Going back to the original question:

Is it really that expensive?

I bought the PHB when it first came out and I ran 5e quite easily with just that.

Yeah sure, I bought most of the books over time as they came out, but I didn't NEED them.
I've got 100s of hours entertainment out of these books running and playing 5e.

I goto a gaming club about twice a month to run open table DnD 5e and there's all sorts of ages of people running and playing 5e.

I DO note that not many of those people have bought any of the books at all, stating they're expensive and they can't afford them.
But at a break time they happily go off and spend $5+ on a coffee and $10+ on junk food.
Meanwhile, people borrow my books on the day, wearing them out faster.

I think if people CAN avoid paying for the books to spend their money on other luxuries, they WILL quite often.

To add to this, there's loads of Android Apps that cover many existing 5e material, so people justify not buying a PHB, as much of the material can be accessed free via these apps, but they're not as convenient and having phones at a table is distracting.

Quote from: danskmacabre;983035Going back to the original question:

Is it really that expensive?

Summary of viewpoints:

1. The cost of the three hardback D&D books has not kept up with inflation, so they haven't technically "gotten expensive".
2. The books are good "forever" and for an "infinite" number of play hours, so the amortized cost is insignificant, so they aren't expensive.
3. The books cost more than other systems by quite a bit, so seem expensive in today's market.

Quote from: Tod13;983055Summary of viewpoints:

1. The cost of the three hardback D&D books has not kept up with inflation, so they haven't technically "gotten expensive".
2. The books are good "forever" and for an "infinite" number of play hours, so the amortized cost is insignificant, so they aren't expensive.
3. The books cost more than other systems by quite a bit, so seem expensive in today's market.

There you go, I think the thread can be shut down now.

Quote from: Dumarest;983066There you go, I think the thread can be shut down now.

But I wanted to talk about crop rotation!

Quote from: Charon's Little Helper;983080But I wanted to talk about crop rotation!

"That --ing zombie is going to end up on the end of a couple of --ing handy and versatile kebab skewers,' said Mr Tulip. 'An' then I'm gonna put an edge on this --ing spatula. An' then... then I'm gonna get medieval on his arse.'
There were more pressing problems, but this one intrigued Mr Pin.
'How, exactly?' he said.
'I thought maybe a maypole,' said Mr Tulip reflectively. 'An' then a display of country dancing, land tillage under the three-field system, several plagues and, if my --ing hand ain't too tired, the invention of the --ing horse collar."

Quote from: Charon's Little Helper;983080But I wanted to talk about crop rotation!

My first thought was how characters trying to sneak up on a farm could be confronted by fields containing four different crops under the Norfolk four-course system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_four-course_system. Clover might be easier to walk through, but there are bulls and protective cows in that field...