blinovitch Wrote: "All of the runup to 4E seems to have been about selling not much content for a lot of money. I'm shocked WOTC thought anyone would buy those preview books, nevermind that people actually did so."
Hey! I bought those books, and the new history of the realms HC! Granted they were off Amazon and not at full price, but I guess if you are really excited about somethin... money is no object =)
Not toplay Devil's advocate, but D&D modules have always been pricey IMHO.
in 1985 I bought Modikanen's (sp?) Fantasic Adventure for 9.99 and for 1985 that was still a good amount of money. The Player Handbook was 15.00 and DMG was 20.00.
I might buy a few of these (Keep over the Shadowfell for instance), so I can see how WotC is structuring 4th edition modules.
The per-hour-of-entertainment argument certainly holds up when you compare RPGs to non-RPG activity, but when you compare the number of hours of entertainment you'll get in some way from a rulebook vs. the hours of entertainment you get from an adventure that will likely never be used again, it doesn't seem as strong.
It's probably another topic altogether but the American economy has effectively neutered my hobby dollars. I really do make a concious content versus dollar decision with every purchase as I'm just so limited and hamstrung with my spending dollars these days. I'd also be happy with modules that had production value like the old AD&D modules as I really don't need hardcovers, glossy illustrations, bells and whistles. I still think in terms of 1980's RPG prices and it seems that there's generally a trend towards higher pricing, slicker production, and less content but then again, I cherry pick my RPG stuff out at the 1/2 Price Books these days. The last RPG's I paid full price for was Roanoke and The Burning Wheel I did feel that I got my money's worth out of those twp products, though.
Having published a book before, I know that a full color book (I am assuming a bit here) is VERY expensive to produce. Interestingly per hour of entertainment, a 30 dollar adventure is relatively inexpensive.
All of the runup to 4E seems to have been about selling not much content for a lot of money. I'm shocked WOTC thought anyone would buy those preview books, nevermind that people actually did so.
I don't even consider paying full retail price for RPG stuff anymore. When I buy new things, I use discounted online retailers. When I order D&D stuff, I go through Amazon or Overstock to get a 40% discount.
If I had to buy everything at full retail price through a LGS, I don't think I'd ever be buying much of anything anymore, especially with prices like that.
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Granted they were off Amazon and not at full price, but I guess if you are really excited about somethin... money is no object =) 
For $30, the adventure should include a set of Dungeon Tiles too (which, incidentally, I love).
