Sometimes it takes you four years to do something…

FreeMarket Aggregate Support Bin
1

I only realized this week that I had unnecessarily ostracized one of my dearest children. Admittedly, FreeMarket is a mutant child, but I love it dearly and it deserves a home here. But perhaps a bit of explanation is in order. When conceived by Jared and myself, FreeMarket wasn’t intended to be only a game, but it was to be an entire online experience. We wanted it to be something you played and, most importantly, thought about every time you were online.

But we had precious few resources at our disposal. Initially, the plans were for us to have the resources of an entire company behind us. But the shareholders grew angry. They didn’t like our idea. So support was withdrawn until the idea was forced off the vine. We still had the game, but now in order to realize our vision, we had to take different measures. One of our (utterly brilliant) ideas was to push FreeMarket into a viral state. We decided that the game wouldn’t have a home. Rather than allow the game to exist in the shadow of Burning Wheel or, worse, to have its own barren website, we wanted you all to talk about the game in public—on rpg.net or story games or wherever.

Initially it worked. Conversations sprouted up all over. But as happens on the internet, turned it’s attention to other important matters like Apocalypse World hacks and FATE hacks and hacks of hacks and adding Body/Soul/Mind stats to your homebrew Fantasy RPG. So we relented and created a home for the game on the ill-fated ProjectDonut.org website. Eventually, switchers got ahold of Jared’s personality and transferred the domain ownership away from them. So the Donut has been offline for about a year and I realized that, as we continue to expand into new games and new ideas, it’s just as important to create a home for our old ones.

You can buy FreeMarket from us here. There are 130 copies remaining. Though it was a grand experiment, and it’s one of my favorite things ever, we won’t be reprinting the game. We will of course support it as long as electrons flow through these internet veins, so I hope you have a long-term memory or two about a game that was published four years ago. Tell us what’s on your mind.

Best,
-Luke

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Thank you, Luke. I, for one, think FreeMarket is one of the most underappreciated gamesome there. It’s gorgeous, fun, and thought provoking, and I’m glad that there’s finally a place here for it.

Incidentally, if there’s anyone going to GenCon around that wants to play, I know I’ll be bringing my copy. Track me down and we’ll try to set something up.

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Every session that I have played of this game has been talked about for years afterward. Definitely the best RPG purchase I have ever made.

4

FreeMarket defeated Paranoia to be my favorite scifi rpg. I love the stories that it generates. I love how it freaks players out. I love that it lead me to Transmetropolitan.

I ran FreeMarket the last three years at Burning Con and the last three years at Gen Con. Burning Con is a special treat, and always I get one really excited player and spend the rest of the con talking FreeMarket with them. A player last year came up with the starting memory, “I started the meme that eating your own organs is cool.” I’ve had another player start themselves off with misinformation and proceed to get into trouble.

I’m not sure I’m bringing it to Gen Con this year. Last year, getting a group together was like trying to gift a horde of angry bees, and I have only so much space in my pack. I’m totally down for playing, Shaun!

This Burning Con I want to submit a Torchbearer hack, but if I don’t get it done or if it doesn’t get approved, then I will run FreeMarket.

Finally, I’ll be running a short campaign of FreeMarket after Gen Con!

5

Great news.

Nice to have shelf in shadows of BW even if that wasn’t initial plan. I’m have just starting memories of purchasing it recently and planing to try out after current game. Was keeping option to ping Shaun through G+ in case I run into problems to absorb ephemera.

Attaboy to superuser luke!