Disappointment on Free RPG Day

[Paul Duggan]

I, too, visited the Complete Strategist in King of Prussia. I only was interested in the Rogue Trader and Eberron scenarios, but got neither.

I even returned to the shop at about 5pm, to perhaps see if they had any stuff left, and the policy of the die roll remained. At least the clerk gave me another roll.

When I returned it seemed the clerk was keen to let me know that the policy was his boss'. So I took the liberty of sending an email to the contact information from the Strategists webiste (which says to contact the "Webmaster" with questions: [e-mail])

I tried to make the point in my email that while I spent $50+ at the store, I have a lot of shopping options, and though I like the CS, if I can't get what I want, I'll do something like order from Noble Knight or Ebay afterwards, and not shop there.

One-per-customer would have been better than a die roll. Really, it paid less to come *early* to the store, since the smaller (and lets admit it, less desirable) publishers sent less product, and so the less wanted stuff was gone early in the day, but the more numerous desirable product was still there).

[Disenchanter]

Montalve wrote:

Andrew Betts wrote:

I got to my local store doing Free RPG Day. Their box had no bestiaries ... double the amount of something else. The only thing I wanted and drove over 2 hours round trip and left with nothing ... I nearly cried.

wouldn't hve been chearper just to buy it from paizo? :S

Only if it is available for purchase...

[Cpt_kirstov]

Disenchanter wrote:

Montalve wrote:

Andrew Betts wrote:

I got to my local store doing Free RPG Day. Their box had no bestiaries ... double the amount of something else. The only thing I wanted and drove over 2 hours round trip and left with nothing ... I nearly cried.

wouldn't hve been chearper just to buy it from paizo? :S

Only if it is available for purchase...

a limited number will be avalible..

[Disenchanter]

Cpt_kirstov wrote:

Disenchanter wrote:

Montalve wrote:

Andrew Betts wrote:

I got to my local store doing Free RPG Day. Their box had no bestiaries ... double the amount of something else. The only thing I wanted and drove over 2 hours round trip and left with nothing ... I nearly cried.

wouldn't hve been chearper just to buy it from paizo? :S

Only if it is available for purchase...

a limited number will be avalible..

Paizo Store wrote:

PZO9500-3 Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bonus Bestiary (OGL) Print Edition

Print Edition: Unavailable
PDF available approx. today

So I wait and see how many, and if I get a shot at it before it sells out.

[Tiger Tim]

I have not been to the Complete Strategist in years. I had a chance a few weeks ago and after reading this thread, I am glad I did not end up going there. Ironically that same day I did end up going to Cyborg1 and I thought the place had wonderful service and a very friendly attitude.

When I first got into gaming (back in the 80’s), about my favorite thing to do was to go to the gaming store. I just could not wait to see the new issue of dragon magazine or what new things had come out. It’s a little sad but I don’t feel that way anymore. Maybe it’s me (I am old and cynical now), or maybe it’s that it just does not feel worth it to drive 2 hours 1 way to be told ‘grab a D20 and hope you get lucky’.

[AJCarrington]

You might want to check out Noble Knight Games - listed for $0.01, though you need to spend at least $15 in other product.

[Emperor7]

I'm going to give Guild of Blades one more shot tonite, but hopes aren't high. The owner pronounces Paizo with 3 syllables, pi-azz-o.

[brent norton]

Not me, I got my book a week in full advance.

[the DZA]

Gamer Girrl wrote:

Thanks to Free RPG day, we discovered another gaming store within a pretty reasonable distance to us. Pair-A-Dice in Vista, California was my closest store doing the Free goodies (the store I normally go to once a quarter or so is Game Empire, and the clerks didn't even know what I was talking about the two times I called to see if they were doing it.)

Where is that store? I'm in Imperial Beach and I absolutely hate Game Empire, even though they carry a good amount of miniatures. I missed out on the free goodies because I didn't see either GE or Game Towne on the Free RPG Day website. If you recommend it I'd definitely be willing to travel there.

[Emperor7]

brent norton wrote:

Not me, I got my book a week in full advance.

