I rarely complain about the price of an RPG product but . . .

[philreed]

That was the opinion of my brother & I. I'll wager the cost difference is mostly the cost of the license. The map might be a minor issue, but when some recent D&D products have had similiar things included without a major price jump, I doubt it's major.

Right. But if I compare Star Wars RPG hardcovers to this Miniatures book it reveals that the license can't be the result of the higher price. I just pulled the Hero's Guide off of the shelf -- $29.95 for a 160-page hardcover. I honestly can't determine why the Miniatures book is as expensive as it is.

I'll probably check Amazon for it. 30% off should get it at about the price I think it's worth it.

If this had been a color book from a smaller company I probably wouldn't have blinked at the price. But WotC can get much better pricing deals than other publishers and they usually pass on the savings. Maybe I'm wrong and this book had a very low print run but it seems to me that it's priced higher than it needs to be.

 

[shurai]

I bought a complete rules system in 1996 for $10. (West End Games' D6 system, which used to run Star Wars.) It was a good system, not too fancy, but it worked, and it was clean and consistent.

It wasn't on glossy paper, wasn't hardcover, and wasn't in color (except the cover). The production values weren't even that good. But it was and is one of my favorite RP books; I read and reread that book a hundred times, and I wrote several rules variants and settings for it on my own. The thing is so dog-eared it's practically falling apart.

But $30 for a PHB? Some systems give you the *whole game* for that much. Yeah, I think D&D is too expensive, especially since 3.5. Thanks to borrowing the books I need from friends and such, I don't need to spend money on it anymore. If I did, I'd probably just stop playing.

The whole thing is pretty laughable once you think about it. Here we are, a crowd of smart, motivated roleplayers who are willing to spend hours upon hours on our hobby. We've got the hand of God for information processing and communication literally at our fingertips. There's thousands of us, some of us so dedicated we're willing to spend hundreds of dollars every year on it. Yet for some reason so many of us are still dependent on those $35 rulebooks that keep coming out.

I'm all for businesses making money, but I can roll my own material for free, and actually get what I want, should I ever decide to GM again. The next gaming purchase I make may very well be a domain name and some hosting, so I can set up a serious website for an open-source roleplaying system I'm cooking up. If I can get some people to play it, and some people to help me develop it, well, then we'll have a revolution on our hands. : ]

-S

 

[Turjan]

I'm afraid that this is just part of the vicious circle we see at the moment. A minor aspect may be the weak dollar, which makes imports more expensive (either raw materials or books printed abroad). The major effect comes from smaller print runs. Smaller print runs result in higher prices. Higher prices result in lower sales, which in turn result in smaller print runs.

It's my honest belief that the 3.5e revision effectively killed the d20 fantasy market, not as a sole reason, but as the major cause. I know it did for me (although I was no opponent to the revision in the first place), and I suspect that this is true for others. As far as Star Wars is concerned, we know the reason (1st release ).

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Huh? Other fantasy companies were still churning out product when 3.5 came out. Me thinks people who don't like 3.5 will look for any excuse to bash it...

 

[Crothian]

It's my honest belief that the 3.5e revision effectively killed the d20 fantasy market, not as a sole reason, but as the major cause.

The rumor of d20 Fantasy's death has been greatly exagerated. It's actually still going strong.

 

[BryonD]

The rumor of d20 Fantasy's death has been greatly exagerated. It's actually still going strong.

Yes, but so are the rumors......
And the rumors will still be going strong 3 years from now.

 

[Crothian]

I bought a complete rules system in 1996 for $10. (West End Games' D6 system, which used to run Star Wars.) It was a good system, not too fancy, but it worked, and it was clean and consistent.

And look what happened to West End Games, they went out of business and are now trying to get back into it.

 

[Turjan]

Huh? Other fantasy companies were still churning out product when 3.5 came out. Me thinks people who don't like 3.5 will look for any excuse to bash it...

My statement had nothing to do with whether I like 3.5e or not. I find 3.5e better in many regards, worse in a few, so overall better than 3.0. Sorry to disappoint you, but it's the wrong conclusion .

The rumor of d20 Fantasy's death has been greatly exagerated. It's actually still going strong.

Right, it's not dead. Strong? Some people from the d20 industry spilling numbers lately suggest a different picture . Okay, let's call it "consolidation". Sounds much nicer, n'est-ce pas?

 

[Glyfair]

Right. But if I compare Star Wars RPG hardcovers to this Miniatures book it reveals that the license can't be the result of the higher price. I just pulled the Hero's Guide off of the shelf -- $29.95 for a 160-page hardcover. I honestly can't determine why the Miniatures book is as expensive as it is.

Dunno. Maybe the miniatures license has a higher rate than the RPG license?

 

[shurai]

And look what happened to West End Games, they went out of business and are now trying to get back into it.

Did they? If so I hope they succeed now that they're back. : ] I think more gaming diversity is a good thing; if we really want to see prices come down, competition is one way to get it.

-S