Monster Manual III: Buying?

[Chris Tavares]

I found out they were putting the Flind in and lost all interest in the book.

Let me get this straight: You're dedicating a full page to a big gnoll with nunchucks.

Flinds were cool when I was 13. I was pretty stupid back then.

 

[was]

No, I leafed through it and decided that it wasn't worth the price they were charging for it. I usually tweak the creatures in the regular MM anyways.

 

[ivocaliban]

Well, in Greyhawk, there are places you can fit Warforged in. For example, you can make them extraplanar. Give them an alignment of "Always lawful (any)" and the Extraplanar subtype, place them on Mechanus, and you have an exemplar race somewhere between the modrons and the inevitables.

A very good idea, but considering I've never directly used Mechanus or any of its inhabitants, it seems rather unnecessary.

 

[RichCsigs]

If that's the only reason, seems a bit of a weak arguement. I'm sure people have already done an Amazon share the love bit and I know many game stores have sales and other places like Wallmart are selling it online fairly cheap.

The only way I would buy the 3.5 books is by second hand. I don't want to encourage the current price point on the current product.
My thinking being, if Amazon.com sells out and places a re-order for 1000 units of MM3, regardless of what it sells for on Amazon.com, all TSR sees is "They sold out and want more. This price must be working."

 

[Mouseferatu]

The only way I would buy the 3.5 books is by second hand. I don't want to encourage the current price point on the current product.
My thinking being, if Amazon.com sells out and places a re-order for 1000 units of MM3, regardless of what it sells for on Amazon.com, all TSR sees is "They sold out and want more. This price must be working."

You might as well quit buying and either give up roleplaying, or just stick with the books you have. The price point isn't going to come down. Period.

The profit margin on RPG books is already tiny, far lower than most people would even imagine. I can't speak for WotC, but I know that many RPG companies out there make less than eight percent profit on some of their books. That's eight percent. 8%. Sometimes it's as low as five.

If $35 for a hardcover RPG book is outside your price range, I think you just need to accept that the hobby's gotten too expensive for you and move on. If people quit buying books at that price, the price isn't going to go down. Hasbro's simply going to decide that D&D isn't profitable anymore--it's barely profitable now--and move on to other things.

And it is WotC, incidentally. TSR doesn't exist anymore; hasn't for a few years.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

It is on my list, but I have other WotC book priorities right now.

 

[RichCsigs]

If $35 for a hardcover RPG book is outside your price range, I think you just need to accept that the hobby's gotten too expensive for you and move on. If people quit buying books at that price, the price isn't going to go down. Hasbro's simply going to decide that D&D isn't profitable anymore--it's barely profitable now--and move on to other things.

And it is WotC, incidentally. TSR doesn't exist anymore; hasn't for a few years.

I will concede that if the other people in my group did not already own the books I might have broken down and bought the core books by now, but that would be all since my style of play has usually involved just usuing the core books, even back in 1e and 2e.

You're point about the WOTC (D&D will always be TSR in my heart. *sigh*) price point failing does lead to another interesting question, but I'll just go and start a different thread to keep this one on topic.

Edited for this addition:
Also, I don't know how others feel, but I personally would be willing to sacrifice the color and glossy paper for a lower priced book.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Edited for this addition:
Also, I don't know how others feel, but I personally would be willing to sacrifice the color and glossy paper for a lower priced book.

Actually, I'm with you there 100%. Not only to save on costs, but for feel in general. I actually found the plain pages and mostly black-and-white art of past editions more evocative in many respects. (Though that's only partly because they were black-and-white, and partly because I prefered the style of art from older editions, even though the quality of art of the new edition is often better. But that gets is back into the question of 3E art, which is a whole different can of worms.)

So yes, I'd be delighted if WotC went to B&W, non-glossy, and knocked a few bucks off the standard price point. But I don't see it happening. High product, color books sell more--enough, apparently, to offset the price difference and then some, at least for a company with WotC's distribution.

 

[Edgewood]

Bought it! And am I ever glad i did!!

 

[Gez]

High product, color books sell more--enough, apparently, to offset the price difference and then some, at least for a company with WotC's distribution.

Apparently, the sales of full-color hardback books have been much better than those of black&white paperback, since the new splatbook series is hardback and color; and they have stopped doing paperback alltogether.

I'd bet it also helps them separate themselves even more from the d20 crowd. Which other publisher is doing consistently full-color glossy hardbacks? The standard is rather on B&W.