You see, I'm going to tell you about three of my products that are for sale at RPGNow.com. I'm going to give you links to the product pages so that you could, if you so desired, purchase them. But then, as you approach the end of this post, I'm going to tell you NOT to purchase any of them.
I don't want you to purchase them at this point. For reasons that I discussed a long time ago here, I don't think that these products are worth your money. Okay, you say--if they're not worth my money, drop the price to make them worth it or remove them from the website or do something other than write a post about them. Actually I am, but more on that in a moment. First, the products:
Hand Drawn Maps, Volume 1. A simple product containing 10 maps of various fantasy locations--a few dungeons, a keep, and a small town. It contains only maps--no text, no description, nothing but the maps themselves. It first went on sale in January 2008 for $1.50 and has remained that price ever since. Unlike Locales, Volume 1, which was my first product, HDMV1 did not include any work of my own but was the work of a cartographer who hung out at the Cartographer's Guild who held the moniker Terrainmonkey. It was my small attempt to highlight the great things that were going on over at the Guild.
Caverns, Tunnels, and Caves: Volume 1. Another simple product containing 16 maps of--you guessed it--caverns, tunnels, and caves. No keys, no descriptions, just 16 maps, black and white with a grid. It first went on sale in February 2008. Initially on sale for $1.90, it is now selling for $1.25. What I wanted to do with CTCV1 was include maps of underground areas that looked more 'natural' than typical D&D maps. As someone who enjoys looking at maps and has done a little bit of caving, I realized that most maps of cavern and cave systems in D&D weren't very realistic. I was hoping that this would fill a niche in the market.
Caverns, Tunnels, and Caves: Volume 2. Identical to the first, this time containing 15 maps. It first went on sale in September 2008. Initially on sale for $1.75, it is now selling for $1.25. Same idea as CTCV1. I am ashamed to admit it, but at the time I wanted to put something out and couldn't find the motivation to do what I should have done, which was work on Locales, Volume 2--something I still haven't done.
So those are the three products. If you were to purchase all three of them, you would spend $4.00, and for that money, you would receive 41 maps of gameable locations. What you wouldn't get is any text or description, beyond the titles of the maps in HDMV1. Worth it? That depends on you, but I would say probably not. (Although there are a large number of gamers out there who can be inspired by a decent map and find great utility in standalone maps, why would you spend money for them when there are so many free maps floating around?) Looking back now, it certainly was not worth it when, instead of $4.00, those products cost you $5.15.
Since I do not feel that these products are worth the $4.00 that I am asking for them, I recommend that you DO NOT purchase them.
What is my point in all of this? Let me tell you: I am going to do some things to, hopefully, make them a little more worth your hard-earned money. I am going to take these 41 maps, spruce them up a bit, combine them into a single document, and put them up for sale. I'm not sure what price I'm going to charge, but it is going to be something less than $3.00. Further, I am going to discontinue the sale of the three original products at that same time. Are those maps worth the small money that I am soon going to charge? Again, that depends on you, but I think that they just might be.
Last thing. The new product will be called Basic Maps, and its cover will look like this:
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