D&D 4E Getting Closer To Being Sucked In To 4E

[Olaf the Stout]

I'm not anti-4E, but based on the initial information I had planned to wait a while before buying the 4E rulebooks. I'm quite happily running a 3.5E game at the moment. We've just started the Shackled City AP which should keep us going for at least a couple of years. I figured once that was done I would get the 4E core rulebooks and see if we would switch over. I hoped I might also benefit by waiting and getting a second printing of the core rules (as I did with 3.0E) that had the most recent errata incorporated.

Today however I discovered that the core rulebook slipcase set was selling at Amazon for $62.81 (after pre-order discount). Even taking into account international shipping charges, that works out to only AUD$27.66 each for the core rulebooks. That's pretty damn cheap. If I were to buy them from the gaming store I would be paying at least AUD$40 each, if not more.

So now I'm torn. On one hand, I want to hold off on buying 4E. We still don't know a whole lot about it, and I'm quite happy with my 3.5E game. The SCAP campaign will be going for quite a while after 4E has been released. Even once we've finished it, there are still a lot of 3.5E adventures I'd like to run.

At the same time, there is the curious side of me that wants to see if this new edition is as good as the hype about it so far. I also don't know if I'll be able to get the core books this cheap again. The 5% preorder discount means that I'm only paying about USD$6.67 shipping and the Aussie dollar is doing very well against the US dollar at the moment. Plus there is the usual "oooohhhhh, new shiny!!!" appeal of 4E.

So what should I do? Pre-order the core books now or wait to buy them until I actually switch to a 4E game?

Olaf the Stout

 

[MaelStorm]

When I saw that deal at Amazon, I pre-ordered it instantly. This is 3 books for the price of 2.

Let's assume you wait and buy them used, you'll probably find them at half price.

So you have to ponder what is the best option: 33% off now, or 50% later?

IMO the best move is 33% now.

 

[Mephistopheles]

You've still a few months of pre-order window to get more information about 4E. Personally I would wait until after 4E is out and when your group gets around to switching buy all your starting 4E books in one big order from Amazon. This reduces shipping cost per book as well as allowing you to split shipping between several people which ends up making the individual books very cheap compared to Australian prices.

Your point about getting a later printing is also a good one.

Just wait and don't agonize over it.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Yep wait until you have a better idea and preferably until the rest of the group has decided as well. Long distance shipping is not fun the bulk discount is worth it.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Meh, I'd say grab it. Reading the books is a lot of the fun, and even if you don't switch to 4e, you might find lots of fun ideas for monsters to run and such. (I don't imagine it would be hard to work most of those new monsters into a 3.5 game, especially since they're not using "spell-like abilities" lifted from the PHB anymore.)

 

[Magus Coeruleus]

Do it! I say just buy it. Like ZRN says, a great part of the fun is just the reading. If you can afford it, that price will probably be worth the enjoyment of reading through those 3 books as soon as you're able. Sure you can wait and get a bigger discount yet for used ones but guess what? If you like em, you keep em. If you don't, then YOU sell them for 50% off of cover price and then you will have paid a relatively small amount to "rent" the books for reading enjoyment. Also note that Amazon says that if you preorder and the price drops you get the better price automatically, so you don't have to worry about it going lower. They talk about refunding your credit card the difference in that case, but even though I have confirmation of my preorder from over a week ago I see no charge to my credit card which raises the question of when do they actually charge your card and up until when can you cancel your preorder? If you are allowed to cancel (and again I'm not certain you can), then you can get the extra discount and still renege if some info comes along that makes you think you REALLY don't want these books after all. So satisfy your curiosity and place the order!

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

buy them

I'll be buying the 4E PHB,MM,and DMG even if I don't switch. I am sure that there will be ideas in 4E worth porting to 3.5, in any case.

Ken

 

[withak]

Pre-order now, decide later.

Your card won't get charged until the books are on their way to you, and Amazon will let you cancel any order up until the point where the item has actually shipped. Also, there's the 5% book pre-order discount, which sweetens the deal even more.

 

[Ebon Shar]

Not only did I pre-order the slipcase version, I also applied for and received the Amazon credit card which gave me an additional 30 bucks off. That's a deal I couldn't pass up. Now I just have to tell my wife we have another credit card.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Not only did I pre-order the slipcase version, I also applied for and received the Amazon credit card which gave me an additional 30 bucks off. That's a deal I couldn't pass up. Now I just have to tell my wife we have another credit card.

Why would you tell her that? Isn't this the opportunity to "lose" the other card (forever)?