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Ptolus and new methods of distro for setting-rich games

Started by Andy Kitkowski, December 04, 2005, 04:12:05 PM

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Troy_Costisick

Heya,

I think the 5 player's guides + Core book is a very interesting model that should be considered, pursued, and experimented with.  But not at $120.  That's a huge chunk-o-change.  Your average GenCon goer maybe bring $150 at most to spend on all 4 days.  Unless he goes in with friends, he's not likely to plunk down his entire stash for one thing.  Also $120 is about a week-and-a-half's net pay at your local Wendy's or Starbucks.  Hard for me to see teenagers or cash strapped college kids getting into to it.  That leaves 20-30 year old adults who may/may not have other responsibilities.

What I'm saying, I guess, is that I think the concept has merit, but at that price I don't think many people except Monte Cook could pull it off.

Peace,

-Troy

Iskander

Quote from: Troy_Costisick on December 06, 2005, 06:25:36 AMYour average GenCon goer maybe bring $150 at most to spend on all 4 days.

Hey, Troy,

Do you have a source for that figure?

Cheers,
Alexander
Winning gives birth to hostility.
Losing, one lies down in pain.
The calmed lie down with ease,
having set winning & losing aside.

- Samyutta Nikaya III, 14

Troy_Costisick

Heya,

Nope, sure don't.  That's just based off what I've brought, what my dozen or so friends who go to Origins or GenCon bring, and what I've noticed other gamers I interacted with at both conventions tended to have.  It's based solely off personal observations.  Take it for what you will :)

Peace,

-Troy

Calithena

This is not the only 'boutique' RPG product out there. Another example which I own and like is The World Book of Khaas: http://www.empcho.bizhosting.com/worldguide.html . They sold out of the first print run of that one, even at that high price.

I think with both the issue is name recognition and cachet. That Arduin product is probably not widely saleable in 2004/5, but it's the size of a telephone book, and there are enough old-school Arduin fans still out there that they can print up a few hundred (maybe a thousand?) copies and make a good profit on it (maybe not on all Monty St. John's time putting it together, which was surely partly a labor of love, but on the object itself).

Gamers who really like something will pay a whole lot of money for it. The same people who bitch about $40 for tRoS or $50 for Conan will pay $100 at the drop of a hat for Ye Olde Cool Unique Setting Product from their respected authors. Hell, I'd drop $100 without blinking for a 100 page Azk'arn setting book from Ron, not that such a thing would ever happen given his proclivities, and Tekumel fans will pay shocking amounts of money for old scraps of M.A.R. Barker's kleenex with a picture of the Janitors of the Petal Throne on them.

I see no reason that established indie designers with a wide enough fanbase couldn't take advantage of this phenomenon.

Keith Senkowski

Anyone know/have examples of how this is being marketed?  It seems that if it was pushed as a group buy it would work, particularly if these player guides are designed for the different DnD play styles, much in the way the classes are designed in Iron Heroes.  I mean, if it is marketed as a book for everyone in your group where you get encouraged to split the price.  $120 split four, five or six ways is cheap, particularly if you don't need any other books.

Keith
Conspiracy of Shadows: Revised Edition
Everything about the game, from the mechanics, to the artwork, to the layout just screams creepy, creepy, creepy at me. I love it.
~ Paul Tevis, Have Games, Will Travel

Josh Roby

Quote from: Keith Senkowski on December 06, 2005, 02:01:14 PMparticularly if these player guides are designed for the different DnD play styles

It's my understanding that it's five copies of the same book, a short guide to the city setting.
On Sale: Full Light, Full Steam and Sons of Liberty | Developing: Agora | My Blog

Ben Lehman

I think that this is a great thing.

$120 is too much for a book that you read and put on a shelf.
It isn't too much for a book that gives you 100 hours of fun.

Personally, I think that busting pricecaps is a great, great thing.

yrs--
--Ben