D&D 5E (2024) Lorwyn: First Light has been released

[Parmandur]

In the broad strokes I completely agree. But in the nitty gritty, some products are more clearly price gouging while others are at the mercy of increased supply and distribution costs and are running at the same thin margins they always were. And getting into the weeds as to why and wherefore and what's to be done is pretty definitely going to run afoul of the "No Politics" rule.

Everyone but the 1% are getting poorer, wealth inequality is the downfall of civilizations, and a slim $15 booklet is still barely more than a Big Mac and fries. All of the above can be true at once. For the price of one not particularly fancy meal, that's a decent amount of artistic product.

Yeah, again, not personally interested in tgis...but if I were already invested in using Beyond with my friends, and we were excited about Lorwyn...even this slim volume could create many sessions of play.

 

[mamba]

Those are all examples of artistic products that have no intrinsic value, only subjecitve enjoyment. The value of an item without intrinsic value (that is, objective and concrete, like real estate or oil or something) is simply what people who want an item will pay.

the value someone ascribes to things with intrinsic value also varies widely from person to person, that is not really all that different from things with no intrinsic value

Well, no, thst is not relevant to value on a luxury good. The willingness of the customer to pay is what matters, not the costs to produce.

yes, that is how you arrive at the price of something, you try to figure out at what price point you maximize your profit, i.e. the function of '(price - cost) * number of expected buyers' reaches a maximum. I still compare against the competition though to see what a reasonable price would be, and that is where this DLC fails miserably.

So at least we now are at WotC charges as much as they think they can get away with rather than saying that this is a good price. I settle for that

 

[mamba]

Remember, people have different income levels and varying degrees of want... for you this is indefensible, for many it's completely fine. Speaking in these absolutes doesn't help anything.

I based this on what the competition charges for comparable products, personal interest and income are not part of this at all.

There are tons of products that I am not interested in, and I never complain that they are too expensive because of that. This one absolutely is too expensive in comparison to the competition.

 

[Zardnaar]

Yeah...to a point. Would I buy a $15 Shadowdark booklet? Yeah probably. Would I pay for the 'privilage' to gain access to a $15 online only, single platform, $15 Shadowdark 'product'?

Negative.

I did a price comparison on Drivethrurpg.

Phantasy Star and Daggerheart are $30 pdfs. Full systems.

3 older FR products are $15. Page count varies but small ones are 64 pages. Eg Cormyr. PDF

So the new ones are piss poor value. Asterions seems to be regarded as ok everything else not so much.

Another botched mediocre adventure from WotC. Shocked and stunned.

 

[Scribe]

Daggerheart are $30 pdfs

Yeah thats a brutal comparison. This DLC should have been $5.

 

[Parmandur]

the value someone ascribes to things with intrinsic value also varies widely from person to person, that is not really all that different from things with no intrinsic value

Well, no. That's not what intrinsic means: intrinsic means something is valuable outside of anyone's opinion, like land or resources. Hobby books have no intrinsic value, because the only value is subjective.

yes, that is how you arrive at the price of something, you try to figure out at what price point you maximize your profit, i.e. the function of '(price - cost) * number of expected buyers' reaches a maximum. I still compare against the competition though to see what a reasonable price would be, and that is where this DLC fails miserably.

The competition isn't other game companies, it's WitC own print books and other hobbies.

So at least we now are at WotC charges as much as they think they can get away with rather than saying that this is a good price. I settle for that

It's the same difference: if somebody looks at this and feels it is worth as much as a sandwich to them, then it is fair. $15 is very little money in late 2025.

 

[Marandahir]

I'm wondering if the Lorwyn supplement started as a Moonshae Isles supplement and Llewyrr looked so silmilar to Lorwyn that someone at corporate said – wait no, we're doing a Lorwyn magic set in January, make this a Lorwyn thing.

I was glad that we got actual mechanical ancestries for Lorwyn and Shadowmoor Elves. I don't love that the other options are just guidelines for refluffing. They're not bad guidelines, but they're sort of what I would have suggested without any guidance or playtesting.

All three supplements felt about 10 pages and 5 mechanical elements too short for their price points. I still bought them all, and I'm not sorry for doing so, but I'd rather these were like the Monstrous Bestiaries Vol. 1 & 2 where they were clearly cut-content from the books and were offered for free if you have D&D Beyond.

I'm still driven crazy though by DDB tormenting me with the covers for Spelljammer Academy and Hold Back the Dead, but then not letting me get them, free or not. If you're not going to give it out for free anymore, just sell it, WotC! People like me who missed the window to claim would gladly buy these if only out of "Ore wa Collector" Mindsets (You know what I'm talking about. His first treasure was an Ancient Mew CARD meaning the card game you licenses is diagetically in Pokémon 2000).

 

[mamba]

The competition isn't other game companies, it's WitC own print books and other hobbies.

so other TTRPGs or 5e products are not competition...

It's the same difference: if somebody looks at this and feels it is worth as much as a sandwich to them, then it is fair. $15 is very little money in late 2025.

I am not saying that $15 is necessarily a lot of money in absolute terms, but for this, yeah, it is way too much. That some sandwich costs $15 is besides the point, a $40 sandwich is also overpriced, even though a BluRay might cost $40, the two have nothing to do with each other. Something that costs $15 can be overpriced while something completely different that costs $100 can be very cheap.

 

[Zardnaar]

so other TTRPGs or 5e products are not competition...


I am not saying that $15 is necessarily a lot of money in absolute terms, but for this, yeah, it is way too much. That some sandwich costs $15 is besides the point, a $40 sandwich is also overpriced, even though a BluRay might cost $40, the two have nothing to do with each other. Something that costs $15 can be overpriced while something completely different that costs $100 can be very cheap.

I might pay $40 for a sandwich. Better be the best damn sandwich I've ever had though. Great sandwich here is $15 with fries.

Katz Deli NYC is getting near that price. Haven't had one wont be visiting USA anytime soon for erm reasons

 

[mamba]

I might pay $40 for a sandwich. Better be the best damn sandwich I've ever had though. Great sandwich here is $15 with fries.

it better be, but that BluRays cost around the same is still no justification for the sandwich costing that much