Book Prices

I get it.  I do.  It costs "X" amount of dollars to print the book, plus "X" amount for all the stuff like distribution, royalties, rights management, yadda-yadda.  I totally get that.  But $50 for a role playing book seems a bit much, don't you think?  And it's often only half of what you need to actually play the game.  Sure it's hard cover, got glossy full color pages throughout, and so full of artwork that I have to hunt to find the equipment list.  But come 'on.  $50 for half a game?

"It's cool -- I'm a righty.  I'll save up for the other half later..."

All I'm saying is that I remember back when you could buy a good role playing game for about $15.  It was soft cover with cheesy black-and-white Manga-style cartoon artwork, and the corners crinkled in the first few minutes of owning it - but it worked, and it had everything you needed to play the game.  Then there were all of the various supplement books that ranged in price depending on how thick the book was or how very cool the content was.  In the end you could easily end up paying just as much, but you did so at your own pace and were still fully capable of playing the game with just that first core book.  It gave you a chance to try out all sorts of games.  If you didn't like it, no big deal.  Now I feel obligated, like I HAVE to like this game because I paid $100 bucks for it.

"Mmmm... 4th Edition.  It's (blurp) awesome."

At what point was it assumed that gamers had money?  It's a game played on sheets of paper - yes, it's for poor people who still rely on imagination to have a good time.  If I had money, I'd have bought a super computer and a subscription to an MMO...