D&D 5E Initial D&D Next Releases Showing Up on Barnes & Noble Website

[Hussar]

Hrm, a decent board game is 50 bucks or more. I just dropped a hundred bucks on Eclipse at Christmas and I've only gotten to play it twice since then. How is this really out of line for a game?

It has long baffled me how people can look at gaming and think it's too expensive. Even stepping away from the gaming element for a second - take a look at a 300 plus page full colour coffee table book at full price. 50 bucks just about covers that, by and large.

How cheap do they have to be in order to be "affordable"? Just looking a bit, the 2e PHB was 25 dollars MSRP and would be $51 in today's dollars. So, adjusted for inflation, the books haven't changed in price at all.

 

[Obryn]

KM, I think Obryn meant that at that price it's probably too much for us who're sitting on the fence.

Pretty much.

But I don't go into RPGs thinking of them in "investment" terms, like $ of cash for # hours of gameplay. Not strictly. I'm perfectly willing to buy an inexpensive (but highly regarded) game I don't expect to play, or to play only once. I'm much less willing to buy an expensive game I might never use, or use only once.

The amount I've spent on 4e, Savage Worlds, or Fate doesn't enter directly into it, since I like to play lots of different games.

 

[Morrus]

I don't think Wizards could do right by anyone it seems. People want to hate Wizards, regardless of validity. This will be the last edition that WotC produces with the brand, if I had to guess.

I wouldn't worry, Matt. It'll sell just fine.

 

[Matt James]

I wouldn't worry, Matt. It'll sell just fine.

oh, I know

 

[ExploderWizard]

Not really. Pathfinder is a great game that sells well, and of course, it is a direct version of D&D. But once D&D gets to publishing the actual game actively again, Pathfinder will not be a major competitor. IMO, of course.

A brand new core release will usually surge ahead in sales for a time. The new hotness always grabs top sales spots for awhile. The strength of adventures and other support material over time will be the acid test in the overall sales race.

Pehaps WOTC will decide not to lay off the majority of their design staff after the core is done this time.

 

[I'm A Banana]

KM, I think Obryn meant that at that price it's probably too much for us who're sitting on the fence.

Yeah, I think my point was that it seemed like a solid value. A solid value doesn't necessarily mean that it's a purchase everyone is looking to make.

As for myself, my group has invested heavily in PF, and we're content with that. If were to buy another edition of D&D, it has to be pretty awesome. However, based on what I've seen, I'm not convinced that Next will be my edition of choice, and there's the dilemma; we Europeans have to pay a lot more for the books. Assuming it's going to be 50 bucks per book, the whole set will cost 150 euros at my FLGS (which is around 206 USD). If I order them from Amazon, there will be shipping costs and import taxes and whatever; last time it was something like 415 USD for a box of 300 minis. Either way, it's too much for brand loyalty. Also, if I want to try another fantasy RPG that is cheaper than Next, it need not be an obscure indie game or an OSR clone. IMO Dragon Age is pretty decent for its price, for example, and also comes with a lot less baggage than D&D.

Yeah, if you're going to get another year or so out of PF, investing in a new e of D&D that you're not enthusiastic about isn't a great idea.

 

[DaveMage]

Wow! Shocking news!





...That someone is actually reading the B&N website!




As for a $50 Player's Handbook, the question is, will Wizards publish the game like 4E with large print and tons of whitespace (i.e. poor value) or will they return to the 3.x model of packing the book full of content? If the latter, $50 may well be worth it. If the former, well....ouch.

I still think the best thing they could do is release the rules for free on the web (ala 3.x and Paizo). At $50 for the D&D PHB, that's the only way I'll see them.

Of course, WotC will no doubt not care if people complain - they will only care if people don't buy.

 

[gyor]

Both items appear to be on sale now, the PHB for 37 dollars.

 

[dd.stevenson]

I don't think Wizards could do right by anyone it seems. People want to hate Wizards, regardless of validity. This will be the last edition that WotC produces with the brand, if I had to guess.

It very well could be the last edition for a long time--if so, I won't necessarily see that as a bad thing! Not as long as they continue to support it. Their strategy of relying on transmedia campaigns to monetize their new setting releases does look promising, to me.

I guess I'm sort of a D&D optimist, in that I feel the brand has been badly mismanaged for at least twenty years running. And in that sense, I think it's punching well below its weight in the entertainment marketplace, and is therefore ripe for a turnaround. But I guess we'll see...

 

[Falling Icicle]

I was expecting the core rulebooks to be $35-$40 each. $50 sounds a bit steep, but it also depends on the size and quality of the book. It's also possible that the DMG and MM may be cheaper than the PHB.