The $40 mark is broken

[Sagan Darkside]

It is a matter of economics and survival.

You monsters- wanting to make money off your hard work.

How do you sleep at night?

SD

 

[buzz]

This whole issue seems to get debated a lot. When it does, and people from the industry are involved, you'll inevitably be lead to the following conclusion:

RPGs are underpriced.

Adjusting for inflation, you're paying roughly the same price today for a full-color 300-page PHB that you were for a B&W 180-page PHB back in 1978. Books like the 3e PHB or even BotR are an incredible value. We've been lucky that most game companies are only now realizing that it's time to stop underpricing their products.

I have no problem playing $40+ for a *quality* hardback RPG. I would also consdier myself among the "untapped demographic" Ryan Dancey has said could be marketed "luxury" RPG items, i.e., books in the $60+ range tricked out with leather covers, cloth bookmarks, and whatnot. And I am in no way "rich," at least in context of the USA.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

But people that might not normally even consider piracy(Argh!), would probably look at downloading in a more favorable light when the new edition of a game they play costs 50 bucks or so.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

But people that might not normally even consider piracy(Argh!), would probably look at downloading in a more favorable light when the new edition of a game they play costs 50 bucks or so.

So? One can't run their business become of what scum might do.

As someone else already said- those likely to do it are most likely already doing it.

SD

 

[RPGRealms]

But people that might not normally even consider piracy(Argh!), would probably look at downloading in a more favorable light when the new edition of a game they play costs 50 bucks or so.

Bah, they will do it no matter the price. I at one time has a shareware program available for a mere $10. It was being cracked and the codes passed out. Apparently the program was good enough that they wanted to use it but they didn't want to pay for it.

Price is not a major factor on piracy based on my experience.

 

[buzz]

But people that might not normally even consider piracy(Argh!), would probably look at downloading in a more favorable light when the new edition of a game they play costs 50 bucks or so.

"But people that might not normally consider auto theft (Argh!) would probably look at stealing in a more favorable light when the new model of a car they like costs $50,000 or so."

Flawed logic. People who steal will steal regardless. Hell, a guy in one of my groups uses Kazaa for $19 splats! And I won't even mention how other were swapping the BoHM PDF, which is what, $10?

Pricing your books purely to discourage theft is a great way to go out of business. You base prices on what the market will bear, and the RPG market could easily bear more than it does now.

 

[Zappo]

At that pagecount, 44.95$ for T20 seems very fair to me.

Consider that a gaming book costs substantially more to produce than, say, a fantasy novel. There are a sizable number of people involved; more artwork; and playtesting to do. The reason prices have been so low in the past decades was mostly the presence of dozens of talented writers willing to basically work for glory. That is not the way to make an industry thrive.

Like many of you pointed out, we can keep gaming for years and years with one book or even with no books. On top of that, RPGs are a niche market already. Seems fairly evident to me that the single book must have a high price in order for the industry to be healthy.

 

[kenjib]

??? You lost me here. Why by books at all when you can simply use your imagination and make it all up yourself? That's free. Remember playing cops and robbers (or similar) as a kid?

That's my point. Comparing movies costs to RPG book costs is a waste of time. It's all about the particulars of each business, not a simple equation of man-hours-enjoyment-time/cost.

If enough people are willing to pay $45, then the price is good. It has nothing to do with the cost of movies, that just confuses the issue unnecessarily. It's a red herring. Stick with the basics of production costs, quality, supply, demand, etc. (which you are doing, btw).

According to you, the price was good for T20. That's an entire game in one book. I guess we'll find out if the same price will hold up for a monster book, which is only supplemental, with only 2/3 the page count. The Atlas book seems to be pushing the boundary. We'll see how flexible it is. I can't buy the book at that price, myself. I just bought a house and the mortgage is killing me so I can't throw that kind of money around these days, especially with the economy having killed off raises and bonuses despite continued inflation.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

That's my point. Comparing movies costs to RPG book costs is a waste of time. It's all about the particulars of each business, not a simple equation of man-hours-enjoyment-time/cost.

Well, that was my comparison- and I did not suggest it was a valid way to price an item.

I said it was how I determined how much I would spend on a rpg book.

SD

 

[buzz]

The Atlas book seems to be pushing the boundary. We'll see how flexible it is.

I think it should be pointed out that the price point isn't necessarily Atlas "pushing" the boundaries of what the market is willing to pay.

Atlas is still a fairly small company, and I've noticed that their hardcovers in general tend to be on the high side. E.g., Ars Magica 4e lists for around $45, and it's nowhere close to the production values you see in WotC or GR products (though it wasn't bad for when it was first printed in the mid 1990s). I think it has more to do with the fact that they're a small publisher and not dealing with huge print runs of their HC books.

But I don't work for Atlas, so take this with a grain of salt.

Regardless, if the Penumbra Bestiary is anywhere near the quality of their other material, $44.95 will be a bargain.