My latest haul...

I don't mind saying, one of the reasons I am an oldskool gamer is because I'm cheap. One of the great things about older games is that they can now be readily found in used bookstores, on Amazon and eBay, etc. for very reasonable prices. Here's a veritable shitload of CoC stuff I picked up from my local Half-Price Books the other day.


Note the vintage copies of Shadows of Yog-Sothoth and Nightmare in Norway (both $5.98). I have lots others, all picked up on the cheap. Just the other day I also got a copy of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia for $12 and the Delta Green: Countdown sourcebook for about $20. Indeed, I love not only finding a good copy of an old gaming book I've been looking for but also getting a bargain on it, it's fun.

My point here is that you can get quality gaming material at reasonable prices for relatively little effort. Compare that to outfitting oneself with the latest edition of WotC's transmogrified D&D. Their hardback books start retailing at $35 and go up from there. Now the print quality is definitely good (the content quality another matter entirely), but really, there is just no way I would shell out that kind of cash for a new game book, sorry. I know some people will, but I would guess they are a minority. I know it is a different time now but when I first got into gaming new game books went for about $20, $25 tops, and sourcebooks about half that.

One of the interesting things about this hobby is that the game itself is largely unaffected by advancements in technology in recent years. While the internet has allowed us innumerable ways to support and feed into our habit via forums, webstores and blogs like this one, playing the game itself is still a matter of gathering your friends and sitting down with dice, paper and pencils. This is why games that came out 20 or 30 years ago still hold up just fine. This is in stark contrast to other areas of gaming and entertainment in general, such as video games. What this means is that if a company like WotC wants to put out a compelling product it really comes down to the strength of the writing and game design - areas in which they frankly have failed to meet much less exceed our beloved games of yore.

1 comment:

HalexB said...

I agree that the game is not affected by technology. I recently acquired the three AD&D 1st ed. books (Players, Dungeon Master and Monsters Manual) and they hold up quite well today. I don't know if price was equivalent, given the vagaries of inflation and all.