D&D 1E My clever theory: why 1e AD&D is being reprinted

[Piratecat]

One reservation: if they were trying to "provide a positive basis for comparison with the new rules set," wouldn't they make it available worldwide, so players in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, etc. could gain that benefit as well?

Of course. If they aren't, I assume it's for distribution/business reasons.

 

[Dausuul]

Not only that, but it might get some lapsed 1e players playing again, just in time to be funneled into the new edition. It's a good marketing move on both ends of the spectrum.

I think this strikes closer to the mark. If you're setting out to make the Grand Unified D&D and bring all the lovers of all the editions together under one banner, you don't want to leave out the old-school fans. And what better way to get their attention than by issuing a shiny new printing of their own chosen edition? No more scrounging on eBay for the dwindling supply of original copies! It also helps WotC gauge the amount of interest in the Old Way--not to mention building community goodwill generally.

Of course, I suspect a big part of it is simply that the people in charge at Wizards cut their teeth on 1E and still feel a lot of nostalgia and love for that edition, and would like to help memorialize the man who made it possible. Not everything is about business strategy, even for wholly-owned subsidiaries of Hasbro.

 

[Reynard]

Thus, the re-release of the 1e books. They give newer gamers a chance to see what's come before, and (hopefully) they provide a positive basis for comparison with the new rules set. It's sort of brilliant, actually, because this is a case where everyone wins.

Opinions? Thoughts? Hilarious debunking?

This only works if it is accompanied by an active effort to get folks playing earlier editions too. If we see the rerelease of some classic modules too, or 1E conversions of neo-classics, or lots of WotC run 1E events at GenCon* then I think we can safely say there's an effort to create familiarity and even preference for AD&D in the player base. Without that, I'd suggest it is more likely an effort to gain some goodwill.

*I'm actually banking on this one. WotC will certainly spend a lot of time and effort showing off "D&D Next" but I bet they will spend a lot of effort celebrating every edition at this year's GenCon.

 

[ExploderWizard]

1977 - MONSTER MANUAL - $9.99*.

$9.99 in 2011 dollars is $37.08 in 2011 dollars.

I would like to subscribe to your investment newsletter sir.

 

[Herschel]

Not only that, but it might get some lapsed 1e BUYERS players BUYING playing again, POTENTIALLY just in time to be funneled into the new edition. It's a good marketing move on both ends of the spectrum.

Lets face it, there's a whole lot of players playing a game whose rights are owned by WotC who have never actually bought anything from WotC. Turning them in to paying customers once again is the goal. If they replace their thread-bare books with shiny new copies, great, or if they check the newer versions out and like it via teh attention, great, and if they buy thre reprints AND the new edition, even better!

 

[Umbran]

Thus, the re-release of the 1e books. They give newer gamers a chance to see what's come before, and (hopefully) they provide a positive basis for comparison with the new rules set. It's sort of brilliant, actually, because this is a case where everyone wins.

Opinions? Thoughts? Hilarious debunking?

I don't think those new gamers feel enough of a connection to Gary to want to buy the books just to try out this old system.

As a goodwill gesture, to show that they're thinking of older gamers, it is a good idea. If they follow up with releasing pdfs of those older books... well, I just think that would be a great idea too.

(Now here would be the best thing - they don't tell you ahead of time, but with the reprint, they give you a code to redeem for a pdf of the same book!)

 

[Ace]

First, you've probably heard by now that WotC is reprinting special collector's editions of the 1e AD&D PH, DMG and MM. This is a wonderful thing, and not only because each sale is contributing to the Gary Gygax Memorial Fund.

I've been thinking about why (beyond massive goodwill and being generally cool) they're doing this, though, and I have a theory that may hint at the nature of D&DNext. None of this comes from inside knowledge, and I'm blindly guessing. It's an interesting guess, though.

