I didn't think I'd ever get to the point of moaning about the cost of games. Intellectually, I can understand that making these things costs money, and that wages in the industry are already too low. I can also understand that it's a matter of market forces, and that companies can charge what they want, and if I don't like it, I don't need to buy.
However, I saw the new Conan d20 game today, took one look at the £28 price, and put the book back down. Simply put, there's no way I can possibly justify that sort of cost for a game that I know, in my heart of hearts, will get very little if any use.
To be fair, I'm not the target audience for a game of this sort. The only Conan I've read are some of Robert Jordan's woeful stories featuring the character. I've meant to get to Howard's original works, but never gotten around to it. It's also fair to say that I didn't look inside the book - it was certainly a very thick hardcover, and looked solidly put together. I would also assume, based on Mongoose's previous record with licensed games, that it was a well-done product, and full-colour inside. The book was wrapped, so there was no way I could possibly know any of this, though.
The problem with the cost, however, is actually one of utility. I'm extremely unlikely to ever play a Conan game, and could probably manage without a rulebook in any case. I'm extremely unlikely to ever run a Conan game. And it's extremely doubtful that I'd want to canibalise large parts of the Conan rules for a 'normal' d20 game. So, it just wouldn't be worth it.
Of course, looking at my collection of game books as a whole, I can apply exactly the same argument to all of them. I get a huge amount of use from my D&D core rulebooks, and have from Vampire in the past. Other core rulebooks get somewhat less use, but I have at times run various other games. However, the supplements for such games, and even for D&D and Vampire, get virtually no use. This is very worrying, because it then brings me to the thought: why buy games at all? Since I could probably fit all the books I've ever used on one shelf, rather than the huge stacks I have around the place, how can I justify spending more money on games, in the full and certain knowledge that I most likely won't ever use 10% of the stuff I buy?
This rant doesn't have a point. I was more annoyed that I was desperately looking for a new book worth buying, in an effort to stave off boredom, and simply failed. Even Exalted, which I'd weakened enough to buy, proved to be unavailable.
Archived comment by me:
ReplyDeleteAnd Another Thing...
Thick, hardback books are all well and good, and I'm glad that they're both sturdy and attractive. But paper is heavy, particularly if you're lugging a lot of it across town. That is a better argument for single-book games than almost anything else I can think of.
Archived comment by Mort:
ReplyDeleteWell if you look at it, my other big addiction is computer games, and one computer game goes for about £30 in the stores. You play it through once and then you usually don't bother with it anymore. Buying a RPG book gives you something you can read, enjoy and even perhaps play sometime in the future. Even if you don't play it, you usually have a book with references and ideas you can use for other games.
This is why GURPS are selling tons of supplements but not too many core books, people don't want the system, they want the ideas and information. Of course, some rulebooks can be a total waste of money, for instance, if you have no interest in playing the Conan game, you might as well just pick up the novels for background and story ideas.
Now as for collecting a large number of games you will never play, I can only say guilty as charged. I've got tons of RGP books I'll probably never get to use, but as I see it it's a hobby, it's something to spend your money on and I've chosen to spend my money on RPG books. What does this give me? Well first of all it gives me a couple of hours of interesting reading, it probably also gives me a few new ideas for adventures and tips on roleplaying in general. I am also a big fan of studying different RGP systems, so I enjoy getting a new game just to see how the game system works, to see how they've handled combat and skill resolutions.
In the end one just has to accept that the RPG hobby is a quite expensive hobby, compared to some others, but I don't think it's overly expensive. Production value of RPG products has increased immensly over the years, and the price of RPG books hasn't risen THAT much. Considering how much some other texbooks and coffee table books cost, RPGs are actually quite cheap.
As for wrapping books, why is it that every single RPG store insists on doing this? Do games slobber more than normal people or something? I've never been into a normal book store where all the books are wrapped in plastic. I know I would buy more ROG books if I had a chance at looking at them first. Sure you could probably just ask the store attendant if you wanted to look, but it's annoying and I can't be arsed with that.
Hmm, most of this is pretty much what you said, so just consider this my ramblings on the same subject and not a proper reply.
Archived comment by Andrew:
ReplyDeleteOne of the main reasons I don't want to DM a DnD game is the amount of books I've seen others carry about with them when going to a game session. It's all very well having players with a copy of the Players Handbook (the least they could do really) but if I wanted to DM a Forgotten Realms campaign, for example, I'd feel I'd need to carry at least four hardback books to every game.
I have several games I bought and never really used, countless Vampire supplements (especially Kindred of the East), Chivalry & Sorcery 3rd Edition, RoleMaster, WEG Star Wars and Cyberpunk 2020. I've found Ebay to be the best place for buying the older material so that's helped me a lot in saving money, it's just a pity no-one seems to be interested in playing the two main systems I know (those being Star Wars and CP2020). With all these books I always seem to forget to actually read them through, something I hope to sort with the current DnD campaign we're playing.
I guess one of the main advantages of playing Counter-Strike is that I don't buy a lot of PC games anymore, the most recent being X2: The Threat. Even though CS is very old compared to modern games I still get a "rush" from playing in clan matches.