D&D 4E 4e price increase?

[Baby Samurai]

$120 is not standard; its highway robbery.

For 3 books that might provide you with years of enjoyment?

I can understand young people and/or students complaining (a little bit) about the price of D&D, but working adults – sad.

Most hobbies cost a crap load more than RPGs (comic books, baseball cards, cars, art, women etc).

Over here in UK the 4th Ed PHB will only cost around £20 ($40) – big deal.

 

[Gothic_Demon]

I dunno. When the buy in price for a game is higher than the combined total of my monthy car insurance and high speed internet bills, I'm a little iffy on how reasonable it is. I easily get more use out of my insurance and internet connection than I do out of gaming books (because I have a job, ironically).

To begin, let me be clear: this is not a shot at the quoted poster.

The potential misunderstanding here is the difference between a one-off payment and an ongoing charge. $120 (or probably £70-90 here in the UK) is a lot to pay out in one month, no doubt. How long is the real value of that purchase? Next month you pay for your car insurance and internet again, because you only get one month for your payment. Assuming you like 4e (which you might not) $120 might buy you 6 months or 6 years (72 months) of gaming time. Hey, people are still playing 1e with the books they bought in the eighties! How much value would their $120 have got them now? 20 years later!

I do understand it is a substantial layout if you want everything straight away. I have a home and a family to look after, but rather if/when I buy the books (and being an early adopter I admit I'll probably buy all 3 straight away even if I never use them) they will likely be worth many hundreds of hours of enjoyable play, which isn't a bad value on $120.

Edit: Baby Samurai beat me to it!

 

[Vigilance]

I dunno. When the buy in price for a game is higher than the combined total of my monthy car insurance and high speed internet bills, I'm a little iffy on how reasonable it is. I easily get more use out of my insurance and internet connection than I do out of gaming books (because I have a job, ironically).

Sure, but again, it's a want thing. I happened to be broke the day FF XII came out, and I slapped right on my credit card.

I usually reserve my credit card (not cards- card) for emergencies. And that's exactly what this was!

With luxury items, if you want it, you figure out a way to make it happen. Myself, I don't plan to drop the whole dime at once, I expect I'll buy the books gradually.

Then again, I've paid off that FF XII splurge...

 

[Treebore]

That's a really odd way to look at a luxury item.

Is a new car 10K better than what I drive now? That I could buy.

But when Final Fantasy XII came out, I didn't ask myself if it was 50 dollars better than FF X.

When Serenity came out, I didn't ask myself if it was 20 dollars better than the TV show.

Where were you when I bought the second Master and Commander book, when my first Master and Commander book was just as good as the day I'd bought it? You could have saved me 8 bucks!

I don't buy luxury items only when they're better than what I have.

I buy them because I want them.

Odd? I don't think so. If your happy with the game system you are using right now then why the heck would you want to spend a $120.00 to replace it? If you can afford to buy something new and different just because you want to its great to know you can waste money like that. However, I would guess $120 is a significant amount of money to most people.

So to buy 4E, the answer to the question I posed would have to be yes. Unless blowing $120 "just because" has absolutely no impact on your finances. Like others have mentioned, $120 to most gamers, especially young gamers, and those in college, etc... is a very significant amount of money to spend on something you don't need, since it would only be to replace a RPG your already happy with, and already own.

Spending $120 on 4E only makes sense if you don't like what your playing already.

So unless spending money wisely is odd, my question is not odd.

 

[Fifth Element]

I dunno. When the buy in price for a game is higher than the combined total of my monthy car insurance and high speed internet bills, I'm a little iffy on how reasonable it is. I easily get more use out of my insurance and internet connection than I do out of gaming books (because I have a job, ironically).

You're comparing a one-time cost to a recurring, monthly cost. How many months will you likely play 4E, if you buy it? I know I'll probably play it for at least 5 years. That's 60 months. So perhaps you should compare it to 60 car insurance payments and 60 internet bills. How does it compare now?

$105 may be a lot to lay out in a single month, but you know it's what, 7 months away? Start saving now. Save $15 a month in the 4E fund (assuming you're a DM), and there you go.

 

[Baby Samurai]

1.) However, I would guess $120 is a significant amount of money to most people.


2.) Spending $120 on 4E only makes sense if you don't like what your playing already.

1.) Than you would guess wrong, at least in the world of adults…


2.) Or if you and your group are enjoying it intensely, but feel there is room for improvement…

 

[Fifth Element]

Spending $120 on 4E only makes sense if you don't like what your playing already.

But "like" is a relative term, not two discrete points of "like" and "don't like".

I can like my current game, but I might like 4E more. It could be an upgrade of your likiness. That would have value, regardless of whether you still get enjoyment out of your current game.

Not to mention that ideas from 4E can be ripped out and house-ruled into your current game, if it turns out you don't want to switch to 4E. So 4E can also increase the enjoyment of you current game. That also has value.

If either of those values exceeds $105 (and remember, this is a one-time cost that can provide increased enjoyment for many, many years in the future), then it makes sense to buy 4E, subject to the restraints of your financial situation.

 

[Hussar]

I dunno. When the buy in price for a game is higher than the combined total of my monthy car insurance and high speed internet bills, I'm a little iffy on how reasonable it is. I easily get more use out of my insurance and internet connection than I do out of gaming books (because I have a job, ironically).

Dude, you spend less than a 120 bucks a month on your car insurance AND connection fee? Damn, that's sweet. When I lived in Canada, I was paying almost a hundred bucks a month just for my car insurance.

But, let's compare apples to apples shall we? We're talking the price of two video games. Lots of people buy two video games per year. People keep talking about how this is such a very high buy in cost. Really? For a hobby? Compare the buy in for a lot of hobbies, and this is pretty darn cheap actually.

Compare to say, camping - far cheaper. Golf? 120 bucks buys you like what, three clubs? Fishing? Get's you a nice rod and reel, and some lures. How about closer to home hobbies? Sports - 120 bucks gets you a pair of shoes, not much more. Model trains? Drop in the bucket. R/C modeling? Again, drop in the bucket.

Thinking about it, what hobby can I get into and enjoy fully for 120 bucks?

 

[an_idol_mind]

While I'm not about to go on a rant about the cost of the game, I am a little disappointed that WotC isn't doing something like they did with the 3rd edition release and offering the core books at a discount for a while. The fact that the Player's Handbook was only $20 on the day of its release was a big factor on me giving 3rd edition a chance; if it was more expensive, I'd probably still be playing 2nd edition right now.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Amazon.co.uk are currently quoting just under £15 for each book - there is no way that's correct. I'll wait and see what the actual price is going to be before committing to buying it - but it's likely that I'm going to be using my birthday to request Amazon vouchers and pay for it that way.