You want a money-back guarantee? "If you are not fully satisfied..."?
D&D 5E The cost of D&D 5E (it ain't so bad!)
You want a money-back guarantee? "If you are not fully satisfied..."?
pickin_grinnin
Explorer
He has said some contradictory and/or vague things for a long time now. If the PHB really is the equivalent of the Pathfinder Core book, there's nothing wrong with the price.
That's true of anything. It doesn't mean that you can expect people to not criticize prices on items, whether they are going to buy them or not. If the next iPad was priced at $2,000, you would see a lot of people criticizing it. That's human nature, particularly on message boards.
pickin_grinnin
Explorer
$20 for a full game is a good deal. For a crippled one, it's highway robbery.
pickin_grinnin
Explorer
I'm a librarian, and do collection development constantly as part of my job. I work with publishers almost every day. I have a very, very good idea of the actual costs of printing, distribution, etc., and the reasons that some books cost more than others.
As I said before, there's no reason that WotC can't put the player's handbook and DM guide together in one $50, because Paizo (a much smaller company) can do it. The games are comparable. In fact, WotC/Hasbro should be better able to leverage economies of scale than Paizo, if they really wanted to.
"Your money or no Starter Set!" - Hardly the most villainous quote ever uttered.
Dannager
First Post
I didn't ask for you to share whether WotC could have reduced the sticker price of the books. They could have priced it at any point they wanted to! I asked you to think of some reasons why they might choose to give the books a higher price point, other than "greed."
Agamon
Adventurer
The price of the books is fine. 50 to 60 bucks is the going rate for ~300 page full-color RPG books these days. Trust me, I've bought a few and there's a whole bunch I haven't. That's just how it is. Wishing it wasn't is fine, but that won't change anything.
Now, one could argue that they could have made the books smaller, or put it all in one 300 page book. But it's tough to fit 1000 pages of game in 300. Obviously, it wouldn't be the same game any more. Could they cut out 10, maybe even 15%, and still make the same game? Probably. But two-thirds? Not likely. You'd either be getting a completely different game, or an incomplete game that you'd need to buy more books for anyway.
Now, one could argue that they could have made the books smaller, or put it all in one 300 page book. But it's tough to fit 1000 pages of game in 300. Obviously, it wouldn't be the same game any more. Could they cut out 10, maybe even 15%, and still make the same game? Probably. But two-thirds? Not likely. You'd either be getting a completely different game, or an incomplete game that you'd need to buy more books for anyway.
sunshadow21
Explorer
That's great for those that know they want to play it right now, but it doesn't override the basic concern. There are still cheaper games out there that have just as much of an online discount that keeps them competitive in the value arena, so this new edition is still one of the more expensive table top games out there. The fact that WotC has yet to prove the value of that relative higher cost to any but those who are already 100% committed hasn't changed. It's still a pretty hefty price tag from a company whose last attempt was less than stellar.
And that's still only for those that go to Amazon to buy their games; the base $50 price hasn't changed for anybody else. The idea that just because some online seller can mark it down that much does not negate the challenges WotC created for themselves with the base price being a bit much for the "buy sight unseen" reaction they probably wanted from those still sitting on the fence, even it does soften them a bit in that particular marketplace. The high base price is still something that a lot of people are going to be taking note of even if they don't immediately worry about it.
teitan
Legend
It is my opinion 3e/3.5 and 4e were more expensive to play what with battle mats, miniature purchases etc. Being very nearly a requirement though alleviated with the essentials counters. Minis are not essential to 5e and that cuts a large swath out of the cost to play and get into the game. They made the tactical rules an optional element of the game. While I loved playing with minis, tiles, battle mats etc. When I got out of the game for a while it made getting back in without those items very costly. Even with essentials, a decent battle at and tiles added another fifty bucks to the overall cost to start playing on top of wet erase markers, a decent cleaner for the mat to keep it from eventually discoloring. So in comparison, this edition is much cheaper to get into than the last 2 and a half or Pathfinder, even at 150. If characters are as simple as 1e or 2e then we aren't even talking printing costs for character sheet as a notebook would suffice for several of them. Can one play those editions without all that stuff? Sure and render a lot of feats obsolete.
