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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#16
Philip Coutts wrote: I guess this one is just not meant to be. I guess they are maybe just asking too much for the book? :eh:
Katorone wrote:As someone who's vaguely interested, I think it's too expensive.
I certainly understand your point of view Philip and Katorone. I went as high as $300 AUD to get one of the Elite numbered copies but I have to confess I own full leather volumes with gold tooling which are printed on the best quality book paper that were less costly than this book. And with a lot more pages between the covers to boot.

A pity really. :(
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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#18
Katorone wrote:Indeed. I do wonder what is the main driver of the price is. Are there licensing fees, or is the time investment very large or expensive to research this book?
I kind of thought it might be to do with the cost of producing a small run of books but as I have no concept of publishing I really have no idea. I would have thought they could have made the pdf versions a bit less expensive and that way more likely to get people who were unsure to back it. The cheapest pdf version is $25 or £14 which is quite a lot for a pdf in my opinion.

I've backed at the $110 dollars level which is £60. That to me is pretty expensive for a book! :o
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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#19
I know a bit about getting books printed from my pen & paper days. Basically, what they suffer from most is the low number of expected books to print - books get cheaper (per book) as the print run increases. You're looking at <1000 books printed in total at the moment, judging from the number of backers. And the author doesn't seem to have done their homework in regards to getting things printed, as their prices seem to indicate that they went to a "professional" printer, which probably had a laughing fit after hearing the number.

Even if they want to go through the hassle of getting an ISBN to get the book into regular sales channels (which also costs money), I find the pricing downright ridiculous. (And that's coming from a guy who used to shell out 40+€ for a B/W rulebook with less than 300 pages.) 90€/115$ for a hardcover book?

Compare with this, resoundingly successful, Kickstarter project here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evilhat/fate-core

30$ got you a neatly printed hardcover book and included US shipping. The actual PDF is free (seriously, you can get it here if you are of the pen & paper RPG persuasion), and Evil Hat got the thing into regular distribution channels as well (and let's face it, this is about as niche as a product can get...).

I guess they should consider going Print-on-Demand, then again, the KS is well on it's way by the grace of having reeled in a couple of "whales".

-Hardenberg
Hardenberg was my name
And Terra was my nation
Deep space is my dwelling place
The stars my destination
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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#20
What you say in your post, Hardenberg, is fair comment.

I am of the opinion this book is important in what it's trying to achieve but the costs involved in producing this work do seem incredibly high. Also, stating that you are in close contact with the copyright owners and then calling the book unofficial is worrying.

In this important year for Elite I am still puzzled as to why FD are not producing this as official merchandise themselves or at least giving the KS project its official blessing. :?

Edit: I found a mention of the KS in the Elite: Dangerous Newsletter #43 (missed that :oops:) which is encouraging. Perhaps FD will give the book the deserved "Official" to add to the title before publication. :D
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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#22
Compare it with this one:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/21 ... nav_search

It's an Amiga compendium which is giving you the book for £25 and at least on the surface is a similar project. It's blasted through it's target and is sitting at almost double at the moment with 22 days still to go :shock: . I am now sure they have priced the Elite book at too high a point for most people.

I am also very surprised that Frontier haven't made more of a noise about the 30th anniversary of Elite. I was expecting far more from them but I think all they have done is produce 1 T-shirt.
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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#23
Philip Coutts wrote: I am now sure they have priced the Elite book at too high a point for most people.

I am also very surprised that Frontier haven't made more of a noise about the 30th anniversary of Elite. I was expecting far more from them but I think all they have done is produce 1 T-shirt.
I'm sure you are right about the pledge tier pricing, Philip. I've even started thinking of all the things I could do the $300 AUD I have invested in the project.

:shifty: I could buy all the Elite books in hardback for that investment including the three hardbacks from Gollancz and the paperback from T James. :think:

Oh, don't forget the special Cobra Wireframe paint job they did for a limited period. Does that count as a 30th anniversary item? :angel:

I bought it. :oops:
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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#25
Cornflakes_91 wrote:Victor "Fanboy" Tombs :lol: :angel:
:lol: I was accused of having no interest in Elite by one misinformed member on the Frontier forums, Cornflakes. Just because I don't post in the Elite forums much doesn't mean I'm not passionate about ED. :angel:

Commander Anthony M Olver, the creator of this KS, has started adding interesting physical baubles to the tiers containing a physical book as a reward. :D Now that's the kind of thing I like. :thumbup:
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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#26
Victor Tombs wrote: :lol: I was accused of having no interest in Elite by one misinformed member on the Frontier forums, Cornflakes. Just because I don't post in the Elite forums much doesn't mean I'm not passionate about ED. :angel:
you have no interest in LT! you only ever write about ED!

:ghost:
Victor Tombs wrote: Commander Anthony M Olver, the creator of this KS, has started adding interesting physical baubles to the tiers containing a physical book as a reward. :D Now that's the kind of thing I like. :thumbup:
pledge 500pounds and get a limited edition used handkerchief!

:lol:
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Re: The Elite Archives Book : A 30 Year History of Elite

#27
Cornflakes_91 wrote:you have no interest in LT! you only ever write about ED!
You misunderstand me, Cornflakes. I have no need to write much about Limit Theory. Unlike many here I am satisfied with the progress Josh is making on my "Freelancer 2" game. There are more than enough contributors to the threads containing the LT related suggestions and discussions without me gumming up the proceedings.

I have confidence in the abilities of Josh to deliver. He already knows what I want from the game. ;) :D :D

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