Wik
First Post
You know, I've heard a lot of people griping about the cost of gaming these days. Books cost too much, and so on.
I'm not sure I buy that.
Really, keeping general economic inflation in mind, I'd say that RPG prices have actually decreased in the last ten or fifteen years.
Last week, I was at my FLGS, looking to buy Shadowrun 4e's GM screen. I found the screen, and saw that it cost 18.99$ (I'm so happy stores are switching to american prices in my region! How cool!?). No biggie.
I also found, on the same shelf, some old SR 2e books. And one product they had was the 2e Shadowrun GM screen. While it had a price tag on it around eight bucks, the original price (the one by the UPC) was 14.99$. Only four bucks cheaper than my current GM screen.
Wikipedia says that the 2nd Edition came out in 1992, while the 4th edition came out in 2005 - thirteen years difference. And only four bucks seperate them.
I don't know the inflation numbers from that span, but something tells me that the price in relation to it's buying power has more or less stayed steady.
***
Another case in point, although this is a bit hazier. When I was younger, perhaps 13 or so, I bought the 2e Monstrous Compendium... for fifty bucks. This was about 12 years ago. The average monster manual these days costs... less than fifty bucks. A book the same size as the monstrous Compendium (200+ pages) costs 54$ or so now. So, they're about the same price, despite the fact that more than ten years seperates them.
***
I dunno. I'm no econonmist, but I'm finding fault with all these people recently complaining about the "RPG Inflation". Personally, I don't see it.
I'm not sure I buy that.
Really, keeping general economic inflation in mind, I'd say that RPG prices have actually decreased in the last ten or fifteen years.
Last week, I was at my FLGS, looking to buy Shadowrun 4e's GM screen. I found the screen, and saw that it cost 18.99$ (I'm so happy stores are switching to american prices in my region! How cool!?). No biggie.
I also found, on the same shelf, some old SR 2e books. And one product they had was the 2e Shadowrun GM screen. While it had a price tag on it around eight bucks, the original price (the one by the UPC) was 14.99$. Only four bucks cheaper than my current GM screen.
Wikipedia says that the 2nd Edition came out in 1992, while the 4th edition came out in 2005 - thirteen years difference. And only four bucks seperate them.
I don't know the inflation numbers from that span, but something tells me that the price in relation to it's buying power has more or less stayed steady.
***
Another case in point, although this is a bit hazier. When I was younger, perhaps 13 or so, I bought the 2e Monstrous Compendium... for fifty bucks. This was about 12 years ago. The average monster manual these days costs... less than fifty bucks. A book the same size as the monstrous Compendium (200+ pages) costs 54$ or so now. So, they're about the same price, despite the fact that more than ten years seperates them.
***
I dunno. I'm no econonmist, but I'm finding fault with all these people recently complaining about the "RPG Inflation". Personally, I don't see it.
