There are two things that make RPGs weird, IMO: typically only one person pays the entry fee, and in terms of effort to make them, RPGs are far close to TCGs and miniatures games than board games. Pricing has been kind of broken for decades.
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 30, 2018
The curious thing is that the CCG model absolutely upends this by distributing cost according to player interest, but doing that for a RPG would bring about HUGE RAGE. I think the challenge has always been finding the value. TCGs click, IMO, when opening packs is fun. You feel like your money is well spent. RPGs just don't work that way. It feels like a step back to what you've played.
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 30, 2018
Also, D&D is a “safer” investment. If I buy 40k because it’s a bargain, but never play it because I can’t find a group, what’s the value?
Again, I don’t disagree that $100 can be a fair and reasonable price for a game, but positioning it on the grounds of value is fraught. That's another area where RPGs are weird/weak on pricing. Even if you never play 40k, you can interact with its community meaningfully through painting/modeling. RPG solo play is a little trickier.
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 30, 2018
I think we saw such a hard push toward mechanical intensity and character optimization post-3e because that was the one thing you could share without playing. Streaming has flipped that script, and helped pull D&D out of a 20+ year trough.
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 30, 2018
But that also speaks to why certain RPG stuff (say, a separate book for players/chargen) is more solo friendly Agreed – we placed the entirety of the PHB's character creation pieces in Basic D&D for that reason.
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 30, 2018
Right, and they’re all great products.
But I argue that they are priced correctly *for what they are*, not because they’re a better or worse ‘deal’ than D&D.
Going to price comparison diminishes all involved by discarding their actual value in favor of a metric. Yes! This is a trap that is easy to fall into. It's all about value.
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 30, 2018