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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2015264" data-attributes="member: 18387">Joe-I think the main issue here is that you chose to make your negative comments on a 5 star review and thereby create the feeling that the reviewer inaccurately graded the book based upon your opinion as d20reviews site moderator. A lot of folk here on EN World value your thoughts and opinions. By weighing in that you think the book is substandard based on a single layout error/formatting hiccup (where the missing word is Minions, by the way) and artwork you happen to dislike, you not only do Ernest T Hams a disservice, but you also hurt your own credibility as a reviewer as well because you say nothing about the contents itself.As a reviewer myself, I do understand where you are coming from with your comments, but wouldn't it be best to put your opinions in a formal review rather than dragging this book through the mud on various forum postings here and elsewhere and making comments on well-written reviews by other people? You don't like the book or the review? Take the time to write your review after you've throughly read the book and not just skimmed it and then post it here. As long as the review shows that you've been objective and thorough in your thoughts and criticisms, the score will be acceptable to me.You have a problem with the artwork? Fine, artwork is a subjective thing and open to individual interpretation. But since you're not familiar with or don't understand the financial realities of publishing, I'll shed a little light on this particular project regarding the art. We reused much of the artwork from the original Arms & Armor (because Bastion already owned it and didn't need to pay for it again) but had to alter it because some of the weapons were dropped from the images and working replacements into that same area wasn't possible. Hence, the occasional block where quotes are inserted next to an image. Another factor that goes into this is the page count. The book is 176 pages. If we had taken out all of the quote boxes and gone with less art, the book would have ended at an odd page count of 171 or so pages. Printers give you the best rate based upon page counts divisible by 12. So by going with less than 176 pages, it would have cost us (and ultimately you) more money.Lastly, the advertisement issue. We have two half-page ads in the book. One for the novel Forged on page 84 (which is at the end of the weapons section and the end of a chapter) and there is a single half-page ad on page 174 (after the book ends and where the index begins) that promotes the e-Tools dataset for Arms & Armor. Both ads are at significant breaks in both the text and organization of the book. Yet, you have an issue with this because we chose to make use of the white space with a small half-page advertisement? Pick up any major publisher's products today and you will see an advertisement(s) of some nature, including works from Green Ronin, Malhavoc or Sword & Sorcery. It's called marketing and it is a reality of business. To complain about a single ad means you must have the proverbial cow over the ads in Dragon or Dungeon magazines since you "don't like advertisements in products." Come on, Joe. I know you fairly well and respect you, but comments like the above where you are implying that you don't need to read a product in order to make an overall judgement paint the wrong picture to publishers. Whether you realize it or not, you're sending a warning signal to publishers about your reviews with statements like that. You're capable of so much better than that. Focus on doing the job right, delivering the facts, and writing good reviews without the comments that may damage your credibility...</blockquote>

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