D&D 5E Well played WOTC (or Free RPG Day 2015)

[mach1.9pants]

Well I am certainly glad to see it spread, and apologise for my error. No free RPG Day in the UK when I lived there, and I should have guessed at Canada tho! But still, as cool as it is, that WotC chooses to release free stuff year round worldwide is a better thing for many than a single day where those closest to a participating RPG store get tons of goodies. I realise some is available later as PDFs too.

Tho there is a lot of jealousy my statement... Goodman Games Referee screen looks totally MINT!

 

[Jester David]

You know about dndclassics.com, right? If not, check it out. Tons of old D&D products to download, and more added every week.

Not everything makes it onto DnDClassics. And things that do often come at a very slow rate.
They added one Free RPG Day item (Khyber's Harvest) apparently back in 2013 but the other four are still MIA. And other bits, like the DM Reward adventures they sent out to RPGA players, also haven't shown up there.

 

[Henry]

Y'know, gents, even the non-smart phones have calendar apps, nowadays.

That said, I knew, then forgot again, and missed it because the wife and I were out and about town.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I grabbed the Fifth Edition Fantasy module by Goodman, so I did get something for 5e.

I have mixed feelings about that module. Well, not really, they're all essentially positive...

1) It is /so/ much like an AD&D module in it's attitude. The way the Dragon is supposed to be run took pages right out of the playbook I was using in the 80s. That is so utterly in keeping with everything 5e is trying to do/be.
2) It was published under the 1.0 OGL, from 2000. No 5e OGL, yet? Looks like it doesn't matter. Aside from never saying "Dungeons & Dragons," (it did say "fifth edition of the first roleplaying game"), it might as well have been a 5e OGL product, from the consumer's point of view.
3) Goodman created a 5e presence at Free RPG day, which the event really needed,
and, which brings me to...


The point of Free RPG day is not to give away free stuff out of charity. It's to promote the hobby. Something the perennial 'leader' of that hobby should, y'know, care a teeny bit about.

I'm afraid it's lack of participation makes it look like WotC has no interest in the TT RPG hobby, at all, and is just spinning out 5e as a way of keeping the line open for future development in some other, 'more promising' area.

 

[MerricB]

Wizards provide over 26 free adventures every year, on average twice a month.

They have decided that having people playing D&D in stores every week is a better use of their resources than promoting D&D through Free RPG Day.

Honestly, I know what I'd prefer - especially as my FLGS decided not to support Free RPG Day this year because of the expense involved; and I can't say they made the wrong decision.

 

[Alzrius]

HOLY ING ITY , how did I miss Free RPG Day???

Morrus or somebody, please remind me next year! Pretty pretty please?

Someone has to remind me, first!

Some of us tried to warn them, to remind them of what was to come. But we were too few, and it was too late...

 

[Vael]

I simply could not make it to one. Only Toronto stores, and I was too busy to trek into the downtown.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Wizards provide over 26 free adventures every year, on average twice a month.

They have decided that having people playing D&D in stores every week is a better use of their resources than promoting D&D through Free RPG Day.

Honestly, I know what I'd prefer - especially as my FLGS decided not to support Free RPG Day this year because of the expense involved; and I can't say they made the wrong decision.

So I guess those of us who don't have a store anywhere close are screwed eh?

All those adventures mean nothing when you can't access to them. Not a very smart move.

 

[justinj3x3]

So I guess those of us who don't have a store anywhere close are screwed eh?

All those adventures mean nothing when you can't access to them. Not a very smart move.

I agree. Everyone keeps acting like WOTC are giving us products because of PDFs and the AL. These are not products. They are not for sale to the public at large. I'm not complaining about what WOTC is doing (even if I don't agree with their methods at the moment), but to say WOTC is supporting 5e with AL and PDFs is just not correct. (With all due respect to Merric of course)

None of this factors into Free RPG Day though, since if someone doesn't have a local store for AL they wouldn't have a store for Free RPG Day either.

 

[Corpsetaker]

I agree. Everyone keeps acting like WOTC are giving us products because of PDFs and the AL. These are not products. They are not for sale to the public at large. I'm not complaining about what WOTC is doing (even if I don't agree with their methods at the moment), but to say WOTC is supporting 5e with AL and PDFs is just not correct. (With all due respect to Merric of course)

None of this factors into Free RPG Day though, since if someone doesn't have a local store for AL they wouldn't have a store for Free RPG Day either.

Now mind you I do have an actual gaming shop about 45 minutes away by public transport but they do not support AL.