Bits and Mortar

Last updated

Bits and Mortar is an online organization of publishers who support brick and mortar game stores.

Contents

Background

Bits and Mortar was established in July 2010, alternately referred to as a publisher's alliance, initiative, or coalition, which advocates for support of brick and mortar games stores. [1] Founding organizations include Arc Dream Publishing, Cellar Games, Cubicle 7, Evil Hat Productions, Pelgrane Press, and Rogue Games. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Prior to their foundation, gaming publishers providing proprietary methods of supplying gaming documentation, such as PDFs, to retail customers of brick and mortar stores. [6] Fred Hicks, founder of Evil Hat Productions and other publishers[ example needed ] agreed to establish a non-profit organization to centralize the release and distribution of documentation. The Bits and Mortar initiative was eventually announced at Gen Con 2010. [7]

Fred Hicks said:

We love real, physical brick and mortar game stores, and we want to see them survive — and thrive — even as the digital content options for gaming become more prevalent. Today's game-buying customers want the best of both worlds: the portability of an e-book, and the lasting durability of one made out of paper, glue, and ink. They want to be able to support their favorite local game stores, and they want to be able to support their favorite publishers. The Bits and Mortar initiative is all about making sure they don’t have to choose one or the other. We want them to choose both, every time. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaosium</span> Game publisher

Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include Call of Cthulhu, based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft, RuneQuest Glorantha, Pendragon, based on Thomas Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and 7th Sea, "swashbuckling and sorcery" set in a fantasy 17th century Europe.

Open gaming is a movement within the tabletop role-playing game (RPG) industry with superficial similarities to the open source software movement. The key aspect is that copyright holders license their works under public copyright licenses that permit others to make copies or create derivative works of the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D&D Adventurers League</span> Tabletop role-playing game association

D&D Adventurers League, or simply Adventurers League for short, is the organized play association for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) roleplaying game which is officially administered by D&D's publisher, Wizards of the Coast. Prior to 2014, it was known as the Role Playing Game Association Network. The organization was originally established by D&D's previous publisher, TSR, Inc., in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Laws</span> Canadian writer and game designer (born 1964)

Robin D. Laws is a Canadian writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of a number of novels and role-playing games as well as an anthologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brick and mortar</span> Class of organisations or businesses

Brick and mortar is an organization or business with a physical presence in a building or other structure. The term brick-and-mortar business is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases retail shops, factory production facilities, or warehouses for its operations. More specifically, in the jargon of e-commerce businesses in the 2000s, brick-and-mortar businesses are companies that have a physical presence and offer face-to-face customer experiences.

Blue Devil Games publishes role-playing games and games of strategy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelgrane Press</span> British publisher of roleplaying games

Pelgrane Press Ltd is a British role-playing game publishing company based in London and founded in 1999. It is co-owned by Simon J Rogers and Cat Tobin. It currently produces GUMSHOE System RPGs, 13th Age, the Diana Jones award-winning Hillfolk RPG, The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, and other related products. It publishes fiction under the Stone Skin Press imprint.

Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. They are best known for the free indie RPG system Fate, Blades in the Dark, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians, all of which have won multiple awards.

The Game System License is a license that allows third-party publishers to create products compatible with and using the intellectual property from the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). It was released to the public by Wizards of the Coast (WotC) on June 17, 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omnichannel retail strategy</span> Business model by which a company integrates both offline and online presences

Omnichannel retail strategy, originally also known in the U.K. as bricks and clicks, is a business model by which a company integrates both offline (bricks) and online (clicks) presences, sometimes with the third extra flips.

Free RPG Day is an annual promotional event by the Tabletop role-playing game industry. The event rules are fairly simple: participating publishers provide special free copies of games to participating game stores; the game store agrees to provide one free game to any person who requests a free game on Free RPG Day.

Brennan Taylor is an American role-playing games author and publisher.

Justin D. Jacobson is an attorney and professional game designer.

<i>13th Age</i> Tabletop fantasy role-playing game

13th Age is a d20 fantasy role-playing game designed by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet, and published by Pelgrane Press. 13th Age has been well supported with over 25 supplements published since its 2013 release, the most recent in 2022.

<i>Diaspora</i> (role-playing game)

Diaspora is a "Hard" Sci-fi role-playing game based on the FATE engine from Evil Hat Productions.

Fred Hicks is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.

Angus Abranson is a game designer, publisher and poet who has worked primarily on role-playing games.

Everlane is an American clothing retailer that sells primarily online. The organization is headquartered in San Francisco, California and also has stores in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Austin, and Palo Alto. The company was founded with the mission of selling clothing with transparent pricing.

Jonaya Kemper is an American game design academic and game writer/designer. Kemper's work includes LARP, tabletop role-playing games, and computer games. Kemper coined the term and developed the theory of "emancipatory bleed."

References

  1. Torres-Roman, Steven A.; Snow, Cason E. (2014-10-17). Dragons in the Stacks: A Teen Librarian's Guide to Tabletop Role-Playing. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 19. ISBN   978-1-61069-262-5.
  2. 1 2 "RPG Blog II: Zack's Gen Con Liveblog, Day 3". Rpgblog2.com. 2010-08-07. Archived from the original on 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  3. Michael “Stargazer” Wolf (8 February 2011). "Bits And Mortar". Stargazersworld.com. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  4. "'Atomic Robo' B&M Promotion". icv2.com. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  5. https://archive.org/details/designers-dragons-the-00s/Designers%20%26%20Dragons%20-%20The%2000s/page/312/mode/2up
  6. "Pelgrane Press Ltd » Blog Archive » Retail customers get PDFs through the Bits and Mortar initiative". Pelgranepress.com. 2010-09-13. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  7. Fred Hicks (2013-08-13). "Bits & Mortar Begins". Deadly Fredly. Retrieved 2013-09-28.