Why do rpg designers always seek to make the most expensive books they can? It's a tiny, niche hobby market poorly understood by those they hope will stock their overpriced products.

I mean it's nice to have nice books,but it's far from necessary. How do these people expect shops to take a punt on their brand new game when it's going to cost a fortune to order in to stock!

I don't like Etherscope, but their recent softcover version is complete, smart looking and half the price of the hardback version.

Win win surely?

It increases sales.

Simple as that really.  Consistently, a variety of games companies have found that moving to full colour hardback glossy books increases sales, despite the large price increase attached.

Not to you, and indeed not to me, but overall it increases sales.

Personally I think it's because many of those buying are buying the books to read and collect them rather than to use them in play, and so place a higher value on the thing looking pretty than I would.

But that's your answer.  Don't therefore expect the trend to reverse anytime soon.  Companies started putting out glossy books because they sell better and at a higher price than cheaper books.

I even remember John Nephew of Atlas expressing some puzzlement over the phenomenon, before then going (paraphrased, natch) "but there you go, impossibly thin hardcovers it is!"

Can't blame him really.

Quote from: BalbinusIt increases sales.

Absolutely. You can see it even in the downloads of free games. Those with high production values tend to download more than those without lots of graphics. Odd, seeing both might be free.

Quote from: Rob LangAbsolutely. You can see it even in the downloads of free games. Those with high production values tend to download more than those without lots of graphics. Odd, seeing both might be free.

And in fact the latter is probably easier to load, process and read as a pdf!

High production values have become an expectation rather than an exception these days. Some of it may be due to collectiblity, but in the main I think people are won over by a slick, professional looking product. There's a subtle connection in peoples minds between quality of presentation and quality of content. It's fallacious reasoning, but hardly surprising.

Quote from: signoftheserpentAnd in fact the latter is probably easier to load, process and read as a pdf!

That is certainly true but the game itself might be more difficult to get into (and persuade the players to play) if there aren't images to help it along. This is especially true if you're inventing something entirely new, rather than making an RPG of a world that is already populated with many images (such as a Star Wars game).

Good art helps me picture the game world, helps inspire me with ideas and can help inspire the players too.

That said, good art needn't be high production value, good sketches is quite sufficient.  That and many games with high production values still have frankly dreadful art.

Balbinus has the right idea. A sad truth is that many gamers out there are collectors who value flash and colorful art, so if a book is some glossy hardcover, it will look more appealing.

I think it's sad because it does inflate the price, and creates this bizzare pedjudice against sturdy, cheaper, but not as "pretty" books. While I do find large, colorful, arty books appealing, I think that a better book is small, sturdy, cheap, and can still carry nice B&W work.

Part of the problem are the absolutely bizarre, unpredictable purchasing habits of the gaming public.

I'll give you an example:

My goal with MARS was to drive sales of the print versions, since I make more money from selling them than I do from selling the PDFs (since RPGNow and Drive-Thru take a cut of the PDF sales).  

I priced the print versions based on how much they cost me to produce (pretty standard).  I offered them in standard softcover ($34.95), and as a more high-priced option, a hardcover for folks who wanted it ($44.95).

I priced the PDF, though, at a level that I thought was ridiculously high ($24.95 for the PDF) -- with the expressed intention of making people say "Oh, for 10 bucks more, I can get the softcover, and they'll send me the PDF as a bonus."    In other words, I priced the PDF to be high enough to drive people to purchase the print version instead.


However, the results have been completely unexpected.

We've sold a metric assload of books....but not only have we sold more hardcovers than softcovers (at a 5 to 1 ratio), but we've also had 50 people in the first month who felt that $25 was reasonable for a PDF, and just bought that.

I can't explain it.

Quote from: GMSkarkaI can't explain it.

Then don't, and just buy groceries!  

That's weird, but...huh.  I'll tell you, though, Hollow Earth Expedition's high production values had a lot to do with us buying it.  It felt like we were purchasing a second dimension of quality and enjoyment. Clearly, the project was loved.

Perhaps softcover is now seen as the poor relation. Hardbacks are commonly held to be more durable, whist pdf. has the advantages of printing and organising to taste.

Just a thought.

Maybe it's just old time gamers that have a problem with a $50.00 game book. Fifty bucks is a good (not the best) steak at a local restaurant. A fair bottle of bubbly. A fillup of gas in a small car. A good cigar. All of those are evanescent - they are gone once you enjoy them, and are only a memory. Old timers remember $50 as real money. Hell, five bucks was real money back then. Game books are just keeping pace with the times, finally. About time.

-clash

Maybe it has to do with the gaming demographics.


mostly males=males=visually oriented= like shiny flashy things

Everything has its place. Austere, cheapo Traveller LBBs = one kind of coolness. Luxurious full-color Artesia (3.x, Qin...) = another. If the customer senses that form and content are successfully matched, $$$ will fly the seller's way regardless of price (where price < 50 bucks, to be sure). I've no problem with that.