@Bandit: I dunno. I cherish my crapped out, made from bootleg Albanian toilet paper old WRG books far in excess of glossy product like Hail Caesar. There’s a weird note of tactile sincerity to that stuff, it’s almost hobby samizdat.
Sure, and I’m not arguing that the “glossed up, hardcover so that I can justify charging $65USD per copy” trend is either 1) good or 2) adds value. I’m just saying that the relationship between value and quality and cost is the same regardless of the product type we are talking about.
There are overpriced, poor quality items in all product genres and there are appropriately priced, high quality products in those same genres.
Several feet from me I have a copy of Corps d’armée (blue cardstock cover) by Geoffrey Wooten. I *think* it cost me $15USD circa 1999. Its fantastic. I know no one who plays it sadly but it is a great rule set and it is certainly no-frills.
I would agree there is little relationship between “production value” of wargaming rules and their quality and their price tag, but I separate production value from actual quality.
Cheers,
The Bandit