I hate you. ;) <just kiddin, you lucky stiff>

[Tarren Dei]

Nameless wrote:

Tarren Dei wrote:

Did we go to the same store this year, Nameless? Last year at this time I wasn't too impressed with them but it was nice this year to see them whip out the Bestiary before I got to the counter. It isn't that hard to win over customers, is it? Just takes a little charisma.

Did you go to Fandom or Wizard's Tower? I went to Fandom this year, and that's pretty much my game shop ever since the Wizard's Tower at Ottawa U closed down.

I went to Fandom. I often drive out to Wizard's Tower but they weren't participating this year. Anyhow, it was a nice experience. Last year, I couldn't hit a store so Gavgoyle mailed me the freebie. That was a good experience too.

[Tarlane]

the DZA wrote:

Gamer Girrl wrote:

Thanks to Free RPG day, we discovered another gaming store within a pretty reasonable distance to us. Pair-A-Dice in Vista, California was my closest store doing the Free goodies (the store I normally go to once a quarter or so is Game Empire, and the clerks didn't even know what I was talking about the two times I called to see if they were doing it.)

Where is that store? I'm in Imperial Beach and I absolutely hate Game Empire, even though they carry a good amount of miniatures. I missed out on the free goodies because I didn't see either GE or Game Towne on the Free RPG Day website. If you recommend it I'd definitely be willing to travel there.

Pair-a-dice games' homepage.

Directions from Imperial Beach.

They are really easy to get to, right off the 78. I was really impressed with the store, though I do wish they had more Paizo stuff. They seemed open to the idea though and currently carry map packs, they just said there wasn't much demand for the rest. So I'm sure if enough of us make requests or place orders for paizo goodies through them, we can get them to start stocking it.

[NPC Dave]

First, for those who have a frustrating experience with stores, you can go to Noble Knight Games. They do Free RPG day through the online store, where if you make an order that day, you get a free item of your choice for every $15 you spend. So if you just want an item or two and the local store is a long drive, I recommend that approach.

I am fortunate to have a number of stores participating in my area so I planned out the route and made sure to hit three over the course of about 3 hours.

First one(Game Kastle in San Jose) was offering 3 items per person, with two selections from one stack and one selection from another stack. I think the Bestiary was in the "pick one" stack. I grabbed the Castle & Crusades item, the Dragon Warriors book and a couple of Q dice. Last year the store ran out of all the good stuff when about an hour after opening they let everyone take as much as they wanted. This time they still had some leftover which they plan to give away this week. I also bought the Paizo Taldor book and Return to Cat's Eye from DP9 as thanks to the store. In hindsight I could have grabbed the Chessex die here as I never saw it anywhere else.

Second store(Endgame in Oakland) I hit allowed a pick of two items last year, this time they were much more relaxed, the guy said I could take what I wanted, I guess they had leftovers last year. I picked up the Pathfiner Bestiary and the Rogue Trader adventure, along with two more Qdice and some kind of printout of a first chapter of some RPG novel. I also bought an old TSR gazeteer, some GF9 drill bits and an old Pendragon book.

Third store(Gator Games in San Mateo) was offering two items, each having to be picked from one pile. I took two more Qdice and the Eberron book, and then I bought a few odds and ends as well as the Exalted board game they had on sale. This store still had leftover stuff from last year on the table, including the Kobold King adventure from last year and a few orange Qdice from last year. My son also got a balloon they had a few to give away to children.

So all three stores ran it very well this year.

[Nevynxxx]

Fatespinner wrote:

I went to Flights of Fantasy in Cohoes, NY. I walked in, walked up to the counter and said "I came here for that," pointing at the Bonus Beastiary. The clerk handed to me and said "There you go!"

I then left the store as I had somewhere else to be. No issues, no b!#@!@~*. It was great. I also saw some people playing Warhammer 40K there with possibly the largest army and coolest terrain I had ever seen. That army must've cost over $1000. There were at least 4 vehicles and 100 minis per side. Seriously huge. I was impressed.

I had a friend in school who bought the raven wing. Yes, who whole 100 vehicle scout chapter of the dark angels.

