Why Haven’t I Bought The Dresden Files RPG Yet?
This is just an observation I have made about a change in what I want from an RPG.
When I look at either of the Dresden Files RPG books I must admit that the layouts and the books as a whole are beautiful. Each book is obviously a product crafted with the utmost attention to detail and to quality. The reviews for the game have been spectacular. There are a lot of reasons to buy these books.
Yet there are two reasons why I do not buy the books: price and size. The books are more than what I usually spend on an RPG, and I am not interested in reading a 400 page plus and 270 page plus set of RPG books. I am fine with reading novels of those page counts or much higher, but with an RPG I just lose interest nowadays when the product is much more than one hundred pages.
Now before I go any further I want to make something clear – I am not saying that these are problems with the books. I am saying that these are the two reasons that I have not bought the books myself. I have just not been convinced as a consumer to buy, because I am becoming a fan of the many cheaper RPG products with shorter page counts.
Which is really odd to me. As I mentioned already I enjoy novels with page counts much greater than these two books combined. I can easily afford to buy both of these books (very easily since I only buy RPGs in PDF form these days and those are considerably less money).
I think that the main reason for this is that having spent over one hundred dollars on the three core books for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition and having slowly lost interest in that game since its release that I have just had a shift in my personal tastes for RPGs.
Have others had a similar reaction? I am going to check out the Core Fate rules once they are released, and I still buy other products from Evil Hat, but is the era of expensive (relative to the cost of other RPGs currently available) and large page count RPGs over? I look at more and more books on the shelves of my local game shop that are large hardcover books and I just pass them over. Instead I want smaller cheaper books, like the many products available for the Savage Worlds system.
Is the future of RPGs short digest format books, or more likely PDFs, for a low price point? I still see lots of big hardcover books selling for $30 or more out there, but I just no longer feel the desire to own them even when they impress me.
I haven’t bought it because I’m haven’t read any of the Dresden Files, besides watching the TV show, which had potential but initially sucked but had improved by the end. A case of too little too late.
I’m also not a fan of licensed RPGs in general. They don’t appeal, even if I love the original source material.
But to answer your point, very large page counts are really off putting, particularly if someone is trying to get you to play it and you haven’t read it. But if the writing is good and I’m really into the premise of the setting, and I’m reading it for the sake of reading, rather than playing, then it’s not so much of a disincentive.
For me the price to buy into a new game is a major factor. I like to play a lot of games, and am willing to try many games, so I am more attracted to a game that has a low price point, for getting started. If I like the game, I will buy the supplements.
In terms of Dresden Files, I think the rule books are great, and if you are a DF fan and role player those books are a home run. For me, I am new DF fan, and one that has not really read anything but the first book. For me, to buy both books in print, is more than I am willing to put out for a game that I am trying to start.
Now I would get the PDF’s and work from the electronic copy to get started. If I liked the game, then I would be interested in picking up the dead tree books after I established a game.
Mark Cunningham – The licensed property part of the equation has never been a factor for me. I neither buy nor avoid an RPG because it is a licensed property. That said, the fans of Dresden Files like how the RPG is true to the licensed property. I’ve read some of the books but not all, and I have not read the DFRPG so I can’t comment on how accurate that is. But to me that is another plus for the product – it meets the expectations of the DF fans, and possibly surpasses them. More of a reason to buy, because you know what you will be getting.
DNAphil – The price is one of the things holding me back as well. I often find great games on DriveThruRPG.com for less than what DFRPG costs, including other Evil Hat titles. Yet you get more content out of DFRPG, so is the price too high? I don’t think so.
It is that combination of price, page count, and my changing preferences that keep me from buying the product despite eying those books every time I enter my FLGS. Maybe it is because I have kids now and less time for RPG reading, or maybe it is just a phase (“I’ve had pizza every other day for a week. I need a break. Even though that pizza looks really good.”).
So to be perfectly clear once again, since this article seems to be getting more attention than I thought it would (I think a whopping 5 people read my blog), the issue here is not with the product but with me and my changing tastes in products.
To expand on my initial comments:
1. I don’t think Licensed RPGs are bad or low quality. I’ve just never been drawn to them. Call it a personal quirk, not a judgement on licensed rpgs. A few people have told me how they love such and such property-based RPG, so it’s only my personal opinion here. I’d rather RPG settings inspired by properties but are original in their own right. This does not mean I think the Dresden Files RPG is therefore a crap RPG at all.
2. What I’ve read on the Dresden files RPG hasn’t excited me to want to go out and get it or read the novels. For the record I own Spirit of the Century and Don’t Rest Your Head. I don’t doubt the RPG is of excellent quality. But I like what I like.
My opinion should be not seen to be slamming on the works of the people behind the RPG or on the Dresden Files books themselves. I apologise if that’s what came across.
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