So what do you think three full color 300 page+ letter page sized hardbacks should be priced at?

Quote from: estar;972874So what do you think three full color 300 page+ letter page sized hardbacks should be priced at?

No idea.

Why does it need to be 3?

Quote from: Willie the Duck;972787Alright. Today's currency #s says $1.0 US=£0.77, so that £80 is $104. Converting that to 1974 dollars, it is the same as $20.95. Bringing that back to 2 significant digits, that's $21. The original White box D&D set had a printed-on-box price of $10. I believe Greyhawk and Blackmoor were either $5 or $10.

So, minus shipping, you're looking at the either the same as The original plus one supplement, or original plus two.  Let's skip the whole rigamarole of which edition is better and just say that based on page count, the three modern core books are significantly more material than what you would get in 1974. Even if a lot of that is bloat, you are still getting roughly the same amount of gaming material.  

So, it's mostly inflation's fault, is I guess what I am saying.

What he said.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;972844Thanks for doing all that work and summing up why any time I see an "OMG so expensive!" comment, my immediate response is just to roll my eyes. So that I didn't have to. Seriously, I have an inflation adjustment calculator saved to my bookmarks for occasions such as these.

You're welcome, though I think my conclusions are slightly different.

From a value per entertainment hour, RPG books are an almost impossible bargain. You've probably played thousands of hours of your favorite game, so compare the $150 for a set of books to the price of say 1,000 movies. RPGs are a crazy-good deal, by that standard. Though in practice, it's not really that a good deal, because RPG owners tend to be collectors. Not in the Acaeum sense, but in the "new shiny!" sense. Which is why the supplement treadmill exists, and it's what keeps publishers in business. Because if we just bought books we needed, then there simply wouldn't be an RPG industry. So it becomes closer to a magazine subscription, something we buy just to read and occasionally use. Not to mention that the price of luxuries is pretty arbitrary. Just because you'll pay so much for a 2 hour movies, doesn't mean you'll spend the same for a book that takes you the same amount of time to read.

It's still a great deal, though. But on the other side, there's definitely an entry fee. That initial $150 is up front not over time, and it's a reasonable sized chunk of money. Not enough to deter anyone with a good job, but above the impulse buy threshold for many newbies, especially those with less discretionary income. And that's a group that's more likely to pay full retail, because they're less likely to buy sight unseen. That's moderated by the huge amounts of information available on the web, though that can be intimidating. The existences of cheap starter sets, and the omnipresent free online quick starts, not to mention SRDs and retroclones, of course all help to reduce that barrier.

On a slightly negative note, I personally don't think the newer books are a better value than the older books. They're certainly much bigger for the same price point, and in full color. But I don't really care about color. It's an RPG, not an art book. Fancy graphics is just marketing, not content. And size? The B/X books, at 64 pages each, were marvels of brevity. The 400-page tomes of today are excessively wordy, and contain all kinds of stuff I don't care about. That actually diminishes the value to me, because it takes more effort to wade through (and I have less time). And when it comes to physical features I think add real value, sometimes the old books are superior. For instance, the Smythe-sewn 1st edition hardcovers.

Quote from: Biscuitician;972875No idea.

Why does it need to be 3?

Because that's what YOU established as the baseline in your OP?

"Had a look on Amazon uk at the price of the three core books. £80 not including postage."

Quote from: estar;972874So what do you think three full color 300 page+ letter page sized hardbacks should be priced at?

Whatever people will pay. For me, that's zero; for others it may be $50 each.

Everything is more expensive. Why anyone would somehow think that rpgs would be the exception is not only being naive. Is being naive on purpose imo. I don't get gamers in the hobby it's as if they don't know inflation let alone basic economics. Usually it's the same people that have the latest smartphone, Ipad and gaming consoles. While getting their three meals at restaurants. From what I can see as a outsider and gamer looking in. Your not going to get a full colour hardback with decent production valuesfor less than 40-45$ Or to put it another way beyond some exceptions one is not going to get tomorrow rpgs now at yesterday prices.

Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;972831OD&D was ten bucks in 1974. I was still a toddler at the time, but older friends tell me that was considered crazy expensive for a boxed "Wargame" of the era.

Avalon Hill's most expensive game, 'Third Reich', was $10 in 1974, 'Waterloo' and 'Stalingrad' were $7, 'Panzerblitz' was $9.  
Avalon Hill games were of much much higher production quality than any of the TSR box sets.

Just wait until 6th edition then buy the 5th edition retroclone for $20.  
A friend just started a 2e campaign and I bought my entire family of four "For Gold and Glory" rulebooks for less than $45 shipped.

D&D books are too expensive. I can buy retroclones and OSR stuff from LULU for less than half the cost of a 5e book. Granted there's a lot to sift thru, and much of it rehashes (if better organized) of older texts. A lot of the art is public domain, but it's quite good. There's some great design work coming out from small press.

Cubicle 7's AiME books are just as fancy as WotC's and cost $10 less.

I don't need fancy glossy pages and color pictures. There's nothing wrong with them, I do like art, but I can do without it in an otherwise excellent rulebook.

I guess it depends on the condition, and possibly the print/cover version. My 3 AD&D core books ran around $15.00 each, all readable/usable but probably non collectible condition. The monster Manual was the 2nd cover from '83, the binding is TERRIBLE which is keeping me from grabbing a copy of UA.

Quote from: Angry_Douchebag;972889Because that's what YOU established as the baseline in your OP?

"Had a look on Amazon uk at the price of the three core books. £80 not including postage."

No, you misunderstsnd me. I meant why does that have gone the format for the content involved? Why not a smaller softback format as well?

Cause money. People need to make it.

Quote from: Robyo;972943D&D books are too expensive. I can buy retroclones and OSR stuff from LULU for less than half the cost of a 5e book. Granted there's a lot to sift thru, and much of it rehashes (if better organized) of older texts. A lot of the art is public domain, but it's quite good. There's some great design work coming out from small press.

Cubicle 7's AiME books are just as fancy as WotC's and cost $10 less.

I don't need fancy glossy pages and color pictures. There's nothing wrong with them, I do like art, but I can do without it in an otherwise excellent rulebook.

I'm not opposed to other fantasy games, my post was simply about DnD.

I also haven't found alternative fantasy games that appeal to me. Pathfinder is just DnD 3.5 and until Starfinder releases I'm not interested. Shadow of the Demon Lord is a bit...meh. Symbaroum is just a big forest. Esteren isn't grabbing me, neither does 13th Age - possibly.

DnD might not seem terribly different to any of those but it's the big daddy and that's one of the reasons I was interested. But not interested enough to pay £80

Quote from: Biscuitician;972875No idea.

Why does it need to be 3?

A book with purely player content that only players need to purchase.
A book with only GM content that only GM's need to buy.
A book that contains all the creatures needed to play the game.

If it was one 900 page book the cost would be horrendous, not to mention the weight. Plus the GM would not then be able to hide monster stats from players and the players having the GM's guide would know who or what is behind the curtain.