5 ms·
I wouldn't be surprised if WotC didn't actually have access to the older reference materials anyways. Stuff is lost all of the time. That said, this definitel
by dsp1234 11y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if WotC didn't actually have access to the older reference materials anyways. Stuff is lost all of the time.
That said, this definitely sounds like "We'll give you $50 bucks so that we can start reselling it since the rights are ours anyways. Thanks Chumps!"
- njharman 11y agoTSR was notorious for throwing stuff away. Like all the original artwork for many classic modules and manuals. This was also well before era of digital.
- cdr 11y agoI don't know about D&D, but Wizards keeps an incredible archive of Magic products. I would also put money on it being TSR that lost things, if in fact things were lost.
- dsp1234 11y agoI'd certainly pay quite a bit for the original drawing/painting for the Tarrasque[0] [0] - http://www.monkeyinthecage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Tarrasque.jpg http://www.monkeyinthecage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Ta...
- mcphage 11y ago> this definitely sounds like "We'll give you $50 bucks so that we can start reselling it since the rights are ours anyways. Thanks Chumps!" I dunno, how much do you think they'll make off of a random adventure from 30 years ago? More than $50, sure—but it's not like this is highway robbery.
- dsp1234 11y agoWotC owns the IP, so they could do any number of things: 1.) Make a derivative work for the new D&D version (everyone loves retro) 2.) Make a new video game off of the old content. 3.) Rerelease books are part of an XXst aniversary edition. The key here being that "they" (since it wasn't really WotC, but TSR) lost a lot of physical assets (both written and visual IP), and are basically paying pocket change for people to give that back to them. Indeed, they are even having the end user do the hardest part of the work, which is the scanning. Rather than just buying the books at market prices, and then doing the work themselves. The real question is, "Why would they ask for scans of old books and pay $50 for them", with the only commercially reasonable answer being, "Because they think that they will obtain much more that $50 woth of value, or the work required to obtain and scan it themselves is worth way more than $50".
- thaumasiotes 11y ago> The real question is, "Why would they ask for scans of old books and pay $50 for them", with the only commercially reasonable answer being, "Because they think that they will obtain much more that $50 woth of value, or the work required to obtain and scan it themselves is worth way more than $50". If you think this is a ripoff ("Thanks, chumps!"), the only possible conclusion is that any time anyone gives you money for anything, you're getting ripped off. The alternative, sane model is known as the gains from trade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gains_from_trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gains_from_trade
- prutschman 11y agoA more charitable reading is that dsp1234 thinks it's self-evident that only someone naive about the value to dmsguild would accept such a deal, that they should instead hold out for more, and that dmsguild is banking on that naivety, making someone who takes up the offer a chump. It's a normative argument about the appropriate distribution of the gains from trade.
- cptskippy 11y agoWell if the books have any value, cutting them up would destroy that. I would imagine the books are probably worth a bit more than $50.