Quantifying ASL Value

[Michael Dorosh]

From another thread:

You could summarize in plot/table form a number of variables such as # of scenarios, # of counter sheets, etc. vs. cost for each product so that the community could have a basis of comparison for exactly these kinds of discussions. Of course if it were done this way it would all be ASL relative. Maybe you could then add in some current other entertainment costs such as a night out at the movies or dinner for two. You also touched on historic cost growth in another thread dealing with BV cost increases over the years. It would be interesting to see what historic cost growth vs size of manufacturer would yield. I'm guessing an outfit like HOB has experienced much higher perceived growth in product cost between releases, but may well be on average with the rest of the industry.

This struck me as interesting.

As a start, I was thinking of something like this:

SYSTEM         YEAR INIT  ADJUSTED  MAPS  SCEN  ADDED VALUE 
                    COST COST 2011
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SL             1977    ?               4     8   DYO - CARD DRIVEN
SL-GI:AOV      1982                   15    47   DYO - NO AMERICAN 
ASL (BV/RB)    1985                   20     8   DYO - CH. H
ASL (PARA 1ED) 1986                    5     8   DYO - LIMITED COUNTERMIX
ASLSK1         2004  $25  $25          2     6   NO DYO
ASLSK1-3       2007  $60  $60          7    22   NO DYO

Squad Leader had that goofy card-driven DYO system; the lack of DYO figures was a bone of contention in GI - if The General is any indicator - but would probably not cause much of a ripple today given the number of scenarios in print.

Probably would need to include overlays to boards (GI started the ball rolling).

Things get messy when you look at things like Journal articles and which products you can "support" with additional scenarios, or how much value you are getting. Add in TPP and it may well be that how much value you get is entirely up to the consumer at this point, with the ability to mix and match so many different products.

 

[Delirium]

An interesting thought exercise, although it would be very messy.

From an economics perspective, in order to quantify the collective utility, or consumer welfare, of each ASL product we would need to have a fairly firm understanding of the demand curve for each product in question.

Remember that when determing the value, or utility, received by a consumer we not only need to know how much they paid, but also how much they would have paid for the good or service. That's where the demand curve comes in. There are people out there who would pay a lot more than the market price for Beyond Valor (c.f. Wild Bill Wilder's auctions).

 

[MadDog_CDN]

I do not know if you could put a value on ASL.

This discussion came up with my son the other day, I have bought a huge quantity of computer based strategy games, and some I truly miss, which is the point. ASL I can always and have always gone back too. Computer based games, Steel Panthers, The Art of War, Battle Ground, and such, have gone the way of DOS and so I cannot play them anymore, same with some of the First Person Shooter style games, but a board game, pull it off the shelf and off you go.

Even when we looked at the cost ASL won out, again because of it's ability to last over time, while a computer based game lasts only as long as that platform is current.

So setting the value will be a really tough task.

 

[alanp]

In the end, I don't need any charts to know that my time and money spent on ASL was "worth it".
Now, if answering a question from someone hesitating getting into the hobby this may work for some but it was my experience--and anecdotal from others as well--that you're either going to take the plunge or you won't.

If you're a producer wondering what to set the retail price of your new item at (or even what production costs you can absorb--maps or countersheets to include,say) then this stuff becomes more important.