Books pricing themselves out of reach?

[JoeGKushner]

That's not really true, though. Many, many, many games are released at $20 or even cheaper. Some suck, but some are surprisingly good.

Most of the video games I own were bought at that price. And most games go down to about that level a year or so after their release. Not all, ones that still sell well at $50 tend to stay at $50. But even a lot of big hits go down to $20 after a year. GT3 did. KOTOR1 did.


Anyway, with regard to books, I don't mind the higher prices for big books. But I hate the $25 (or higher) 96 page books. Those are a rip off, IMHO

The other huge difference to remember with video games and video in general, is that it can be rented and returned. Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and now online companies renting by the month have discovered that you don't need to come out with a $50 game and sell it, in order to turn a profit.

Once again, why RPGs will always lose to most media. It's almost pointless to talk about the 'value' of one vs the other because people will almost always agree that RPGs are a better value but not follow those statements through to their logical conclusion in the actual purchasing of more RPGs as opposed to media.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I pretty much buy books exclusively from Amazon now. I find my FLGS to be simply far too expensive with, IMO, unreasonable markups. It's going to kill the local gaming stores, I know, but c'est la vie; the market evolves. I do think that WotC better tread very carefully b/c they're walking a fine line between making a nice profit and compelling a lot of potential consumers to begin downloading their products like fiends.

Sadly, it's not really WoTC that's making the most expensive books. Hero 5th ed? It's like $50 bones. Arcana Evolved? $50 bones.

Most WoTC books? $30-$35.

Once again, not saying one is worth more than the other, because the Hero and AE books for example are huge, but many people have that invisible line in their mind that they'r not going to cross.

 

[AOS]

Personally I hate PDF format stuff, I much prefer a book, hardback if it's a RPG as they seem to last longer.

However, noting all of you are quoting america prices, $30 for a book? Thats about £16 for me here in england mainly due to the strong pound. The last two books I brought cost me £29.99 each that's roughly about $58ish.

So yep I agree they are pricing themselves a tad high but then they can only charge what people will pay. Whether it's people with higher incomes buying or teenagers with far too much pocket money, these books sell at these prices.

 

[MonsterMash]

Actually I will buy at full price, but I'm very selective on what I buy.

This year about the only things I plan to purchase are Conan - pocket rules which is not great value at 14.99 pounds and a US dollar price of 19.99 with current exchange rates (should be more like 11.99 pounds), Conan Road of Kings, Wilderlands Boxed Set and Tome of Horrors III.

I look at the prices I pay for books I use at work, e.g. computer books and see that prices are often comparable (O'Reilly books mainly) and I understand the economics enough that if I know an RPG book is coming out with 2-3000 copies then it will have a relatively high cover price, but the publishers can't really risk the substantially bigger print runs that could make a significant unit price reduction as the risk of unsold stock hanging round with associated warehousing costs is too high.

But the prices mean that impulse purchases are rare now. The other factor is probably the overall economic position in most of the main markets is not great, people have come through a boom and recession making them much more cautious.

 

[Storm Raven]

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.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. First off, most RPG companies don't have shareholders, they are mostly closely held companies owned by one or two people who also run the company. Secondly, if RPG companies do price themselves out of the market and end up unable to sell, the market will correct itself. Sure, some publishers may fall by the wayside, but with the costs of starting an RPG company being so low (compared to the costs of starting most other busiensses), replacements are likely to spring up in short order.

 

[HiLiphNY]

$30 is my cutoff.

Laff - this coming from the guy who was $250 bid on the recent eBay auctions. . . I love it in my biz when someone says they won't pay up for stock, yet then turns around and buys it through me 2 points higher at a later date.

 

[WizarDru]

I consider the advancement in pen-n-paper RPGs represented by the "bleeding edge" of d20 and the current edition of SilCore vs. AD&D and its competitors in 1993 vastly greater than the advancement in console RPGs represented by Xenosaga and Final Fantasy X vs. Final Fantasy VI and World of Xeen in 1993.

So that's by no means a universal principle.

You're talking game concepts, I'm talking hardware, though. I mean, if Final Fantasy I/II were hopelessy outdated, it wouldn't be doing so well on the GBA right now (and I'd get a big chunk of my wife's attention back ). However, you'd be hard pressed to purchase, let alone actually play a copy of the original Final Fantasy, DragonQuest or Sonic. Remakes, sure? Conversions, no question. But how many functioning Colecovisions are out there and readily available, for example (other than mine, I mean)? Eventually, the equipment becomes obsolete...whereas my AD&D PHB is just as usable today, right now, as it was in 1981 when I first got it. I can't say that for my copy of Missle Command on the original Atari unit. My copy of California Games on the Lynx isn't exactly easily replaced (except for eBay, natch).

That's not really true, though. Many, many, many games are released at $20 or even cheaper. Some suck, but some are surprisingly good.

Most of the video games I own were bought at that price. And most games go down to about that level a year or so after their release. Not all, ones that still sell well at $50 tend to stay at $50. But even a lot of big hits go down to $20 after a year. GT3 did. KOTOR1 did.

True, and I mentioned that some games go down in price when made part of a 'best of' collection. But again, that comes back to the time-sensitivity of the sale. Especially when discussing the game in a peer group, you don't want to be left out and you don't want to be the only guy in your circle who isn't watching the Sopranos or listening to The Killers or not able to play Halo 2 on Xbox Live when all your friends are doing it. A stronger case is for used games...but again popularity dictates that market. I picked up Silent Hill 2 for $5...used, four years after it came out. Damn fine game...but I'm totally out of the loop. And, of course, there's the hunger for something new and different. I'll prolly pick up Donkey Kong Jungle Beat soon, 'cuz it's so fun....and I'm not waiting for it to come down in price OR to pick it up used.

The real issue might be access time and ramp up time. To a casual gamer, he can get Metal Gear Solid 3 up and running in less than five minutes, including unwrapping the package. Try that with Midnight, Mutants and Masterminds, Call of Cthulu or any other game you can think of naming. RPG books appeal to a different audience, and serve two functions: first as written entertainment, second as a rule book. It requires considerable effort to use them for the second use, and when much more accessible entertainment forms are available, you have to be motivated to purchase and use them. This leads to a smaller purchasing audience, and indirectly to smaller print runs and thus higher book prices.

 

[Miyazawa Mizaki]

Most WoTC books? $30-$35.

Where I live the only 2 places you can buy them cost at least $49.99, I know its becuase of the exchange rate but look at it this way: The actual exchange on a $35 US book is only $42.08 canadian dollars, its then marked up $6.91 becuase the place that sells them has a monopily then add the 8% PST and 7% GST and we have the $35 US book costing $57.49 CND, thats $15.41 more than the exchange rate. Oh and alot of people can't buy book online due to age vs. credit card reasons so thats out of the question.

 

[Breakdaddy]

Another thought just hit me: You think that's high, you should try to buy gasoline recently. My wife and I spend $70.00 per week together on Gasoline, and that's only counting from work to home. Anything beyond that is extra.

HAH! I spend 50 bucks a week on JUST my ride. Lucky you!

 

[S'mon]

Hmm.... the money I've saved by not buying Dragon since ca 1996, and not buying minis since 2002, I've had it to spend on oodles of expensive hardbacks at £25/$40 a go. So I think it evens out. I'd rather get a cool hardback for £20 than 4 Dragons at £4.99 or whatever ridiculous price magazines charge these days.