Would you pay $218 for a new set of RPG rules?

[thedungeondelver]

(Edit: Whoops, meant $210)
In 1975 you would have, had you decided to pick up the EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE boxed set:

Current data is only available till 2007. In 2007, $25.00 from 1975 is worth:

$96.28 using the Consumer Price Index
$78.81 using the GDP deflator
$112.75 using the value of consumer bundle *
$93.89 using the unskilled wage *
$150.63 using the nominal GDP per capita
$210.70 using the relative share of GDP

No particular reason to post this; just thought I'd mention it.

Also, interesting to note is that at $5 a pop, the most in today's (well, 2007's) dollars you'd have paid for the three DUNGEONS & DRAGONS booklets for the core rules would have been $138.08 - I paid about $90 for a white OCE boxed set, so I actually wound up getting 'em cheaper!

The place I found this out is Measuring Worth - Relative Value of US Dollars

 

[DaveyJones]

yes, i would.

 

[pawsplay]

Hell yeah. It's even better at $96, which is probably closer to a realistic value since it's basically a luxury consumer item and not a barrel of oil.

 

[Voadam]

Nope, I'm pretty happy with the rules I have and the significantly cheaper buying options I have when I want to add to my RPG collection.

I think $36 is the most I've spent on a single rpg product or bundle deal (Ptolus pdf on sale and WotBS subscription sale). I've passed on things like Shackled City, Wilderlands, hardcopy Castle Whiterock, WLD, etc.

 

[thedungeondelver]

Nope, I'm pretty happy with the rules I have and the significantly cheaper buying options I have when I want to add to my RPG collection.

I think $36 is the most I've spent on a single rpg product or bundle deal (Ptolus pdf on sale and WotBS subscription sale). I've passed on things like Shackled City, Wilderlands, hardcopy Castle Whiterock, WLD, etc.

I didn't mean "would you buy them right now", I meant that if the rules - any rules you did want to buy - cost $210, would you pay that much for them.

More perspective: in 1974, (as mentioned before) all three core rulebooks for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS would (if bought singly) set you back $15.

In 2007* that same core set of 4e rules would set you back $66.12 from Amazon.com, assuming you purchased them there. That's $15.73 according to the 1974 consumer price index.

The more stuff changes, the more stuff stays the same.

 

[Voadam]

I didn't mean "would you buy them right now", I meant that if the rules - any rules you did want to buy - cost $210, would you pay that much for them.

My answer stays the same.

There are plenty of rules I'm interested in getting but don't at their current price range.

4e pdfs at $25 each.

Exalted 2e PDF at $20

WoW RPG PDF at $20

Werewolf the Forsaken PDF at $17.50 is closer.

I'm eyeing the d20 Game of Thrones pdf at $10. It keeps calling to me and I expect if it is still around in February it will be part of my budgeted monthly RPG purchase.

In 1974 I didn't spend any money on RPGs. I didn't spend anything on RPGs until 2e arrived in the 80s, my basic and 1e stuff were birthday and christmas gifts when I was a kid.

I believe the peak of my spending on core rules books, even weighing in inflation adjustments, would be 4e Ars Magica which I spent I think $30 on back in 03 and almost passed on it then based on the price. Maybe inflation makes it GURPS 3e which I bought for $24 sometime in the early 90s.

Today? I've got lots of rules I'm happy with, and plenty of cheap options for new stuff I'm interested in.

I can even get pdfs of those white box rule books for a total of $6 in today's inflation adjusted money.

 

[Treebore]

$70 is the most I have paid for anything, and that was Castle Whiterock at Amazon or maybe Books a Million.

As for rules sets, yes, if I like it enough I'll buy it. I am looking at Buying an HC copy of Aces and Eights, which I think will be my single most expensive "rule book" I have ever bought.

I paid $55 for the Twilight 2013 Pre-order, but I got a whole lot of extra stuff from doing so, including the $29 PDF, and the $40 HC book, and a number of other "booklets".

However, I do not see me ever buying into a "basic rules set" for over $70, let alone $100 or $218. The closest I came to doing this is when I bought 5 L5R rules books when we decided we liked their third edition rules set. Even then, I got a big lot of them on eBay, resold the extras, and effectively got paid $10 for getting the 5 copies we kept for our family. So if it weren't for eBay, I wouldn't have done that either.

 

[Sigurd]

I did buy it then, at (around) that price.

Its still a refreshingly different game. I find the books today more expensive and less expansive. I think publishers used to put whatever they had in a few books but now the carve up bits and pieces so you have to buy more for a complete rule system.


Sigurd

 

[Protagonist]

I probably would, but not in a single transaction.


The title gave me a different idea: what with 3.x prices having fallen a lot (at least when you scavenge ebay and discount bins at shops) since the announcement of 4E (and Pathfinder), what would be a reasonable estimate for the cheapest price you could get a full (exclude adventures and stuff like DM screens) 3.x rules sets including all splatbooks?

I have most of the wotc 3.x stuff I wanted and will only use it to convert, but anyone starting playing 3.x right now (maybe because their gaming group decided against 4e) will have a rich selections of books for a bargain price right now.

 

[Voadam]

I probably would, but not in a single transaction.


The title gave me a different idea: what with 3.x prices having fallen a lot (at least when you scavenge ebay and discount bins at shops) since the announcement of 4E (and Pathfinder), what would be a reasonable estimate for the cheapest price you could get a full (exclude adventures and stuff like DM screens) 3.x rules sets including all splatbooks?

I have most of the wotc 3.x stuff I wanted and will only use it to convert, but anyone starting playing 3.x right now (maybe because their gaming group decided against 4e) will have a rich selections of books for a bargain price right now.

The point to buy was right after the 4e announcement. Lots of 3.x books were going for $0.01 (plus 3.99 S+H) on amazon from their used books option. I got my brother 5 Eberron hardcover titles that way for his birthday. Prices have been going up as availability has started drying up. I wish I had picked up MMIII then.