Free RPG Day June 23, 2007

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:25 pm

I'm gonna leave him up here for a bit. Really does make a creepy/strange/whimsical statement, doesn't he?

Posts: 1238 · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:39 pm

The whole D&D/Satan/all that crap kind of passed me by (as I think it did many of us in the UK - correct me if I'm wrong)

I have read loads about this and have both 'Mazes and Monsters' and 'The Dungeon Master' , but can't really bring myself to read them.

The whole situation seemed to get so out of control, it just seems so sad really, particularly with the benefit of hindsight.

Whatever else has been said it is a sad thing for a young man to take his own life.

And I know that many of us here are parents - could we all say that if one of our children died in such terrible circumstances that we wouldn't lash out in a similar way to Patricia Pulling. I know that BADD and such clear nonsense did a lot of harm to the industry but can you blame a grieving mother for doing all she can to do what she saw was the 'right thing'.

Terribly sad - sorry for the rambling post!

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:26 am

I would add "sad" to the creepy/strange/whimsical list above. Confused

I have wondered about the UK and the D&D scare. The US is a much more religious society than most other countries....a sort of messianic zeal that colors our national character both for better and for worse.

As the son of a fundamentalist minister and a gamer I was in the midst of both worlds as a teenager.

Mark Cool

Posts: 1238 · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:46 am

FormCritic wrote:

As the son of a fundamentalist minister and a gamer I was in the midst of both worlds as a teenager.

Mark Cool

Yeah - and look how you turned out you sad/creepy/strange/whimsical freak! JK Laughing

(note the big font and smiley - no more teeny tiny jks for Carl!!)

I don't actually know if there was any kind of a big 'scare' here in hte UK - My folks were okay with me gaming. (to say they understood it would be a bit of a stretch!) I guess they knew they could trust my judgement.

(edited by me to actually say something sensible - and to use the teeny tiny font again!)

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:52 am

FormCritic wrote:

I would add "sad" to the creepy/strange/whimsical list above. Confused

I have wondered about the UK and the D&D scare. The US is a much more religious society than most other countries....a sort of messianic zeal that colors our national character both for better and for worse.

As the son of a fundamentalist minister and a gamer I was in the midst of both worlds as a teenager.

Mark Cool

I lived in the Texas bible belt. For one thing, you didn't advertise the fact you played D&D..that would have brought instant condemnation. A small circle of friends played, and except for our parents and closest friends, no one knew we gamed on the weekends. I remember a guy coming from the west coast and wondering why we didn't have a D&D club at school. We were aghast at the suggestion...it's not even a stretch to say it would have been vetoed, and all of us put into some sort of counseling by the powers that be at the school for even suggesting it. You just knew that D&D wasn't something you did in public, and not something you advertised you did.
I know for awhile all of our parents were very, very leery of our involvement in the game. If all of us hadn't been such good students at school and good kids (no one was really in anykind of trouble), I don't know what the reaction would have been. My friends and I have discussed this to this day, and I talked about it with my mom many years later, and they all mentioned that if the guy who introduced us to D&D and played with us (Joe) hadn't been such a straight arrow, they might have been very worried. As it was, he was the class salutatorian (he got rooked out of being Valedictorian), joined the corps at A&M, got his medical degree, joined the Navy and came out a Captain, and now is a successful doctor. Plus at the time he was altar boy and very active in boy scouts and the church. So, inhis own quiet way, he pretty much blew up any stereotype that our parents had about what a "Dungeons and Dragons kid" should look or act like, and they were just damn happy we spent the weekends hanging out with him instead of some no good long haired drug taking hippie weirdos (it was the 70s, you understand....)

Mike B.

Posts: 2504 · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:39 pm

Badmike wrote:

I think most stores should be getting multiple copies, but who knows. The last few giveaways, the local game store would only give a copy to you if you participated in a playtesting of the game, since it was 3rd ed I blew it off. I would guess no one would be able to walk out with multiple copies, but I suppose it depends on the game store. Apparantly there are quite a few in my local area, I'll do what I can to get some info on what the procedure will be.....

Mike B.

Mike, I talked to the manager at the Lone Star Comics in Plano. He isnt sure how many they will be getting but if the 1000 total copies is correct then they may only get one or two per store. I figured since they have goofed up a couple of my orders lately that I would try to see if they might allow me to get a copy even if I wasnt playing. He asked me to talk to him a couple of weeks before June and he would know more by then. I am not very hopeful though. Sad

Posts: 190 · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:47 pm

I'm gonna make a prediction that at least a few of these will sell on eBay for more than $50.

