Fate Core and the Fate Accelerated Edition have gone "Pay What You Want" on RPGNow. You can grab them for free or pay what you think they are worth.
Theoretically, you could probably grab them for free, read them, then decide to pay what you think they are worth.
So, is this the start of a new trend for RPG PDF pricing?
It's a good idea for products that have been historically free, as you can now "tip the creator".
I personally don't see a downside to it. Any other thoughts on it?
I think it's a great idea. I've spent more for Pay As You Want video games, than some of them cost when they're on sale (Humble Bundles). Fate is kind of an exceptional exception, because it was crowd-sourced, and also a hack of a free game (FUDGE) and already available for free in previous editions. So its Kickstarter technically made all it's money in advanced. People like me will (already have) pay for the print editions, because reading a 320+ page book digitally is painful, and still impractical at the table (for me).
ReplyDeleteI think I will be doing the same thing with the S&W + Firearms supplement I'm working on.
What's interesting here is that these two titles were already FREE for download from Evil Hat. Now, they are Pay What You Want--which means pay nothing or something. I think that's fairly clever. It's kind of what Noisetrade does for music--you can download all the music there for free, but you are encouraged to "tip" the musicians something between the range of $6-$12 per album download. I like this trend--it goes back to the early days of uncrippled shareware--try it first, then pay if you get value from it.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing: You cannot wishlist the products without entering a dollar amount. :-)
ReplyDeleteMake sure to tell DriveThru about that little bug. :)
DeleteI would have never paid the full $12 or whatever for BL1-2 The Ruined Hamlet/Terror in the Gloaming. After having read it, I would have donated $20 to the creators, if they were still in business, and beg them for the sequel.
ReplyDeleteDude, me too! I would pay handsomely for the the modules hinted at...if you get the chance you should pick up Adventures at Rainbow Lodge too - don't let the description fool you, this is every bit as good. The only thing that makes this suitable for younger players is the simplicity of the plot. But it's really a wonderful sandbox (with hints of more products that never were).
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