Free RPG Day - good idea, or bad?

[Glyfair]

That goes double for me. I got all excited about it and started looking at the cool stuff that was going to be made available... in the States. *le sigh*

I was browsing around and saw that the marketing company has been posting a bit on RPG.net. There they say that it will be worldwide next year. They didn't think it would get much attention.

 

[EditorBFG]

I'm upset at the Free Game Day, purely based on the fact that not one store in Orlando joined in on this, even though I informed them about it by e-mail. :\

I guess I'm lucky-- I have three participating stores within 8 miles of my apartment, and one within a mile and a half. Life in the Bay Area is good.

For those outside the U.S., there's seems to be Free RPG Day of some kind in the UK on the 21st.

I have to think getting people to visit their FLGS is a good thing. The Internet makes buying easy, but FLGS's become centers of play. Gamers who want to support the hobby should do their best to help brick-and-mortar stores compete.

 

[CharlesRyan]

For those outside the U.S., there's seems to be Free RPG Day of some kind in the UK on the 21st.

Yes! UK RPG day is 21 July. It's similar in concept to Free RPG Day (and there will be free stuff for gamers), but not the same thing. I'll try to post an announcement today, but in the mean time, there's a basic overview at the Esdevium web site (URL in my sig below).

 

[Wingnut]

I'm upset at the Free Game Day, purely based on the fact that not one store in Orlando joined in on this, even though I informed them about it by e-mail. :\

We had a ton of consumers contact us directly to get their local store on-board...In the end, it is the store's choice whether or not to pay the $30 for the box of freebies. I am truly sorry that your local store did not join, but for 2008 we will have a whole year to promote it and hopefully you can nudge them to be a part of it.

Best,
Aldo

 

[Wingnut]

I just wish they were doing it in Canada. *sigh*

Next year! It was just that it was the first attempt at doing this so we did not want to screw something up on a global scale. Keeping it to the U.S. gave us a better handle to see the good and bad (and we're still wondering about the good and bad as the event is this Saturday!).

There is also a logistics issue shipping overseas...A foreign retailer has to have a freight forwarder to get the product next year or a use a foreign distributor's freight forwarder...that is the only way to keep the cost and logistics sane on our end...All this means is that it will be harder for foreign retailers to join, but still possible.

Best,
Aldo

 

[Wingnut]

From what I've seen, all of the companies participating are either selling the freebies after Free RPG Day, are giving a PDF away for free, or both.

I would assume the loyal fans would swing by the company sites and know this.

...and that was to alleviate consumers who do not have local stores...We only required that the publishers participating hold off giving away their free product in other venues until the day after Free RPG Day...so, on Sunday the 24th, publishers can do what they want.

Best,
Aldo

 

[Wingnut]

Not necessarily their fault, especially if Free RPG Day branches out to other areas. Free RPG Day might be free for consumers but that's not necessarily the case for retailers. They still have to pay for shipping for one thing. I knew a comic retailer who was participating in Free Comic Book Day and well, it's costing them some money. Heck, even the distributor sent them free magazines but it's still costing them money because of the shipping problem. At the end of the day, the retailer is probably asking if they could benefit from Free RPG Day (in the sense that it offsets their cash investment). Most likely it's well worth it but there'll be instances when it's not.

Well, we hope it grows to more stores next year, but chances are it will not get to the 800+ store level that Free Comic Book Day is at.

And yes, stores had to pay $30 for the box...which is actually too cheap I am finding out for this year. Even though the actual shipping was only ~$10 a box, the time to receive, collate and manage the shipment of the box was crazy...it was more than I thought, but again, this is a year 1 event so it is all about learning...and the hope that the consumers and retailers bear (bare?) with us as we continue it over the years.

Think about that $30 for the retailer though...if even ONE of you wonderful consumers buys one product as a result of the event, chances are their $30 is recouped because you will hopefully be hooked on the line...and that is what retailers are gambling on with the $30 they have given us.

Best,
Aldo

 

[Wingnut]

Both of the gaming stores in my area are participating, but I let them know about it almost as soon as it was announced (it helps that I am friends with owners of both). In fact, one of them was contacted by the organizers personally to participate.

I can tell you that EVERY consumer that contacted us about wanting their local store on the list, go a phone call and/or an email from me making sure they knew they had interested consumers...I can tell you there were some store owners I spoke with that vehemently did not care and treated me like junk. Oh well...

Best,
Aldo

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Why FreeRPG Day is a good idea:

Looking on the most recent list of retailers I discovered a gaming store that is just a short detour from my daily commute. I honestly never would have known about that store without the list, and since it is now the closest participating store, I hope to check it out Saturday morning.

 

[blargney the second]

Thanks for the info, Wingnut. If you're doing it again next year, I'd love to see you come to Victoria, BC! Free Comic Book Day got me down to my FLGS where I proceeded to buy $50 of stuff.