Wizards of the Coasts are overcharging us and "TSR"

[JPL]

What I do to save money is try to wait six months between shopping sprees, and think about which books I really want.

Then I rob a gaming store, using my mace of disruption [which is actually a shotgun].

I'll be honest: people get killed. PDFs are tough, too, although I've thought about blackmailing Charles Rice and Monte Cook.

So Virg, the lesson here is that you can sit around bellyaching, or you can take action.

 

[Desdichado]

That's a bit of a misleading thread title, given the stated objectives in the first post.

Anyway, I'm surprised that in more than 2 pages of replies, nobody has really mentioned the paper price crisis of the mid 90s. It hit every print industry. You might have noticed that paperback books jumped by 50% or so in price over that same time period, or that the entire comic book industry almost disappeared.

 

[Henry]

Let's please tone the nasty remarks down a bit, and leave the personal attacks and bickering at the door.

Thanks.

 

[thalmin]

I am glad WotC doesn't use the smaller type style of Faiths & Avatars. Thanks to aging eyesight, F&A is too difficult for me to try to read. I remember similar comments from some (not a majority, but some) of my customers when it first came out.

 

[HellHound]

It bothers me, ins ome small part of myself that asks for recognition, that the person who started this thread will respond to other responses, demanding more proof, or discussing crunch vs fluff, but refuses steadfastly to respond to my own posts which provide the proof he seems to be seeking - that the prices have NOT gone up more than fractionally for most products, and that there has also been a serious increase in both printing costs in the past 10 years AND a serious increase in the print quality of the current books.

While we are talking about how the print industry is robbing us blind, let's leook at other industries with similar pricing...

When I was 8 years old, I used to buy bags of potato chips for 35 cents a bag. Now they are charging me 89 cents a bag! Those bastards... never mind that the price is actually the same when using the Consumer Price Index, and that the new chips are in bags that keep them fresh and tastier longer.

And Crude Oil! Wow... in 1982 it averaged at only $31.55 a barrel... which is $60.09 in 2003 dollars after inflation (higher than current costs).

etc...

 

[kenobi65]

Remember that thats Gygax's side of it; the man was no business genius himself.

Having read Ryan Dancey's account of the incredible Bohemian cluster-**** that was TSR's finances and business practices at the point when WotC bought them, I tend to give EGG the benefit of the doubt in this area.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Along with the issue of supply and demand, there is also the fact that WoTC does not charge you for these books, the retailer charges you for them. The price is a suggested retail price determined by WoTC. Stores can then discount them to varying degrees depending upon how much they think the book will be in demand, their overhead etc.

Wait, then what I've just suggested is that the conspiracy is even larger! It is WoTC in collusion with Amazon.com, bookstores and FLGS owners! And I bet they are tracking my purchases and figuring out how much I will pay for something, and what I like! Oh, never mind, that's just something called market research...

Last point to not forget when accusing WoTC of charging more for less: go check out the WoTC web site and look at the little goodies they post there on a pretty regular basis. I do not recall TSR giving away too much free stuff. Of course admittedly most of that was before the internet so there wasn't a simple device to distribute it, but I have a feeling that had the internet been big during the 2E days, TSR would have charged a fee to subscribe to the site.

 

[Nisarg]

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).

You're joking, right?

TSR: The company who's CEO said "I will tell gamers what they like". Who's upper management had no gamers, who's president actively despised gamers and thought them "beneath her", who essentially only bought the company to release Buck Rogers materials, actually "cared about us"?

You're either horribly misinformed, or you have the mentality of a wounded puppy: "mistress loves me, she hits me because she cares".

TSR didn't fail out of concern for its customers. TSR failed because in addition to being evil it was stupid. It had people at the top who only cared about making money and had no idea how to make it.

Nisarg

 

[BOZ]

we really need a kindly, insanely rich philanthropist to buy D&D and hire back the best designers. any takers?

 

[DaveMage]

we really need a kindly, insanely rich philanthropist to buy D&D and hire back the best designers. any takers?

Well, I am playing the Florida Lottery this week...

I'll let you know.