Quote:
Originally Posted by Pollution
As to the major complaint I see from other gamers where HL and RW is concerned (the cost), I usually respond with, "Yeah, I paid $60 for RW. And I've used it in games for about 40 hours so far. I'll continue using it for the next XXX years. The cost will come to about $0.01 or less an hour in the end. If you don't have $60 for Realm Works, don't buy the new Xbox game, or don't go to your bi-weekly trip to play a LARP in Chicago ONCE."
As far as HL goes...Okay, I'm about $200 in at this point I think.... But it's SOOOOO DAMNED convenient and it works well. Could you guys charge less? maybe, but I doubt that you'd be able to have a staff if you did.
I feel like your pricing model is fair at this point. I've put in my own version of Gun H(3)aven 3 into HL for SR 4. I'm a Technical Writer by trade. I do that kind of stuff all the time. It took a few hours total to get the whole book in. And that's not doing it in any difficult manner, that's copying a like-type weapon and making the adjustments. So my own value on what the development for that user mod took was about $100 (by my current pay rate per hour). And you're selling it for what? $5.00? $10.00? And, unless I'm mistaken, it's coming with other products as well? Or as part of a package?
People need to get over the cost of LW products. It's cheap compared to other solutions, and less time intensive as a result of use. People have no issues ploping down $20 for a sourcebook they'll never use (I'm looking at my copy of WW's Blood Dimmed Tides as I type this) but they complain about a software package that makes running and playing games easier for EVERY system that costs less than a core book? Or the same price as one?
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I see this as well, was even a issue and still is for one member of my group moving to HL. The cost. Yet he owns every book? He gets rather annoyed when I point out buying HL is cheaper than the books, and its way more useful.
The cost of RW though is alot more difficult to quanitfy, for me, a person building a new campaign within a new game world under my own unique IP? RW is cheap, dirt cheap. It replaces reems of printed paper, binders and binders of info, and better yet? supports me using HL for encounters.
The problem with most people is they have trouble with value vs $$ cost, RW is not cheap if you pay 60 bucks and have to manually put in every module by hand, do achieve what you already have in booklet form. However thats not its intended market atm, RW market for now is me, and everyone like me who is building custom campaigns, even in preset worlds like FR. For me the value is easily reconsciled.
HeroLab seems expensive to any gamer who has already purchased every book, or most books. This I do understand, I have two books shelves and about 6 boxes dedicated to RPG books and accessories ranging from D&D Basic to 3.5 and Pathfinder. It is expensive to own all the books and then buy all the HL add-ons. For new players I have been advising they buy HL and the PDF from Paizo, thats the best of both worlds, and over time cheaper than all the books in real print.
HeroLab's value is much easier to show off and explain then RW to average gamer, one look at how great your char sheet is, how cool it looks after mounts, hirelings, henchmen, or pets, and everyone wants it. 6 of our 7 man group went from The Only Sheet to HeroLab within 4 months of our first player buying it. Best feature of HL? you can buy what you need, leaving what you do not need for another time. I cannot stress how great being able to buy what you need as a player for HL is, this allows you to "stretch" the cost over a great deal of time. I stretched mine over many pay cheques, to now I own it all and buy the new releases as they come. Bieng able to do this was instrumental in my buying into it, I am not Donald trump.
HeroLab and Realm Works are not by any means over priced, when you consider the value these products bring to their perspective markets, actually they are cheap really in the logn run. Once the market place opens up and we hopefuly begin to see things like Kingmaker, or RoTRL adventure series in RW format? I think its market place will expand greatly, I would love to see Paizo add this as a buyable add on to every module and series they release.