[SirUrza]

It's up for download/purchase all, start downloading/buying. :)

[the DZA]

Tarlane wrote:

Stuff

Thanks! I'll go check them out.

[MiloBloom]

Bladesinger wrote:

OK, this is something of a Rant, but I'm a little miffed, to say the least. It turns out the only store doing Free RPG Day around me was a store called the Complete Strategist. My normal store, Cyborg One, which is fantastic btw, wasn't doing it this year, so I drove all the way out to King of Prussia PA to get the free Paizo Beastiary, and when I got there, the clerk made me roll a D20 and gave me a random book. When I asked him about the Beastiary, he said they were doing it random this year and that was it. Seriously ? So now someone with no interest in this book will get it and either get rid of it or throw it away, and I have no recourse. As an aside, someone else came in, and he got a free Die 6. One Die, not a set, one Die. What gives ? Arghhhhh......

Sighs. Anyhow, Despite my disappointment, I love Paizo and I'm seriously looking forward to the Pathfinder RPG. It looks great and my group can't wait to try it out.

Sorry for the Rant.

I had the same experience at the Complete Strategist in Falls Church, VA. They tried to give me a copy of the Geist quick-start rules and I refused it. It seems to me that trying to give someone something that they don't want and won't use rather than the product they came all the way to get defeats the purpose of Free RPG day. The sad thing is I had stopped going to the Strategist for years because I found a better, friendlier store not too much farther away. Then they cleaned up their act and I started getting going there again. But I think this is pretty much the last straw. Thankfully, I can take my business elsewhere.

[Mikaze]

Nameless wrote:

They even had a case where a group of five people came in and demanded that each of them receive one of every product available. When the store-owner replied by saying that that's a quarter of the entire bundle, the "customers" became belligerent and some harsh words were flung. I leave the specific words said as an exercise to the reader.

That @#$%ing stupid too. That's so @#$%ing stupid I want to find these people and tell them how @#$%ing stupid they were.

Man, I'm really angry lately.

[Disenchanter]

Mikaze wrote:

Man, I'm really angry lately.

So THAT'S where my attitude went...

Send it back home when you are done with it please.

[Mikaze]

Disenchanter wrote:

Mikaze wrote:

Man, I'm really angry lately.

So THAT'S where my attitude went...

Send it back home when you are done with it please.

@#$% off!

Heads to FedEx as quickly as possible

[DeathQuaker]

That sucks. I'd heard good things about the Compleat Strategist and was going to check it out next time I was up in PA. Now I won't. So they've lost a potential customer in me.

My FLGS--Legends Comics and Games in Towson,MD--seemed to handle things fairly well, despite their occasional whim to be overly gimmicky. They limited the take to 2 per person, but that seemed due to limited supplies. And the supplies there were very nice and ample; they even had a disc of the demo version of Hero Lab which I would've picked up if I didn't already own it. They raffled off boxes of dice and miniatures (whole boxes of dice and miniatures, not just one at a time :) ). Not everyone walked away with those, but at least those who one got something nice (and I got a buttload of dice and minis from one of their D&D demo days so I didn't need more).

I did get the Bestiary--a gorgeous piece of work for a free product--plus quickstart rules for the nWoD game Geist--which is what I chose to take off the table. (They also gave out free Quizno's coupons. ;) )

Hopefully those who didn't get the Bestiary at their stores can at least mollify themselves with the free .pdf

[Wingnut]

Sorry about the trouble. Unfortunately, we cannot control how the stores handle the event. I know the owner of Compleat quite well and he says that in the NY store so many people show up that it is the best way for him...he also said that so many folks are hanging out that there is a lot of trading after the rolls.

In the end, we cannot force a store to do things a certain way. I have known some publishers that make their giveaways for the day available to ship and/or available as a free PDF.

I hope that helps.

Best,
Aldo

Bladesinger wrote:

OK, this is something of a Rant, but I'm a little miffed, to say the least. It turns out the only store doing Free RPG Day around me was a store called the Complete Strategist. My normal store, Cyborg One, which is fantastic btw, wasn't doing it this year, so I drove all the way out to King of Prussia PA to get the free Paizo Beastiary, and when I got there, the clerk made me roll a D20 and gave me a random book. When I asked him about the Beastiary, he said they were doing it random this year and that was it. Seriously ? So now someone with no interest in this book will get it and either get rid of it or throw it away, and I have no recourse. As an aside, someone else came in, and he got a free Die 6. One Die, not a set, one Die. What gives ? Arghhhhh......

