D&D 4E 4e price increase?

[Imaro]

Next thing you'll talk about the benefits that they have over books like being able to play CD's, DVD's, or even the next generation of entertainment.

You'll talk about how you can actually rent them and how can play them without needing other people around.

Crazy talk!

What! you mean I don't have to find a group to play Assasin's Creed. I've been trying to get guys together forever to play. I'm going to bust open that sucker and play...now that I know I don't need those guys...I didn't think the game would work unless it was four to six of us in front of the console to play and one person to stand behind the console and narate...

 

[Hella_Tellah]

You know what I wonder, is it the same market though? D&D has (had??) an online game and...well...it flopped.

Heck, what if they start targetting steak lovers? They might have to lower the price to compete with the really good cuts of meat!

Thing of it is, D&D is not competing for your online-gaming-dollars, or for your dinner-going-dollars, or for your tabletop-RPG-dollars. It's competing for your dollars. And if you prefer steaks, online RPGs, or buttered-rum smoothies to D&D, spending your money on those goods will make you happier. If you truly prefer $120 worth of steak to D&D 4th Edition, then you'll buy the steak, and not D&D 4th Edition.

What's tripping you guys up is the difference between competition in general and direct competition. Here's an analogy that I think will clear things up:

Juanita and Mariluz both run taco stands in Walla Walla, Washington, on the corner of Isaacs and Wilbur. They sell the same tacos: same recipes, same beans, same tortillas, same carne asada con sal y una poca gota de limón. There is literally no difference at all between their products, and their costumers choose which taco to buy based exclusively on price (assuming Juanita and Mariluz are equally personable and attractive ).

There is also a McDonalds in town. Now, when a consumer is hungry, she has three choices: Juanita, Mariluz, or Ronald McDonald. Juanita competes directly with Mariluz, but less directly with McDonalds. She also competes less directly with the supermarket, because some people prefer not to eat out at all, and even less directly with Wizards of the Coast, because some people would rather skip a meal and buy a pack of minis.

What all this means is that Wizards may compete directly with White Wolf for the RPG market, but they compete indirectly with Blizzard, Viacom, and Marvel Comics for a share of the entertainment market. Wizards competes even less directly with Juanita, Mariluz, and McDonalds, because you pay them all from the same limited supply of money, and you have to choose how much of your money goes to food and how much goes to entertainment. Now, I'd wager that Wizards has stiffer competition from Blizzard for a share of your spending money than it does from White Wolf.

 

[nerfherder]

Juanita and Mariluz both run taco stands in Walla Walla, Washington, on the corner of Isaacs and Wilbur. They sell the same tacos: same recipes, same beans, same tortillas, same carne asada con sal y una poca gota de limón. There is literally no difference at all between their products, and their costumers choose which taco to buy based exclusively on price (assuming Juanita and Mariluz are equally personable and attractive ).

Does one sell her tacos in sealed containers, where you can't see the contents until you've bought them...?

 

[Hella_Tellah]

Does one sell her tacos in sealed containers, where you can't see the contents until you've bought them...?

Nope, they both sell exactly, precisely the same tacos. That's why they're in direct competition with each other.

 

[Scribble]

Does one sell her tacos in sealed containers, where you can't see the contents until you've bought them...?

Or a few months later when you test positive...

 

[Hella_Tellah]

Or a few months later when you test positive...

Naw, Juanita and Mariluz own franchises of SaniTaco.

 

[JoeGKushner]

What's tripping you guys up is the difference between competition in general and direct competition. Here's an analogy that I think will clear things up:

Well, I'm not the one claiming that they're in direct competition. In the end it all comes down to dollars.

Some other people have used the competition of video games vs table top RPGs in direct competition though.

Some have said that they're too expensive based on everyday item purchases. These are people for whom a price incresae, however slight and even justified based on improved art, editing (ha!), etc... are just not justifible to THEM based on their life styles and purchasing power.

Heck, last week I bought eggs for $4.01 for 36 due to a sale and compared it to Sam's. Sam's was cheaper by a few cents. Today Sam's was $5.50 or something for the same eggs. Cursed market! Expensive eggs preventing me from buying 4e!

 

[nerfherder]

Nope, they both sell exactly, precisely the same tacos. That's why they're in direct competition with each other.

Yeah, but if one sells randomised tacos in sealed containers, then she only needs one SKU, and the unpopular flavours won't be unsold at the end of the day...

 

[JoeGKushner]

Yeah, but if one sells randomised tacos in sealed containers, then she only needs one SKU, and the unpopular flavours won't be unsold at the end of the day...

Take a laugh point if you're collecting them.

 

[jdrakeh]

That may be true. But weren't you the one discussing the price of the D&D books in terms of the price of car insurance and internet access?

Well, yes, though my comparison had nothing to with comparing two luxury items in terms of which provides for longer-lasting fun (which was the somewhat ubiquitous strawman argument put forth by the first person to make the video game comparison on this thread). Let me explain. . .

For me, car insurance and internet connection are necessities, given my line of work (ITS) and travel involved to and from work every day (about 20 minutes in each direction). My point was that when a luxury's cost outstrips that of necessities, it is time to re-evaluate said luxury's acquisition based on a practical expense model.

I like saving extra money for necessities, should I need it, I suppose. In the past I was absolutely a compulsive spender and it set me back years. Today, I try to budget my finances responsibly. But, hey, I recognize that responsibility ain't for everybody.