Wizards of the Coasts are overcharging us and "TSR"

[HellHound]

When I found it on the shelf of my local bookstore I was astounded that it now cost $7.99. My original copy was $4.99 when I bought it around 1989 or so.

Even ignoring rising costs of paper, just working with the inflation index (ie: in order for the company to continue paying people what they used to, adjusted for increases in the cost of living in the intervening 14 years, the $4.99 cover price in 1989 is equivalent to a cover price of $7.40 in 2003 dollars. So yes, there has been a price hike, but only one of 59 cents after accounting for the Consumer Price Index.

 

[Virgil Sagecaster]

I really like the replies to this post (exspecially the one about conspiricy which was posted by "francisca"). Im not grinding my two-handed ax WoTC and 3.5rdE, Im just stateting that there is a difference between the Gaming Material vs Product Cost. I just believe that ther is more gaming material 2ndE products than 3.5rdE (exspecially the roleplaying part of the game). If you feel differently about mine opinon, please speak openly and with proof.

 

[velm]

There was a previous thread concerning this issue. For the quality of work that is being published at the current prices, I hold off. I use the core set of books and still use my 2E stuff.
I can be a bit of an impulse buyer, so, some of the higher prices keep me away. If a product was priced at $10, I would get alot more, but the standard product is around $20, that keeps my impulse at bay.

 

[Virgil Sagecaster]

Velm, if you would be so kind to tell that post concerning this issue I would greatly appreciate it. thanks

 

[Turjan]

If you feel differently about mine opinon, please speak openly and with proof.

What kind of proof do you want? The one mentioning the consumer price index that showed that the price hike is relatively small or non-existent? A simple look at the books and comparing production values?

If you, instead, refer to the crunch vs. fluff debate, you are happily invited to look at one of the countless threads regarding this topic, which appeared during the last week .

 

[warlord]

I have to say 2ed. gives you more for your money sice I still use all my books. The Complete Book of Humaniods is better then Savage Species and works with 3.5 with slight modification. Also the martial arts system from the originasl OA works good in 3.5 too just breakit up int feats and skills.

 

[Captain Tagon]

Very good observation, but if that is true: WoTC is only interested in the their sales. While TSR was only concern was to provide gaming material fo us. And that's why TSR was bought out but WoTC (well, thats the story around the campfire anyway).

If that's the case then TSR was the dumbest company in the history of the world. Well, that's hyperbole, but they were really really really dumb. Any business that isn't out to make a profit deserves everything it gets when they die.

 

[velm]

Which, I can agree with the fact that they need to make money, but I still harken back to when I could look at a product and get a ton of use out of it.

Yeah, I miss the innocent days of gaming too, when a company could sell darned near anything and make a profit.

I look at what is being printed now, and maybe it is because I have already been playing for a while and have a decent grasp on the rules, but I want to be able to get a good feel for what is going on.

The biggest difference between product now and then is our own experience. Most of the responders to this board shave been playing for more than 4 years; Some have played D&D for 25 or 30 years. Our needs and the needs of the new gaming public have diverged a bit. The kind of things that Virgil wants and you want have been taken over by other companies.

I am also a strong believer in getting components for making items, as it can lead to a series of adv that i could my pcs thru, or thru them myself as a pc. Like finding the blood of a mimic, feather of a cockatrice. Sure some of them were rather vague, but a decent Dm could work around it.[/dm]

Take for example Ronin Arts' 101 spell components, giving you uses for things from Athach Tusks, to coatl teeth, to displacer beast tentacles. Virgil wants more in-depth deity info, and people like Green Ronin (and our very own fellow poster Aaron Loeb) have been releasing things like Book of the Righteous, which aboslutely SCREAMS with flavor. People look at WotC as the only source, yet these flavorful offerings of the "bygone era" are still here, but people either don't realize they are there, or refuse to acknowledge their existance.
?

 

[Vartan]

Have you notice the difference between the amount of content in 2nd Edition and 3rd (3.5) Edition products? For example, just take a look at the book "Faiths and Avatars" compared to the more recently produced "Faiths and Patheons". Notice any differences?!?

I run a 2E campaign in the Forgotten Realms, so I lean on Faiths and Avatars a lot. I've also read a lot of 3E books, so I have a [somewhat] balanced perspective. I think that Faiths and Avaters beats Faiths and Pantheons, but just barely. It really provides more "flavor" for the campaign that can be transported into any 3E game. On a strictly rules-oriented level, the specialty priest classes in F&A provide a lot of unique incentives for priest PCs to choose a particular god which, along with the deep flavor text, presents great role=playing opportunities.

I know that someone who has only played 3E and who owns F&P can fill in the blanks for all of that flavor text, but I don't have the time. I rely on F&A to spark my imagination, as well as the imaginations of my players, when it comes to religions in the Realms. To me, this makes it a much more valuable supplement.

That being said, there is a point to make in favor of 3E: it is a far better system. Were it not for my $1,000 collection of 2E books, I would be playing 3E right now, Then again, I also have the advantage of owning a lot of 2E material, which is far better at portraying the "flavor" aspects of its campaign settings. If I had the time to switch over to 3E then I would, and I would never look back--most of what I holdso dear in those 2E books has nothing to do with rules mechanics and, so long as I can resist the urge to make my campaign fall in line with Forgotten Realms 3E, I could import it without problem.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

One thread ends and another one appears in its dust...a vicious cycle.

You want proof? Look at Hellhound's posts and then compare production costs on the books. I'd wager that the books WotC are making COST more to make in addition to other obvious reasons for price hikes.