D&D 5E D&D Next Starter Set - how should it look like?

[Jester David]

But you need dice to play, most people new to the hobby ate going to assume a stated set will have everything you need to play, and the main places the stater set will probably be purchased (bookstores, large department stores, toy stores, online) usually aren't going to have many or any dice for sale.

Plus a set of dice separate is going to increase the cost anyway.

Not including them highly increases the barrier of entry for new players.

I don't disagree, and if WotC was willing to increase the price to accommodate dice that would be nice. But they seem dead set on the $20 price point for the starter set, which means dice are too pricey to include. Not without reducing the usability of the product.

A sticker or notice on the cover that dice are needed is nice. And WotC should push dice being sold nearby. And a sidebar on playing with d6s early in the "How to Play" section would really help. Mentioning online dice rolls and apps would also help, perhaps if WotC can kludge together an official one.

 

[The Human Target]

They need to find a source of black market low quality North Korean dice.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I don't disagree, and if WotC was willing to increase the price to accommodate dice that would be nice. But they seem dead set on the $20 price point for the starter set, which means dice are too pricey to include. Not without reducing the usability of the product.

Are you joking?

I can get dice for pennies at my local game store, and that's retail.

The 4e Red Box had dice along with a 32-page booklet and a 64-page booklet (and a lot of other stuff), and it was $20.

Dice are literally necessary in order to play the game.

It will definitely have dice.

 

[MoonSong]

Are you joking?

I can get dice for pennies at my local game store, and that's retail.

The 4e Red Box had dice along with a 32-page booklet and a 64-page booklet (and a lot of other stuff), and it was $20.

Dice are literally necessary in order to play the game.

It will definitely have dice.

Near me special dice cost about $7-8 at retail, but buying them by the piece I got a lot more for less than $5. I would go so far as to say they should probably include at least four D20s on the box, Advantage and disadvantage consume time when done with a single dice.

 

[Jester David]

Are you joking?

I can get dice for pennies at my local game store, and that's retail.

The 4e Red Box had dice along with a 32-page booklet and a 64-page booklet (and a lot of other stuff), and it was $20.

Dice are literally necessary in order to play the game.

It will definitely have dice.

Loose extra dice might be sold as they're not part of sets and are priced to move. Sets cost more, especially good ones. Look at how much WotC charged for dice for the Essentials line.

And the price of the PHB increases by 25% after six years, but you believe they can fit simmilar content in the Red Box for the same price as four years ago? Inflation aside, the price of plastic has changed.
(Admittedly they could save money by dumping the map, tokens, cards, and sturdy box. But not sure that would realistically be enough.)

Plus it takes twice as long to get a boxed set (they come from China); 8 months opposed to 4. So the rules and math would be what they had back in late October.

Dice are not hard to find. Few other RPGs bother to ship with dice. People will manage.

 

[Mistwell]

Plus dice are expensive

I already disproved this myth twice. Why does it keep popping up? We're talking about pennies, not dollars, for the dice themselves. Would you like some links again? Here's another. That's $0.10 each, and that's for some nice speckled ones, not the plain ones (which are much cheaper, like $0.02 each).

Maybe you should provide some links this time to back up your argument, that would be nice.

 

[Jester David]

I already disproved this myth twice. Why does it keep popping up? We're talking about pennies, not dollars, for the dice themselves. Would you like some links again? Here's another. That's $0.10 each, and that's for some nice speckled ones, not the plain ones (which are much cheaper, like $0.02 each).

Maybe you should provide some links this time to back up your argument, that would be nice.

Okay. Let's look at what actual dice vendors are asking for dice, not websites trying to unload dice.
-edit-
Or this page. Check out page 26 (listed as 170 in the corner). That's a catalogue for teaching supplies, so it's unlikely to have the same mark-up (or quality) as luxury gamer dice. Teachers and schools aren't exactly known for their vast budgets.

 

[Jester David]

I already disproved this myth twice. Why does it keep popping up? We're talking about pennies, not dollars, for the dice themselves. Would you like some links again? Here's another. That's $0.10 each, and that's for some nice speckled ones, not the plain ones (which are much cheaper, like $0.02 each).

Maybe you should provide some links this time to back up your argument, that would be nice.

Oh, there's also the Rule of 5. You take the price it takes to manufacture / buy the base priduct, multiply by 5, and that's the retail cost.
So seven dice at those low prices easily reach $2-3 of the MSRP.
As WotC will need sets of dice all the same colour and the tens percentile dice, it will likely cost more. Plus, the dice need to be sorted and packaged which adds to the final price.

 

[Mistwell]

Okay. Let's look at what actual dice vendors are asking for dice, not websites trying to unload dice.
-edit-
Or this page. Check out page 26 (listed as 170 in the corner). That's a catalogue for teaching supplies, so it's unlikely to have the same mark-up (or quality) as luxury gamer dice. Teachers and schools aren't exactly known for their vast budgets.

LOL why would Hasbro corporation buy dice retail? I linked to the actual manufacturer bulk wholesale prices. Do you have a link to anything saying that the cost to WOTC is what you claim?

 

[Mistwell]

Oh, there's also the Rule of 5. You take the price it takes to manufacture / buy the base priduct, multiply by 5, and that's the retail cost.
So seven dice at those low prices easily reach $2-3 of the MSRP.
As WotC will need sets of dice all the same colour and the tens percentile dice, it will likely cost more. Plus, the dice need to be sorted and packaged which adds to the final price.

There is no need for all the same color (why would they need that for a basic set?), but the manufacturer can provide any color at those prices (it's the manufacturer, not a retailer - these are not inventory items, you just tell them what you want and they do that). The price is not $2-$3, even if you multiple by 5. It's pretty simple math:

$0.02 x 7 = $0.14. $0.14 x 5 = $0.70. That's it, a big whopping 70 cents for the set of seven dice.

And even the "fancy" dice don't come out to the prices you named earlier, not even close.

So, can we PLEASE put this myth to bed now? Adding dice to the set are not expensive.

And again, these are just the first two prices I pulled from Ali Baba. There are cheaper ones, and you get a lower price if you order a lot more.

And if you're going to claim again in the future that it is, then PROVE THE PRICE WOTC PAYS. Otherwise, we can all see what the actual wholesale price is. Those were actual manufacturer wholesale prices I linked to - I've bought those identical dice at GenCon that I linked to. There is simply no reason to continue pretending the cost is higher than it actually is. What is to gain from not using the real data?