Outrage at prices

[Crothian]

I can see two camps of gamers populating the 'net each with their own forums and constantly griping at one another.

then again that might be fun ....

We already have that. Old school verse new school, d20 verse non d20...etc

 

[satori01]

I just got back from Vegas and with 2 hours of blackjack my pre-order of Ptolus was taken care of.

How many of you have:

1) Spent $100 on a dinner
2) Spent $100 on an evening of drinking or clubbing
3) on clothes.

I think principly people complain about prices when they shock them. People expect to pay $34-$50 on a WOTC book. If WOTC did a super fantastic $100 book, people would complain because they simply are just not used to the price, they are not trained to accept it.

I think it is a shame that so many people are turned off and outraged by the mere price of Ptolus. This is Monte Cooks home campaign and he wants to do it right and bigger and better. Given that he is going to have spent almost 2 years working on it for the most part by himself, I can see the price tag.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Is the market going to stratify into deluxe premium hardback users, who put their books on payment plans vs. the free and cheap market with POD, pdfs, and other low cost ditribution. I can see two camps of gamers populating the 'net each with their own forums and constantly griping at one another.

then again that might be fun ....

Yeah, because in such a multibillion dollar industry as RPG's, it's always great to fragment the market as much as possible. I mean, it's not like message boards are full of fan's raving almost nonsensically, what we need are more ways to divide customers into which bracket the publisher wants to sell to.
Maybe they could just restrict where folks can post on the boards, so you can't enjoy more than one thing, that way no one would butt heads. Ooh, maybe there should be a For Pay board, so the poor folks can just be restricted from the get go, rather than trying to pick them out later.
I mean besides the Exclusive board with Ptolus preorders, that one doesn't really count.

 

[RedWick]

I commented to my dad about the price of a book I recently picked up, to which he replied jokingly "Don't you wish you had a less expensive hobby?". I paused and thought about it for a second. Realized that gaming is still one of the cheaper hobbies to have, despite the increase in the book prices.

Then again, I buy books for the fluff and not for the crunchy bits, so YMMV.

 

[diaglo]

I assumed he meant JGK, but it wasn't specified. Either way, how can this thread go anywhere with the opposite opinion being designated as "Outrage" instead of "concern" or plenty of other words?
He even says Outrage over and over again, it's sort of funny.

i assumed he meant JGK too.

edit: b/c he didn't quote Crothian.

 

[diaglo]

How many of you have:

1) Spent $100 on a dinner
2) Spent $100 on an evening of drinking or clubbing
3) on clothes.

1) not for myself alone. i have spent $100 for dinner for friends... over 4 adults
2) never
3) i wore hand me downs. and still shop where clothes are reasonable.

edit: i complained about the price of the Original D&D boxed set and still do... even though i prefer that game.

i make enough to afford these things without complaint. but that doesn't mean i'm going to pay the price. i will pay what i think things are worth. and complain about the things i think are overpriced

 

[JoeGKushner]

I find it ironic that someone who apparently doesn't pay for most of his books, but gets them as review copies, is complaining about complaining about high prices. If prices are no problem, why don't you write reviews of products you actually pay for (if you actually buy any?).


This illustrates my point about the potential of high priced books creating a class structure of gamers, where you have certain onese looking down on the poorer ones, who have the audacity to complain when they feel they might be priced out of the hobby.

Why? The biggest reason is time. Do I put something I buy, like Thieves World, ahead of something I'm given to review? Long before Enworld small grasshopper, I did reviews for Shadis and Pyramid, almost all of products I'd bought but with the side benefit of being paid for the reviews.

So what part exactly is being illustrated? That we have people looking down on others who are derailing a product that's not even out yet on the very concept of a high end product? Should the core D&D books go back to being small pamplets in black and white to make the hobby more affordable (even though you can get the SRD free?)

I buy RPG books all the time from various publishers including Mongoose. Heck, I just got a huge number of Hero games books off E-bay and some more from trading. Always good to be semi-judged by those on the net who simply do not know.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I assumed he meant JGK, but it wasn't specified. Either way, how can this thread go anywhere with the opposite opinion being designated as "Outrage" instead of "concern" or plenty of other words?
He even says Outrage over and over again, it's sort of funny.

Well, the op wasn't meant for those who are concerned. I assure you, there is a difference in thinking, "I don't know if I'll buy A Game of Thrones at $100 due to the price tag" and "Man, what the hell is Guardians of Order thinking? I'll tell you this. They've lost me as a customer forever. That's just stupid pricing a limited edition book like that. I hope everyone stops supporting them and burns their current GoO books in protest!"

Or at least I see a difference between the two.

 

[Belen]

This thread is funny. People have every right to be angry about prices. A few years ago, you could be certain to find books priced under $30 dollars. They may not be full color hardbacks, but they did the job.

Now, the average price of a book is 30+. Much of the "industry" is targeting existing players with an average age of 30. Because gamers are older, the prices are higher.

As a Wizard's Delegate, I have seen the effect of these higher prices. Books such as Shackled City, Arcana Evolved, and Midnight 2e are scaring retailers and customers. I have encouraged these retailers to purchase these books. Then I watched those books fail to sell. In the end, it is the retailer who got screwed. Customers are not willing to purchase these books at cover price.

There is a valid argument that high buy-ins will adversely affect the number of people willing to enter the industry.

Yes, prices do rise, but the difference in the market from 2000-2005 does not reflect inflation. Even three years ago, we could find a number of books under $30. That is no longer the case. And as the price continues to rise, we will see more people abandon or fail to enter the hobby and more stores shrinking their purshases of books in favor of cheaper products.

Just think, 3 years ago, what did 1000 dollars buy a game store. And what do they get for the same price now?

 

[Belen]

I buy RPG books all the time from various publishers including Mongoose. Heck, I just got a huge number of Hero games books off E-bay and some more from trading. Always good to be semi-judged by those on the net who simply do not know.

Aren't you judging the people who feel like the higher prices are a kick to the gut? There is nothing wrong with complaining about higher prices. And, while you may consider these books "high end" products, there is a direct correlation between "high end" prices and "low end" prices. High "premium" prices usually directly correlate to higher low end prices. Four years ago, the "premium" price of a RPG book was between 40-50 dollars and the low to average price of a RPG book was 15-25 dollars. Now, we have a premium market of $100 and the low to average price of a RPG book is 30-50 dollars.