Cover Art for D&D v3.5 Reprint

aventhar said:

Loved the 1e reprint covers. These look awful, and its all about the border/ edging design on all three. Get rid of that and they would actually look pretty good. I rather like the decoratiive work on the "leather" part. I think the center circle designs do a fine job job of evoking the originals without the crappy edging.

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I agree. As it stands these are just sitting in a really awkward middle-ground between the original look and something completely different.

Ideally, I'd wish the center circles to be physically recaptured/recreated entirely rather than digitally cloned on to the new leather texture.
That would cost more though, obviously.

It just feels like between these 'shopped covers, and the lackluster reproduction of the artwork in the 1e reprints, these books as a whole are stuck in an "awkward middle ground". I have a hard time seeing them as "Premium", but a very easy time seeing the price tag.

I'm sure the teams working on these are doing what they can with the time, budget, and resources allocated to them. Retyping the 1e books must have been painstaking to say the least, and adjusting the typesetting in these books to incorporate the errata likely isn't as simple as it might sound.
Unfortunately though, that makes the areas where the books fall short all the more painful.

If you're looking for a demographic that will pay $49.99 MSRP for nine-year-old content that they paid $29.99 MSRP for the first time around, it should probably offer more than just gilt edging.
If shiny-edged pages are what makes these $50 products, I'd say it's preferable to go without the gilt and have them available at $34.99.

Of course, I'm vastly oversimplifying this. The reprint books are likely being printed in a small enough run that the price point of a typical player's handbook simply isn't possible.
This is really the most effective way to produce them, and the only one that makes business sense.

I applaud WotC for making these products available again (I especially applaud them for including errata), and I do hope they serve as an effective stopgap for the space between now and Next.
(And that they satisfy any who have been searching for affordable copies of the originals.)
I feel badly about the negativity I've voiced for them... I wouldn't have felt it if I didn't deeply wish to feel more enthusiastic about the reprints though.

In reality, I've been moody for all the wrong reasons.
Reasons like "There are just too many awesome books out there I want to get!", and "I've already got a sweet library of 3.5 stuff, and the SRD is also free and convenient online!".

On that note, I'm changing my voice on this subject to:

"3.5 is finally in print again, now with errata, and it should be easily available to anyone who wants it! They also surveyed me with regards to possibly reprinting other 3.5e material a little while ago! 3rd edition D&D is one of the games I've formed the most vivid memories with, and have the most bizarre wonderful stories of, and now a whole new set of people will be able to page through those books, or a reasonable facsimile.
Most importantly, between these and the 1e reprints it seems that WotC is starting to really grasp the value of the legacy the D&D brand encompasses, and who knows? - Maybe that legacy will continue to be spread further open to customers (gamers) in perpetuity.
Is the return of the .pdf on the horizon? Print-on-Demand availability?

It's an exciting time."

Experience Points

mach1.9pants:
Dannyalcatraz: Spam Cop!

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Just wait until I get my eMace, eGlock and eCuffs!

3.5 is finally in print again, now with errata, and it should be easily available to anyone who wants it!

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I hadn't looked- is it for sure that the reprinted 3.5Ed books include errata?

Dannyalcatraz said:

I hadn't looked- is it for sure that the reprinted 3.5Ed books include errata?

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According to the descriptive text on Amazon, yes.

"This reprint of the v.3.5 core rulebooks keeps this popular version of the D&D game in print and available to 3rd Edition players seeking to replace their old books as well as new players seeking a 3rd Edition game experience. This book includes the most up-to-date Player's Handbook errata."
-From the Premium PHB listing, for example

The MM listing on Amazon claims to have incorporated DMG errata, and the DMG listing mentions MM errata but that's presumably a slip-up.

Bleh.

I have to admit, when the 3.0 books came out, the cover treatment was interesting because it was different. Nowadays, it just looks horrid to my eyes.

Hopefully, at least on the inside, they will get rid of the "lined paper" look.

Yet again in the end, I still have my original books and these just don't inspire me to purchase them - partly because I have moved on to Pathfinder.

Sorry WotC - too little, too late.

Mayhaps more 3.5Ed books will find their way into my possession.

Makes me curious if they will reprint the 2E books, or if that version will just be left in the cold.

Though once again, I never got rid of my original 2E books - though I do wish I'd kept the black cover reissues.

KDLadage said:

The covers are alright, I suppose. But it seems odd that the 3.5 rules are the next to get the "premium" cover treatment. Seems like an AD&D2/e premium, then a 3.5 would have made more sense.

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I think 2E fans wildly overestimate the level of enthusiasm for those rules. I was here during the 3E announcement and, unlike when 4E was announced, there was near-unanimity that it was time for 2E to go.

I'd expect 2E settings to get the re-release treatment before the rules.

Whizbang Dustyboots said:

I think 2E fans wildly overestimate the level of enthusiasm for those rules. I was here during the 3E announcement and, unlike when 4E was announced, there was near-unanimity that it was time for 2E to go.

I'd expect 2E settings to get the re-release treatment before the rules.

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You may be right. However, keep in mind how long that edition (in one form or another) was the big player in the room. Unlike the more recent editions, I think people had really played the heck out of it and were ready for something fresh. Especially since so many other games had changed the awareness of what was possible in rpg mechanics.

IMO the Rules Cyclopaedia would be a hot seller, that is one awesome book that goes for 100$NZ here; not sure what it goes for in the US.