Mongoose's Monster Encyclopedia 1

[Kanegrundar]

Anyone got it yet? It interests me (like most monster books), but Mongoose has a horrible track record with editing. Their Ultimate Monsters book was so riddled with errors that it is nearly unusable, so if ME is the same way I won't shell out the $40.

Kane

 

[DaveMage]

I'm curious about it too...

Hopefully we'll see some reviews before long.

 

[Voadam]

I doubt it will be as riddled with errors. Mongoose was so embarrassed by the quality of that first collection that I think they destroyed unsold copies and it is the one product they actually removed from pdf sale.

 

[Kanegrundar]

In all honesty, they should be embarrassed.

I doubt it will be anywhere as bad as the UMC, but Mongoose still has a horrible track-record regarding proofreading...even more so than the rest of the D20 publishers.

Kane

 

[JoeGKushner]

AFAIK Mongoose didn't destroy them but they did put them on sale.

I don't think they give John Cooper product anymore so I doubt we'll see a review by him on it and I know that they don't provide Psion or I with materials.

I'm more curious about the big book they have coming out at Gen Con. Does anyone know if that's going to have all the monsters in this book and the second book, or is that going to be all third party stuff?

 

[Kanegrundar]

I'm curious about that to, Joe. However, information on it seems to be a bit lacking this early in the game.

They don't send a review products to anyone, eh? That too bad. Especially for people like me that won't buy a Mongoose product until I read a review from a trusted reviewer(s).

Kane

 

[BOZ]

*shudders to think* i can only hope they learned from their mistakes...

I don't think they give John Cooper product anymore so I doubt we'll see a review by him on it

LOL! after the lambasting he gave them? that shouldn't be a surprise.

 

[JoeGKushner]

*shudders to think* i can only hope they learned from their mistakes...



LOL! after the lambasting he gave them? that shouldn't be a surprise.

I could be wrong. It's not like the reviewers are all sitting about chatting but since the last few reviews John has done haven't involved any Mongoose products... I'm infering that no, they don't send him material any more.

And well... not be a surprise... no, it shoudln't, but on the other hand, I know that several companies have contacted John for his keen eye afterwards and well, that should've probably been the immediate goal of Mongoose as well as correcting their Ultimate Monsters book in at least PDF format for a low price as opposed to selling the paper version for 1/2 price with no notice of the many errors in it.

 

[John Cooper]

Yeah, I can confirm that Mongoose is no longer sending me stuff. It's a pity, too, since I really enjoyed a lot of what they produced. (If you look at my reviews of Mongoose products, there are several "5-star" reviews in there, and I gave out a "4" rating many more times than I did a "3" or a "2.") The last time I contacted them with a "wish list" of products I'd be interested in reviewing, they informed me they were reworking their review process, and I haven't heard anything from them since. Fortunately, about that same time, JoeGKushner recommended me as a staff reviewer (thank again, Joe!), and I started receiving products from a whole bunch of other d20 companies.

That said, I'd certainly be interested in taking a look at Mongoose's new monster books. It sounds like they did a great job reworking their quality control process (according to several posts by Matthew Sprange himself on these boards), and I'd be willing to bet that their monster stats have improved significantly since their Ultimate Monsters Volume 1 days.

 

[JoeGKushner]

It was my pleasure to recommend you as a staff reviewer John. You've saved me a few bones on the old Mongoose products. I still admire your eye for detail in both game mechanics and grammar.