Spelljammer 64-page Spelljammer books?

[Micah Sweet]

POage counts alone aren't the defining factor of whether a book is worth the cost. I'd argue it isn't that important, actually. Hours of entertainment gained is the best metric IMO. Now, maybe Spelljammer will be a bad value on that front, too. Who knows? But just because it is 30% fewer pages (or whatever, I didn't do the math) doesn't mean you will get 30% fewer table hours or even reading hours out of it. I bought the Ravenloft book, for example, and read it for maybe 4 hours. Then I ran 20 hours of games out of it. Well worth the cost, even if it had been half the length.

But there's no way to even approach objectively measuring that kind of value, whereas amount of material you're paying for and how much you're paying for it is much easier to understand.

 

[Reynard]

But there's no way to even approach objectively measuring that kind of value, whereas amount of material you're paying for and how much you're paying for it is much easier to understand.

But it's not necessarily accurate, so there isn't really any value in the metric. It's like measuring air in gallons. Sure, it tells you something, sort of, but not anything particularly useful.

 

[Micah Sweet]

But it's not necessarily accurate, so there isn't really any value in the metric. It's like measuring air in gallons. Sure, it tells you something, sort of, but not anything particularly useful.

You might enjoy it; it might be worth it to you. But you're still paying more for less stuff. The math is a factor here, even if you like what you do get.

 

[Reynard]

You might enjoy it; it might be worth it to you. But you're still paying more for less stuff. The math is a factor here, even if you like what you do get.

I think that is more true if you are buying oranges than if you are buying entertainment.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think that is more true if you are buying oranges than if you are buying entertainment.

That's true. But you won't know how much you're ultimately going to get from entertainment until after you experience it. At least the page count is something to refer to.

 

[Reynard]

That's true. But you won't know how much you're ultimately going to get from entertainment until after you experience it. At least the page count is something to refer to.

Sure. And I do understand how it creates an initial impression of value. But I have lots of books on the shelf with hundreds of pages of material that offered little to no entertainment value, and thin pamphlets that provided countless hours of fun.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Sure. And I do understand how it creates an initial impression of value. But I have lots of books on the shelf with hundreds of pages of material that offered little to no entertainment value, and thin pamphlets that provided countless hours of fun.

Me too. But I still had to buy all those things before I knew which side they fell on, and $70 is a lot of money.

 

[Reynard]

Me too. But I still had to buy all those things before I knew which side they fell on, and $70 is a lot of money.

That's what reviews are for. Of course, it is almost impossible to find actual reviews of D&D books, especially modules, rather than unboxings and overviews that come out the day of release. no one seems to actually run the module then come back and do a full "as played" review. (Off topic, I know, but it drives me nuts.)

 

[overgeeked]

POage counts alone aren't the defining factor of whether a book is worth the cost. I'd argue it isn't that important, actually. Hours of entertainment gained is the best metric IMO. Now, maybe Spelljammer will be a bad value on that front, too. Who knows? But just because it is 30% fewer pages (or whatever, I didn't do the math) doesn't mean you will get 30% fewer table hours or even reading hours out of it. I bought the Ravenloft book, for example, and read it for maybe 4 hours. Then I ran 20 hours of games out of it. Well worth the cost, even if it had been half the length.

The thing people always overlook when making this argument is old books. By this same logic, if I never buy another game book ever again and simply keep using the books I already have, I will dramatically increase the value gained from those books. Further, if I only ever buy the corebook(s) for a game and never buy the modules, I will dramatically increase the value gained from those books as I will be relying solely on them. So if people actually bought into this line of reasoning, the RPG industry would collapse in short order. More likely what it is is fear of missing out combined with most gamer's natural inclinations toward collecting. It's fine that you want the book, but it's silly to try to justify that with this argument.

 

[Shardstone]

One of the 3 64 page books is an adventure with "twelve episodes" in it.

I have no idea how they're going to pull that one off.