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<blockquote data-quote="monkius" data-source="post: 1144072" data-attributes="member: 14404">I guess my naive question would be why would it cost almost double today?&nbsp; I don't have a copy of the original ghostbusters, but here are some questions:1) was it hardcover?2) was it full color throughout?3) was it 300-500 pages?4) did it have lots of high quality custom artwork?My guess is that the answer to a lot of those questions would be no.&nbsp; Looking back at many of my older books, the answer to most of those questions is definitely no.Now is it nicer if a book has one or more of those options?&nbsp; Yes.&nbsp; Does it also increase the cost, yes.Imagine if you went to buy a car at the car dealership, and that you find the car you wanted.&nbsp; But then you discover that they only sold it with every option built in (GPS navigation, DVD with LCD screens, and gold cup holders).&nbsp; While any one of those options may be nice, altogether they may make the price more than you were willing to spend.Will the car dealership sell some of those fully-optioned cars?&nbsp; Sure.&nbsp; Will it sell as many as it would if it had some without all of the options?&nbsp; Probably not . . .I used to be big into GURPS and have lots of the books.&nbsp; Looking at their recent price list, I see a lot of $19.95 and $22.95 for most of the expansion books.&nbsp; The hardcover rules book is $29.95.&nbsp; So it seems possibly to make books for under $45.Another example is Arcana Unearthed.&nbsp; The rulebook cost $29.95.&nbsp; The Diamond Throne sourcebook is $18.95.&nbsp; I ended up buying the rulebook, the rulebook pdfs, and the Diamond Throne pdf.&nbsp; If Arcana Unearthed cost $48.90 because it put the whole rule book and the source book into one big book, I may not have bought it.I think the problem is that a lot of books are putting everything and the kitchen sink in.&nbsp; A single book that acts as both the players handbook and the dm's guide is nice.&nbsp; It also can get expensive.&nbsp; Taking the example of the $40 LOTR RPG game above, if the players could have bought a $20 players handbook, I bet they would have.&nbsp; Instead of the company selling 1 $40 book, they could have sold 2x$20 books to the DM and ?x$20 books to the players...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="monkius, post: 1144072, member: 14404"] I guess my naive question would be why would it cost almost double today? I don't have a copy of the original ghostbusters, but here are some questions: 1) was it hardcover? 2) was it full color throughout? 3) was it 300-500 pages? 4) did it have lots of high quality custom artwork? My guess is that the answer to a lot of those questions would be no. Looking back at many of my older books, the answer to most of those questions is definitely no. Now is it nicer if a book has one or more of those options? Yes. Does it also increase the cost, yes. Imagine if you went to buy a car at the car dealership, and that you find the car you wanted. But then you discover that they only sold it with every option built in (GPS navigation, DVD with LCD screens, and gold cup holders). While any one of those options may be nice, altogether they may make the price more than you were willing to spend. Will the car dealership sell some of those fully-optioned cars? Sure. Will it sell as many as it would if it had some without all of the options? Probably not . . . I used to be big into GURPS and have lots of the books. Looking at their recent price list, I see a lot of $19.95 and $22.95 for most of the expansion books. The hardcover rules book is $29.95. So it seems possibly to make books for under $45. Another example is Arcana Unearthed. The rulebook cost $29.95. The Diamond Throne sourcebook is $18.95. I ended up buying the rulebook, the rulebook pdfs, and the Diamond Throne pdf. If Arcana Unearthed cost $48.90 because it put the whole rule book and the source book into one big book, I may not have bought it. I think the problem is that a lot of books are putting everything and the kitchen sink in. A single book that acts as both the players handbook and the dm's guide is nice. It also can get expensive. Taking the example of the $40 LOTR RPG game above, if the players could have bought a $20 players handbook, I bet they would have. Instead of the company selling 1 $40 book, they could have sold 2x$20 books to the DM and ?x$20 books to the players... [/QUOTE]

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