Sighs. Anyhow, Despite my disappointment, I love Paizo and I'm seriously looking forward to the Pathfinder RPG. It looks great and my group can't wait to try it out.

Sorry for the Rant.

[Wingnut]

Kurt,

Could you please email who the store was...I will call them and talk to them about that...that is NOT in the spirit of the event. [e-mail].

Thanks,
Aldo

Kurt Wasiluk wrote:

That sucks... The store I went to let us pick what we wanted, but to get the "free" Beastiary, I was required to buy at least $20 of other stuff. I'm very happy I got the product I was looking for, but feel a bit taken.

[Adam Daigle]

Thanks for stopping by, Aldo, but most importantly, thanks for Free RPG Day.

[Wingnut]

Unfortunately, we cannot control who joins in on the event...It was only $65 this year, but I have heard that many stores did not join in because they said all their RPG sales were down and they did not think it was a good investment. I laugh with that because I think, "OK, $65 to help boost sales of something."

Best,
Aldo

zylphryx wrote:

Consider yourself fortunate ... the closest shop to me is about 3 hours away. The two "gaming stores" in town both gave me funny looks when I asked about Free RPG Day stuff. And there is nothing in Charlotte either (which would be a mere 1.5 hours or so).

All in all a big bummer for me today with empty hands. I really wish the Sword And The Grail was still open, they always had stuff for both Free RPG and Free Comic day. <sigh>

[Mairkurion {tm}]

Yay, Aldo. And thanks!

[Seldriss]

Wingnut wrote:

Unfortunately, we cannot control who joins in on the event...It was only $65 this year, but I have heard that many stores did not join in because they said all their RPG sales were down and they did not think it was a good investment. I laugh with that because I think, "OK, $65 to help boost sales of something."

Let's say that Intelligence is supposed to be a major stat for a merchant.

Unfortunately, it seems to be a dump stat for many...

Thanks Waukeen for the Free RPG Day anyway :)

[Wingnut]

Andrew,

That sounds like a mis-pack on our part...Several stores had this issue, but most called us when they got their boxes 2 weeks prior to the event...we could have done something about it.

Best,
Aldo

Andrew Betts wrote:

I got to my local store doing Free RPG Day. Their box had no bestiaries ... double the amount of something else. The only thing I wanted and drove over 2 hours round trip and left with nothing ... I nearly cried.

[Wingnut]

Vagrant,

Please email me at [e-mail] to let me know the store so I can contact them to correct this.

Best,
Aldo

VagrantWhisper wrote:

My LGS (I'm not so convinced about the friendly part anymore) decided that they should charge for their Free RPG day stuff ... since, after all, they had to pay for it. $5 for the Bonus Bestiary.

Sorry to all the good Game Stores out there, but I'm pretty much convinced now that it's not the internet killing you - it's your crappy counterparts.

[Mairkurion {tm}]

Aldo -- Andrew posted (elsewhere?) that his store contacted him, that they had since found the misplaced product and are making it right.

[Patrick Murphy]

I live in an isolated area so there is no store for me to go to and participate. I was able to get the Bestiary online ( thank you Paizo). Does anyone know of anything else that can be downloaded that was availiable on Free RPG Day?

[Mairkurion {tm}]

DriveThruRPG.com had some things, don't know if they are still up.

[Wingnut]

Yes, the number of stores participating this year was down...like 80 less. I have no idea why except that stores said overall their RPG sales were not a lot overall so they could not justify even $65 to participate. Again, in the end, the more you consumers push the stores to sign-up, the more will join...because they value your purchases (or, at minimum, they SHOULD value them!) =P

Best,
Aldo

Was non-participation up this year? Game Chest in Valley View didn't participate. (I would have rather driven to Gen X in Bedford, but Lone Star is so much more convenient, and my time is at a premium right now.) If so, I wonder what might be behind it? The selection at Lone Star was not impressive, and neither was the supply (unless they were keeping more behind the counter.) Of course, with a one per customer policy, the selection didn't need to be wide for me.

