Are we the grognards?

[horati0nosebl0wer 19645xp 1]

@pagan8th I had a laugh thinking of all the “historical gentleman’s publications” that are no longer in existence and thinking the sudden value of certain hordes that have been collected.

Damn, the Gutenberg Bible will be in danger like it was in The Day After Tomorrow. Thankfully we have minis and physical game books.

[wolfie65Participant 1238xp 1]

I can only reiterate that I am very glad to have bought what I did when I did, some of these books and minis now go for prices that are beyond the stratosphere – if you can find them at all. Even fairly recent Back Library novels are now being sold for 3 times their original price or more ,and that’s on Thriftbooks, who knows what they go for on places like Fleabay…..

[wolfie65Participant 1238xp 0]

‘Credit’ and ‘loans’ are traps, basically just usury by another name, and your mom was perfectly right to be very wary of it.

I have never bought anything on credit – not even my home – or made payments on anything – not even the various cars I’ve owned. If I can’t buy it outright, I don’t buy it, whatever it is.

I think it is horribly unfortunate that there isn’t a good alternative to banks – which are pretty much the epitome of evil – and suspect that grandma may have been ontop something when she kept her savings in a pickle jar under the sink…..

[pagan8thParticipant 10863xp 0]

@horati0nosebl0wer I was referring to my treasured rpg books and the collection of Dungeon and Dragon magazines from the good old days when Paizo was producing it…

Clearly your ‘stash’ is more… titilating!

[frankeleeParticipant 1364xp 0]

I think a library of PDFs is a lot easier to handle than a library of gaming books when you’re walking around town. But companies of any kind, and gaming companies are certainly no exception, should not be looked to for lessons in how the world works or how the future will work. Because they don’t have any idea. I’m not that young, but I’m young enough that video games have been around my whole life. It makes me chuckle to think these companies are just now deciding they can get rich turning everything they make into a video game. Or that the future is everyone sitting around alone in front of their computer paying them microtransactions.

Books will still be purchased, people will still go over to each other’s houses, activities not involving a computer will still be done. And WotC will learn the hard way. Their VTT is guaranteed to be a boondoggle. If WotC’s CEO thinks the brand is under-monetized, they’re about to find out that charging a few tens of thousands of people five or ten dollars a month isn’t the answer. And just wait till all those people find out about Deathtrap Dungeon, and switch over to that instead. And as far as their physical and digital book sales, yeah digital should be an option, but if they’re not making money in physical books, the problem is they put out books like Spelljammer and Journey to the Radiant Citadel. It’s got nothing to do with paper and ink.

[wolfie65Participant 1238xp 0]

Making money with physical books is greatly hampered by the fact that physiacal bookstores are getting harder and harder to find,  the ones that still exist are getting smaller and smaller and carry less and less stuff.

All part of the plan to push EVERYTHING into cyberspace, making it that much more easily controllable, changeable and deleteable….

Video games have existed your entire life ?

I feel sorry for you. No joke.

[frankeleeParticipant 1364xp 0]

When you mention them pushing everything into cyberspace I’m reminded of a quote about the comic book industry, I will paraphrase, “Digital comics are just a gateway into pirating digital comics.” Most of my media collection is digital, it’s just in MP3s and MP4s. Though what’s interesting is, it’s never been easier to sell a physical book, because Amazon will print them on demand. Full color and everything. That probably isn’t what WotC wants though.

And yup, video games have been around my whole life. I missed Kennedy getting shot, the moon landing, Watergate, all that. Nothing that could be helped.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19645xp 0]

Physical media is difficult to move and store. With, as @blinky465 put it, “people going about like they rent the place”, it’s difficult to even have space for the actual stuff. My stash of hardcovers aside @pagan8th (I go for fancy/highbrow publications ?) the numerous moves I’ve had has given me experience to say this hobby does need firm roots.

As it was pointed out there is no replacing the personal experience and presence in gaming space. It just seems that the business of business gets in the way of having fun with real people.

[wolfie65Participant 1238xp 0]

Physical things are difficult to move and store – true. Which also makes them difficult to remove from your possession, unlike digital/virtual ‘things’, which can be altered or disappeared without a trace at the touch of a button, remotely, and without your  knowledge. Physiv]cal things also do not require an elaborate infrastructure- electricity, power grid, internet, et.al. to work or to even exist. You could, theoretically, play with your miniatures, rulebooks and dice in an off-grid cabin in the woods by day- or candlelight.

Replacing the personal experience with a totally atomized society of rootless, unconnected individuals dependent on aforementioned infrastructure for even the most basic interactions is precisely what the Powers That Shouldn’t Be have in mind….. The past 3 years have given us proof positive of that, if any doubt existed theretofore.

[wolfie65Participant 1238xp 0]

@frankelee – You missed alot more than that, the 80s, for example. In hobby terms, you missed the days before GW and Citadel became one, before you had to use miniatures from a certain company to play game X, maybe even before black primer…. You missed being able to walk into a game store filled wall to wall with games and minis from many different companies, tables et up in the middle and lots of people playing on Saturday afternoon. Today’s game stores – if you can even find one that exists in real, physical meat space – are empty wastelands compared to what they used to be.

As for selling a physical book on SlimeAzon, they are very gung-ho about BANNING or removing books that do not fit into their agenda…..

[blinky465 17028xp 1]

I’m not entirely comfortable with even engaging with the whole conspiracy theory thing – and the lack of responses to address this directly in earlier posts suggest others may not be either. But here’s an alternative thought – maybe it’s just money?

[sundancer 42972xp 0]

@blinky465 yes. Especially the bits you edited out (or that OTT ate. They still showed up in the email notification)

[blinky465 17028xp 0]

Yeah. I edited it. We’re straying into arguing about beliefs when you start banging on about conspiracies.

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 0]

I prefer PDF’s for scenarios, since I can print only what I need for the session. If I might need the entire book (eg. Player’s Handbook), I certainly prefer hardcopy. I don’t bring along a tablet because of replacement costs and I definitely do not bring anything beyond my wallet that could be a security problem (eg. apps to my bank) out of the house.

Anyway, given that KS physical product is MUCH riskier and more expensive than PDF’s, yes, many hobbyists want something tangible. You’ll even see those who take a digital product and go through the trouble of making a coffee-table book, or publisher quality game, even if the extra expense would be negated by gaming wear and tear (not that anyone games with gaming products anymore).

I’d go even further and ask why everything’s a *bleeping* hardback with fancy artwork, when D&D worked just fine with random fantasy b&w sketches. Osprey Game’s blue book line at least goes against the expensive book direction. Have some thoughts on today’s overproduced miniatures, but that’s also straying too far… 😛

[sundancer 42972xp 0]

Every format has it’s perks

• Hardback for collection
• Paperback for playing and flipping through
• digital to print “consumables” like character sheets

Doing layout for all three is almost the same (not counting cover) and that’s almost 100% done digitally.

Create digitally, sell physically!

[Author]

Posts