How many poor-quality books can a company produce . . .

was · Jul 19, 2005

Just once...

Kanegrundar · Jul 19, 2005

I will usually buy another book from a company that gave me a real stinker, but the subject matter has to be something that I think is really cool and original that I won't get anywhere else. If that second purchase is just as bad, another future purchases are only made if the book is widely credited as being exceptional.

Kane

JimAde · Jul 19, 2005

I voted "none." I'm such a squeak that I don't buy anything unless I'm pretty darn sure I'm going to find it useful and I've seen at least one review. I assume the review will mention if the book is so badly written or edited as to be unreadable, etc.

Which is not to say that I've never been a little disappointed by a purchase, but I don't remember ever buying something I'd classify as "bad."

Turjan · Jul 19, 2005

I don't really know what to vote in this poll. I cannot vote for 'one' or 'two', because this would mean I'd stop buying any RPG products at all. Even those companies that are fan favourites published some stinkers, like WotC, GR or Malhavoc. One case where I really stopped buying anything was Mongoose, after a streak of mediocre product (I recently bought 'Conan - Atlantean Edition' and 'Paranoia XP', though). There were a few companies where I did not buy anything after one or two initial attempts. This really depends on how bad the product was in the first place

. This means: No general pattern here

.

DaveMage · Jul 19, 2005

I view these things a little differently. It's not about buy/not buy, it's about the right price.

I'll use the now-defunct Fast Forward as an example.

I bought their first few d20 products and was quite disappointed. Most of them were, on the whole, horrid. However, even wading through all the trash, there were some gems to be found - even if it was just in the form of concepts (e.g., Dungeon World).

So, what I did was to set my price. Rather than paying $24.95 for their 128-page books, I decided to set my spend limit at $5 per book. Sure enough, they began appearing on e-bay for $1-5. I snagged several of them for 80%+ off. Thus, they had reached a price point where they were more acceptable. I bought all 4 Demonwars books (MSRP $100) for under $20 (including shipping).

Andre · Jul 19, 2005

I voted two, since once I get two bad products from a particular vendor, I start to look very closely at any future purchases.

That said, a percentage of bad products purchased is generally a better guide for me. I purchased three products at the same time from one pdf publisher (a sale). ALL three were subpar, so no more chances for the publisher - I'm going to assume all their products are lousy. WOTC, on the other hand, has put out quite a few real stinkers, but some good stuff too. IMO, they tend to bat about .500, so they're still worth a look.

Crothian · Jul 19, 2005

No amount will makie me stop buying from a bublisher...but a few will make me a little more wary with a publishers products and make me look at them much more closely before buying.

Staffan · Jul 19, 2005

Crothian said:
No amount will makie me stop buying from a bublisher...but a few will make me a little more wary with a publishers products and make me look at them much more closely before buying.

That's pretty much my attitude too. If I see a book from Malhavoc that has a topic that interests me, I'm willing to buy it sight-unseen. If I see one from Mongoose, I'll make sure to read some reviews first.

Dr. Harry · Jul 19, 2005

I really don't have a lot of money I can allocate for gaming books, maybe two every three months, so there's a lot of competition for my bucks.

Having said that, I bought a book that sounded really cool that turned out to be quite, quite bad. (Both book and company will remain nameless.) Then, later, I gave them another shot with what sounded like a cool concept only to get burned again.

I can honestly say I woundn't buy another book of theirs.

Wulf Ratbane · Jul 19, 2005

Regardless of how this poll turns out, in the larger world of non-ENnie connected gamers, the answer is apparently, "An infinite number. As a consumer, I live to be shafted."

Psion, I really like your take on gambling theory on this issue. Very interesting.