[Wingnut]

A perfect example of the spirit of the event! I went to my local store, Black Diamond Games in Concord CA, and they had 5 tables full. They bought 2 kits and had it all on a table with "3 per person". And then I brought more freebies to give out to the GMs...AND bought pizza for everyone playing. Why? Because I knew Black Diamond would do the event right...and they did.

Best,
Aldo

Basilforth wrote:

Wow, I am sorry to hear about the bad experiences that people had. My FLGS is Games, Comics and Stuff in Glen Burnie, Maryland. They had all the free stuff piled up at the front of the store and let us pick whatever we wanted. I also got there early and nabbed some of the dice. I bought stuff and took a buddy of mine with me who also bought stuff as well.

[Wingnut]

I'm sorry to hear this. I do hope though that your thoughts are really, "I personally don't support my FLGS on Free RPG Day" because we cannot force stores to do anything in particuliar for the event. The idea behind it was like Free Comic Book Day --- let folks have 1 of whatever they want --- but the problem we have is 1) RPG publishers just cannot print 10K+ due to the economy of scales, and 2) Every game store is a different setup, consumer type and mix of product.

In terms of "crap", I'm sure you can agree that RPG companies really cannot start making $20-$40 products to giveaway for free. And if there is something you want from a publisher, then I would say tell that publisher they should join in on the fun, and maybe they will make something for 2010.

Best,
Aldo

SirUrza wrote:

I personally don't support FREE RPG Day. It's never free. You either have to buy a book, play in an event and not get what you want, or do something else and likely not get what you want. Why? Because most of the "free" stuff is crap. People only want certain things from certain publishers, everything else no one cares about. Thus, those items are premium and high in demand, and since they can satisfy everyone, they'll find a way to benefit from it.

[Wingnut]

Misery,

Can you email me at [e-mail] so I can note this...sounds like it might be a former owner trying to get stuff.

Thanks,
Aldo

Misery wrote:

The only store listed in our area doing Free RPG day was a comic book store that had closed 2 years ago.

... nice >_>

[Nevynxxx]

Patrick Murphy wrote:

I live in an isolated area so there is no store for me to go to and participate. I was able to get the Bestiary online ( thank you Paizo). Does anyone know of anything else that can be downloaded that was availiable on Free RPG Day?

The Rogue Trader offering is Here...

And thanks again Aldo, FreeRPGDay is an amazing thing, and must take a lot of your time and effort. It has gotten me into a store that I would never have been in otherwise, and gotten me some nice new ideas.

[Wingnut]

The cost is based on the number of giveaways inside. We charge about $0.50 a unit to come to the cost. Year one had 80 items and year two had about 160...year three about 120 items, but due to the number of stores overall decreasing, we added 20 more items per box and ate the shipping cost.

Now, please note that we shipped USPS year 1 and a TON of stores never got their shipment and it cost me about $1000 to reship repeat kits 2 day UPS. For year 2 and 3, everything went UPS and we had only 2 problems this year (yippee!). The cost takes into consideration that we do some back-end marketing to promote the event, have to pay for custom boxes, pay folks (A LOT) to sort each box and then ship a 30lb box UPS. Honestly, there is not much money leftover to call profit vs. the time it takes to organize the event.

And no, we cannot ship through Diamond, Alliance, ACD or any other distributor because the distributors refused from day 1 to give us the stores participating because they say they cannot give up their database contacts...and without a list of the stores participating, we had to handle it direct with the stores so we could actually tell you where to go.

For FCBD, not true. Last I saw/heard, the charge is about $0.25 per comic and most stores spend ~$1000 to participate...obviously, this could vary per store, but unfortunately RPGs are not as mainstream as comics, so comparing the two events is almost like apples to oranges.

I hope that helps.

