Price-Sensitive Gamers

[Desdichado]

I'm price sensitive in the sense that I don't just buy everything, but I'm fairly inelastic for products that I know I want. If it's a book I really want, I'll pay top dollar for it and not worry too much about it. But I won't just buy something that kinda interests me, usually even if it's dirt cheap.

I guess my answer is no. But only because there's so much out there these days. Can't afford to get it all, and can't even read what I do get it seems sometimes.

 

[Gunslinger]

I'm cheap, because I have to be. I simply don't have the money to buy a bookcase full of regular priced books. I buy online from amazon.com or buy.com when I can, because simply put, $20 is too much for me to pay for a skinny little class book.

 

[pogre]

Buy it!

I am selective, but if it's something I am hot under the collar for I will buy it. I have tons of Mastermaze for instance (which, I think is cheap for what you get). I would love for someone to put out a massive boxed adventure, with miniatures for the monsters in the adventures. I would pay $120.00 + for a product like that.

 

[tburdett]

I have a $30 price limit for game related material. I will not spend more than that amount on any one item. If it costs more than $30 I won't buy it until I can find a used copy.

This isn't an income issue, it's a decision. I will not spend more than what I make in one hour for any one gaming product.

 

[baseballfury]

Re: Buy it!

I am selective, but if it's something I am hot under the collar for I will buy it.

Same here. I don't make a whole lot of money so I have to show some restraint. That doesn't stop me from buying the occasionally $40 book though (like FRCS and Book of the Righteous). Both of those were well worth the money though.

 

[Maggan]

Errm... hmmmm... no.

I seem to be in a minority here.

I don't give a ***'s *** about what the stuff costs. As long as I have the money on hand, and want the product, I'll drop the cash for it.

I'd love to see a book for a 100 bucks. That'd be awesome, if the production quality equals the price, of course, but that goes without saying for anything I buy. Cheap or expensive.

I think the thing is different price levels. Just because Forgotten Realms is 40 bucks, doesn't mean that there aren't cheaper alternatives. They might not look as good, or be as well written, but there are alteratives. Some will buy FRCS, some won't.

I just bought Book of the Righteous, and it was expensive, but damn good. And that's what matters most for me. If it's good, I'll pay for it.

If it's good and cheap, all the better.

Also, I'd like to see a D&D core book, taking the basic elements of PHB, DMG and MM and doing it in one book. Sort of like the D&D Cyclopeadia, and then sell that for 20 bucks. But I guess I'll be waiting a long while for that to happen...

Cheers

Maggan

 

[CTD]

I used to buy darn near anything that was put out with the characters D&D somewhere in the product title or description. I also used to paint miniatures at a fairly good clip.

Then I had kids.

Now I'm a budget conscious gamer. While I still pay full price for items, I don't impulse buy all that often. Instead I research a product and make sure it's something that is really going to deliver the goods for the money. This involves waiting for reviews, reading commentary from people in places like this, and seeing if I can hold out longer than my friends.

If my research proves that the product has something to offer to me, I buy it after a period of scrimping and saving to get the needed funds.

I used to spend $100+/month on games. Now it's more like $10 on the average (I buy stuff every few months, instead of every few days).

The end result is that I have a compressed library of gaming books, but the quality is much higher than it used to be, since I only buy things I know I will benefit from.

Just about a month ago I had a windfall and was able to spend $100 guilt free. This allowed me to put the finishing touches on my Kalamar core books (picked up the Players Guide!), Hallowfaust, Necropolis, and the Paladin's .pdf.

It was nice to grab that Kalamar book. Been wanting it for months, but the budget said 'no'. It's worth the cover price but I had to have patience.

Wulf better make sure his books are at the store tomorrow. I need to grab both and spend my winter money Read the Dwarves book and it's worth my cash.

 

[mmadsen]

I don't see it happening any time soon, given the economics.

There's already a $10 Adventure Game. It's a great entry point. At just $10 for a box, dice, maps, counters, and thin rulebooks, I have to think it's losing money for WotC, but it brings new players into the game.

I'd like to see a $20 Basic Set -- just like the Adventure Game, but with a bit more meat on it: rules for making your own characters and playing up to 3rd level with the "corest" of the core classes, spells, skills, etc.

It wouldn't cost any more to produce than the Adventure Game, but it could bring in more money, and it would provide a smoother transition than the one between easy-to-use Adventure Game and giant-tome-of-rules Player's Handbook.

If you take a look at say, the Lord of the Rings adventure game, that's selling at $40. Not only that, but it's selling well according to the folks at Decipher.

That surprised me when I first heard it, but it is eye-opening about how price sensitive (or insensitive) the market really is. A hot property like The Lord of the Rings sells an adventure game (presumably a very pretty adventure game) for $40.

Compare with the Players Handbook at $30, and I think you'll see that the PHB is already cheap enough.

The Player's Handbook doesn't give you what an adventure game gives you though. It doesn't give you pretty maps and counters, and it doesn't give you easy-to-run adventures to get you going.

And that's all you need as an entry-level player. The DMG, MM, and other splats aren't necessary to play. If you're DMing, you're not an entry-level player.

Someone has to DM, right? How does anyone get into the game without veterans dragging them in?

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

Someone has to DM, right? How does anyone get into the game without veterans dragging them in?

Most people get into the game without veterans dragging them in. Actually, to DM D&D 3e, all you really need is the Players Handbook and the Sunless Citadel. The Sunless Citadel came out before the Monster Manual, so all the monsters were statted. The only thing missing is the experience point table. Older copies of the PHB had an experience point chart as well, but I'd guess that if a kid had no money to buy the DMG (and I'd argue that any kid who could afford $40 for the LOTR Adventure Game could afford the DMG), he could just crib page 166 from the DMG, and that would be all he needed for the first 3 levels.

 

[Lizard]

It depends on the game. Rokugan, I will buy from bargain bins; Tome of Horrors, I'm paying for immediately. I won't buy ny Rifts material that isn't used, since I don't want my money going to Palladium. (I also won't pirate books; thus, I buy stuff from used bins. Someone else's money goes to Palladium, and I get to use the products guilt-free.)

There's a lot of really good material out there I'll happily pay 40 dollars or more for on day of release; there's also good, but not quite as compelling, material that I'll buy only if I can get it cheap.

I also tend to be a sucker for 'bundles', i.e, "All the Cthulhu Stuff In One Big Box".