GC 2006 - Ptolus Hardback $120!?!

[Kvantum]

Whoa - you'll spend $360 on books at GenCon? Yikes, that's my gaming budget for a year and half! Of course if I actually got to GenCOn I'd probably not buy anything locally for months beforehand. Of course now you'll have to be burned at the stake for not supporting your local games store

Well, actually, it's closer to $400. I'll be needing my fix after skipping this year's GC in favor of an actual honeymoon with my new wife. She understands, though. We went to GC '04 together when she was still just the fiancee.

And as my local GS only carries WotC releases in stock (other d20 stuff has to be special-ordered), I use GC as my miscellaneous d20 store. I do buy all my WotC books from my FLGS, but anything d20 that's not an absolute must-buy for me usually gets put off until GenCon... or else Amazon, if I can find it there.

 

[nerfherder]

Your post says no, but your eyes say yes.

LMFAO!

Seriously though, as someone in their 30's with a reasonable job, $120 is not a lot of money for something that would provide tens of hours of enjoyment. Divided amongst a group of 4 players and a DM, thats $24 each. Heck, I could easily pay $120 for a nice meal for two or filling up two tanks of gas (in the UK).

Kudos to Monte and AEG for providing a different kind of RPG product.

Cheers,
Liam

 

[Remathilis]

Sadly, I'm too broke to even THINK about it, but if this sells well, my prayers for a PH/DMG/MM + little extra in one hard-bound tome comes closer to reality.

Its all in the SRD, why not someone?

 

[Sunderstone]

So what happens next, do we green light all companies to produce $120+ books?
Shackled City was $60, Ptolus $120... where do we go next?

 

[Dragonhelm]

Monte's payment installment plan is good and the extra goodies are all wonderful. I don't doubt that content-wise, it is worth the money.

But what is it about the setting itself that warrants me spending $120 on it? How is Ptolus different from any other fantasy mega-city? What will I get from Ptolus that I can't find in Greyhawk, the Realms, Eberron, and so forth?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

So what happens next, do we green light all companies to produce $120+ books?
Shackled City was $60, Ptolus $120... where do we go next?

There are legions of d20 companies who will never produce such things, just because they can't afford the inital investment to print the suckers.

For example, at Parent's Basement Games Headquarters, the conversation between the CEO (me) and the Board of Directors (my wife) went something like this:

CEO: Hey, there's going to be a D&D book that costs $120! Wouldn't it be cool if I did something like --

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: No.

I imagine many other companies had similar conversations.

Although, I do see that Monte is including a CD-ROM in Ptolus, just like we did with Murchad's Legacy. It's cool to be an industry leader. I wonder if Monte will follow in my footsteps with my next revoluationary idea for d20: laminated rulebooks so you can play underwater. I'm sure it'll be a hit!

 

[A'koss]

But what is it about the setting itself that warrants me spending $120 on it? How is Ptolus different from any other fantasy mega-city? What will I get from Ptolus that I can't find in Greyhawk, the Realms, Eberron, and so forth?

This is exactly my issue with it too - despite it's obvious production value, Ptolus comes across like any other generic D&D city. I've got plenty of standard city stuff already...

 

[ColonelHardisson]

So what happens next, do we green light all companies to produce $120+ books?
Shackled City was $60, Ptolus $120... where do we go next?

"We" don't greenlight anything. Companies will decide whether it's worth the risk to publish such expensive products, and then we decide if we want to buy them. It's not like these will eb the only choices available for us to buy - there are, and will be, plenty of less expensive items to buy.

 

[Eosin the Red]

,,,,Can it stop a bullet?

HERO system 5th Edition Revised can stop a bullet. They even filmed it. It has also been involved in several unfortunate incidents that resulted in hospitalizations for back strain.

 

[Buttercup]

So what happens next, do we green light all companies to produce $120+ books?
Shackled City was $60, Ptolus $120... where do we go next?

I'm not sure what the issue is. Anyone is free to charge whatever they want, and if the market will bear the cost, so be it. No one is forcing anyone else to buy this book, and it's existence, or for that matter the existence of any other expensive RPG book, will not effect the availability of less expensive products.

If you want it and can afford it, then buy it. If you don't want it or can't afford it, then don't. No biggie.