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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cergorach" data-source="post: 9580108" data-attributes="member: 725">You mean over 20 years ago...Twilight Imperium 3rd edition was already $80 in 2005, we left the $60 behind us a long, long time ago! And sure TI3 was a big chunky box, but I have more like those big boxes from that era, all were priced at $80. And FFG was not unique in that pricing scheme for larger games.Even if we go with the smaller $50-$55 boxes in 2005, in the last 20 years the US has had a 60% inflation rate. So even at $50, that's now $80. Money is worth less.As for the 'oh-shiny!' in RPGs, it's not for nothing that back in 2000 WotC went full color glossy in their core hardcover rule books, and eventually for all their books. Paizo did the same, everyone that could afford to did so, because if you didn't you were generally just a second tier company/rpg. There were of course exceptions that did very well in the rpg space in B/W, as it was part of their identity (until it wasn't).If companies payed what the illustrations were worth in the RPG space, yeah, they would be very expensive. But companies traditionally paid peanuts and I doubt that this has changed much. Just ask an illustrator what they made doing pnp RPG illustrations and what they made doing illustrations in any other branch...If you expect a product to cost more in development and production then it would make selling it, the product shouldn't be made.EDIT: As for Spelljammer, the 1989 boxed set (kinda flimfsy box), it had 2 softcover books in it with 96 pages each, plus a couple of four color maps. It was $18 at the time, with correction for inflation it would be $42.50 in 2022. RPG boxed sets haven't been viable for a long time, because in many countries not only is it expensive to produce, but very expensive to buy for the consumer. Previously we had 6% VAT on books and 21% VAT on boxed sets...Making a slipcase, multiple hardcovers, a map, and a DM screen was way more expensive then just doing a regular hardcover book with WAY more art. Vecna was $60 MSRP for 256 pages, twice what was in the $70 MSRP slipcase. And gamers are willing to pay way more then $70 for some bling, the Silver Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space was $195 and is sold out... If you want just the content, DnDBeyond allows you to buy it digitally for $50.</blockquote>

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