Game book pricing

[trancejeremy]

I'd say both those prices are plenty reasonable in theory, and cheap by today's standards. The problem arises in that the value you receive on any given purchase (whether it be a $4.50 purchase or one that runs up to $45.00) can differ dramatically. There are $4.50 modules which aren't worth the paper they're printed on and others which are worth way beyond that price -- especially those like White Plume Mountain, Tomb of Horrors, etc. which become classics. Similarly, there are hardcover books I find nearly indespensible and a value at nearly any plausible price...and some which I'd pay someone else to take off my hands.

Yeah. I recently bought a hardcover book (the book of Immortals) for $30 and don't want it, and can't seem to find any buyers even at $10.

I imagine there are a lot of books like that. You can price a book any way you want, but if no one wants it...

 

[Mouseferatu]

Dude ....


If you adjust for inflation those prices are $30.48 and $11.43 repectively.

AND the production values were lower in those days.

AND this does not account for the huge jump in the cost of paper that occured in 1995


So, you're looking at about $35 and $15. Both of which I would find too high for those books.

And this is exactly why the RPG industry is in the state it's in.

(I don't mean you, Geekus. )

The fact is, RPGs haven't kept up with inflation, not even remotely. Most RPG companies are selling books at a lower cost than a book of similar size and quality would cost in other markets.

Frankly, and I hate to be so blunt about it, but I think people need to get used to the idea that, in the not-too-distant future, they're going to be faced with a simple binary choice.

Accept books that cost a lot more than they do today, or get used to companies either going out of business or putting out books with much lower production values (which ultimately amounts to going out of business, just slower.)

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I don't think any price is too low, speaking as a consumer. It's not like I'd complain about it and force the publisher of the book to take more money. That said, $12 sounds low in comparison to how much comparably-sized books are going for, as does the $4.50 for 16 pages. Again, I wouldn't have a problem paying such a price for either, though, and I would be much more likely to patronize any company selling books that cheaply. Whether they could stay in business with prices like that is something I don't know.

 

[S'mon]

Accept books that cost a lot more than they do today, or get used to companies either going out of business or putting out books with much lower production values (which ultimately amounts to going out of business, just slower.)

I certainly prefer lower price & lower production value in that I don't want or need glossy paper or colour art. I do want a spine that won't crack, I want the pages to stay in the book. If that requires it to be hardback, ok. I'd certainly rather pay £10 for a slim hardback like C&C than £25 for a fat glossy hardback, all else being equal in terms of text quality.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I certainly prefer lower price & lower production value in that I don't want or need glossy paper or colour art. I do want a spine that won't crack, I want the pages to stay in the book. If that requires it to be hardback, ok. I'd certainly rather pay £10 for a slim hardback like C&C than £25 for a fat glossy hardback, all else being equal in terms of text quality.

I actually agree with you, to a point. I prefer "normal" paper to glossy, and in many cases, I prefer black and white to color.

However, you and I are in the minority. Apparently, market figures suggest that people on average prefer to pay more for the higher production values than to pay less for a "stripped down" book.

That said, even companies that use B&W, and don't use glossy paper, are still lagging well behind inflation. Cutting down on "pretties" would only alleviate a small portion of the problem, even if it were viable.

 

[Quickbeam]

Yeah. I recently bought a hardcover book (the book of Immortals) for $30 and don't want it, and can't seem to find any buyers even at $10.

I imagine there are a lot of books like that. You can price a book any way you want, but if no one wants it...

I have a buddy who will buy just about anything D&D related if he can get it "on sale". He bought four books for the price of one at GenCon last year (a great deal in theory), but can't find use in any of them...except as beverage coasters. The sad thing is that he has literally dozens of books which he can't even bring himself to read they're so devoid of value, and not a single one of the players in our group ever bother to borrow these tomes.

While I envy the completeness of his gaming book collection, I question the sense in buying books you don't really want or have a use for simply because they were cheap. I'd rather buy 1/10 the volume at greater prices, if they are books I can really use year after year. But that's just me.

 

[Quickbeam]

I don't think any price is too low, speaking as a consumer. It's not like I'd complain about it and force the publisher of the book to take more money. That said, $12 sounds low in comparison to how much comparably-sized books are going for, as does the $4.50 for 16 pages. Again, I wouldn't have a problem paying such a price for either, though, and I would be much more likely to patronize any company selling books that cheaply. Whether they could stay in business with prices like that is something I don't know.

I totally agree. The fine folks producing the Legends & Lairs books had a sale a few months back where you could buy almost any of the their hardcover books for $5 apiece. Several of the players in my group (myself included) already owned a few of their products and liked the content and value they provided. But this deal made us big fans!!

 

[pogre]

And this is exactly why the RPG industry is in the state it's in.

(I don't mean you, Geekus. )

The fact is, RPGs haven't kept up with inflation, not even remotely. Most RPG companies are selling books at a lower cost than a book of similar size and quality would cost in other markets.

Frankly, and I hate to be so blunt about it, but I think people need to get used to the idea that, in the not-too-distant future, they're going to be faced with a simple binary choice.

Accept books that cost a lot more than they do today, or get used to companies either going out of business or putting out books with much lower production values (which ultimately amounts to going out of business, just slower.)

Which is a long way of saying there are a lot easier ways to make a living than the RPG industry.

No offense, but the choice was made a long time ago.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Which is a long way of saying there are a lot easier ways to make a living than the RPG industry.

No offense, but the choice was made a long time ago.

Oh, certainly. Nobody's claiming that we didn't know what we were getting into. I knew from day one that this job paid crap, and that if I worked really hard, I might eventually reach the point where I could demand higher-quality crap. I wish that weren't so, and I hope for the day when it's not, but I know that would require a miracle even God would have to roll up his sleeves to accomplish.

But I'm not talking about this from the stance of a writer, now. Speaking simply as a fan: I don't want the RPG industry to die. And it bothers me when people complain about the books costing too much and the RPG companies being money-grubbing corporate entities. Sure, they're out to make a profit; it's called business. But nobody's getting screwed here; in fact, we've all been treated remarkably well, cost-wise.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

And it bothers me when people complain about the books costing too much and the RPG companies being money-grubbing corporate entities. Sure, they're out to make a profit; it's called business. But nobody's getting screwed here; in fact, we've all been treated remarkably well, cost-wise.

When it comes to consumerism, it's always a bad idea to simply assume one is being treated well and keep quiet. Just as it's the "duty," so to speak, of a company to charge as much as it can for its products, it is also the "duty" of the consumer to try to get companies to sell their products as cheaply as possible. I don't assume we're getting screwed, but I also don't assume a corporate entity has my best interests in mind, either.