General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
I'm still on 3.0 books but wanted to update to 3.5 (yes, I'm a bit slow). What shocks me, however, is the insane prices sellers want. There must be millions of these books out there but I can't find one cheaper than $45 USD.
Also, the bidding on eBay for these tomes is fierce. I saw a mint condition one sell for $60 USD!
I've been through every edition of AD&D and never seen a phenomenom of this sort. Such a common book, by rights, should drop in value, not increase now that 4th edition is out.
I don't know where you live, but I find 3.5 PHBs all the time in the $15-20 at places like Half-Price Books.
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I've been through every edition of AD&D and never seen a phenomenom of this sort. Such a common book, by rights, should drop in value, not increase now that 4th edition is out.
Now that it is 1) out of print, 2) one of the more commonly used, thus worn out books, and 3) there are significant numbers of people NOT playing 4Ed, it means the supply of decent copies of the 3.5 PHB is dwindling, while demand for it may be steady or rising. Add to that some people experiencing buyer's remorse with 4ed...
Your best bet was probably right after 4Ed came out and people flooded the market with the 3.5 stuff they thought they'd never be using again.
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I've been through every edition of AD&D and never seen a phenomenom of this sort.
You hadn't noticed that some TSR books still go for $30+ and that certain copies of the DMG or the Deities & Demigods topped $100 or more?
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Noble Knight Games - Inventory
As Of Sunday, February 22, 2009
http://www.nobleknight.com/NKGInventory.Txt <snip- many game products>
TSR2013 Deities & Demigods (1st Printing w/Cthulhu) (Hardcover) VG+ Price: $150.00 <snip- many game products>
TSR2011 Dungeon Master's Guide (2nd Alpha Printing) (Hardcover) Fair/VG (some pencil notations inside)
Price: $1,795.00
That price on the DMG makes me wonder whose "pencil notations inside" they are...
You hadn't noticed that some TSR books still go for $30+ and that certain copies of the DMG or the Deities & Demigods topped $100 or more?
*sigh*
I saw a complete nearly mint condition holmes edition at a FLGS and it broke my heart to realize I couldn't really afford it. Thats just the holmes edition.
Anyway at one store here, they are selling 3.5 books like hotcakes at full price. Just a few miles away they are selling them at 50% off. I tried to tell the first that he should just buy up the ones at the second, but he never did.
You hadn't noticed that some TSR books still go for $30+ and that certain copies of the DMG or the Deities & Demigods topped $100 or more?
Yes, I'm aware of such. I've never seen a standard edition of the PHB spike that much in price after the release of a newer edition.
I know you have to pay a lot for books such as the 1st printing of the 1E DMG. In fact the 2nd printing alpha that accidently had pages of the MM printed in it is probably even dearer!
I've been through every edition of AD&D and never seen a phenomenom of this sort. Such a common book, by rights, should drop in value, not increase now that 4th edition is out.
The 3.5 core books initially fell in price with the release of 4e, and I picked up a new 3.5 Monster Manual & DMG last autumn at a good price, around £12 each. I had been running 3.5e with my 3.0 MM & DMG for years, but 4e renewed my interest in the game, and running a regular campaign I thought I should get the full set.
It's gone crazy now though. Prices are sky high. I think 4e may not have panned out for a lot of people. 3e seems more popular now than it was a year ago.
Edit: Last week at my D&D club, the only games running were 3.5 ones, which was tough for the new players who turned up looking for a 4e game.
The 3.5 core books initially fell in price with the release of 4e, and I picked up a new 3.5 Monster Manual & DMG last autumn at a good price, around £12 each. I had been running 3.5e with my 3.0 MM & DMG for years, but 4e renewed my interest in the game, and running a regular campaign I thought I should get the full set.
It's gone crazy now though. Prices are sky high. I think 4e may not have panned out for a lot of people. 3e seems more popular now than it was a year ago.
Edit: Last week at my D&D club, the only games running were 3.5 ones, which was tough for the new players who turned up looking for a 4e game.
I have the opposite experience here in California. Almost nothing but 4th Edition games. 3rd Edition really isn't more popular right now than a year ago. It's a lot less popular. But it seems that way on the surface because a certain group of people are being very vocal about how they're playing 3rd Edition and not 4th Edition. The majority of D&D players are just enjoying their new edition. You may have heard of this phenomenon as the vocal minority.
I have the opposite experience here in California. Almost nothing but 4th Edition games. 3rd Edition really isn't more popular right now than a year ago. It's a lot less popular. But it seems that way on the surface because a certain group of people are being very vocal about how they're playing 3rd Edition and not 4th Edition. The majority of D&D players are just enjoying their new edition. You may have heard of this phenomenon as the vocal minority.
Being in California, my experience is 4E was popular out the door because everyone was giving it a chance.
Now certain parties may or may not be as excited, however, because 4E has captured certain hearts, those who currently want to run a game, 4E seems like the popular choice.
In my experience the above is exactly what happened. My FLGS owner who also ran a campaign switched to 4E. He wont go back to 3E despite the fact a couple of us prefer 3E.
Then my other group also tried 4E. We didn't like it but someone wanted to try it from the DM's viewpoint so we are going to play yet more of it.
Personally I'm wishing to go Hero System or FATE/Spirit of the Century.
I've got a complete set of 3.5 core plus various additional books. I also have a lot of 2nd Ed. stuff and even a few "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" books which I presume means 1st edition. My friend has a very old thing called "Keep on the Borderlands" which I've heard mentioned on these boards from time to time. I sort of tried to sell them with an ad in a local "trade it" website but no takers. I just want to do them as a job lot so that I don't end up with useless odds and ends and I don't want to ebay it because I (a) despise paypal and (b) don't want to bother dealing with postage and packing, etc.
I'm thinking by this point, I'll just keep hanging on to them till a random stranger walks up to me in the street and asks me if I happen to have some D&D books to sell.
I have the opposite experience here in California. Almost nothing but 4th Edition games. 3rd Edition really isn't more popular right now than a year ago. It's a lot less popular. But it seems that way on the surface because a certain group of people are being very vocal about how they're playing 3rd Edition and not 4th Edition. The majority of D&D players are just enjoying their new edition. You may have heard of this phenomenon as the vocal minority.
I suspect that WoTC may have a better intuitive handle on what West Coast US gamers like than they do on gamers worldwide, or in the US heartlands. So I'm not surprised if 4e is doing well in California or Seattle.
Californian here too. I can only speak to my experience, which is that the popularity at our gameday is mainly a grassroots support system. A couple of us got together and planned the WoTC WW Gameday kickoff at the FLGS. Had we not done so, the store wouldn't have run the event. We had 75 people at that initial meetup. We are now over 250, and the usual attendance is around 75 each month. Growth doesn't happen because we don't have the space for it.
Support from WoTC for us has been limited to offering WWGD, Delve night and LFR modules and promotional materials to put on display at the FLGS. Everything else from drumming up players and DMs to prize giveaways has been driven by the players of the game.
I do agree that 4E is way more popular than d20, but there are staunch defenders of those systems here as well.
Dannager,
We must be having different experiences. I am here in CA as well and out of about ten groups that I know, only two are playing 4e.
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Originally Posted by Dannager
I have the opposite experience here in California. Almost nothing but 4th Edition games. 3rd Edition really isn't more popular right now than a year ago. It's a lot less popular. But it seems that way on the surface because a certain group of people are being very vocal about how they're playing 3rd Edition and not 4th Edition. The majority of D&D players are just enjoying their new edition. You may have heard of this phenomenon as the vocal minority.
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