tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post879865785841847491..comments2024-03-02T02:38:54.061-06:00Comments on The Sandbox of Doom: Cold Hard FactsVictor Raymondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05928494560036528653noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post-60047792897514242252010-03-11T13:42:53.434-06:002010-03-11T13:42:53.434-06:00Robert - somewhere between 5 and 10 cents a sheet ...Robert - somewhere between 5 and 10 cents a sheet would be about right. It's not just the toner, it is also the replacement cost of the printer itself, plus maintenance, if any.Victor Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05928494560036528653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post-8307135406522558152010-03-10T10:08:15.761-06:002010-03-10T10:08:15.761-06:00Great post!
Labyrinth Lord is $17 through Amazon....Great post!<br /><br /><i>Labyrinth Lord</i> is $17 through Amazon. $22 through Lulu. (I didn’t check the price at my FLGS.) Still, that doesn’t seem to be too bad, and it is on shelves. Maybe not as many as Wizards can claim, but... <i>shrug</i><br /><br />Not to mention free for the PDF. Oh, yes, you have to have a computer, Internet connection, etc., but those costs are spread across much more than just this hobby. And you know what? You don’t <em>have</em> to read that PDF on your computer. You can actually <em>print</em> it out and get all the benefits of a paper copy.<br /><br />(Anybody have a good figure for the average cost per page of printing at home?)Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16733274876782876659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post-57659787168397516362010-03-09T08:20:18.956-06:002010-03-09T08:20:18.956-06:00"The actual cost of entry for D&D4 (at le..."The actual cost of entry for D&D4 (at least from a player point of view..)...."<br /><br />By that standard, that was the same for 1974 - players didn't need anything other than dice and a 3x5 card (that was their "character builder").<br /><br />"Buying all of the books is expensive, yes. The cost of staying around is either buying the books or subscribing or both, but in both cases, it's completely separate from what you need to play."<br /><br />Well, no, it's not. People did exactly what you suggest back in 1974, too. They borrowed the booklets from a friend, read 'em, and then came up with their own game - that's how <i>Tunnels & Trolls</i> got written, roughly speaking.<br /><br />Here's another way of looking at it. In today's litigious gaming environment, in order to be "sure" about something, you need the game rules in order to play. Those rules come in the form of a set of reference books. If someone is going to dispute something with a player or referee, you are going to want the reference works as a touchstone for surety. Those cost money.<br /><br />Here's <b>another</b> way of looking at it: a subscription to DDI isn't "free" - you need to have a computer or access to another computer in order to get at it. And while, yes indeed, many more households have computers, not all do, and not all have internet access, and not all of them are available to teens for access to DDI. As economists talk about this stuff, there is a real <i>opportunity cost</i> which cannot be discounted. If anything, I'll side with JoetheLawyer in his assessment of DDI making the initial threshold higher, not lower.Victor Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05928494560036528653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post-3247663531410191222010-03-09T07:52:38.416-06:002010-03-09T07:52:38.416-06:00It's a far, far lower barrier than you might t...It's a far, far lower barrier than you might think. Show up to your local gamestore on Living Realms night and you'll see. <br /><br />The actual cost of entry for D&D4 (at least from a player point of view..) is *free*.. you download the character builder. It works up to the 3rd level. <br /><br />Only DMs "really" need all the books, I would say, but even just a single month of DDI (about $10, and simply canceling/not renewing) gets them a full version of the character builder and the monsters builder, and just with those two tools they can create adventures until doomsday. That's with no books. Yes, you can just use DDI and not buy a single book. <br /><br />Buying all of the books is expensive, yes. The cost of staying around is either buying the books or subscribing or both, but in both cases, it's completely separate from what you need to play. <br /><br />The hidden costs you don't mention are for miniatures (or tokens), a battlemat, and markers. 4th Edition DMs don't really haul around books so much anymore, but they still carry this stuff wherever they go.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post-6211096767089459522010-03-09T01:34:04.843-06:002010-03-09T01:34:04.843-06:00Norman - while technically true, there is a distin...Norman - while technically true, there is a distinct and valuable role for having a visible product available on the store shelf. You don't need an interface to read it, besides the Mk. I Eyeball. You can take it with you anywhere, and it's a surprisingly non-volatile memory storage device. ;)Victor Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05928494560036528653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post-82677896631917116472010-03-08T23:34:25.271-06:002010-03-08T23:34:25.271-06:00Thanks to Internet (and cheap printing if you feel...Thanks to Internet (and cheap printing if you feel need to kill trees) it is easier now than ever to get into RPGs.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thefreerpgblog.com/" rel="nofollow">Free RPG Blog</a>Norman J. Harman Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01319655075997712313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post-41224142594953589152010-03-08T19:49:27.714-06:002010-03-08T19:49:27.714-06:00If anything, what that suggests is that the functi...If anything, what that suggests is that the functional cost of entry was <b>lower</b> than $10. At 3 cents a copy for 70 copies, that would make the price about $2 for a pirated game. Factor in the cost of the original set to be copied, and we're looking at $4 a copy - more of an argument for a decent $10 or $20 RPG today, or so it seems to me.Victor Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05928494560036528653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5391338032578456039.post-18842710449140700572010-03-08T16:58:37.222-06:002010-03-08T16:58:37.222-06:00From what I understand, in 1974 it was more of a c...From what I understand, in 1974 it was more of a college boom thing, and with the advent of the early photocopiers being more readily available to students, many people didn't end up buying the game. They just copied the relatively small booklets. Now, with a DDI subscription being almost mandatory if you play 4e, it makes it harder to just pick up a book and play the game, financial threshld or not. It seems there is more of a barrier to entry.Joethelawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00380090049725742287noreply@blogger.com