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Re: bfrpg in brick and mortar stores suggestion
Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 7:12 am
by Solomoriah
You can suggest it. I can't tell you no. But I don't think there's a great likelihood that they'll go for it unless the owner or manager are already fans.
Re: bfrpg in brick and mortar stores suggestion
Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 10:56 am
by Cole n Aidens Dad
SmootRK wrote:I doubt it would work out well. I can only imagine when folks pick up a copy for $8 or more, only to find out that the game is freely downloaded, and offered at cost from Amazon or Lulu. Bad vibes for the store, and likely bad vibes for the game in general... "why would you allow game stores to mislead and/or gouge us this way?"
That said, I have never thought it would necessarily be wrong for Solo to have a small margin, with these marginal amounts being directed towards advertising, hosting/maintenance costs, Cons, print jobs for give-aways, etc. I don't think this sort of "net zero profit" would violate the general open-source, freely shared ethics that is the general theme around here.
Now, I am not sure how putting these in stores would really do anything productive other than getting the book in front of a few more people. A mentality of "it isn't real or legitimate unless it is in stores (brick or virtual)" needs to be debunked. This (role-playing games) is a hobby, like hiking, running, or bicycling. One does not need to spend on special products to do this hobby. Of course, there are products that can be bought (like expensive hiking shoes or GPS devices, etc.) but one can still get by with little or nothing bought (though I guess one needs some sort of bicycle to ride). The point is, that we can game to hearts content without spending. If only the greater community or pool of players can realize this, it would be great for all.
Sure you can download it for free.... but Kinkos charges $20 to print it. So for me (and I just purchased hte hard copy from Lulu for $18) spending $18 for a hard copy is worth it.
Re: bfrpg in brick and mortar stores suggestion
Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:22 am
by shadowmane
Hmmm... a boxed set seems like a good idea. However, if someone was going to do this, perhaps they would put some effort into making some full sized maps/playing mats, some character counters, and adding the core rules, as well as perhaps the AA1 suppliment in there. If it were going to be a boxed set, it would need to come with enough stuff to run a game out of the box with little preparation.
Seems like quite a bit of work, and outlay of money just to put a free game in front of people in a comic book store.
Re: bfrpg in brick and mortar stores suggestion
Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 6:00 pm
by Hywaywolf
As this is not a business it doesn't really matter how many BFRPG users there are, but if someone did want to increase the use of BFRPG a beginners boxset would be something that would set it apart from the other 100 simulacrums out there.
Re: bfrpg in brick and mortar stores suggestion
Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 6:40 pm
by Metroknight
True and If someone wanted to put the effort into it, they could compile the pdf's amd make a couple map sheets so that they could be printed out and just make it a zip file instead of an actual physical set. You could then ask you local FLGS if you can give them out. If you get a yes then burn 50 cd's and sleeve them before taking them to your local FLGs. This puts you out about $15 or more if you use labels on the CDs and gets BFRPG out there for people to try out. I used this method at conventions to get demo's out. It is rather good process and actually draws people in because who doesn't want free games to check out.
Re: bfrpg in brick and mortar stores suggestion
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 12:00 pm
by Joe the Rat
Man, I need to find my FLGS. Best I know is a comic shop that sells dice and crack-in-a-booster-pack. The pdf disc approach is the smallest outlay, and the least conflict with the game store's existing model. Plus, since it lacks the dice and miniatures and whatever else you like to use for play, they'd still benefit from the secondary market.
Question is, do B&Ms normally handle electronic documents like this?
Re: bfrpg in brick and mortar stores suggestion
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 5:10 pm
by Metroknight
I don't know anymore. It might be an individual thing but you are right that most FLGs shouldn't have a problem with the cd since they still will sell dice and mini's but some of them might sell it as competition with the products they sell. This is why if you are thinking of doing something like that you need to talk to them first before putting money into the cd's and stuff.
This usually works best as a door gift at conventions or other prize types. I once supplied 50 CDs to a group that was backing/running a local convention. They gave away all of them in a free raffle. Later at the same convention, I heard that people were asking if there was more CDs. I had to work so I didn't get to go to the convention but I heard that a few people had laptops (due to computer video games) had fired up the discs and started running games while they had it opened on their laptop.