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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SteveC" data-source="post: 2114232" data-attributes="member: 9053">Oh, I don't think we're all that far apart on this issue, really. The point I was making about income is that for someone like myself, the limit for an impulse purchase is higher than many people, which means that RPG publishers should really take note of their price point in combination with what kind of game they're selling. A $40 game that I'll read and use, not to mention enjoy the aesthetics of is something I will purchase. Something that I might enjoy for an evening or two but never use won't make the cut at that price. I think most gamers are the same, just that their price point is lower than mine. As an example, I just picked up the pocket edition of Conan tonight, for $20. I'm reading it and enjoying it, but I don't see myself running a Conan game. I might mine some of it for my campaign though, and I might buy a supplement for it as well. I bought the pocket Conan, but there was no way I was going to get the edition at full price. I think it's a smart move by Mongoose to release both! I completely agree with this assessment. It seems that in the last few years many game companies have moved to a "disposable" business model for their products: produce something every month that they intend to sell for 3-4 months and then have almost zero sales in from that point on. Heck, small print runs mean you don't even see it in stores after about three months. Now many of these companies have said that's the way the industry was moving anyway, and they're just responding to that trend. I have to say that this trend really disheartens me, because it results in less attention to things that I think are important: editing, playtesting and big ideas/concepts to begin with.  I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pay a premium price to buy a sloppily researched book on a subject that only marginally interests me and is full of rules gaffes to boot! The thing that I find especially interesting is that many of the companies that have used this sort of business practice are getting out of publishing or at least leaving D20 behind them. "No one is buying D20 books, the bubble has burst!" To that I have this to say: duh! I guess my suggestions for how to make things better are to charge what you need to charge for a book, but also proofread it, edit it, understand the D20 rules you're using, and make the book something I'll actually want to use. Now as I said before, that last one is the tough one, because my desires for what to put in a book are not yet universal. So perhaps do some market research on what gamers are looking for. Take a look at what Mike Mearls is writing in Iron Lore, and ask yourself what other niches in D20 haven't been filled yet. So those are some of my thoughts on the matter. In case it isn't obvious, by the way, all of this is just my opinion. --Steve Just a quick edit: I'm making it sound like I believe all of the companies that have gotten out of D20 publishing were putting out poor products. I don't believe that to be true, so if I paint with too broad a brush I apologize for it.</blockquote>

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