D&D 4E 4e price increase?

[Li Shenron]

The extent of the price increase is irrelevant for me, few $ more or less are not going to make any difference.

It is anyway time to admit that 4e is going to be an edition for heavy gamers, not for casual gamers and not for "fresh blood", despite the wishes. The price increase is just pushing it slightly into that direction. 5$ more for someone who already love the game is nothing (particularly if we plan to spend a few hundreds anyway), but for a kid who has to decide whether to start the hobby or not, can indeed make the difference.

 

[Treebore]

Because I want the new thing!

You're still looking at this from a financial cost benefit angle, and I'm looking at it from a "want" angle.

See, thats the difference right there. You want to argue "want", I am talking about financial reality. $120 is a lot of money. Thats a reality. Especially with how much our economy is tanking. Food and gas is up a lot. Housing values are tanking.

You can want the books all you want, but if your current game is playing just fine, but those trips to the gas station are putting a painful hole in your pocket, milk being 4 to 5 dollars per gallon, bread being 2 to 3 dollars per loaf, the financial reality is going to be no 4E unless the financial sacrifice is going to be worth it.

You and I can want all we want. But if we NEED that $120 to reliably put food on our table, gas in our car, and to keep that roof over our heads, no ones going to buy a luxury item just because they want it.

They are going to have to see a very perceivable value for their money, which is going to be much less likely to be present if the don't have a problem with what they already own.

Heck, when it comes to luxury items I see several X-box games I would rather buy than 4E.

Why? Because I have more "want" for them than I do a new RPG system, especially since I am happy with what I am playing right now and the people I am playing with.

So as a luxury item 4E is way down on my want list, and I am sure its going to be way down on the want list of plenty of other gamers who are happy with 3E and in no hurry to blow $120 on 4E. There are plenty of other luxury items to blow it on that is higher on their priority lists.

The fact that your so willing to buy into 4E pretty much just because you want it shows me your not in a tight money situation. I'll believe that when your like the people I know who go half a month with no money to their name and their car is running on fumes and prayers.

 

[Baby Samurai]

And as for your last three sentence fragments...Duh.

They weren't sentence fragments, please stop lashing out in juvenile defensiveness.

 

[Maggan]

I'll believe that when your like the people I know who go half a month with no money to their name and their car is running on fumes and prayers.

But for them, lowering the prices to, say 20 bucks per book, total 60 dollars, still means that they have far more important things to spend those 60 dollars on. If they are in so dire straits, they're always gonna have holes to fill before considering a luxury purchase.

So slashing the prices in half wouldn't bring in those people, because they'd still be short of money for luxury items. Of course, they could instead get onto the D&D3e-train, probably for very low prices, prices that WotC would never be able to match for new books.

/M

 

[PaulofCthulhu]

Everybody has their price.

To me, saving up the necessary dollars/month between now and the release date would seem sensible for those who can't normally afford the whole purchase price at the time. If you still can't afford them then, perhaps save a little longer.

I also keep hearing about the great rises in the cost of paper, taking that to be the case and the size of WotC and paying people a wage to produce the game, along with the costs of production, it would seem to me that the projected price point is not an unfair one. Surely a gaming group only needs 1x DMG and 1x MM additional to any PHBs to play? So the price complaints are from DMs? (- but then I guess if DMs don't buy them, 4e doesn't get played - could still go with that group purchase idea.)

I think the real/ongoing profits for WotC's D&D line will come more through D&D insider than sales of the core books, but that's just my purely unfounded guess.

If you think the cost of the books too much, write to WotC and campaign for cheaper prices (if you think it will work, it's at least pro-active).

 

[Ranger REG]

See, thats the difference right there. You want to argue "want", I am talking about financial reality. $120 is a lot of money. Thats a reality. Especially with how much our economy is tanking. Food and gas is up a lot. Housing values are tanking.

You can want the books all you want, but if your current game is playing just fine, but those trips to the gas station are putting a painful hole in your pocket, milk being 4 to 5 dollars per gallon, bread being 2 to 3 dollars per loaf, the financial reality is going to be no 4E unless the financial sacrifice is going to be worth it.

Then it's up to individual's need vs. want.

If you don't want to buy 4e because your needs has priority, then don't.

If you don't want to buy 4e because your want of a different thing has priority (like XBOX games), then don't.

My want is D&D. I have no want for videogames. I may not buy 4e right away, but when I have the financial opportunity, I will pass on videogames to buy 4e.

 

[rkwoodard]

I think so

In theory, it can.

But truthfully, D&D and AD&D were two separate game entities ... IIRC.

I can see them offer three boxed sets for 4e: One for Heroic set (basic; levels 1-10), Paragon set (advanced; 11-20) and Epic set (master; 21-30).

I think they need something in one package that can be used to play the game completly, in order expand the market. Something they can get into Toys R Us and such, and something they can really market the heck out of.

That is what it is. They need something to Market to beginning players.

I love the idea of a D&D: Heroic Boxed Set, and a D&D Paragon Box Set, and a D&D EPIC Box Set. I would buy at least the first two in addition to the Players Handbook without hesitation.

RK

 

[KingCrab]

I really only think the absolute most hardcore fans are going to want to pay the monthly subscription fee, so WotC has to really think about the price of the PHB. If they price it low, they may attract new gamers, but they will probably be the kind of gamers that aren't going to want to start spending for a monthly subscription fee. If they price it high, they may be better off attracting a few less new players but keeping the same set of DI subscribers and making more money on the PHB sales.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I disagree. Both D&D and video games compete for the same scarce resources: disposable income and leisure time. Anyone who has lost a player to WoW or a new baby knows how important the leisure time competition is. The importance of disposable income varies from person to person, but I'd argue that both D&D and video games are both competing for the Entertainment category.

My own experience is that it's a time factor. People are much busier. Those who go exclusively to online games generally weren't happy with their peer games or didn't consider it worth their own "entertainment" time to keep going to those games. The lure of sitting on your butt to play Halo 3 online for example, at any time you want, is pretty strong compared to trying to get everyone together to run a game.

 

[Ranger REG]

I really only think the absolute most hardcore fans are going to want to pay the monthly subscription fee, so WotC has to really think about the price of the PHB. If they price it low, they may attract new gamers, but they will probably be the kind of gamers that aren't going to want to start spending for a monthly subscription fee. If they price it high, they may be better off attracting a few less new players but keeping the same set of DI subscribers and making more money on the PHB sales.

The problem is when they think about money, they may start trimming the product. It's like going to a men's clothing store intending to buy an 3-piece outfit with a set amount of $$$, only to come out of the store with just a purchased shirt.

Perhaps if they have better options like a high-quality printing company that offers a more affordable price than the one they're with.

Anyhoo, I don't think the price of the PHB should be based on how many DDi subscribers they're going to have. Besides, not all hardcore fans are rich and blindly spend anything with a specific label.