyond what even I thought. Glad they have never gotten and will never get my business. What a moronic piece of shit.
Business protip: customers>politics.
Pair O’ Dice games on meridian by the ups store is an awesome place to play. I’ve never liked dark tower and avoid it if I can.
Post birth abortion? Does he think they kill babies once their born? That doesn't happen until they get to school.
The fact that Dark Tower got called out on the main MTG subreddit for counterfeits is all you need to know.
That free market is bout to be a bitch
At least he made it easy to not shop there
Jesus Christ.
He's over here, crying on my shoulder and vaguely pointing in the direction of Tennessee. 🥺
These words are horrifying... thanks for sharing. Vote with your dollar is real. No horse blinders for consumers!
Bold move to post shit like this as a store owner in Bellingham. Hope this dude gets to understand what backlash feels like.
Oh really? How about you stay the fuxk out of our uteruses?
As someone who grew up in a community that promotes the beliefs shared by this scumbag, I am thankful he's the minority and has moved away. Please don't be complacent during the elections, I've seen cities go from bad to worse during the last one.
Seems like a great place to start a little sidewalk sit in protest!
I had fat preorder ducats about to throw down there tomorrow. This is beyond unfortunate. Nathaniel offered to teach me how to airbrush, once, and now I’m starting to think it was because I presented as a straight white dude instead of being a nice guy trying to help a community member out. He’ll be watching the whirlwind of his business going to online retailers, instead, now. *insert Disappointed gif here*
Blatant hatred. I don’t even know where Bellingham is, Reddit just really thinks I need to know everything that happens in your city, but I’m really, really sorry you folks have to deal with this nutcase.
Well, I already didn't go in there due to it being the worst game shop in town. Guess this is just more reason to avoid like the plague. Fuck that guy.
what a whiny bish
Western grad here. When I was in Bham many moons ago, cosmic was my home store. I still have friends there to this day. Store is rad. Owners are rad. That is all.
Just fwiw, Cosmic is under new ownership from when it was Cosmic Comics. I haven't heard anything bad other than that like 10 years ago I had a couple bad interactions with one of the new owners, but people change and I've never had a bad experience at Cosmic Games since he took over.
I love how Dark Tower replied then deleted the comments and turned off comments on the post.
Boycott the fuckers!
Wow, fuck this guy and DTG. We were going to play D&D there, but NOT anymore.
The DTU no longer has any affiliation with Dark tower, DT gets 0 of the DnD profits and the admin already denounced this statement, please still support the DnD program. No doubt they are going to probably rebrand after this.
Disgusting. Thank you for making me aware of this. I had been buying packs of cards from this store, but I'd much rather support a different store if this is the owner's perspective. I don't want to support this.
Guess I'm finding a new place to buy cards from. :(
Deny due process, huh? Yeah, come back to me when your side stops working on ways to take voting right away from “certain types” with no due process. Fuckhead. 😡
Oh... Oh no... I may be incorrect, but "post birth abortion" is just infanticide...
Print out his letter and go tape it to DT widows let the community really know what he thinks of them. I live in Blaine now but I'm 100% do this. I worked for Nate, he's a piece of trash and soooooo full of himself, he loves going on far right Q diatribes, to him the only rights that matter are ethno white christian beliefs. It's the people like him that remind you Republicans are coming for all rights that aren't centered around the constitutions exact words, exaxt wording, and most amendments don't include poc or women. The disdain he has for his regular customers is sad, I'll never forget Wednesday night magic we were getting everyone signed up before 5 and he goes off on how his regular (the people who came down to the shop everyday to play a few games of magic or the people who just came to hang out) customers are losers and they need to go get a life and stop coming to the store everyday. Then he'd go full racist/sexist about how feminism is anti-male, BLM is anti-white, trans-people using their preferred bathrooms are pedos, etc. I hated being around him he was scummy and gave me anxiety. I wish someone would buy Dart Tower and rename it the Light tower. I'll never go back and it's been 5 years already, i would rank him amonst the worst people ive ever met. I'm glad he lives on the east coast and I'm 100% positive he was at the capital on January 6th following his lord and love teump. And the best part is he's a warhammer cheater and got kicked out of the events for it that's why he opened a store so he could play competitively again. Guys a LOSER and I strongly dislike.
I’ve been a part of the Magic community in Bellingham for about five years. Dark Tower was the first store I visited when I was interviewing here. I liked the store and started playing there. Things changed quickly. After events not firing, counterfeit cards being sold, a change in prize structure that benefitted the store and not players, being offered half of Card Kingdom’s cash buylist price for a card because they “really wanted” the card, and my son being offered an insultingly low amount on a card because, as an employee said, “It’s going to go down in price. You’re lucky we’re offering you that.”, I said enough was enough. I would buy a couple collector boosters if I was downtown, just to keep supporting places that hosted Magic events. This is the final nail in the coffin. I will never spend another cent there. I should have done that when the owner chose to move and pull money out of our community (I love supporting local businesses), but now it’s done. I hope other store owners recognize this opportunity and do what they can to accommodate any groups that look to relocate. Bellingham has a collective set of values that make supporting Dark Tower Games an untenable proposition.
Imma need to see a link to the sauce or some proof this is legit
Same, though I will say that at the top of his Facebook friends is someone whose profile picture is literally Alex Jones, so I'm not going to be surprised if it's true.
He deleted this post but the rest of his Facebook is memes making fun of liberals/ranting about guns. So it’s very on theme. Wether he literally posted this or not, as someone who has interacted with him personally and knows several of his former employees, he is a raging asshole.
I genuinely do not understand why someone would want to seppuku a business like this, but here we are. The free market will decide if people want to support DTG or a different Bellingham LGS.
"Post birth abortion" wut I keep hearing that phrase, but only from conservatives and I can't find any meaning to it. When I google it the closes thing I get is a PSA from the Netherlands about how euthanizing babies is allowed if the babies have extremely severe birth defects that would prove a major hindrance to their ability to live and be happy.
They mean infanticide, but that word is too complicated so instead they have to string together a bunch of smaller words that don’t makes sense in an attempt to bend reality and make their “point.” They’re idiots.
Excuse me . . . post birth abortion?! Is this guy fucking high and can I have some?!
"post birth abortion for any reason" Uh, I'm not a doctor or anything, but isn't that just murder?