If you cannot afford to spend $150 in a purchase that will net you (assuming it's a quality game) literally years' worth of entertainment given months of advance notice, you probably cannot afford to spend $120 on that purchase, either. You might tell yourself that you can afford $120, but the truth is that if you are unable to juggle your discretionary expenses over the next five months to make room for the D&D core books, you probably should not be spending any significant amount of money on entertainment products until you have stabilized your finances.
Which is really just a roundabout way of pointing out that WotC isn't (and shouldn't be) relying on the purchasing power of people who legitimately cannot afford their game to sustain their brand.
First, regardless whether or not it is personally affordable to me is irrelevant. If you read my post you would know 120 is more affordable than 150 by the sheer metric of being 30 dollars less. Also by way of gifts (a method I received most of my books of late) 120 is less of a price point for people than 150 dollars, once again being 30 dollars less. It is thus more affordable to others who personally see no value in the books at all and would not buy them for themselves but are buying them for me.
Second, I think that I am probably a better judge of my expenses than you. I know what I can afford and what I cannot afford. I can certainly judge whether 120 is less than 150 and if that price point is acceptable to my finanances. You cannot. Simply put: You don't know me, don't speak for me. I AM telling you that if they were 30 dollars less that I would be more likely to buy them.
Third, who are you to say that ANYONE should not be buying a product because they can't afford it? The previous installments of this game (that I purchased) have been (a) worth the money and (b) relatively inexpensive. Frankly I don't care if you think I should be spending my limited funds on something or not. That goes for others too. I would think WotC wants as many people as possible to buy their game. Or maybe you are correct and they are more like you. I didn't realize that a subsidiary of Hasbro are then more discerning in their customers than your typical crack dealer.
Fourth, you are actually saying that WotC shouldn't be relying upon me? A person who is MORE LIKELY to try their product (given the time/money to do so) than many others in his social circle. Rather you seem to be suggesting that they should price themselves for people who can afford it but won't actually buy it because they have no experience with it? Honestly I would expect WotC/Hasbro/any company to want as many customers as possible and something like a price tag that is 1/4 higher than it should be (based on inflation) seems to make them all that more unlikely to sell more units.
Granted, I, Tovec, should probably not spend my limited resources on this game or any game. But really that is not at all to say that WotC shouldn't be branding or marketing to me. Even with 0 bucks to spend on it I am about 10 000% more likely to buy it than my next door neighbour who could afford it. But really my inability to get it will be affected by my finances, instead it is more sharply being affected by WotC pricing themselves too high.
It could be gold-plated-gold, but if it costs me more than it is worth then I'm not buying it. And since it isn't gold-plated-gold, you have to start questioning prices.
And none of that has anything to do with this crap you say about "I might tell myself". *RANT REMOVED* I have to go back and censor myself because this really rubs me the wrong way. Who do you think you are to try and know what's in my head, my wallet, or WotC's for that matter? *GRUMBLES* Yeah, this has gotten me in a foul mood. Blocked for sure. *GOES TO BED*
