Now that I've wiped the sprayed coffee off of my monitor, let me thank you for that light ending to a serious discussion!
I do just want to put my two cents worth on the whole buy it whether you want it or not discussion. I agree that it makes no sense to just blindly buy anything. However, it is also true that Hero Wars is never apt to sell in the quantities to make the core books much of a cash cow (maybe they'll achieve cash sheep level?). Therefore they do need each supplement to sell well, not just to sell off most of the print run, but to generate good sized orders from distributors and stores for the next book. The faster they sell the books, the sooner they can print the next one, the sooner you see what you want.....presuming of course, they don't exceed the customer's ability to afford all the books.
So look at the cost another way: most of the books cost between two and three times what a paperback novel costs, and less than a hard back novel. You know what? If you enjoy the world of Glorantha, these books make a pretty good read, and generally rewards re-reading multiple times. So in sheer reading value these books are a decent deal, before you even look at the gaming value.
At least, that is how I've justified buying all but one of the books so far (and I'll fill in the missing book sooner or later, when circumstances permit). You see, I haven't even played the game yet, and have no prospects of playing it any time soon. My friends got too tied up with the rest of life to sustain RPG-ing a while ago. They are still my friends, and occupy my limitted social time, so I can't really fit in joining some other campaign easily. So really, I'm buying these books to enjoy reading them, and in hopes that it helps Issaries keep publishing new and ever better product (and the product has been steadily improving!) that someone else is enjoying using. Call it community worship maybe?
--Bryan
Powered by hypermail