Posts: 2865 · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:19 pm

I think you're probably right about that. Should be a good collectible.

Posts: 393 · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:06 pm

King,

Tell your FLGS manager that he can buy one box per store location, if he so desires. And the cost is merely to cover the shipping... With one box per location, he should get the full 10 copies of each Goodman Games modules.

Posts: 695 · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:07 pm

It's a real pity that not US game stores are excluded from this promotion. In Italy for example the Free Comic Book Day is regularly celebrated. Granted, there aren't many stores partecipating because, for some strange reason, Italians find comic books in English somewhat difficult to read Wink

. Nonetheless, the comic book (i.e. superhero.... boooring! Razz

) readers appreciate that. I'd have loved partecipating in the free RPG Day - it could have been a nice marketing tool for my eBay store too Very Happy

- but, alas... I hope for the best in 2008 Crying or Very sad

Posts: 2504 · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:12 pm

jamesmishler wrote:

King,

Tell your FLGS manager that he can buy one box per store location, if he so desires. And the cost is merely to cover the shipping... With one box per location, he should get the full 10 copies of each Goodman Games modules.

Will do...thanks for that info James. Very Happy

Posts: 189 · Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:59 pm

Maybe a couple days beforehand, someone can bump this if they think of it.

(My personal odds of remembering go from low to 0 otherwise)

Posts: 140 · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:21 am

mordrin wrote:

Maybe a couple days beforehand, someone can bump this if they think of it.

(My personal odds of remembering go from low to 0 otherwise)

****BUMP****

One week to tee (er, free) time.

John

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:45 am

pleveich wrote:

****BUMP****

One week to tee (er, free) time.

John

Just a note:

I don't know if the companies sponsoring this are handling it well. I know it's a "new" thing and there are still kinks to be worked out, but as of last week my local game retailer (Generation X) who is listed on the Goodman Games website as particpating in their giveaway, has heard nothing about any product arriving. From another Acaeum member I have also heard the local chain that is participating might have very few copies of all the materials. Looks like there will be little left over, and people coming in will be limited to one item per person in most cases. I have also seen very little local advertisting for the Free Game Day. I hope it succeeds but it appears the organizers should so a little better PR work.

Mike B.

Posts: 393 · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:31 pm

Badmike wrote:

I don't know if the companies sponsoring this are handling it well. I know it's a "new" thing and there are still kinks to be worked out, but as of last week my local game retailer (Generation X) who is listed on the Goodman Games website as particpating in their giveaway, has heard nothing about any product arriving.

The packages went out early this week, and some have already arrived at various stores. An e-mail went out when the packages were shipped; maybe he didn't check his e-mail?

Badmike wrote:

From another Acaeum member I have also heard the local chain that is participating might have very few copies of all the materials. Looks like there will be little left over, and people coming in will be limited to one item per person in most cases.

During Free Comic Book Day most stores limit consumers to three comics each. It was never intended that everyone who comes into the store is going to get one of everything. It's up to the retailer, though, how he hands out the freebies; as long as they are given out free, and without the requirement of purchase, he can do it however he wants.

That said, yes, there are some items that are more limited than others. When this started out, we assumed that there would only be 100 stores interested in geting involved, so we scheduled printing of 1,000 units of each product to go in. Then the project ended up being more popular than we imagined, and instead of 100 stores we had 300 stores signed up. Some of the publishers (notably Goodman) were able to increase their print run; others, such as myself, were not, so instead of 1,000 units divided by 100, it was 1,000 units divided by 300...

Unlike Free Comic Book Day, the publishers involved in Free RPG Day do not get the cost of printing back to them from the retailer; everything is provided from the publisher to the retailer entirely for free. The retailer pays $30 to Impressions Advertising & Marketing only for the cost of packing and shipping; the publishers get none of that money. And in fact, that $30 is subsidised by further sponsorship payments from the publishers to Impressions; Impressions will be lucky to break even on this event.

I would love to have been able to print three times the number I originally contracted for; unfortunately, it just wasn't in the budget.

Badmike wrote:

I have also seen very little local advertisting for the Free Game Day. I hope it succeeds but it appears the organizers should so a little better PR work.

It was assumed that the retailers would actually do some sort of work to push the event locally; there is no way on earth the publishers can publicize the event in every local newspaper! I think you assume much about the budgets of RPG companies. The costs of local advertising in 100 local areas, let alone 300 local areas, far outstrip the budget of even Wizards of the Coast, let alone the participating companies of Free RPG Day. As it is, most companies strained their budgets just to print the free products.