Let's posit for a minute that the core of D&DNext cleaves more closely to 1e-2e-3e feel than 4e. Heck, lets even say closer to 1e with a bunch of modern innovations mixed in, like the best of the OSR games. I can see a problem with this. There are a ton of new gamers who have entered the hobby since 3e, and they'll have absolutely no idea what D&DNext is shooting for. Some of the decisions that cater to nostalgia may seem odd to them.

Thus, the re-release of the 1e books. They give newer gamers a chance to see what's come before, and (hopefully) they provide a positive basis for comparison with the new rules set. It's sort of brilliant, actually, because this is a case where everyone wins.

Opinions? Thoughts? Hilarious debunking?

This is pretty good thinking. The release also serves to get a bit of the OSR money and attention too. Its a "Hey don't forget your old friend" kind of thing.

I'll add that if the 5e game plays like what I like from Old School and New School , I'll be all over it though that'll be a hard row to hoe

 

[Ace]

As has been mentioned elsewhere, that price isn't "premium". It is exactly in keeping with the prices the core books were from 1977-1979.

1977 - MONSTER MANUAL - $9.99*.

$9.99 in 2011 dollars is $37.08 in 2011 dollars.

1978 - PLAYERS HANDBOOK - $12.99**

$12.99 in 1978 dollars is $44.82 in 2011 dollars.

1979 - DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE - $16.99**

$16.99 in 1979 dollars is $54.62 in 2011 dollars.

So, in fact, these books are a little cheaper now than they were back then, based on buying power. Also note that in 1978, median income was $15,500.00 USD. A gallon of gas cost the equivalent of $2.62 (average), and a gallon of milk was the equivalent of $5.50 (average).

So...nope! Not premium!

Also, my run-of-the-mill plain-jane EXALTED 2nd edition hardback was about $50 when it was new; I bought 2nd hand for $25 in like 200...6? or so. Good, quality hardback RPGs (regardless of how poorly I thought of EXALTED when the dust finally settled) are expensive, and always have been.

The sole advantage is that the original ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS hardbacks were spread out over three years instead of all at once.

*=based on the sticker price on my '77 release of same.
**=approximately.

A small caveat to your otherwise excellent math. Wages are lower relative to GDP and productivity compared to the 1979 era. This is a factor of changes in the job market and a bunch of other things but it makes $40 adjusted seem like more money.

In essence inflation adjusted, prices are the same but wages are lower thus it seem more expensive.

 

[thedungeondelver]

I would like to subscribe to your investment newsletter sir.

HA! Good catch.

Now let me get you the number of my accountant, a Mr. Madoff...

 

[thedungeondelver]

A small caveat to your otherwise excellent math. Wages are lower relative to GDP and productivity compared to the 1979 era. This is a factor of changes in the job market and a bunch of other things but it makes $40 adjusted seem like more money.

In essence inflation adjusted, prices are the same but wages are lower thus it seem more expensive.

Hm! This requires some second-tier economic analysis, then! To the Batcave, Robin!

Since we have a range, let's take this first.

Briefly, it breaks out like so:

1977 24,412.02
1978 25,502.52
1979 26,009.97
For the average D&D buyer of the era, based on national GDP.

Now.

Fast forward to ... well, we're really dealing with one year here (2012) in which we have to buy the books but we do need a range...so let's say 2009 to 2011, just to remain consistent.

(crapski - the data calculator only comes up to 2010, not 2011 as I'd hoped; perhaps we can revisit later. Anyway)

2008 43,177.70
2009 41,313.18
2010 42,204.92

Ahh, now we get to the meat of the issue.

National GDP per capita has only roughly doubled - while prices have quadrupled - since the AD&D era. And worse, from '08 to '09, GDP per capita shrank, and only in 2010 did we see it buy up by a little under a kilo-dollar. Now we begin to see why some folks are feeling the sting! I see your point, sir. I see your point.

Still, even considering that, it's not quite so horrible; it's more in line with mid/late 80s books in terms of price/unit per capita (gamer), and while that's not as nice as keeping apace with the '77-'79 price range, it's still not bad.