I'm kinda interested in playing some, but I'm not really sure how/where to buy one in the U.S. (Maryland/Virginia/Pennsylvania area).
Anyone got some good suggestions on where to buy one and some good ones on top of that?

Dohohohoho, buying VNs.

Your best bet would be either buying them online from j-list or mangagamer. Or piracy. Mostly piracy, there is not a whole lot of good officially translated vns.

Well every time I try to get them from the internet it always asks me to insert the disk, so I'm thinking I need to buy them and than get a patch for them or something.

What you need is a virtual drive program such as Daemon Tools. If you pirate, the files should include an ISO type file. Run the ISO file with the virtual drive program, and problem solved.

Not that I pirate that is. No, I would never do such a thing.
*coughSayaNoUtacough**coughFateStayNightcough**coughEver17cough*

What >6 said
Also add Tsukihime to the list, be warned, this is just the start of the very basic list of what you would like to read.

I think it would be beneficial if we set up a thread to give a basic run-down of what one requires to acquire and play VNs in general. Lets use this thread to amass a list, shall we? It will also help OP with his problem.

• First off, a virtual drive program such as Daemon Tools as mentioned by Pinta is needed - Without it, you will be unable to mount the .iso or .sar files.



• Next, although a great many Visual Novels can be acquired VIA direct downloads, having a torrent program such as Utorrent would be ideal for your purposes - Sometimes you can find a torrent that has both the patch and the fiel itself together.
  
  I find that when it comes to Visual Novels, it's important to have as many download options available as possible. Some of them can be quite elusive.



• If you're on a MAC, then a windows emulator like this, or one of its free versions can be of great help to unlocking a larger potential library of Visual Novels.



• You may find programs like AppLocal to be of great convenience to you, as it means you theoretically no longer need to continue restarting your computer to switch between Japanese and your nationality when installing foreign games.

So with the above done, its time for you to actually install your new Visual Novel.

If you do not have AppLocal, go ahead and switch the locale of your computer to Japanese - This can be done by going through the control panel --> Clock/Language/Region --> Change Location. It will require you to restart your computer for the changes to take place - the reasoning for this is because it lets your computer properly read the language on the VN's installation.

After that is done...

Most visual novels come in the format of a .iso or a .sar. These file formats can be odd if you're encountering them for the first time, and can be a brick wall unless you understand how to use them.

This is where your virtual drive program comes in handy - By mounting your Iso onto one of the virtual drives, it reads the file as a disc.

(Wolf mentions it asks for a disc - this is where he was running into the issue.)

Once the file is being run, installation should proceed smoothly. Troubleshooting will occur from time to time, and that should be handled on a case-by-case basis - This post won't be covering it, as the issues tend to be unique to the user in my experience.

--------------

Congratulations, your Visual Novel is installed! But you can't read it. Time to install the english patch (or your language patch of choice). This is actually quite simple, as most patches are distributed in .exe file format.

What this means is that after the game is installed, you really need to do is take the patch, extract it from whatever zip or .rar file it may have been in (7zip makes a good free unzipper) and then run the .exe file.

Always run your files as Administrator if you're using XP. It will save you pain.

I don't have much experience with patches that don't come in a .exe format, so any information down that avenue is appreciated.

-------

But what if I don't have a patch?

Well, you're screwed. Learn the language, or muddle through it with what is possibly the most painful method possible using a translator aggregator and texthooks. If you're resorting to trying to learn how to do this, then it's best to make a thread dedicated to asking about it.

Anything I missed, guys?

>>8
Just one thing I can think of. A possible last resort if the VN or patch doesn't work after installing is to search the internet for a forum specific to that VN. Usually they are quite helpful with finding your solution (assuming you can find one...).

Also, I think I'll give one such example here to prove my point. If somehow you obtain a copy of MuvLuv Alternate with the English patch the English text will cut out at Chapter 9 and be replaced with the standard Japanese text. By searching long and hard I found a forum that provided me with the solution of copying over a certain file that was included with the English patch to fix this problem (which wasn't mentioned in the notepad document by the devs, or anywhere else amongst the assorted files).

Slightly off topic here and getting back towards >>1: A good place to find decently translated VNs into English (or rather the patch)is http://mirrormoon.org/. Their work is high quality and has been worked on by many people, so finding any mistakes is rare indeed.

Finally, getting back to giving recommendations:
Saya No Uta is quite disturbing, but if you can stand the mind rape it is very engaging and a worthwhile read.
Anything by Type Moon is worth reading (just watch out for the awkward seafood metaphors :P). Examples are Fate Stay Night and Tsukihime.
Higurashi if you can get all the parts is basically the anime with a LOT more understatement in the voice acting, making the whole cast of the anime seem like large hams, but also making the horror a lot more effective and atmospheric. Might want to add on the PS2 graphics patch to avoid the horrible graphics that were present in the PC version though.
School Days (when they finally finish the patch...) is a reasonable read that also shows what would happen if a harem anime was played according to the rules of reality. Get the newly released HD edition for a better experience and new endings (don't know if the half-finished patch works with it though).
The MuvLuv series is quite engaging IF you can get past the rather generic first part. Saying anything else would require major spoiler alerts.
And if you want a break from all this heavy moody stuff listed above, you could read Kira Kira. It's one of the most relaxed VNs I've read, but that's not to say that it doesn't have its moments.
I would add Clannad and Air, but as I haven't played them myself I shouldn't comment on how they play out.

tl;dr: Check forums for the specific VN if you have problems after installation, and ask people for recommendations based on the type of story you want to experience.

Bump

mostly for: >>8

----

Here's a simple answer.
Go to Katawa Shoujo webside, download their VN for free because it IS free. Enjoy wonderful stories :)

Go to www.Fuwanovel.com or .net, cant remember which. theres plenty free and easy to download VNs there

Try to play Second Reproduction
the art and the plot is good and it's in English.