Posts: 1001 · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 2:19 pm

Lone Star Comics is a Dallas-Fort Worth chain of comics-toys-anime-game stores. They always try to dress up their employees in goofy custumes and have promotional events when appropriate.

On Free Games Day they are running White Wolf and WOTC RPG sessions, though YMMV. From now until June 30 they are selling boardgames and RPGs at 20% off; unfortunately, some of those stores have pitiful RPG shelves. Still, picking up stuff for free and buying some DCC modules at 20% off is possible at most of those stores.

What are other stores across the US doing?

Posts: 393 · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 2:58 pm

JohnGaunt wrote:

What are other stores across the US doing?

I will be running Castles & Crusades demos all day at Chimera Hobbies in Appleton, Wisconsin. Characters will be provided, and you can join in any time, though if there's enough interest, I will need to limit the table to ~8 players at a time.

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 5:05 pm

jamesmishler wrote:

It was assumed that the retailers would actually do some sort of work to push the event locally; there is no way on earth the publishers can publicize the event in every local newspaper! I think you assume much about the budgets of RPG companies. The costs of local advertising in 100 local areas, let alone 300 local areas, far outstrip the budget of even Wizards of the Coast, let alone the participating companies of Free RPG Day. As it is, most companies strained their budgets just to print the free products.

First of all, James, thanks so much for the info. It just infuriates me when local brick and mortar stores (which are disappearing and should try every means of promoting their existance) are so blase and uncaring about an event that could help them "spread the word", so to speak. And you are correct, the local stores should do much, much more to promote this event than is being done. I'm very disappointed in the local (D/FW) response to this event.
My FLGS, which otherwise is stellar in all aspects, seems to have heartily dropped the ball here. Honestly, when I went in several weeks ago to inquire about the availability of free items on the Free Game Day, the response was "What Free Game Day?"...and that was a serious reply. Sigh. Anyway, thanks to you and the others making free material available on June 23rd, I hope it's a big success. Hell, I'd run a tournament or two at the local store if I thought anyone would be interested......

Mike B.

Posts: 190 · Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:28 am

jamesmishler wrote:

It was assumed that the retailers would actually do some sort of work to push the event locally

This is my biggest gripe about the hobby today, and why I don't mind seeing so many stores continue to go out of business. Most hobby stores I've frequented (and I've lived in 6 different cities in 3 different states in the last 2 1/2 years alone, so I've been to a lot of hobby/comic stores) do absolutely NOTHING to promote the hobby. They open a store, and sit around hoping soccer moms find them and buy crap for their kids. If they do comics, they survive on existing subscribers alone, and do nothing to get new customers. I feel nothing when these idiots go out of business. I know too many hobby/comic stores where the owner doesn't even play a single game they sell or read a single comic book. WTF? Why are you running a comic store if you have no interest in comics?

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:13 pm

Badmike wrote:

First of all, James, thanks so much for the info. It just infuriates me when local brick and mortar stores (which are disappearing and should try every means of promoting their existance) are so blase and uncaring about an event that could help them "spread the word", so to speak. And you are correct, the local stores should do much, much more to promote this event than is being done. I'm very disappointed in the local (D/FW) response to this event.
My FLGS, which otherwise is stellar in all aspects, seems to have heartily dropped the ball here. Honestly, when I went in several weeks ago to inquire about the availability of free items on the Free Game Day, the response was "What Free Game Day?"...and that was a serious reply. Sigh. Anyway, thanks to you and the others making free material available on June 23rd, I hope it's a big success. Hell, I'd run a tournament or two at the local store if I thought anyone would be interested......

Mike B.

Free Game Day in the D/FW area is starting to have some ominous overtones.
There seems to be a indication that there will be little or no chance to actually walk away with a coveted promo product from one of the anticipated publishers (Goodman Games, Castles & Crusades, etc) and absolutely zero chance of picking up mulitple copies (sorry, UK and overseas members). From another Acaeum member I've been told at his local store free copies will ONLY be given to people actually participating in demos, and even my local store is running demos (with the hints that you have to participate to walk away with any free product) by a "group" that might be controlling distribution of the freebies (i.e., you only get one if you win a contest or participate in a game or win a giveaway)
I'm pretty sure I can walk out of at least one store with a copy of one of the sought after items (hell, I'll roll up a character and die five minutes later in a blaze of glory if that guarantees me an item), but I would say the chances of acquiring any for our European or Australian brothers is pretty much none and none. Crying or Very sad

Mike B.