Rules Database vs. Core Rulebooks

[Harr]

Yeah, I reeeaally doubt WotC's going to be knowingly doing anything that would even indirectly lead to people being encouraged to not buy the core books. Even if it seems that way from early rumors of the database.

I agree that in the long run, minimal investment would amount to just the core books as they get released yearly. KotS isn't even needed at all, if you bought that it's because you wanted it, not because it was a required part of the buy-in, which as far as I can see is 3 core books ($60-90) a year. DDI by itself would come to 15*12=$180 a year if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Kristian Serrano]

If you want to buy into 4E at minimal cost, why not skip DDI and go with just the core books? 6 months of DDI subscription is approximately equal to core book cost, so at month seven with DDI you exceed your initial investment ... and if/when you shut off DDI, you're left with little or nothing. Converting existing adventures doesn't look to be that difficult.

Unless they allow download of a pdf of the entire book with a DDI subscription at little/no cost, but that wouldn't make sense because that would encourage not buying the books to begin with, subscribing for a short time, then sutting off subscription with pdf copies of books in hand.

Two reasons:
1. The cost of D&DI is easier to budget.
2. If D&DI covers the rules presented in the core rulebooks, then it's actually an even greater value given all of the other resources within D&DI, all of which I see value in and intend to use.

 

[Rabbitbait]

Thanks for all the replies. What I'm trying to figure out is if D&DI will allow me to buy into 4e at a minimal cost. I'm on a tighter budget these days (time and money) as I have a baby girl coming in three months. Moving to 4e instead of using my existing v3.5 library means less time preparing for game sessions, but more money spent. $20 for Keep on the Shadowfell, $62 on the core rulebooks, and $10-$15 per month on D&DI adds up really quickly. I was hoping that D&DI would allow me to avoid the upfront expense of the core rulebooks, and I at least want to purchase Keep on the Shadowfell so that my players and I can test it out.

I'm in the same position, with a baby on the way in 3 months and down to one income. I've sold all of my 3.x stuff to raise the money to buy all of 4e I want for the next year or two (Including getting a subscription to the website if I decide that is a good option). I really feel that once I start playing 4e I won't look back, so there is no point in keeping my old books.

Most people don't seem to realise that 4e is coming out yet - I got between $20 and $34 for the core books and between $10 and $20 for modules selling on Trademe (New Zealands version of E-Bay)

 

[Kristian Serrano]

Yeah, my wife and I keep translating every $10 into an hour of babysitting. The core rulebooks and Keep on the Shadowfell equal 8 hours if purchased from Amazon, and about 13 hours at cover price.

 

[MindWanderer]

Two reasons:
1. The cost of D&DI is easier to budget.
2. If D&DI covers the rules presented in the core rulebooks, then it's actually an even greater value given all of the other resources within D&DI, all of which I see value in and intend to use.

For ~$60, the core rulebooks cost the same as 4 months of DDI. If you plan to play for at least 4 months, the core rulebooks are the better investment if your budget is tight. Of course, the best decision of all, if money is a problem, is stick with 3e until your budget loosens up. You should never have to choose between playing a game and feeding your baby.

 

[Jack99]

I'm on a tighter budget these days (time and money) as I have a baby girl coming in three months. Moving to 4e instead of using my existing v3.5 library means less time preparing for game sessions, but more money spent. $20 for Keep on the Shadowfell, $62 on the core rulebooks, and $10-$15 per month on D&DI adds up really quickly.

If money is so tight that $82 now and $10 a month makes a difference (which it must be doing, since you are asking), and you have a baby girl coming (congrats), I would urge you to stick to 3.5 and spend that money on her.

Not that $80 gets you a lot for a baby...

 

[MyISPHatesENWorld]

If money is so tight that $82 now and $10 a month makes a difference (which it must be doing, since you are asking), and you have a baby girl coming (congrats), I would urge you to stick to 3.5 and spend that money on her.

Not that $80 gets you a lot for a baby...

If he already has a 3.5 library, he'd need to get on the book a month plan to eventually reach the point at which he has an equivalent library in 4e. So that's $82 now and ~$40 a month. And for most people, even those with a six-figure income, a new child means things have to go to allow for current expenses, future expenses and surprise expenses. That $40 a month (or even $10) alone wouldn't be much, but combined with the other things he and his wife give up, it will get them where they need to be. I've seen very well-paid executives that give up similar expenses to deal with new children or child related expenses.

 

[Kristian Serrano]

If money is so tight that $82 now and $10 a month makes a difference (which it must be doing, since you are asking), and you have a baby girl coming (congrats), I would urge you to stick to 3.5 and spend that money on her.

Not that $80 gets you a lot for a baby...

That's actually in the lead right now. The only compelling thing about 4e is the more streamlined rules and the availability of the online tools. Two of us (will) have kids, and so being able to hop online for a couple of hours without having to schedule something regularly and it seems prepping encounters is much easier in 4e.

In the end, I'm really thinking that sticking to v3.5 might be a better choice in terms of budget. I might just start making up easier monsters and NPCs that have unique abilities rather than using the complex baddies that have dozens of spells or spell-like abilities. Essentially, I think a v3.5 game that's less strict with the rules might suffice.

And just to clarify, things aren't so "tight" that I can't afford the core rulebooks; it's just that it's harder to justify $65 + $15 per month for a hobby than it is to justify only $10-$15 a month, or at least it seems that way in my head.

 

[anomalousman]

The major downside I see to relying on DDI for rules crunch is that they are free to change their idea of what content is offered at any time. If they reckon people are using it as you hope to, I'd bet good money they'll simply remove/cripple that content, and focus on putting up different stuff. They've certainly got a consistent track record along those lines with things like PC-Gen.

That's why I will only accept hardcover books or PDFs without DRM. Watermarking the PDFs is fine, because I can still use it on my various computers, but I refuse to spend hundreds of dollars on stuff that can be effectively taken away at any time.

And that's why their pricing on PDFs will seriously affect how much money they get from me. I'd rather buy everything they offer in the year, but I'm only going to get the original books as hardcopies. Our 3.5 playtable is now unworkable with all the books - my laptop is the only thing I use, and most of the other players are relying on it too, now. If they try charging more than what I consider a reasonable fee per PDF (I can't really put a figure on it, but a lot less than a physical product), or make it so that they're annoying to use, then I simply won't buy them.

My physical copy of KoTS is already being shipped to me, but I've already read it through a few times to prepare, if you know what I mean...

 

[Harr]

Two of us (will) have kids, and so being able to hop online for a couple of hours without having to schedule something regularly and it seems prepping encounters is much easier in 4e.

Not meaning to sound pessimistic here or anything, but if any of my friends that have had babies arrive are any indication, and assuming this is your first baby, I'd be very surprised if you find you have the free time to even do that at least for the first six months or so.

Not to say it isn't worth it, of course it is, and more.