Travellers Needed - The Future of Traveller

[MongooseMatt]

if a $50 print product has an effective cost of printing of $5 per copy, I don't consider more than $45 for the PDF (and no printed edition) to be fair.

We already do this - there is an effective 40% 'discount' on PDF books, so that $49.99 hardback would be $29.99 as PDF...

 

[Sigtrygg]

The cost of pdfs comes up a lot, remember if you buy the book you get the pdf for free.

Now imagine only the pdf were offered for sale - you would still have
author costs
art costs
layout costs
editing costs
formatting costs
then there are utility bills, employment taxes, corporation taxes and all sorts of overheads.

So the pdf alone needs to cover these costs.

The price to actually print the book is not all that great compared with the above costs. As I often say, the artist must eat too.

What I would like to see is a discount for buying the book if I have already bought the pdf.

 

[tytalan]

What I would like to see henceforth - but don't know if it's economically viable from Mongoose's point of view:

1. A "harder" separation of rules from setting. A setting book should, IMO, not contain any new rules, and a rulebook should not discuss setting-related matters. Adventures and Career books might be somewhere that "fuzzes the line" a little - but only as little as possible.
2. Lower pricing on PDFs vs paper. I don't know exactly how much it costs to print, but charging a PDF buyer for printing costs seems a little unfair. Admittedly, if I pay the cost for paper, I generally can get the PDF at no additional charge (Bits and Mortar - and it would be nice if this could integrate with my DTRPG account, so that a B&M PDF shows up in my DTRPG account) - but the reverse is not true. Baen Books, a publisher of fantasy and SF (and more known for the latter), sets the e-book price based on what the currently-available print edition is - not on the price, but on the format: if Baen releases Eye of Argon in hardbound, their e-book price would be $9.99; if in trade paperbound, the e-book would be $7.99, and if in mass-market paperbound, the e-book is $6.99. I don't necessarily expect that kind of sizeable discount for gaming materials, but if a $50 print product has an effective cost of printing of $5 per copy, I don't consider more than $45 for the PDF (and no printed edition) to be fair. I don't begrudge a content creator legitimate profit from their work - which is why I don't expect a $50 rulebook to be sold for $10 in PDF; all of the same editing and graphic design work has to go into the PDF as into the print edition - but I question whether profit derived from attributing printing costs to the PDF product should be considered "legitimate".

1. Generally as Matt has stated these rules are specifically for the supplement so this doesn’t work. The more general rules are in the rule books but you’re going to have setting specific rules and adventure specific rules. If you have ship rules that are specifically for Hivers it makes no sense and confuses things to put it in a general rule book instead of a supplement
2. PDF are cheaper for example Clans of the Aslan is 49.99$ for the book and 29.99$ for the PDF. There’s a cost in making the supplement that has to be covered and the PDF has to share in that cost just like the printed book.

 

[MasterGwydion]

1. Generally as Matt has stated these rules are specifically for the supplement so this doesn’t work. The more general rules are in the rule books but you’re going to have setting specific rules and adventure specific rules. If you have ship rules that are specifically for Hivers it makes no sense and confuses things to put it in a general rule book instead of a supplement
2. PDF are cheaper for example Clans of the Aslan is 49.99$ for the book and 29.99$ for the PDF. There’s a cost in making the supplement that has to be covered and the PDF has to share in that cost just like the printed book.

1. If you have to create specific rules just so your adventure works, then don't publish it. Just play it at your table. Leave the house rules at home. This is even more true when the rules already have what the author wants and they just make up a new rule anyhow. The Low-Emission Drive being just one example.
2. Actually, I am surprised that the PDF is that cheap compared to the physical book.

 

[Condottiere]

Physics isn't fantasy magic.

At least, I don't think so.

So, what's sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander.

 

[OriginalCaruso]

If only Mongoose sold popcorn and beer…

 

[FreeTrav]

We already do this - there is an effective 40% 'discount' on PDF books, so that $49.99 hardback would be $29.99 as PDF...

I'll have to take another look at both DTRPG and Mongoose's own store - my brain is currently insisting that the print and PDF prices have been The Same Blasted Amount...

 

[tytalan]

I'll have to take another look at both DTRPG and Mongoose's own store - my brain is currently insisting that the print and PDF prices have been The Same Blasted Amount...

DTRPG Highguard PDF $30, Mongoose Highguard book $59.99 PDF $30

 

[Vormaerin]

I'll have to take another look at both DTRPG and Mongoose's own store - my brain is currently insisting that the print and PDF prices have been The Same Blasted Amount...

Well, that explains why I had no idea what your complaint was based on.