GC 2006 - Ptolus Hardback $120!?!

[Jupp]

I buy CG art books on a bi-monthly to monthly basis and those buggers cost a leg and an arm. So I am not too worried about the price of Ptolus if the content and the art is absolutely worth the money. If you get what you pay for (and you really, really want to have it) then its ok. So depending on the reviews it will get I might buy it.

 

[IronWolf]

And what if you went with the 224 page full color books at $34.95? Then it's three books for $104.85 no?

Quite true, there are lots of ways to work the math to one side or the other. But you are still getting the embossed cover, poster map, 24 handout pages, a CD, built-in bookmarks in the Ptolus book for a $16 price difference. I am just saying its not like they are thinking about charging $120 for a 224 page sourcebook. This book is supposed to have a high page count and several other features that will most likely help justify the higher than normal price.

 

[Shemeska]

Eh, not too terribly interested at the moment in Ptolus (irregardless of price), though I'd shell out $150+ easily for a massive, full color, Beyond Countless Doorways 2.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

What? You're shocked at the outrage?

No, I am shocked at the complete non-sequitur.

Don't like the price tag, don't buy it. Fine. I just can't get from there to, "Never buying Malhavoc again."

 

[TroyXavier]

While I don't plan on getting it, I don't see anything wrong with a 600 plus page book with full color going for that much.

 

[Zappo]

*shrug*

I've got no interest in Ptolus, so this doesn't touch me. On a more abstract level, I think that high-cost, high-quality, high-pagecount books are a good idea. I've almost bought WLD, and the reason I didn't buy it wasn't the cost but the fact that my players don't like dungeons. If I were in the market for campaign settings, I'd love a mega book of the campaign setting. When I start a new CS, I end up paying about that money if not more in supplements anyway. I know that I'd pay even more than 120$ for a huge Planescape book, f'rex.

 

[shaylon]

I doubt I'll qualify, which is why I am taking the first setp and nominating my Mom as a judge. I'm sure she'll be impartial. Please send all products to my place and I'll be sure that Mom gets them. I promise.

-BG

Too funny! I hope she gets on board. I was really pulling for Murchad's Legacy at the Ennies!

-Shay

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Wow. What is the sound of 100 knees jerking?

(Holds hand to ear to listen to this thread)

Ahh. Now I understand Zen.

Yeah, somehow people seem to be taking this as an attack on gamers by evil ol' Monte and his Malhavoc goons. With the money they make on this book they'll have enough to build their doomsday device and destroy the universe.

Come on. If the book is too expensive for you don't buy it. I don't seen anyone whining because Ferraris aren't priced so that everyone can afford one, so why the outrage here? There is no gamer's constitution that states that all gamers must be able to afford all products. If Monte can sell a bunch of these and make a bundle on it, good for him. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Better than most of us know what he's doing, for sure.

That he thinks he can sell an expensive, feature-laden product for a high price is not some kind of assault on the hobby. If anything, it's an indicator of how strong the hobby has become, that a product like this is expected to turn profit. I know there's a lot of paranoid Monte hate floating around out there (and in this thread), but nobody's forcing you to buy anything.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

FWIW, I'd rather have a pair of $60 books. Not because I'd want to buy them separately, but because a book that big might have some problems with binding. I find big books are often difficult to keep open to certain pages (especially near the beginning and end), are more likely to suffer from glue release problems, and just generally suffer from wear and tear more (due to higher weight). They're also bloody awful to try to find anything in if you don't go through and put index tabs on the key sections.

 

[Voadam]

My campaign includes Ptolus as we went through the banewarrens and have a lot of empire and faction politics going on. I will not buy the $120 version. Hopefully the $60 normal version is accurate and if he splits it into three pdfs and reduces it to IH level discounts then I will be all over it.

I was really tempted by WLD at 60% off but still did not get it. I limit myself to $25 a month for a gaming budget and I couldn't care less about a special cover, bookmarks, or other collector item features.

Felt the same way about the ravenloft 3e CS when it came out in regular and deluxe collector editions.