"US-China Trade War, costs of Paper & economics of rpg games " Topic

While a previous post discussing the potential impacts of coming tariffs was poo-pooed by some there are many factors in play that will affect us all with rising costs for our hobby and other aspects of our daily lives, most particularly the cost of paper which goes not only into rule books and packaging for our game products, but also such mundane things as printer paper and paper towels that we use around our homes. This is a piece well worth reading in it's entirety as it describes some of the background of game production, costs and sourcing of which some are unaware.

Bottom line, prepare to pay more.

"Since early 2018, the United States has been in the grips of a trade war with China. A series of escalating tariff increases on imports between the two countries has hit both hard, along with the global economy. After a short truce, negotiations appear to have failed, and President Donald J. Trump has announced plans to increase tariffs on new categories of products to 25%.

Those categories include books, dice, cards, and miniatures: the core components of roleplaying games.

I spoke to a few of the people behind some of our favourite games to get their views on what impact the tariff increase might have on the RPG industry. What I got was a glimpse at the economics behind the games we play, and why the price of roleplaying games may be rising — for more complicated reasons.

The complexities of the US's trade relations with China are beyond the scope of this article, so it's not something I'm going to go into in any detail here. In short, the Trump administration is presently engaged in a trade war with China."

link

Any article that uses vox as its source isn't worth the effort to read, sorry.

No argument that the US is in a trade war with China. But the US has been in a trade war with China for years. And we have let them get away with it!

China's trade and economic practices have been unfair for a long time. Fixed currency rates, export tax rebates, government subsidies on exporters, and extremely restrictive government regulations on foreign corporations wanting to do business in China are the main ones. Then there is Chinese piracy against all manners of US products, which China's government has done very little to curb.

Bottom line is the Trump administration is taking action to more fairly balance the trade practices between US and China. And that means short term pain for a longer term gain.

But slave labor make everything so much more affordable.

Remember way back when Walmart ran a ad campaign featuring products made in America?

I'm not really worried. China needs US trade. Without it, their economy crashes. The US may take a short term hit, but in the long term we'll be fine. China has to negotiate; the trick is finding a way for them to be happy and claim a win while the West gets the changes in trade we want and actually win. The irony is that a win for the US is, in the long term, a big win for China, their economy and the Chinese people. A short term win for the Chinese government, is, in the long term, a devastating blow to their economy and a defeat for the Chinese people.

As for paper, paper is a crop product. To make it, you farm trees. (No, this doesn't devastate the environment or destroy forests; tree farming has been going on for over a century in the US, and involves planting new trees to replace the old ones. It's literally a farm operation with just a longer time cycle between planting and harvesting and replanting.) World paper production will adapt. Again, we don't need China. But they sure as heck need us.

Now, if we can just get people to stop taking a "day trader" attitude towards economics and international trade negotiations, and hold on and ride through any temporary dips, we'll all be fine, and that in a very short time.

It needs to be done. I don't think you could call this suffering on our end. China needs to do things right.

Parzival has hit it right on the head. I can't count how many people are freaking out over this. Its nonsense to be worried about it. The market will adapt, things will get sourced elsewhere. Yeah there may be a short-semi long term increase, but this needs to be done. And as he stated in his opening paragraph, it will need to look like a win for China for the to save face.

Might make home 3D printing more attractive.

TLDR. I've worked in the newspaper industry for 15 years, the cost of paper has steadily risen (faster than inflation) for well over a decade. News paper has risen even faster due to the majority of the plants in the US shutting down. This isn't anything new.

"I reject the idea of facts and substitute my uninformed opinion!"

(With apologies Adam Savage.)

Now, let's see: an RPG requires a sheet of paper for each player character or major NPC, a rule book or books--and the classic ones were short and saddle-stitched--let's call it five sheets of graph paper per session for maps, pencils and pens, and dice. For a six-player party, I can't see how the material--as opposed to the copyrighted intellectual idea--can cost as much as $30. USD

Each session, those six gamers will go through 12-18 cans of beer or soft drink, two or three bags of chips and a couple of pizzas. If we were getting our pizzas from China, THAT could affect the cost of role-playing games.

+ 1 emckinney

Why read about or consider facts, enabling a civil discussion, when one can just pronounce one's opinion?

Dan

StnMtnMinis, Dave your former Executive Director disagrees with your take on this one.

Ya, but,
I am worried I will not be able to get the 12 foot light
Up inflatable Christmas decoration of Homer Simpson dressed like Santa for my front yard this year at big lots that I have always wanted -- for only $49.99 USD ???
How much pain can I expected to be able to take??

Russ Dunaway

Ya, but,
I am worried I will not be able to get the 12 foot light
Up inflatable Christmas decoration of Homer Simpson dressed like Santa for my front yard this year at big lots that I have always wanted -- for only $49.99 USD ???
How much pain can I expected to be able to take??

Russ Dunaway

+1, Robert Piepenbrink! Just priced some Caesar 1/72 Orc mini's on e-Bay: still $9.95 USD+s/h, for 36 figures, from Taiwan/China. No real impact yet… So far, it is a tempest in a tea cup. Cheers!