Hiya!
As the answer is "Depends
entirely on how much I want it..." (e.g., right now I wouldn't pay more than $10 for a PHB/MM/DMG combo for 4th Edition D&D...but I just paid over $200 for the "Temple of Elemental Evil" 'Old Adventures Revisited' slipcase.
So I'm going to go with this: "If I was at the 'might be nice to have but not a priority'..." stage of desire...
Following up on some of the later posts about RPG prices in the SKR salary thread.
What is the most you would you honestly pay for:
a) a softcover adventure (say 100 pages?)
Probably about $20.
b) a hardcover rulebook the size of the D&D core books (about 300 pages)
Probably $45.
c) a hardcover rulebook the size of the Pathfinder core book (about 650 pages)
Probably $60.
d) PDFs of each of the above
Well, this is a sticky wickett...
I have no problem paying FULL price, even MORE for a PDF...
IF I am the one in control of it. Bonus points if the PDF makes use of even 15% of what it can do (re: links, animation, audio, forms, etc). But mostly I want CONTROL of what I can do with it. I want to copy/past text. I want to choose to show/hide images, I want to be able to manipulate the 'background' to greyscale, lighter/darker, or hide it. I want to be able to change words in the text and be able to SAVE it that way.
It's
MY file and I want to use it in any way I want that doesn't break the law...meaning sue my ass off if I give it away to others for free or money. But if I'm the only one using it, as the product intends (re: use with my own D&D game)...then when I transfer money to you, that's it. Transaction completed. The only connection between you (the "store/company") and I (the "customer") is that YOU have an obligation to ME to make sure the product I paid for works as advertised.
Ok. Calm down Plum...deep breath....
Sorry, but I get sooo worked up over the current paradigm that customers somehow "owe" a company more than money when they buy something. It's really simple: I give money...you give product. Period.
Note this isn’t what would you prefer the price was (free obvs!) but what would you honestly pay, assuming you wanted the product?
Free is usually not what I want. I usually want some price on it. Without a price, the ability for me, the consumer, to address illegalities, requirements, expectations, etc is greatly diminished.
^_^
Paul L. Ming