I do, however, want to make note of the topic du jour: WotC is releasing a reprint of the White Box edition of D&D. It will be $150, which seems like a lot, but it is not really all that much for what you get. Also, they haven't said that Chainmail will be included, which would suck. However, take a look at the picture:
Count the books in there. I see eight. That is three original books, four supplements, and one more hidden book. Could it be Chainmail? We can only hope.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be getting this. Now to go back to watching Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, and Greyjoys fighting it out for Westeros, and the Mother of Dragons getting ready to take it all back anyway.
Here's what I posted on their Facebook page about this 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!
--
Guess I'm just a cheap SOB.
The Grey Elf over at The Wasted Lands breaks down the cost issue. Honestly, I think that the price is low enough that I would be willing to use those books at the table.
DeleteI would like to see them also available as PDFs, and I assume that they will be so released soon enough.
LOL... I looked at his "cost analysis" and while his math may be correct, the assumptions he doesn't discuss are what kills his analysis for me.
DeleteJust because WOTC is selling a wooden box doesn't mean it has anything to do with the game... in fact, it adds cost and "collector's" value, but no GAMING value at all... so cross that line item out.
Just because they want to earn more money doesn't mean I gain value from the art they want to include or the high quality paper or the new layout. I'm using my original white box to run a game right now... I neither need, nor want, nor would pay for a Collector's Edition unless I could first buy "cheap reprints" that I can use at my table... and my house is already too full of stuff I don't use on a regular basis!
Comparing the costs on a book-by-book basis doesn't make sense to me either: I bought the whitebox set for a single price that was lower than the 1e DMG and owned a complete game. TSR/WOTC broke the books out into three+ then added fluff and charged 5 times more... As a customer, I am willing to pay for what I want/need, not what they want/need to sell.
As for his analysis of what it probably cost them in labor to reproduce these books, that is utterly ludicrous. We don't go shopping with manufacturing costs in mind... it is up to the seller to minimize those costs to the point where I'm willing to buy and they can still make a profit.
Argh... didn't mean to get so ranty. His arguments just sound too much like the govt telling me it knows best for me.
Haha! That's fair enough. Each of us will be approaching this and making the decision of whether or not it is worth it to us individually. I think that it will probably be worth it to me. People who are fortunate enough to already have a copy of the seven (or eight?) booklets probably won't find it as worthwhile.
DeleteHAY GUY IN A FUNNYHAT - WOTSEE CAN EAT IT FOR ALLS I COOD CAIRN!!1 I ARE HAS MY 3LBB+GH SUPPLIMINT ALL CONSOLE-DID-ATED INTO PH AND DMG WITH MACROSAW WORD AND EL-MOAR ARTINGS PRANTED OWT IN CARDSTAWK COVER WITHA COYL BINEDINGS!!1 FECK OFFS I SAY WITH TO TRYING SALING ME SAME SAME JUNK OVER AND OVRE !!1
ReplyDelete:p
NUNYA
That is another way to look at this, indeed.
Delete