Post originally by Buzz at 2005-03-08 06:05:09
Converted from Phorums BB System

<i>Do I believe that they should have done it in PDF? Perhaps. I do know that it would cost more to buy the PDF and to have it printed up in this manner than it would have to just buy the monograph.</i>

Well, sans binding, it costs about 16 cents per double-sided, B&W page. For one monograph, that's about $5. Add staple, comb, or spiral binding, and it's still likely less than what Chaosium charges for the monographs. Add in the likely cost of a PDF version, and you're at about the same price point, but with the added value of the PDF format and with the option to not pay to print it out (either using it on-screen only, or printing it yourself, or printing it at work, etc.), thereby making it cheaper, and giving people more of an incentive to buy it.

<i>You could of course print it out yourself, but not everyone wants to do that. I have PDF copies of more than a few items, and refuse to waste my ink printing them out, and refuse to spend the money to have them done at a Staples or Kinko's.</i>

Well, your refusal is your choice. I'm not sure I see the difference between spending the ink/Kinko's and paying big money for tape-bound photocopies.

<i>However, I love the Basic Roleplaying game mechanics, and bought these because I want this game in print.</i>

I'd like to see it in print as well. However, I don't know if I want to pay $15 for small, photocopied sections of an RPG that I can get whole (in the form of RQ3) on eBay for $5. If they would actually prouce a quality FRPG product, I would be interested. Business 101: You gotta spend money to make money.

Given that there's really no development invovled in this "placeholder" product, I would think that it would be far more cost-effective to produce a single "Fantasy BRP" PDF package and sell it for $5-$10. I just can't see how the added hassle of printing and shipping photocopied monographs set at a generally unattractive price point is somehow a better decision, business-wise.

Sure, the PDF market is choked with chaff. However, those companies with good products and a marketable name (e.g., Malhavoc) make money there hand over fist. Chaosium has the name and the brand; I don't see why they continue to waste it.