D&D 5E Are hardback AP's a waste?

[Morrus]

You say that as if the primary cost of getting a printed module to the public lies in actually printing it. That's pretty far from the truth. Long before the book gets to the printer, there are people like the writers, artists, editors, layout people, and so on who do work on the book and would like to get paid for that work.

These days it's shipping the damn things that eats up the budget. It's insane!

I exaggerate, but shipping is pretty darn expensive.

 

[Sailor Moon]

These days it's shipping the damn things that eats up the budget. It's insane!

I exaggerate, but shipping is pretty darn expensive.

On top of having having to print them.

 

[KingsRule77]

Nope love them.

 

[HEEGZ]

I much prefer hardbacks to paperbacks. For example, I really wish my 3e Lords of Darkness were a hardback I use it so often.

That said, the recent release of the EE player's companion had me pining for it in print. I just don't like pdfs for reference works that I will use often. So... I would prefer a softcover option over no option. Maybe they could work out a print on demand arrangement for their pdfs or something.

I am hopeful that a year or two from now they will publish some type of compendium. Something like all of the miscellaneous spells and/or races and so on from their adventures and whatever else they release all collected together and published as a print reference. This assumes enough material to justify doing it.

It would be great to have a second book in a year or two that complements the PHB with all of the extra options if they keep releasing them piecemeal like they have this month. Right now I am printing out all of the pdfs, and they are stapled together in the corner. Perhaps I should just three hole punch them and put them in a binder for now...

[edit]
I sorta got side tracked from the OP. I will probably buy all of the 5e books, regardless of how many or what their are. So I would prefer them all to be in hardback. If they doubled the number of books and made them paperback and more of them I would still buy them and wish they were hardbacks.

 

[Fanaelialae]

I much prefer hardbacks to paperbacks. For example, I really wish my 3e Lords of Darkness were a hardback I use it so often.

That said, the recent release of the EE player's companion had me pining for it in print. I just don't like pdfs for reference works that I will use often. So... I would prefer a softcover option over no option. Maybe they could work out a print on demand arrangement for their pdfs or something.

I am hopeful that a year or two from now they will publish some type of compendium. Something like all of the miscellaneous spells and/or races and so on from their adventures and whatever else they release all collected together and published as a print reference. This assumes enough material to justify doing it.

It would be great to have a second book in a year or two that complements the PHB with all of the extra options if they keep releasing them piecemeal like they have this month. Right now I am printing out all of the pdfs, and they are stapled together in the corner. Perhaps I should just three hole punch them and put them in a binder for now...

I seem to recall someone from WOTC saying that they were open to the possibility of printing things from Unearthed Arcana and such down the line. I don't know if that means that they'll do a bundle or whether they meant when they eventually get to printing the 5e version of Eberron, you'll find the rules there, but it's a possibility.

 

[HEEGZ]

Yeah, I remember reading that and I think part of my optimizing was sparked from it. I also have been feeling a bit disappointed about there not being more stuff to buy, but I think that is more of a hobby addiction. Because to be honest, I haven't finished DMing or playing my way through any of the currently published material except for the beginner's box LMOP adventure.

I feel for the people who have been gaming more often than we have though and are waiting for more material. I think the big priority for WOTC should be to get out their license by the end of summer so the rest of the industry can support the edition more fully and with full knowledge of what is legally sanctioned.

My fall back plan, should I run out of adventures from WOTC, and not create my own stuff, is to purchase and run old adventures and things like the Pathfinder superdungeon Emerald Spire. I haven't bought it yet, but I did manage to snag some copies of Murder in Baldur's Gate and the Icewind Dale one, etc. last year. So I'm pretty set on adventures now, and having more paperback adventures is less preferable to me than fewer hardbacck adventures.

What I really want is more stuff like in the just released EE pdf with more races, but particularly more subclasses and spells and so on. Hmmm, and monsters too. What I want for monsters is more special features for boss types, alot like the 4e monster abilities, but for 5e. I'm getting a bit off topic now though so I'll quit.

 

[delericho]

Do you think big hardback AP's are a waste of money?

I do because of the following reasons. I feel like Wizards could save a lot of money in printing costs by going either paperback or digital format.

Softback is a non-starter, and electronic versions are difficult to sell in game stores.

Nonetheless, I agree that the hardback format as used in Tyranny of Dragons is a bad one - that price for that much product is excessive (even ignoring the lack of quality). Fortunately, I think WotC have recognised this, which is why Elemental Evil is instead going to be a single, bigger hardback. Which is a better deal all around - cheaper for us, and WotC can almost certainly get better sales for a single volume and at a higher margin per copy too.

 

[Schmoe]

Hardback books are typically much more durable than paperback. For something that is meant to be the primary reference used during hundreds of hours of gaming, I think it makes sense.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Hardback books are typically much more durable than paperback. For something that is meant to be the primary reference used during hundreds of hours of gaming, I think it makes sense.

Durability is good for corebooks and books that you will continue to use on a daily basis. What happens when you finish that hardback AP? It doesn't need to be durable unless you are a book collector.

 

[Schmoe]

Durability is good for corebooks and books that you will continue to use on a daily basis. What happens when you finish that hardback AP? It doesn't need to be durable unless you are a book collector.

I guess the decision is whether you want to throw away the book after the AP, or if you would like to still have something left over to look at. If you don't care if the book is trashed after your done with it, then there's no reason to care about the durability. A lot of people like myself still see value in old adventures, even after you've run through them once. For people like me, there is good reason to want something that will make it through the AP in good shape.