Too Many Books. . .?

[wingsandsword]

Recalling the recent thread about the state of the game industry, with it being remarked that the industry is putting too many books out too fast, I've got to say there is merit in that statement.

Back in 1st Edition, a new hardcover rulebook came out roughly once a year. There were 13 hardcovers for 1st edition IIRC: Players Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide, Monster Manual, Monster Manual II, Fiend Folio, Manual of the Planes, Deities and Demigods, Unearthed Arcana, Dragonlance Adventures, Greyhawk Adventures, Wilderness Survival Guide, Dungeoneers Survival Guide, and Oriental Adventures.

Actual new rulebooks were big events, and they were something all the dedicated players had and knew well. Now, if you blink, you miss one. There are so many rulebooks that aside from the core 3, I'd doubt that many gamers have a whole lot in common unless they are particularly dedicated to buying everything.

One of the big admitted problems with TSR's later days was they fragmented the market by producing too many product lines, too many books. So many books coming out at once that nobody could keep up with all of it, and it was all spread throughout so many product lines.

That it was really going back to being like this was hit home yesterday at my FLGS. I've been spending a lot of time with my new girlfriend, so I hadn't kept on top of gaming for about a month and a half. I finally stop by my FLGS to look around, and see several new WotC hardcovers. Books I was vaguely aware were coming out, like Complete Psionic, another FR region book that I didn't know was coming out but wasn't surprised to see, to books I'd not even heard of, like Fiendish Horrors I: Codex of the Abyss (I think that was its name).

I'm a Forgotten Realms fan, but I had to give up on getting all the new region books quite a while back, I just couldn't afford to keep up with buying all those new books, on top of other gaming books (core D&D and other systems). I stopped buying every new book about two years ago, instead buying books that I thought I'd like, or could really use. Now, it just feels like WotC is drowning us with so many books we can't keep up. Even if I had more money, I wouldn't have more time to keep reading and keep up to date on what is in so many new books. Is it really a return to the later days of 2e, with too many books coming out?

It really hit home a few months ago, when a member of my gaming club wanted to come up with a house rule on how to do something for his campaign. He asked me what he wanted, I thought about it for a few minutes, and gave him a suggestion, and he got upset because apparently a new book from WotC I'd not read had the same suggestion and he was wanting an alternative and was upset that I wasn't being original. To me, I was flattered that my suggestion I came up with after two minutes of thinking was the same idea as what the professionals were writing, but since I didn't know the newest, hottest rules, to him I was obsolete and not worth asking anymore.

 

[Crothian]

First edition had few hardbacks, but tons of modules. But you can't expect business practices of 20 years ago to be followed today. But you'd be suprised how close games can be even if they use different books. Just becasue people use different options doesn't mean their games are different. Ya, there are a lot of books. But that isn't going to change because oddly enough Wizards wants to stay in business. So, use what you like don't pay attention to the new hot relases so when people talk about them you won't have heard of them.

 

[Turjan]

Don't be afraid to get "obsolete" ; at least not in that field. I wouldn't worry too much.

The question whether we have too many books or not enough is lastly a personal one. I bought less and less books over the years, and it really slowed down when I noticed that my thoughts were still occupied with ideas from books I bought a few years ago but which I haven't been able to use yet. For me, there's no need for new books, except they have a very interesting topic, which is less and less the case. That's not because authors don't have decent ideas, but because most of the important and really original stuff has been done. At the moment, it's like picking the crumbs from the fringes.

The problem is not the books, it's coming to terms with the fear that you miss something if you don't always go for the latest greatest. Once you realize that the newest is not always the best, the problem is gone. This may sound a bit like diaglo, but in the end, it's about having fun the way you like it .

 

[Tsillanabor]

Aside from the Core Rulebooks, the other books are just options. Want to run a horror campaign? Pick up Libris Mortis, Heroes of Horror, and perhaps Lords of Madness. Outer Planes campaign? Pick up Manual of the Planes, Planar Handbook, and the Fiendish Codex. A lot of what you 'need' depends on the way you want to play.

In 2nd Edition there were a lot of REALLY niche supplements that few would ever use, while the plethora of rulebooks emerging these days tend to be less setting-specific.

 

[Jupp]

I'm a collector, I do not understand the meaning of "too many books". *looks confused* can someone help me to understand it?

 

[Staffan]

The biggest problem I see with the number of books in the game is portability. I usually play at the university across town, and in my Eberron campaign I use:
Core three (3)
XPH
Complete books (4)
Race books (3)
Eberron core book plus other books (Sharn, Explorer's, Player's Guide, Magic, Races, Five Nations - total 7)
Tome of Magic
MM3
PHB2
DMG2

That's 22 books, plus notes and stuff. That's a lot of paper to be carrying across town.

Lately, I've taken to acquiring extra copies in PDF and borrowing a friend's laptop, for books that don't see all that much use (e.g. the Completes). This allows me to cut down on how much I carry.

 

[Shadowslayer]

I can appreciate that many would think that there are too many books. There's a flavor for every taste, but not enough guys that like exactly the same flavors. Unfortunately, finding like minded players can be tough...and only gets tougher as you get older.

But really, the sales figures are what truly answers the question.

 

[Odhanan]

What Turjan said. Use what you like, discard what you feel is too much. Don't be scared of being "outdated".

 

[3catcircus]

The biggest problem I see with the number of books in the game is portability. I usually play at the university across town, and in my Eberron campaign I use:
Core three (3)
XPH
Complete books (4)
Race books (3)
Eberron core book plus other books (Sharn, Explorer's, Player's Guide, Magic, Races, Five Nations - total 7)
Tome of Magic
MM3
PHB2
DMG2

That's 22 books, plus notes and stuff. That's a lot of paper to be carrying across town.

Lately, I've taken to acquiring extra copies in PDF and borrowing a friend's laptop, for books that don't see all that much use (e.g. the Completes). This allows me to cut down on how much I carry.

Even lugging along a laptop can be a pain since you have to wait for each file to open (and scanned pdfs eat up a lot of memory). And since your laptop is borrowed, it might not always be available.

An *easier* way than this (as a player) is to (except for the 3 core books) type the relevant information and print it or scan the relevant pages and print them. Assemble them in a logical manner in a 3-ring binder.

As a player, I will scan-n-print the appropriate pages for each feat, spell, PrC, etc. that isn't in the PHB and bring the scanned information to my game.

As a DM, I *do* lug a laptop since I have to have the ability to have all of the information available to mee. I've spent untold hours (about 8 hrs per book) scanning and OCRing every page of every book I've bought. Sure, I could buy a limited number from DTRPG but they are at print price and DRMed. I could have downloaded a torrent, but those are usually scanned as images. As it is, the scanned/OCRed pdfs are small and searchable.

 

[Ron]

There is a potential problem with WotC releasing as many new rules books as they can but I am in no condition to evaluate if it is real as I quit buying new rules books with 3.5. If the new books allow characters more powerful than core and earlier supplements then it will cause many people to buy the new books only to keep competitive in a sort of arms race. A few people complained about this to me in relation to the complete series and some other new books, but I never checked it.

This is one of the main problems of old Magic expansions. Notice that the last time I brought a Magic was sometime in 1994, so I have no idea with the keep with this practice. As Magic is a much more competitive game, this was probably a great idea to boost the sales, even if they lost some clients, including myself.