D&D 4E 4E at the printers...but we don't see it until June?

[Mr Jack]

But not books like this. They'll be done local.

I wouldn't have thought it'd make much difference, samples would be shipped by air, reply by electronic means - it's not going to add much to your turn around times, plus the time difference might work in your favour. Final stages, you send a couple of guys over and ship back by boat.

*shrugs*

 

[Firevalkyrie]

I could be wrong, but based on the complexity of these books I doubt that they would be shipped from China. Not that China isn't capable of printing something high-quality, but with a amount of back-and-forth that will need to go on for all the colour correction and touch-up in the artwork that appears on every page, WotC will probably be going with as local a printer as they can find.

Pathfinder is printed in China...

 

[unobserved]

There's no printer in the States that can match the quality and price offered by off-shore printing. The cost of the book would nearly double if it were printed in the States.

....

As per above, many/most of the high-quality color books are done in China or off-shore. Next time you hit a book store, find the gardening books, and coffee table books with all the photos. 90+% of those will have been printed in China. It's industry standard.

I did say I could be wrong and I didn't know that the printing industry in China had become so large (yet, it's not particularly surprising). The print industry (and books in particular) is not my primary profession by a long shot.

That being said, Wizards Presents : Races & Classes (the only WotC book with me at the moment) was printed in the states.

Not really. The printers are professionals who know how to do their jobs.

On many jobs I would agree with you, but when the product is of such vital importance that the fate of your business for the foreseeable future depends on everything running smoothly, it would be a foolish company that didn't, at the very least, commit one person to being present during printing.

I do work with a printer in Canada that is partially responsible for printing stamps for the government (which are essentially currency and one would assume would require a high level of professionalism and job know how) that still expects that some clients will want to be present during print runs.

 

[Andur]

First and foremost there are basically only three places in the world to get any large scale hardbound printing done, China, India, or Canada.

Now depending on how the exact process goes down, (after final proofs have been signed off on) being at the printers means that book is in the queue. After it gets printed it will still need to get bound, this may or may not be at the same location and/or company.

After the first run is done, it is scanned for printing errors (offset type etc.) and if it clears, then the full run is done. After the printing is done, the books will have to be bound, bundled, packaged, and then shipped.

Upon arrival of the shipment, a spot inspection will be made to insure the books are in a sellable condition. If that clears then they get sent out to distributors, etc.

Typical turnaround on a hardbound book from time it gets to printers until it first can be bought by a consumer - 103 days.

 

[Hussar]

I have a tickle in the back of my brain that says a number of WOTC books were printed in Canada. But, that could just be the vodka talking.

 

[BadMojo]

Wow...it's really starting to seem like we're going to have the books in our hands before publishers have the GSL.

I've been kind of losing faith in 4E, but the one thing that would bring me around would be a "killer app" released by a 3rd party publisher. I can't imagine how anyone is going to have time to get an awesome, epic adventure together anywhere close to 4E launch.

Once we get a shiny PHB in our hands, seriously, what are we going to be playing if we're not homebrewing adventures? We'll be playing H1 and then?

 

[Assallya]

Don't forget that some companies paid an extra five thousand dollars to get a copy of the rules six months early. If WotC were to release early they'd be reneging on their promise to give them six months of development time before their competitors would get the rules.

 

[Tewligan]

Don't forget that some companies paid an extra five thousand dollars to get a copy of the rules six months early. If WotC were to release early they'd be reneging on their promise to give them six months of development time before their competitors would get the rules.

Is that correct? I thought it was that the non-paying companies can't publish anything until 6 months after rules release, not that the paying companies get the rules six months early. Otherwise, those guys would have the rules already.

 

[Assallya]

Is that correct? I thought it was that the non-paying companies can't publish anything until 6 months after rules release, not that the paying companies get the rules six months early. Otherwise, those guys would have the rules already.

This would amount to much the same thing as you couldn't begin working until you had the rules

Though I can't cite sources, I seem to remember those that paid the additional 5,000 got the rules as they evolved during the last few months in the same way that the playtesting pool did.

 

[Filcher]

Don't forget that some companies paid an extra five thousand dollars to get a copy of the rules six months early. If WotC were to release early they'd be reneging on their promise to give them six months of development time before their competitors would get the rules.

That's the kicker. A couple companies (Goodman, Necro, more?) have offered to pay the $5k, but I don't think Wizards has accepted yet. There hasn't been the exchange of contracts that would bind Wizards to cough up the development kit --- that contract is what is still being held up by lawyers.

That 6 month development time is about 3 months now, by my count.