Best,
Aldo

in the last two years, the price of the packages has more than tripled in price... my store did it the first year, when a box cost $30, but couldn't justify it @ 90+ for something that they give away for free.. especially when

1) The web page says "The cost for one shipment (set of sponsors) will cover the shipping and handling of new, never-before-seen RPG products to be given away at your store, in addition to a promotional packet of a poster and postcards" it doesn't cost $90 to ship that box USPS

2)they ship it with the store's diamond or allience order which gets free shipping if they buy over $300 in product

3) Free comic book day, which the store gets over 10,000 books for, only costs them about $30.

With the economy, I'm guessing many other stores though the same way.

[Eryops]

Emperor7 wrote:

The owner pronounces Paizo with 3 syllables, pi-azz-o.

I hope you of perfect diction who has never mis-pronounced anything in your life corrected him on the spot with a smug little smile.

[Disenchanter]

Nevynxxx wrote:

Patrick Murphy wrote:

I live in an isolated area so there is no store for me to go to and participate. I was able to get the Bestiary online ( thank you Paizo). Does anyone know of anything else that can be downloaded that was availiable on Free RPG Day?

The Rogue Trader offering is Here...

It is kind of hard to track down, it is found under the Support link.

[Wingnut]

If you could email me the store's info at [e-mail], that would be great.

Thanks,
Aldo

Knightsfyre wrote:

The other "participating" store (which I only visited because I wanted some new dice and my FLGS had none that appealed to me) had just tossed the FreeRPG product in a casual and teetering pile on the corner of the sales counter, in amongst any number of other random bits like invoices and an empty pop can. I had no idea they were even participating until one of the only other two patrons in the store (which was deathly quiet) asked about it. The owner just said, "Yeah, just grab something from there" and waved in the...

[Wingnut]

OK, I know you said you were not going to check the thread again, but I have to note a few things...and no, you are not being a jerk...

1) We have to charge for the kits. The publishers pay us nothing to participate because they pay to print and ship the product. I noted the expenses to putting these together so we have to at minimum make up our cost-of-goods. You mention PDFs, and it was a thought right on year 1, but my company handles distributor sales for about 50 game companies so the point of the event has an agenda to help increase sales for our clients as well as our other industry friends like Paizo.

2) Our company does not have the ability to push this event big enough to get new people into RPGs. We have only ever claimed that the point of the event is to either a) get the hardcore RPG players even MORE into RPGs, and b) try to win back former players that don't play anymore.

3) Yes, the stores that gave away a freebie and then gave away more to participants in events had great days (from what I heard).

4) That $20 book actually is sold to distributors for $8.

5) Retailers mostly order from a distributor warehouse near them so paying for two day shipping is unlikely because UPS ground is naturally 1 or 2 days from the distributor to their store...and distributors and publishers have free shipping minimums and it is rare for someone to pay shipping in the industry (except the consumer me thinks).

6) Unfortunately, if PDFs become a part of it the day of the event, most folks would not go into their local retailer...and *that* is the core goal of the event. I wonder...why doesn't Free Comic Book Day do this?...or do they offer PDFs?

Best,
Aldo

tdewitt274 wrote:

Really? Really, people?! OK, I'm going to be the jerk.

www.freerpgday.com wrote:

Your friendly local game store controls whether or not they participate in this event!

Each individual store determines how the free items are given out on the day of the event.

First, until FreeRPGDay.com stop charging for these bundles, it's not going to be free for anyone. For those that are miffed that they had to pay for something else to get one, here's your reason. Walk, or talk, to a comic book store about their Free Comic Book day. My local one said because they jacked the price so high on this year, they had to cut back and only offer 1 per person.

Second, for those random opponents, talk to the people that came in the afternoon and there wasn't any of their favorite to be found.

Third, although stated generically on their website, the real goal is to get new people into the store. Sure, you spend hundreds of dollars per year on game stuff. And that makes you any more special than the person coming in off the street and opening thier eyes?

Fourth, I applaud the one that required you to play a game to get more than 1. Why? Because it's a perfect opportunity for other people to say "Wow! That looks cool!"

Fifth, Merchants are Merchants for a reason. Take this into consideration. A publisher creates a $20 book. They send it to a distributor for $5. The distrutor sends it to the merchant for $10. The merchant sells it to you for $20.

