DriveThruRPG released the following press release earlier today, and I hope you will all take advantage of the deal they are offering. Not only is it a good one for you, but a little humanitarian aid never hurt anyone, right?
Thursday, January 21, 2010
In an effort to hurriedly engage publishers and fans in a charitable relief action for the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (following the earthquake that devastated the region), DriveThruRPG put together the single most amazing bundle of products ever seen in the RPG hobby’s history. For a $20 donation, fans are given over $1500.00 in RPG books, music, and more.
It killed their servers within hours of going live.
As one fan put it, “I’ve never been happier to get an error message.” The generosity has been utterly overwhelming, and the collective patience of the customer base has been greatly appreciated by the folks at DriveThruRPG.
“It is an embarrassment of riches of the highest order,” said Sean Patrick Fannon, Marketing & Communications Manager. “We simply had no idea how huge this would get, and how quickly it would become a massive sensation throughout the gaming world. I’ve never been more proud of my community or my job.”
In order to resolve the server issues, DriveThru employed a “coupon solution” that enabled customers to gain a code that would let them select each of the products in the original bundle for free download. With well over a hundred products, however, this became a tedious and frustrating process, and the customers rightfully complained.
As of now, a new coding has been employed, and now customers are getting all of the products that go with the bundles automatically added to their download lists. The folks at DriveThruRPG care immensely for their customers, wanting the experience to be as easy and enjoyable as possible. While the main focus is to get help to Haiti, DriveThru also wants to leave a positive and lasting impression on everyone who comes to the site.
As of this press release, DriveThruRPG has collected well over $56,000, which will be going to Doctors Without Borders for their efforts in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The “Gamers Help Haiti $20 Mega Bundle” will be available until January 31st. Other relief efforts may continue as needed.
For more information, contact Sean Patrick Fannon at sean@onebookshelf.com. Go to www.drivethrurpg.com to obtain the bundle and learn more about what DriveThruRPG is doing to help Haiti.
Over $70k as of this comment. I know I’ve been getting a ton of downloads of the product I added to the bundle.
I finally got all of mine downloaded, thought I never had the problems that plagued everyone else. It just took me around 4 hours to download that many items.
I have to say that was the best $20 I have spent on my rpg hobby/addiction in my life. As a diehard cheapskate, that is also one of the only times I have felt good about spending $20.
It is also the first time I’ve actually been proud of us, the rpg gaming community. No bickering, flaming or edition wars. Just a bunch of gamers stepping up to help our fellow man, and get some cool stuff in the process.
Kudos everyone that spent the $20 and to all the companies that participated. Especially DriveThruRPG/RPGNow for putting it together.
I’ve been telling everyone I know about this deal. Hopefully that $70K will be a much bigger number tomorrow.
I’m really impressed by the community action on this one. It went into the podcast I recorded tonight, but I don’t know if we’ll get it out soon enough. Seriously, though, great job to all on a great idea, great execution, and great generosity.