Deluxe Gaming Products - Lessons from Ptolus

[Cergorach]

@ Jürgen Hubert
Oh rats, it was Sharn with the CD.

The extra's on the cd are just that, extra's. WotC and most other publishers have lots of web enhancements, here some of them made it on a cd, not that big of a deal. The pdf products are nice, but not why we bought the product. It's re-re-hashed content, first bought it for 3e (in pdf and print), then for 3.5e (in pdf and print), i think calculating it as value again is not fair. Imagine buying a campaign setting from WotC and instead of costing $40, it now costs $60 but comes with a cd with a pdf of the phb on it, would you think that would be fairly priced? If it was all new content i would agree that it would have been worth it, but it ain't.

So you tend to buy your groceries at the grocer that is 50% more expensive then the supermarket around the corner? As wmasters said, we don't really care what the production costs are for a smaller publisher.

Could have sworn IK had color art in it....

Other example:
Warlords of the Accordlands: Master Codex 380 pages $50
Warlords of the Accordlands: The World Atlas 288 pages $40

 

[Ghendar]

So, what would make you pay $100+ for a gaming product? What sorts of features would make it worth more to you? What is your idea of the ultimate "deluxe" product?

Just wondering...

Quite frankly? Nothing would make me pay $100+ for any gaming product. It's simply more than I'm willing to spend on any one product. Besides, while I'm sure Ptolus is a quality piece, I don't really need it.

 

[The Cardinal]

Now that Ptlous has been released (excellent product by the way), and we see what features a "deluxe" gaming product can have, it brings to mind this question...

What features would you like to see in a product that would increase the value for you?

1. lots of maps - all in print *and* in (non-pdf) electronic format on an included CD

2. a box with more than one book - giant 500+ pages hc books may be nice to look at, but they're too unwieldy for practical use

3. adaptability - Ptolus is of no use to me in any non-D&D setting without mega-cities that look like they were built on graph paper

4. not dependent on D&D3.5 - make it C&C, GURPS, or another system that won't suddenly lose support and player base the minute D&D4.0 is announced

 

[Numion]

For me Ptolus pretty much hits the mark. I would also pay that much money for a similarly good mega-adventure (I know Big P is an adventure also), hopefully an overland journey with some dungeons. Say, like the Enemy Within campaign for WFRP with full color and better art. EW art was pretty darn good, mind you, but Ptolus-level art would get my $120.

 

[Gold Roger]

Ptolus is pretty near. When I have that money to spend on one product, I know where it will go and I won't even use Ptolus as a setting, though I might place it in my homebrew.

Another thing I'd pay this money for would be a big wotc adventure with Fantastic Location style maps and dungeon tiles as well as all mini's needed and a CD with appropiate background music. Etc. So a full package for, say, 5 levels of adventuring.

 

[Fishbone]

I wouldn't do deluxe things. But it really angers me that the things people are saying should be "deluxe" aren't the industry standard.
First off, indexes and glossaries ought to be mandatory, if a book doesn't have them it should be laughed off the RPG stage and subjected to a harsh slamming when being reviewed. Cogent, logical 1-2-3 organization should be mandatory, not deluxe. Put all the things you need to make a character IN ORDER. Basics, feats, skills, equipment etc, in order as needed. Not half assed, some here, some there, flip back and forth through a 200 page book without an index to make a character. Anything over 15 dollars should have full color or at the very least lavish illustrations. Not sketches from the guy in the copy room, art from a pro. That is the absolute bare minimum in organization, structure, and art that I will accept in any further purchases, anything less I don't buy it.

 

[Odhanan]

1. I don't think Ptolus is worth the $120 it costs when comparing it with other products (buy Eberron and Forgotten Realms for 2/3 of the price)

Two separate settings which have nothing to do with one another or one that is described in such detail and has such a synergy with the core rules it blows the two WotC settings away? I take Ptolus anytime, man. Makes me wonder, honestly, if you actually read Ptolus, the whole thing. I've read a bit short of a half of the big book, and my mind is made up big time on your "comparison".

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I'm guessing anyone who says this is going to drink far in excess of $100.00 of beer in a month.





I'm guessing anyone who says this is likely to require Heidi Klum be paid far more than $100.00 to make it happen.





Okay. What kind of beer and what would you like Heidi to wear . . .?

If Heidi Klum is there, does it really matter? And I think you know the answer to the latter question....

 

[Fishbone]

Cheap beer in a keg. And she's wearing a smile.

 

[Mark]

If Heidi Klum is there, does it really matter? And I think you know the answer to the latter question....

I've got nothing . . .