Super Sized Roleplaying... more for our money?

[Voadam]

Sure, but that's not my point. You're stating that you'd rather spend your money on something else. What I'm asking about is, assuming you want content on a specific subject, why does it matter whether you're paying $100 for a 600pp book as opposed to $100 for three 200pp books. Either way, you're paying the same price for the same amount of content.

A monthly budget can impact that as well. Buying three 200 page pdfs over three months can stay within a $50 monthly budget while spending $100 in one month goes over the monthly budget by 100%.

 

[rvalle]

Hey there Buzz.

I know what Voadam is talking about. As someone who gets about $40 per month to fund ALL my hobbies/habits its much easier for me to buy something small once every month/2 months then have to save up for 3 months to buy one big thing. And that would be 3 months of buying NOTHING... which never happens.

Heck, if nothing else Game Days comes along about that often and ruin my budget.

rv

 

[Treebore]

Thats is how I look at it. I could buy one big thing like Ptolus or WLD, or 3 to 10 other things. Since more is better (in numerical quantity) I would rather get the 3 to 10 things.

Plus another thing that is a factor for me. When it is a product that I believe is a "keystone" product, meaning a "have to have", like the old Greyhawk boxed set, Waterdeep boxed set, any number of module, I buy three of them. Why? I have 3 kids who all love RPG's. So I want to make sure they have these products for their collections when they grow up.

So Rappan Athuk Reloaded times 3, Wilderlands times 3, so Ptolus and WLD would have been times 3. Isn't going to happen. So we will see how the pdf of Ptolus works out on that front. I don't like WLD, so if it does become a "classic" we will just miss out on it.

As for most setting and rules system books, well my kids will have to find those "must have's" for themselves, or fight over my copy of it if I bought it.

 

[Gnome Quixote]

Whizbang's comment about the size is the first reason. Having separate books is just easier to handle & transport. Plus if I'm GMing, I can spread out a couple of books open to the relevant page on the table, but a giant hardcover can only be on one page at a time.

Yeah, this is the one drawback I've found in actually using Ptolus. The sewn-in bookmarks help, certainly, and the cross-indexing in the margins is a blessing, but in practice it's still an awful lot of page-flipping. It's to the point where, despite owning the Big Book, I've actually gone and purchased the two district PDFs to have on my laptop, strictly for ease of reference.

 

[buzz]

Okay, I'm getting the impression that there's some psychology going on here. I.e., it feels better to come home with multiple products as opposed to a single one for the same amount of money, even if the total content/page-count is identical. Is that right?

(Again, I'm leaving aside issues of budget, simply because it's not directly relevant. We could be talking about one $40 book vs. two $20 books, for example.)

To get back to twofalls original point, I don't think the "Wow! It must be mine!" is limited to just the new breed of mega-books. I've got plenty of slim $15 books I've never used, either.

If we really want to talk about price/play ratios, then you inevitably reach point where you can't justify buying anything other than the core rules for your game of choice. Heck, to play D&D, you don't even really need to spend money. Hello, SRD. The simple fact, however, is that a lot of publishers rely on us being collectors/completists as well as players as part of their business model.

 

[Arnwyn]

I am all about those "glitzy" products.

And the good thing is - I get use out of them (eventually!). My cardinal purchasing rule is that I must be planning on using 80% of a book before I'll consider buying it.

I have Ptolus and WLD, for example, and they're being used. And I'm all over those big WotC hardcover adventures.

 

[Stalker0]

Okay, I'm getting the impression that there's some psychology going on here. I.e., it feels better to come home with multiple products as opposed to a single one for the same amount of money, even if the total content/page-count is identical. Is that right?

There may be a few more practical issues involved as well.

In general, the weight of a book can increase its wear. Good bindings and covers can help this, but lets say you have a book on your lap, and accidently the book slides off, the pages fall back, and it stretches the binding. 400 pages of weight is certainly more strain than 50.

Also, lets say a book gets damaged. If its the massive ptolus book...I'm screwed. If its the 100 page players guide, that's not as expensive to replace.

And as others have mentioned, the page turning thing is a definite issue when the books are being actively used.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, this is the one drawback I've found in actually using Ptolus. The sewn-in bookmarks help, certainly, and the cross-indexing in the margins is a blessing, but in practice it's still an awful lot of page-flipping. It's to the point where, despite owning the Big Book, I've actually gone and purchased the two district PDFs to have on my laptop, strictly for ease of reference.

Yeah, I'm considering getting the PDF that includes the Docks just for the ENWorld game usage.

I also think I'm more likely to just focus Ptolus games on a single district at a time, to minimze the flip, flip, flip aspect. (Dweomer Street is a good bet for the next go-round.)