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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pickin_grinnin" data-source="post: 6245680" data-attributes="member: 6697674">That changes with POD, though.  When you don't have to do a print run, you don't take that risk.  You're talking about a specific type of traditional business model, and a specific type of product.  I don't assume that people who put out written role playing products are necessarily doing it full-time and making a living at it.  Some do, but there are plenty of folks out there who do it as a sideline.In those cases, just about anyone can learn basic layout and design - certainly enough  to do a smaller book - and it isn't hard to hire an English grad student  to do basic editing for less than $0.03 a word.  Art is generally the bigger expense, but there are cheaper ways to do that, as well (Eastern Europeans on DeviantArt,  Fiverr, nonexclusive stock art/photos, etc.).  Some of the best RPG products I have seen in the past decade have been relatively small books like "Dogs in the Vineyard" and "Dread," either of which could easily have been done on the cheap.There is also the whole world of Kickstarter for those who want to put out something more traditional, like you're talking about.    If there aren't enough consumers buying RPG PDFs to make it viable for companies to put them out, it won't doom the industry - it will just change it.  It could be that everything starts to be put out by hobbyists.  It could be that someone finds a way to monetize the products in ways that haven't happened yet.  Very few industries just go away.  New people with new ideas move in to take over from those who can't figure out a way to adapt and remain profitable. It isn't.  I have paid $40 for a POD copy of a game before, because I valued the content.  I'm just not going to pay half that for an electronic file with no resale value and dependence upon a technology that may change significantly in years to come.  Other people do that happily - more power to them.  To me, though, a PDF offers a significantly lower quality of experience than having a printed book.</blockquote>

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