Sound of Azure
Contemplative Soul
Yeah, I will. As an Australian, we've always payed a premium on books- so that's a relatively normal price for a core rpg book. Like [MENTION=22260]TerraDave[/MENTION] though, I would not object to a lower price.
D&D 5E Will you pay $50.00 for the "standard" PHB?
Mercurius
Legend
Will I? Probably not, as the closest game store is 20 minutes away, more of a Magic store, and a bit creepy to boot, and the next closest is about 45 minutes away and I have no particular allegiance to, so will probably end up buying it on Amazon for $30-35.
Would I? Most definitely. First of all, people seem to not understand the words "inflation" or the nature of current printing costs. $50 for a 320-page hardbound color book is not hugely overpriced. Remember that $35 in 2003 - the year and price of the 3.5E PHB - is $44.49 today. Add in increased cost of printing and $50 isn't so far-fetched.
Secondly, while Pathfinder is better value, its not the game I want to play - too complex, too 3.5. I want Next.
Thirdly, how many of us spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars over an edition? All hobbies cost money and I'm not going to balk at $100-150 start-up cost for 5E (not to mention that the actual start-up cost seems to be $20 for the starter set, not $100-150).
Would I? Most definitely. First of all, people seem to not understand the words "inflation" or the nature of current printing costs. $50 for a 320-page hardbound color book is not hugely overpriced. Remember that $35 in 2003 - the year and price of the 3.5E PHB - is $44.49 today. Add in increased cost of printing and $50 isn't so far-fetched.
Secondly, while Pathfinder is better value, its not the game I want to play - too complex, too 3.5. I want Next.
Thirdly, how many of us spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars over an edition? All hobbies cost money and I'm not going to balk at $100-150 start-up cost for 5E (not to mention that the actual start-up cost seems to be $20 for the starter set, not $100-150).
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
Here is an inflation calculator.
I believe the first D&D Player's Handbook was released in 1977, for $15.00.
That would be $57.90 in today's dollars. So, $50.00 is a discount, and well in line with the printing costs and marketplace of today.
More importantly, you can now buy it for $30-$37 at an online retailer like Amazon or Barnes and Noble, something you could not do back in 1977. If you simply cannot pay $50, you probably can pay $30-$37.
I'm just not understanding people who say they will not buy the game if the cover price is $50. Why wouldn't they just turn to an online seller of the game, if that is the case? Is $30-$37 also too steep a price? I appreciate wanting to support your local game store, but at the expense of not being able to buy a game at all that you want to buy? That makes no sense to me.
I believe the first D&D Player's Handbook was released in 1977, for $15.00.
That would be $57.90 in today's dollars. So, $50.00 is a discount, and well in line with the printing costs and marketplace of today.
More importantly, you can now buy it for $30-$37 at an online retailer like Amazon or Barnes and Noble, something you could not do back in 1977. If you simply cannot pay $50, you probably can pay $30-$37.
I'm just not understanding people who say they will not buy the game if the cover price is $50. Why wouldn't they just turn to an online seller of the game, if that is the case? Is $30-$37 also too steep a price? I appreciate wanting to support your local game store, but at the expense of not being able to buy a game at all that you want to buy? That makes no sense to me.
Jester David
Hero
Depends on two things:
1) size
2) optional content
If the book is a big, thick 450-page tome with dozens of optional rules, a tactical combat module, a craptonne of subclasses and feats, and the like it will be worth $50. And it will hurt my wallet and I will have to live on Ramen at GenCon, but I will buy it.
If it's the standard 330-odd-pages then, no, the print runs WotC can generate should keep the price far below that and it feels like a cash grab. So no.
1) size
2) optional content
If the book is a big, thick 450-page tome with dozens of optional rules, a tactical combat module, a craptonne of subclasses and feats, and the like it will be worth $50. And it will hurt my wallet and I will have to live on Ramen at GenCon, but I will buy it.
If it's the standard 330-odd-pages then, no, the print runs WotC can generate should keep the price far below that and it feels like a cash grab. So no.
I stopped thinking about it as an edition treadmill.
Each year, I buy a couple of games. Every few years, one of the couple of games I buy happens to be a flavor of D&D.
It is only a treadmill if you're trying to pursue WotC D&D, specifically. Otherwise, it is just another game purchase.
Jester David
Hero
It's only partially about the amount of money, and more the perceived value. Let's face it, most of us here wouldn't bat an eye and being asked to drop $50 on a video game, because we know those start at $60.
But we've gotten used to $40 books, and now the price is jumping up by 25%.
There are two other factors.
1) They charged that much for deluxe collector's edition reprints with smaller print runs. While the gold gilding was nice, the low print runs are what raised the prices of those.
2) Their competitors aren't charging that much for standard sized product.
It's not that we wouldn't spend $50 on an RPG book (history says we will), the question is one of the price being appropriate for what is being sold.
D&D should be able to warrant print runs large enough to keep the prices lower.
Unless there's something we don't know about, like the cover being fancy or the book being giant.
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him)
I have my doubts the original price was $15 for the PH (though it was for the DMG). When I bought mine in 1981, it was only $11 (maybe 11.99) and that was not a particularly discounted outlet. And plugging that in gives me about $30 in 2014 dollars. That does compare quite reasonably with the discounted amount the B&N site was projecting, so I don't have a major complaint.
That said, I'm not going to chide anyone for being shy of that sticker price. I'm gainfully employed and I still try to avoid dropping $50 on a single book - much less an expected $150 on the three core books for D&D.
GMMichael
Guide of Modos
Why pay $50 for just a PHB, when you can get free games like this one?
I got off the treadmill back in 3.5. I started writing Modos RPG early in the playtest of Next. With excellent roleplaying sites like ENworld and OnePageDungeon, there's no reason why the RPG community can't produce its own deluge of RPG content that forces Wizards to evolve into a tree-friendly, roleplaying resource.
(Speaking of community content, the game I'm working on is intentionally rules-light and modular so it can be modified to meet the needs of the user. For example, the Damage on a Miss fans can seamlessly include such rules in their own Modos rules modules...)
the Jester
Legend
Yes, I'm a whore for D&D.
