Has the age of the big book arrived?

[solkan_uk]

(I guess the IK folks agree with Belen in that they split their setting book into two books, though I suspect that might have had more to do with getting all the material done...)

Have you seen the IK books? there are 2 400pg books, the character guide and the campaign guide, hardly small books - even by the standards compared to.

 

[Psion]

No.

No?

They are $50. Both Midnight and AE were $50.

Spycraft 2.0, 39.95.

World of Warcraft RPG, $39.99.

"Some are more that that" would have been an appropriate and accurate response.

A flat "no" is both a bit snippy and incorrect, since obviously there are some 500 page books out there for $40.

I don't know what I did to annoy you that provoked such a response, but I would ask that you put down the axe and discuss things civilly.

One thing I have noticed is that game stores are balking at buying these expensive books.

I asked the FLGS owner about spycraft 2.0, and she said she put one away for me and ordered extras.

 

[Psion]

Have you seen the IK books? there are 2 400pg books, the character guide and the campaign guide, hardly small books - even by the standards compared to.

I don't think I was calling them small...

 

[Belen]

Spycraft 2.0, 39.95.

World of Warcraft RPG, $39.99.

"Some are more that that" would have been an appropriate and accurate response.

A flat "no" is both a bit snippy and incorrect, since obviously there are some 500 page books out there for $40.

I don't know what I did to annoy you that provoked such a response, but I would ask that you put down the axe and discuss things civilly.

I asked the FLGS owner about spycraft 2.0, and she said she put one away for me and ordered extras.

No one has gotten snippy with you. I admit that I was unfamiliar with the price for Spycraft or Warhammer. I was only stating the prices for the big books I have purchased. No insult intended.

As for spycraft 2.0, my FLGS does not intend to order it. They still have 1.0 books that did not sell.

 

[Pramas]

All things considered it's just a smart move for publishers.

I don't agree. The cost of words and art does not go down the more you put in a book, but what you can charge for them does. Allow me to return to my favorite example of this: Book of the Righteous. If we cut BotR into smaller chunks we could have made six 64-page books out of the words and art inside it, each of which we could have charged $14.95 for. And at the time we did many 64-page $14.95 books and no one complained about the price. Put the content of six of those books together in a 320-page hardback for $39.95 though and suddenly it's too expensive. Split up that would have been $90 worth of material but put together in one harback we couldn't even charge half that and we still got complaints. This is why I like to keep things at 256 pages or less and why you won't see any 500 page books from Green Ronin in the future. While the price ceiling has moved up from even five years ago, it hasn't moved up enough for me to consider the mega-book except under special circumstances (Black Company, for example).

 

[HellHound]

Just a footnote: Was about to mention Black Company as another "big book"

Very nice piece of work, that book.

 

[Psion]

No one has gotten snippy with you. I admit that I was unfamiliar with the price for Spycraft or Warhammer. I was only stating the prices for the big books I have purchased. No insult intended.

Fair enough.

As for spycraft 2.0, my FLGS does not intend to order it. They still have 1.0 books that did not sell.

Probably just following their own perceptions of their markets. I was surprised to not see d20 Apoc show up on the shelves, but considering the small books like d20 past that wallow on the shelves, it made more sense.

 

[Quickleaf]

I notice that Monte Cook plans on releasing Ptolus as a city guide/mega-adventure. According to his website it's going to be 600+ pages! Making it the biggest RPG book ever.
I wonder how this works financially?

 

[Belen]

Probably just following their own perceptions of their markets. I was surprised to not see d20 Apoc show up on the shelves, but considering the small books like d20 past that wallow on the shelves, it made more sense.

Funny enough, those are the books that sell at my FLGS. They never sold spycraft items, but the d20 Past and d20 Apocalypse has done well.

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

I'm upset with a bit of an opposite trend from WotC. Their books are getting smaller while the price tag for said books is getting bigger! Never a good trend (see Heores of Battle, City of Splendors and 5 Nations for what I mean by this).