Now, don't forget that each one of those people is also charging shipping and handling. The merchant is likely going to be paying for 2 day shipping.

If you have a beef, make it to FreeRPGDay.com. Here's the solution to the whole problem: Free PDF. Open up a download link on the day of the event where the merchant can point the customer can download a copy (which is served from the game companie's website). What's that? No internet connection? Well, offer to burn them for $1. Merchants world wide can participate for free. Sure,...

[Wingnut]

Emperor...could be my spam filters...post it here or try [e-mail].

Best,
Aldo

Emperor7 wrote:

Tried e-mailing to the freerpgday link and it bounced. Not worth pursuing for me.

The new store got me in, then proceeded to get me out. Their loss. If they had product to interest me I'd have been fine buying it to get the swag. Maybe I'll go back someday, but their chance at a 1st impression fell flat.

Nothing to do with the socio-economic issues of Free RPG Day, just a business owner who's more of a print shop than a gaming store.

[Wingnut]

Honestly, all these posts here are more feedback than I have gotten directly combined...you guys are intense here... =P

Best,
Aldo

FREE is FREE or it should be. And yes, I'd contact the folks at Free RPG Day if you had a problem. Be persistent, if this board is indicative of what's gone on in our small portion of the country, we can only wonder what happened elsewhere. They are probably getting a lot of emails, calls, etc.

[Mairkurion {tm}]

Aldo--again, you're an awesome guy for following up in this way. Kudos to you.

[Nevynxxx]

Disenchanter wrote:

Nevynxxx wrote:

The Rogue Trader offering is Here...

It is kind of hard to track down, it is found under the Support link.

It is a little, most places don't like people linking past all their support stuff though...

[zylphryx]

Wingnut wrote:

a bunch of informative stuff

Thanks for all the feedback and info Aldo. It's a great thing to know that those who are behind an event not only listen but respond to those who take part or wish they were able to. I'm hoping that next year I can convince one of the local shops to participate.

[Disenchanter]

Nevynxxx wrote:

Disenchanter wrote:

Nevynxxx wrote:

The Rogue Trader offering is Here...

It is kind of hard to track down, it is found under the Support link.

It is a little, most places don't like people linking past all their support stuff though...

Agreed, and understood. That is why I let people know where to find it, rather than linked to it.

[Doc_Outlands]

Nevynxxx wrote:

The Rogue Trader offering is Here...

Awesome, thanks!! I'm grabbing it now.

Aldo, thanks for pushing the hobby *and* sticking your neck and shoulders out there! I didn't get to participate - look at the list of stores in Louisiana that participated compared to a map of the state and you'll see why. I wish I had known about it earlier and I would have gotten you contact info for at least two more stores in the north end of the state, plus one down in Baton Rouge.

I also really appreciate your showing us the otherwise hidden "mechanics" of how Free RPG Day works. Seems odd the distributors don't want to help increase orders that *they* benefit from...or maybe I'm missing something. That's usually the case.

[Ken Wickes]

If other stores have soured people on game stores for Free RPG day, then I apologize for them! Some just don't understand.... But I know there are a lot of stores out there who do get it!

Our store gave away unlimited items (while supplies last) just no more than one of anything. We also added a couple items donated by local companies (Steel Squire and Kenzer & Company)! Then we had a free raffle for 4 items...A Dark Heresy Core rulebook, one of our game store T-shirts, and two winners recieved a Star Wars Minis starter box (leftover from last week's WotC deal).
Then we ran 3 events all day that filled up!

The best thing you can do as customers are:
1) Ask your store about Free RPG Day! Are they participating? Running games?
2) People that are serious about it should volunteer to run an event for the store! Just make sure you don't bail on them, it can ruin a day's events!
3) Ask your store about Free RPG day! Give them info on it if they don't know!

I've seen comic stores as well as game stores support this, so harp on them as well!

The way I see it, this could be, and was for me, a very successful day for the RPG industry by bringing in new players and showing new things to exsisting ones!

Ken
Unique Gifts and Games
Grayslake, IL