From: bkoike@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Bryce Koike)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy
Subject: Re: Price$$$...
Date: 22 Jan 93 16:24:53 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <20JAN199302381766@tirith.carleton.edu> JNEPHEW@CARLETON.EDU writes:
>As a publisher, I'm very interested in the discussion of game product prices. 
>First off, avoid a comparison with the book industry (mass market paperbacks,
>in particular); the sales volume is incredibly different, especially when
>you're talking about small companies.

	Very true.  Doubtful that most companies can sell a number
of supplements equivalent to the latest Anne Rice...  T'would be
nice, though!

>There are a couple things to consider.  One, I don't think most companies have
>that great a profit margin (ESPECIALLY if they spend a lot on advertising). 

	All the more reason to carefully examine what they're about
to publish.  (Or go the FASA method and just print out endless
reams of trendy gaming slime that waste as much paper as
possible...)

>Two, even if large companies (TSR, frex) are overpricing, it benefits the
>smaller companies who can be more competetive with those prices without
>bankrupting themselves.  For instance, charging $8 for a forthcoming OVER THE
>EDGE 32-page adventure isn't unreasonable if TSR and GDW charge $7 for the same

	Hmm...the size of these "adventures" and the price tag which
goes with them is what keeps me from buying them.  I, personally,
tend to prefer the SJG method of printing 3 or so modules in a $17
book.  (I also do not like modules at all, but that's my gripe.  Too
often they're not imaginative enough, they can't fit into any
campaign I'm running, and they're much too lame or generic.  There's
some good GURPS ones, but I don't tend to spend money on modules
anyway...or "adventures" or "scenarios" or whatever one wants to
call them.)
	So, $8 for a 32-page booklet is a bit painful, yes, unless
there's some really good material in there, or something beyond the
adventure itself (unless it's really great with extra plot hooks,
etc).
...stuff deleted

>In the ALARUMS & EXCURSIONS fanzine (which I highly recommend), Lisa Padol said
>that she thought a 16-page/$4.95 booklet we publish is overpriced.  Actually
>it's the first in a line of such booklet's we're trying.  I wrote the following
>for A&E to explain the pricing and rationale.  I think it's relevant to this
>discussion.                           

	Personally-speaking, I do feel that it's overpriced.  The
money-to-worth ratio should be pretty good if it's going to cost
that much and even then....  (although I think that it depends a lot
on the content.  If it's just an adventure, then it MIGHT sell well,
but then again, it might not...)
	This is all my personal opinion and I think I've made my
views on adventures all too clear (sigh).  I guess in the end
they're just really boring to me.  (About as boring as the Shadowrun
and CP2020, "Yet another book with GUNS GUNS GUNS and ARMOR ARMOR
ARMOR and all sorts of cool ways to bring all the more death and
destruction into your games!  Wheeeeeeeee...")
...stuff deleted...

>     * I think some players (cf. Michael Cule) appreciate it.  It's bloody
>difficult to find a game product even for $6 these days (TSR's
>16-pages-plus-fancy-maps D&D modules and 32-page AD&D modules were $6.95, last
>I knew).                   

	Depending on the content, I might or might not appreciate
the product.  It has to have some stuff that's interesting and isn't
terribly boring or scenario-specific.  I'd far preferring a product
containing several nifty ideas than one with a single drab
adventure.

>     * I don't think it's that bad a price.  A movie these days for one person,
>even at a matinee, could cost more than one of these scenarios that should
>entertain a bunch of people for several hours.

	Very true.  (Not to mention the skyrocketing paperback
prices.  Sigh!)  But is the scenario really going to interest me?
It all depends, of course.  A well-packaged product is far more
likely to catch my eye.  A really original plot line will grab me as
well (which makes me now regret picking up the GURPS space
adventures or whatever it's called)...
	...but logic isn't always the consumer's high point, it
seems.  (I guess it's because a movie can only be seen once for the
price paid.  If you buy a terrible supplement, it gets to sit there
on your shelf until you can figure out an imaginative way to get rid
of it...)
...stuff deleted

>BACK TO THE INTERNET...
>
>What do people think of small (16, 32 page) items versus large (96+) items?  Do
>you favor the latter?  (Sales figures suggest people do.)  Why?
>
>-John Nephew
>President, Atlas Games
>jnephew@carleton.edu

	The latter is preferable basically because they're
effectively cheaper (I think.  How much is, say, GURPS Cyberpunk Adventures
and how many pages?)  You also get more, but that doesn't
necessarily mean better.  It still requires the buyer to flip
through the product (or read the back cover if it's shrinkwrapped --
a heinous offense unless there's a damn good reason for it) to
determine whether or not it's worth it.
	The possibility for a continuing plotline, extra plot hooks,
imaginative NPCs, secret societies, and other goings on help quite a
bit.  A very strong plotline is also a must.  Personally, I get
turned off by really bizarre plotlines or subjects mainly because I
become alienated by them.  So...nothing too bizarre.  (Uh, that's
not quite what I meant.  Bizarre can be good, like Call of Cthulu
[sp].  But an adventure in Wild West America centering around
Bdubdub the Waxmorokian Thbdub who is searching for the lost Mxrfg
is going to come across as being stupid to me.)
	And while I think that most gaming companies are smart
enough to avoid things like this, I've come across such nasty
products in the past, so who knows...


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy