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Message: <blockquote data-quote="woodelf" data-source="post: 2410099" data-attributes="member: 10201">Now, personally, i think that RPGs won't die, at least not while this generation of gamers is alive. But that's not the same as saying that there will "always be a business to serve their gaming needs". That's just foolish talk--as in any luxury good. If the minimum production cost to produce the sort of RPG book that gamers wants rises to $30, and the average gamer is unwilling to pay more than $25 for such a book, no one will produce them. That is, of course, an extreme example, and we're not likely to ever get ther, but just taking it as a given that someone will always be willing to produce something at a price the market will bear--or conversely, that the market will always pay what it costs someone to produce something--is foolish.  Given the number of people on this thread who're unwilling to pay $40 for a full-color hardcover ~250p book, i can see it coming to that. See, absent the FLGS, the RPG industry doesn't die--it gets smaller and more specialized. Fewer outlets for sales mean fewer sales, mean lower production runs, mean higher costs (or lower quality, or both). We can look at existing indie RPGs to get an idea of what no-distributor, no-retailer, low-risk RPGs look like: ~$20+ for softcover, 6x9, 100pp, B&W, minimal illos. So, pay $40 now, or pay half as much for 20% of the wordcount, softcover, and no color, later. And most of these guys won't sell to Amazon, because of the discounting (not in price, but in what they're paid), so don't expect to get these books at a discount any more.</blockquote>

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