Okay, got that out of the way.
Actually this post is about is about buying stuff. Just not that. Too much for me. It looks impressive, but it would probably sit on a shelf and collect dust. Not to mention Ivy would probably knock the crap out of me and put rainbows and bunnies on my blog.
I posted yesterday about all the work that goes into a zine. So what do you get to do with the profits. Well, first keep some set aside for more supplies and art. Always good to have a stash. The rest you get to play with. Most of my print sales cover the cost of the zine biz. What I make on PDFs is what I usually get to shop with. So my RPGNow and Lulu sales are my fun money.
This fun money goes towards games and other zines. While I could buy the $170 Wooden White Box. I would rather get Bare Bones Fantasy, 4th issue of Wizards Mutants Laser Pistols (which was just released yeah!), eventually I want to fill in the holes for Knockspell and Fight On!. I want John Staters stack of Land of Nod magazines. The reissues I do want to get are the S and A series they are releasing. I'm on the fence about Dungeon World. I want to get a hardback of Savage Worlds. Tim Brannen's, The Witch in print. I've been eyeballing Jalizar, City of Thieves for a while, it looks good. I think I would want that one in print. Get a copy of Dyson's Delves, probably the paperback. And all I've hearing about the Teratic Tome, I gots to get me a copy of that also.
This is just a sampling off all the cool stuff I'd love to get. There are probably a hundred other items I'm forgetting that could easily be on this list. So that's where my profits go. Back to buying gaming stuff. Shocking, I know.
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You just articulated why I had such a harsh reaction to the sticker price. I have a wish list at RPG now that I could empty with what this collectors' set would cost. And would I ever play it from the box? Not for $150 thats for sure. I would use printouts of my pdfs.
ReplyDeleteThere just doesn't seem to be much value for me in this. I don't begrudge anyone that would happily put money into this, but I figure the same people that enjoy this type of game would be better served by supporting new products.
Here was the my comment on the Facebook page where they announced the "white box" release:
ReplyDeleteHow 'bout making the original texts available as .pdfs? I ain't paying $150 for a pretty box and new cover art. I still have my original white box (with original TSR pricelist and dice) and Eldritch Wizardry... just need the other three supplements. I don't collect stuff to sit on a shelf, I need the supps for my OD&D campaign!
I haven't found them as .pdfs!
This obsession with rereleases interests me. Why do we need this, and after so many years? After the past few years especially. It's not even an entirely faithful rerelease to judge by the box, the covers and the dice. It almost makes me think there might be a deep-seated game product fetishism going on out there.
ReplyDeleteSurely OD&D is alive and being remade every day in the world it changed, not least in the materials you've listed in the post. Personally, this particular idea makes me think of a corpse made up for a fine-looking casket.
If people were lining up to drop $100, $150, and more on a new Ogre edition (that many buyers already own in spades), it's hard to imagine WotC not getting on the band wagon, too.
ReplyDeleteWow. You would rather buy my book than the OD&D! I am flattered, floored even!
ReplyDeleteAnd you are right a 150 bucks will buy a lot of games from people who would appreciate each and every sale more that WotC could.
But that Wood Grain looking box is soooo nice looking. Call me a heretic.
I can't argue with your choices of what you would like to buy.
The Teratic Tome is nice.
Well, the fascination with the reprints is at least partly in response to being repeatedly told by the OSR market that they want WotC to support the old products with re-releases. WotC is sort of asking if people are just blowing smoke when they've been wanting them reissued.
ReplyDeleteSure they are looking to make some money off it but they are doing what people have been asking for. These fancy re-releases, and the RPGNOW store for PDFs that is expanding as they get stuff ready for it...
Rainbows and bunnies IF YOU'RE LUCKY, Tim.
ReplyDeleteAnd I couldn't agree more. I'm not sure I could think of a gaming product I'd buy "just to have" and not game with it. What use is it if I don't use it? And for $150? I'll join in the chorus that says, "There are others out there who need the money more and would appreciate it a heck of a lot more than WotC would."
Boric: Hahahahahahahaha.
ReplyDeleteIf you are couponing, $150 buys you almost a month's worth of groceries for two. Or, if you are the husband of a couponer, you can buy almost half of a really sweet Bose sound system for your computer.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any problem with WotC doing this, but I won't be among the buyers. I have too many other "I want" items on my list.