So My DMG is Falling Apart Three Days After I Got it...

[Korgoth]

Actually, this is a basic 4E design decision based on their "Economy of Codices" principle. I read it in an article somewhere. You're just missing the point of 4E if you criticize it. Go play some other game.

 

[Ruslanchik]

Sadly enough this same thing happened to me. Pages 1-12 of my DMG fell apart on about day 2. I returned it to the book store and they replaced it for me, but the manager of the store (just happened to be the one that helped me, i did not put up that big of a stink) and i went through the 4 they had on display and two of them were obviously in bad shape right out of the case. the first couple pages of the book were not bound properly, but it was only in the DMGs. I took one of the ones that looked good and he defected out the one i returned and the two we found.

It seems like might have been like, one batch of them were not bound well enough, because the other books are fine and my house mates DMGs are fine. Sucks for WOTC if a lot of them are having this problem though.

This just goes to show how much more convenient it is to buy books from an actual bookstore. This is in addition to the obvious stimulus to your local economy. (Even if you buy the book from Borders or Barnes an Noble, people in your city are getting a salary from that store. If you order from Amazon all of your money goes to another state.) I would personally rather spend a few extra dollars for the assurance that if I have a problem I can take the product back to the store and speak with a real human about it. Also, how do you know that Amazon or WotC won't send you another copy from the same flawed run? This way you were able to verify that you were getting a better copy and it didn't take you a wek to get it.

/rant

 

[el-remmen]

Back in the day I remember some of the later 1E AD&D books suffering from similar binding issues.

My Unearthed Arcana fell completely apart and until a few years ago I still had the pages in a binder (I think I threw it out finally), and the same thing happened with a later printing of the 1E DMG I had (the one with the black-cloaked dude opening the gates and all the monsters behind it on the cover). On the other hand, the first print copy of the 1E DMG I received as a gift in the late 90s is still holding up perfectly.

I never had any trouble in this department with 2E or 3E books (unless you count the binder for the 2E Monstrous Compendium warping and the metal rings bending from the weight of other books on top of it) - though some people I knew who had that ugly-ass later printing of the 2E core books (when they laid them out again and had the crappy art) had similar issues with the bindings.

I am still waiting for my 4E books to be delivered, so I can't weigh in on those yet.

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

My group bought the box set of the 4E books at our FLGS, and haven't had any issues yet. I bought my PHB at Borders, and no manufacturing issues, either.

Does anyone know if bookstores get refunds for damaged copies? The reason I asked is that I know I've taken books that were damaged back to B&N and Borders to replace and didn't have the reciept on me (and yes, I did buy them there - in fact, my 4e PHB had ripped pages, looks like the box cutter got a little too enthusiastic and I didn't notice before I got it home).

So, if they get refunds from the shipper for damaged items, maybe you could take it back to one of them for an even exchange?

 

[Cadilon]

Tear everything out and get it wire-o bound. Best $10 you'll ever spend.

I am intrigued by this idea. Do you have suggestions on where to get this done? How do you unbind them so as not to damage the pages? Do you happen to have any photos of how the books look after their wire bound?

Thanks

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Ahh memories, I still have my first 1e players handbook on my shelf. I can always recognize it because the binding is made of duct tape.