Why are the AU pdfs so uneconomical???

[Hardhead]

OK, soooo. I can buy the pdfs for AU for $21 ($6 for Way of the Sword and Way of the Staff, and $9 for the Grimore) but I will not have info on the Runechildren, new rules, or equipment. Also, I will have to print it out myself.

Or, I could buy the hardback off Walmart.com for $18.87.

WTF?

 

[ES2]

In a way it could be seen that way. I mean, why pay $21 for those three when you can get the book for $30, right? I think part of it was to show off a few aspects of the book for those who might want just individual parts of the book. If a person running just D&D wanted just the fighter type classes to include in his game, then just the purchase of the fighter pdf for $6 is more economical than buying the entire book.
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If a person just wants to play AU, though, then the pdfs are a waste of money.

 

[DMScott]

The hardback cover price is $29.95 US. If you can find it for less, great, go for it - but I suspect Malhavoc's PDF pricing is based on the cover price. They probably also figure anybody buying all three PDFs will pay the bundle deal of $18.

 

[Hardhead]

The hardback cover price is $29.95 US. If you can find it for less, great, go for it - but I suspect Malhavoc's PDF pricing is based on the cover price. They probably also figure anybody buying all three PDFs will pay the bundle deal of $18.

Even at $18, the hardback is less than a buck more. And it's not a case of "if you can find it for less." It's at walmart.com! Not a tiny bookstore. Anyone in the world can "find" it for that price. And the thing is, I know he's making more money off of the pdfs, even if the bundle was $5 cheaper, I bet he'd be making more money off of them, what with not having to deal with distribution, printing, wholesale markup, and then retail markup. The pdfs are just artificially highly priced.

 

[DMScott]

"If you can find it for less" is my estimation of Malhavoc's position. It may come as a shock to you, but they don't determine what Walmart charges. If you buy the book from Malhavoc, it'll cost you $30, and the PDFs are $18. Walmart will sell you the book for $19, and won't sell you the PDFs.

I'm kind of confused by your indignation, really. If it's cheaper to buy the book from Walmart, then buy from Walmart, and who cares what other options cost? That's the beauty of a free market society, after all.

 

[Hardhead]

"If you can find it for less" is my estimation of Malhavoc's position. It may come as a shock to you, but they don't determine what Walmart charges. If you buy the book from Malhavoc, it'll cost you $30, and the PDFs are $18. Walmart will sell you the book for $19, and won't sell you the PDFs.

I'm kind of confused by your indignation, really. If it's cheaper to buy the book from Walmart, then buy from Walmart, and who cares what other options cost? That's the beauty of a free market society, after all.

I'm not indignant, just annoyed.

The reason is this: I like pdfs in principle because (should) be able to buy them cheaper, I have easy menas of printing, and I never risk loosing the book permanently, or my dog chewing it up, ect (As much as I travel with my books, I have lost books before and yes, my dog did once chew one up). So, if a book comes out as both a pdf and as a hardback, I'll take the pdf any day. Hell, even if the pdf cost the same as the hardback, I'd *still* probably buy the pdf, though I'd feel a little cheated, since I'd know they could cut the cost of the pdf substantially and still make more money per product than they did on the print edition.

But, if a product is (virtually) the same price in print than as a pdf, but the pdf has *less* information and pooer layout (races and classes divided between two books), then I feel forced to buy the hardback. It's almost as if Monte tried to make the pdf as unappealing as possible.

 

[Negative Zero]

i think the real issue here, is that if you only want certain aspects of the book, like the magic system, then you buy that individual pdf. i don't think they were intended to replace the hardcover. in fact, i remember Monte actually saying so.

~NegZ

 

[Varianor Abroad]

i think the real issue here, is that if you only want certain aspects of the book, like the magic system, then you buy that individual pdf. i don't think they were intended to replace the hardcover. in fact, i remember Monte actually saying so.

~NegZ

He was, IIRC, not intending to do pdfs for this product. However, many people requested them, particularly those overseas who thought that they would have trouble with distribution getting the book. So he responded to the requests of fans. My favorite part of the pdfs is being able to copy/paste and customize material for myself or players. Want a list of simple spells plus fire spells for your mageblade who took Energy Mage? You can do that. Want to print out just the feats, or just the ceremonial feats? Go ahead.

 

[Henry]

I'm not indignant, just annoyed.
But, if a product is (virtually) the same price in print than as a pdf, but the pdf has *less* information and pooer layout (races and classes divided between two books), then I feel forced to buy the hardback. It's almost as if Monte tried to make the pdf as unappealing as possible.

Hardhead, there are several points to consider.

1) My supposition is that Monte favors the book over the PDF (not his statement, this is mine).

2) There were a large number of people who appealed Monte for a PDF of the material, which he wasn't going to do at first.

3) The PDF's are arranged such that someone interested in just part of it could get that part and leave the rest alone.

4) PDF's are not always cheaper, once you take the going rate for printing them into account. Printing Cry Havoc would cost $7.00 in black and white loose bound at a copy center, $9.00 if you make the cover and back panels color instead of B&W. So Cry Havoc would cost $17.00 to $19.00 in print assuming normal costs. Therefore, PDF's aren't that much cheaper than the printed copy, but they are more convenient.

 

[Voadam]

OK, soooo. I can buy the pdfs for AU for $21 ($6 for Way of the Sword and Way of the Staff, and $9 for the Grimore) but I will not have info on the Runechildren, new rules, or equipment. Also, I will have to print it out myself.

Or, I could buy the hardback off Walmart.com for $18.87.

WTF?

Valid questions. I did the same analysis at amazon with free shipping and that 30% price.

I bought the pdfs because I prefer pdfs over books, but I was disappointed about missing out on the equipment.

This is the first book he split, he has said after banewarrens that he got complaints on using big books in one download and the printing issue so he would consider splitting future books to reduce individual page counts.

It is too bad, Malhavok had the best track record of concurrent pdf and print options for getting all of their material.