Books pricing themselves out of reach?

[Dagger75]

The problem I have is my LGS (Left the F off on purpose) ticked me off. I used my credit card to make a $12 purchase. My mom used to own a small business so I know that it cost the game store money to process a CC. Well the owner didn't have to complain to my face about it. So now I purchase stuff online.

I bought Stargate RPG for $35 on Amazon, normally its a $50 book and worth it in my opinion. The soft cover books for it at $30 a pop are worth the price TO ME.

Worlds Largest Dungeon if it was $30 would be too much for me. No interest.

I think it has to do with what a person is willing to spend. Some people think a $3000 stereo system in a car is worth it others think it is a waste of money.

 

[KaosDevice]

Well this thread has hit upon many an issue in the current State of the RPG Market World:
(correct me if you think I am wrong, knowing you probably will)

1. The average ENworlder feels the cost of the production of the books vs. the charge for the books are completely at odds.

2. ENworlders are migrating towards PDF format for more smaller content rather then buying some slipshod bound material off a shelf.

3. ENworlders, while wanting to support the gaming store, will buy from discounters, the source, etc. if they feel that the cash out of pocket is too dear or something they don't feel is vital but cool to have.

4. The average ENworlder seems to want to slow down the pace of thier buying of RPG material or already has. Mostly because of the rising cost of game books.

5. If it is quality, kickin' material the average ENWorlder will buy it. But that is becoming rarified air production wise.

6. We all hate crying babies in cramped airplanes.


Ok, the last is me.

Just my thoughts on this thread, Kluge's comments on my spelling aside now that I am not at work and can type at leisure.

-Matt C.

 

[Felon]

This same conversation has come up before, and I think the rule will still be "whatever the market will bear."

The problem is, sometimes companies don't know that the market can't bear any more until it's in the process of collapsing. Look at the comics industry. Production quality is higher than it's ever been, sales are worse than they've ever been. Publishers convinced themselves that slick production values were necessary as industry standards, resulting in cover prices thave have steadily risen to ridiculous proportions. They too thought the market could bear price hikes to a dime-a-page, but readership is dropping steadily. The industry is struggling for air, and nobody seems to have any solid ideas on how to re-invent it.

I hope the RPG industry isn't destined for the same fate. The problem is, it's easy to convince shareholders that raising prices is a good move. Much harder to tell them to cut the MSRP down, even when survival's at stake. Pretty slippery slope.

 

[KaosDevice]

I hope the RPG industry isn't destined for the same fate. The problem is, it's easy to convince shareholders that raising prices is a good move. Much harder to tell them to cut the MSRP down, even when survival's at stake. Pretty slippery slope.

True...to an extent. The difference is the medium of the message. Comics are visual; RPGS, groovy maps and pictures of horrible bad guys aside, are pretty textual affairs. You can pretty them up with crazy fonts, off putting borders and all the tools of the visual world, but ultimately it comes down to the written content. If the ideas don't sell it, the RPG, supplement, adventure, what have you is sunk.

But don't give up on comics, some of the most powerful comics were black and white, "Maus" springs immediately to mind.


Again though, message, make the most of your medium.

 

[WildWeasel]

...but when I see a b&w book that I know costs less then $2 to produce priced at around $40 ...

How does that less than two dollars get split between developer, author(s), artist(s), editors, cost of printing, and costs of business operations?

 

[Mr. Lobo]

Interesting. Yes, it was announced to be that way from the start; they didn't make a secret of it (though, they also didn't exactly trumpet it from the highest tower, either).

That's cool. Thanks for the heads up. Probably my selective memory rearing its ugly head.
Dang I hate that.

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

RPG books shouldn't be priced for collectors

When I think about the folks who complain about RPG book prices, it's mostly people who collect every book that comes out, or try to collect everything in a line or series. If you think about it, most people just can't use all that much material.

If you buy only what you need or what you will use, you'll discover that RPGs are very good value for money. Even a small game like Grimm d20, which for us will only run 6 sessions of 3 hours each, that's 18 hours of gaming for a $15 book, which is an amazing deal.

For something like Banewarrens, which will take the better part of a year to play and cost me $12 at Amazon.com, it gets even better! (And of course, the $60 I paid for the 3.5 rules are now down to the cost of pennies per hour of gaming)

I don't think the books are priced for people who buy them to put them on shelves or even people who buy them to read. They are priced for people who buy them to play! If I bought a console game or DVD to put it on my shelf I'd probably complain that they're overpriced. (Actually, I think DVDs are overpriced so I don't buy them, I rent)

 

[Turjan]

I don't think the books are priced for people who buy them to put them on shelves or even people who buy them to read. They are priced for people who buy them to play!

I suppose that those people who just buy the core rulebook(s) of a game and then play happily for the next decades are the horror of most RPG companies .

 

[Ace]

I don't think RPG books that I actually use are overpriced

I paid $40 for Buffy and ran 2 great campaigns with it. The supplements and the GM's screen I bought also got some use and were a good deal


OTOH a game book I don't play or use is poorly priced at $30-40

I may read that book but I haven't seen a game book yet that is worth that much as a one time read and shelve

Another thing that makes D20 seem expensive is the volume of stuff coming out. Eden releases a few books a year -- $35 one month -- nothing for a couple than $27 another is nothing to worry about. Heck even one GURPS book per month (at $35) is no big deal

OTOH there are hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of D20 every month -- its not only hard to choose but the value of many books is questinable or limited -- heck I could blow 5 grand right now on books and PDF's I might like and don't have

Buying D20 Fleem for $34.95 just for a couple of PRC's and a cool feat or 5 stings unless you are made of money -- its just too hard to choose without feeling buyers remorse sometimes

 

[JoeGKushner]

Can't they, though? I'm wondering about Warhammer, for example.

But the problem here, is Warhammer is much more like a CGC than a RPG. As a matter of fact, they dropped and licensed out their RPG to Hogshead who eventually dropped it and is now being done with Green Ronin and the Black Library. Apples and Oranges no?