I complain about the current MSRP of RPGs all the time...

[Gnome Quixote]

Ptolus.

I'll happily, enthusiastically second this. Ptolus has already given both my live group (in which I'm the DM) and my pbp group (in which I'm a player) tons to work with, and neither campaign has actually gotten to Ptolus proper, yet. Of what's on my shelf, only the core books and DM For Dummies have seen as much use.

 

[El Ravager]

Dungeon is definitely the best buy in RPGs, hands down.

Dungeon may be a great buy when you crunch the numbers, but it has gotten to the point where it is not an automatic buy. It's cover price is, what, 10 bucks now? It isn't something where I stop in a store to buy something and say, hey, throw in a dungeon mag while you're at it. I must have a current need that dungeon fills to buy it. I still love it and will certainly buy issues in the future. But while the bang for the buck so to speak is good, the buck is high enough (and I'm poor enough :\ ) that it (as well as Dragon) is not an impulse buy anymore.

 

[airwalkrr]

Dungeon magazine is the best buy for the money right now, especially if you are a subscriber. Dragon comes in second place, with not as many useful tools for the time-crunched DM, but lots of great ideas for a DM with free time to incorporate them into his campaign. I also agree with the OP that the Dungeon tiles give a great bang for the buck. Dollar for dollar, it is probably one of the most valuable WotC products ever released.

I also happen to think WotC adventures are high quality products for the price. Think about this: if you buy Complete Psionic, even if you play a heavy psionic campaign, you might use about 10-15% of the content over the next year. However, if you run an adventure, you end up using 85-100% of the content (depending on how thorough your players are). That is serious bang for the buck right there. I buy every single WotC adventure published (of course I buy all WotC stuff, but I buy adventures from other companies too for this reason).

 

[Vocenoctum]

Meh. It's the cheap SOB in all of us. We'd rather have 1976's sales price in 2006. The same goes for gas.

Funny, we don't complain that much about videogames (not counting the ones in the bargain bins).

I complain about video game prices all the time!
Mostly it's the gouging that accompanies a "360" label though. $10 more for the same game...

Lego SW 2 costs $10 more, but is identical except for HD support. The XBox version even plays on the 360.

::grumble::


On topic: Dungeon is a great value when it's useful. Assuming a subscription price of 38.95 you get 36+ adventures. I use maybe 2 of them though... so I'm paying about $20 an adventure. Not really worth it in the direct. You can buy single issues for the adventure you like, and pay "only" $10 for that adventure of course.

Factoring in enjoyment as well as actualy gameplay use, I think Tome of Magic: Pact is the best right now.

For straight use, PHB & ECS.

 

[Ranger REG]

On topic: Dungeon is a great value when it's useful. Assuming a subscription price of 38.95 you get 36+ adventures. I use maybe 2 of them though... so I'm paying about $20 an adventure. Not really worth it in the direct. You can buy single issues for the adventure you like, and pay "only" $10 for that adventure of course.

I dunno. I kinda like it if they had 5 adventures per issue.