Glorantha and RuneQuest Companion Previews
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
That would certainly be nice, but I would be satisfied with the pdf being cheap for those who already own the book - like maybe $5. I don't want to basically pay full (or nearly full) price for the same product in two formats.Rurik said:
Still, I guess you can't please everyone. One person's "reasonable" is certain to be another person's "impossible to afford", and Mongoose would be foolish to set their price to anything less than whatever they think will earn them the most profit in the long run. The struggle to figure out exactly what that price should be is why I would love to be in the crystal ball business.
atgxtg said:Rurik said:
Entitled to? No. Would like to see it that way? Certainly. Expect to see? No.
Nice try though.
I don't expect it. But it sure boils me to have to pay for a publication I own a second time, or have to scan it, OCR it, and add a TOC just to have an electronic copy (granted most game PDFs you buy don't have electronic TOCs anyway, but that is a different rant, it is not like it's that hard to do).
I would gladly pay a reduced charge, as kpmcdona suggested.
And yes, Storm Bull has been changed to Storm Mongoose as a form of corporate branding. I'm not sure if that is "Gregging" or "Matting". The cult is now dedicated to the eradication of snakes instead of chaos. Don't even get me started on the Rikki Tikki Tavi subcult....
Rurik said:
No!!!?
Are you suggesting that each poorly paid artist and writer (those jobs are hard enough slogs even when not limited to the RPG market!) should give up a small piece of their income because you proudly bought one copy of their book? That's pretty cheeky!
I'm surprised that Mongoose even offers a PDF since they can't control the number of copies people will print and distribute to their friends, cutting into their bottom line. You should be thankful you can even purchase a PDF at all.
If you want Mongoose, or anybody, to continue to produce quality material for you, you should be prepared to pony up for each copy that you get. These people aren't rock stars, you know. :wink:
Cobra
Cobra said:
I'm not surprised. Printing off PDFs for your friends isn't cost effective. TO print off something like the RQ core book and hacve it sprial bound with a cover at a place like Kinkos will probably cost over $20 US. It's better just to buy the hardcover. Printing something that is in color, like the Glorantha book, actually costs more in PDF form than to buy the hardcover. A printer chared $1 a page, so the Glorantha book @160 pages would end up costing over $160 to get printed.
Printing a home is cheaper, but not very. After adding in the costs for ink and paper, factoring in waer & tear on your printer, computer time, printing errors, book binder & equipment-the hardcopy still works out as more cost effective.
The PDF's are great through for porting along to your gaming sessions. In most cases I'd much rather bring my 2 pound U-70 to a freinds house than a half dozen RPG books.
But, since the SRD is supposed to be avaliable, I suspect it can answer mnost of the game mechanics questions that come up.
Cobra said:
Talk about cheeky! I take a bit of offense at your suggestion I am trying to cheat an artist out of being paid for their work.
First off, the fake rant tags were supposed to indicate a bit of hysteria, as rants tend to have. I have stated prior to your post that I would gladly pay a reasonable fee for an electronic copy if I buy the printed ones. What bugs me is paying $25 dollars for a PDF of a book I just spent $35 dollars on.
I own a lot of MP3's and WMA's and have paid for them all (excepting ones that were distributed as free) though it would be easy to have all of them for free. I sometimes get the CD for albums I really like after getting them electronically. I do not believe in ripping off anyone for their hard work.
atgxtg is right - it is not cost effective to print PDFs. It is cheaper to go to the local Kinko's or Staples and pay 3 cents a page to photocopy a book than it is to print most of them out on an ink-jet. I don't want PDFs to distribute, I want them so I can work on a game on my computer and not have to spread countless volumes around. I want them so I can have them when I'm travelling for work. Finally, they are text-freakin-searchable, which is huge.
When a company sells a PDF file the profits are typically higher than a published version because once the finished product is printer ready it costs them virtually NOTHING to make a PDF (especially because most of them don't even take the five minutes to make a real TOC).
And finally, I actually am entitled to a free copy. I can make as many copies as I want as long as I do not profit from them. It is my right by law to make back up copies of any intellectual property I buy for my personal use. The publisher does not have to provide me that copy, but I can photocopy it, or scan it, OCR it and give it a TOC if I want. I usually just pay for a copy though, because it is easier. And I'm sure the publishers and authors all hate me for it.
There. Rant off.
Cobra said:
I believe those "poorly paid" artitis and wrtiers are not working on commsion, etierh. They are paid a fee to produce the product. So even if we all went out and bougth 100 copies each of an RPG it wouldn't mean 100 times the pay for the artitis and wrtiers. 100 times the profits for you local store, thier distrubutor, and so un up the chain to Mongoose.
Dead Blue Clown
Mongoose
atgxtg said:
Not that I'm getting involved in the overall debate; I'm just curious about one thing. Are you putting "poorly paid" in quotation marks because it's a direct quote, or a quote you don't lend much credence to?
B_Steele
Mongoose
That would be awesome.
However, we get a normal salary like anyone else punching a clock. The difference is that when our books do well we can sometimes win awards and stuff, which always helps to keep us employed for a long, long time.
But, as a writer/designer, I do not fear the pdf craze. Actually, we sell alot of pdfs to people who just don't want to shell out for shipping, or use their laptops as their bag of books, so to speak. Me personally, I like having a shelf full of hard copies, but to each their own...y'know?
Well, back to the project at hand (which I feel all of ya's are gonna love!)...
Cheers all,
Bry
Mongoose Steele said:
While most staff writers are on salary, I have always assumed the "major authors" (not to belittle staff writers - you guys are the backbone of many companies)) get some form of royalties, such as Robin Laws on the Glorantha book.
Mongoose Steele said:
My whole point is I like both. Hard copies (at least of rules and supplements like equipment guides) are better for actually playing, and I would much rather lay in bed and read a printed book than stare at a screen. But PDF's are great for developing material, and so that I can take all my books with me when I am travelling.
Mongoose Steele said:
Can't wait!
Dead Blue Clown said:
Mostly to emphasize that it is a direct quote. Partially to draw attention to the fact that RPG artitis and writers usually work for a set fee or are on salary (rarely), not comission. SO if a book sells 1 copy or 1 million the writers' and artists' still get paid the same amount.
Of course if something sells a million copies (!!!!!!!!) the company would in all probability rehire those same artitis and writers to make more books, and probably at a raise (rise).
IMO, the term "poorly paid" is, if anything, and understatement. On a money per hour basis more RPG creators don't make minimum wage. It's not something you do to get rich.
