Is the Age of Hardcover Gluttony over?

[Stormonu]

You're going to quibble over $3?

This is the internet, of course we are.

 

[Umbran]

You're going to quibble over $3?

Well, I'm certainly not going to make a huge tirade over $3. A quibble seems about the right scale.

The other way of thinking of it is that it is on the order of 10% of the whole. You don't think 10% is relevant? How about you give me 10% of your salary?

I've got quite a few mass market paperbacks from that time and $3.50 - $3.95 is right. Triple may not be right, but it is far from a "major" overstatement.

Because triple is not major when compared to double? Okay, then.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

Of course, part of the reason the move to hardcovers was necessary in the first place is because RPG fans aren't willing to pay reasonable prices for RPG books. (With "reasonable" being defined here in terms of "a price at which the publishers can actually make a livable wage based on how much it costs to produce the book and how many copies it can sell".) This is particularly true with softcover books, which I'm guessing most people are expecting to pay around $20 for if they have a page count around 150-300 pages.

In other words, they want to pay the same price for a softcover RPG book that they were paying in 1990. Despite the fact that:

(1) Inflation alone means that a $20 book in 1990 should be retailing for $35 in 2010.

(2) Costs in the publishing industry have actually risen far faster than in the economy as a whole (largely due to the increased price of paper). (Which is why the average price of a paperback book has tripled in price over the past twenty years.)

(3) RPG books aren't selling anywhere near the same volume that they were selling in 1990 (which means that creative costs need to be amortized over fewer copies sold).

None of which is to say that people should pay more than they think the product is worth. But if you're still calibrating your expectations of what an RPG book "should" cost off 1990 (or even 2000) prices, then I'm afraid you're deluding yourself.

...aaand during the 3E era much publishing moved to China for full-color hardbacks that pretty much were the same price as a black & white hardback (or even a softback) 10-20 years ago. Producers faced rising costs, Consumers balked at price increases, the producers found another way -> Economics in action, no whining about stingy gamers required.

 

[ggroy]

...aaand during the 3E era much publishing moved to China for full-color hardbacks that pretty much were the same price as a black & white hardback (or even a softback) 10-20 years ago. Producers faced rising costs, Consumers balked at price increases, the producers found another way -> Economics in action, no whining about stingy gamers required.

Did WotC actually do the printing in China? Offhand I don't recall seeing "printed in China" in many of my 3E/3.5E books.

One rpg company which regularly print their books in China, is Paizo. Almost every Pathfinder splatbook/module I've picked up over the last several years, has "printed in China" stated on the back cover.

 

[masshysteria]

Durability has a lot to do with materials, size, and processes used. Sure a hardcover might hold up to wear and tear, but if the pages are falling out, what's the point? Some softcovers can take quite the abuse and still look pretty good. A few O'Reilly tech books I have take quite the beating, but still hold up well. So, I don't base my opinion on durability.

My favorite example of mixing softcover and hardcover is the Alternity line. The core books and settings were hardcover (Player's Handbook, Gamemaster's Guide, Star Dive, and Dark Matter), all the adventures and supplements were 128 pages or less and softcover, and the introductory set was a boxed set along with one-off things like the Star Craft boxed set.

But, to be honest, I find I'm a bit tired of the 10.9 x 8.6 format. It's large, takes a lot of room at the table, and isn't all the conducive to reading. I really appreciate the size of the Star Wars Saga books and would be happy with something the size of the "... For Dummies" or O'Reilly books (9.4 x 7.2)