At least Kenzer can get it right.

[JacktheRabbit]

I took the time this weekend to unfold my two halves of the Kingdom of Kalamar map and I must say I am impressed.

They did what TSR, WOTC and Hasbro could never do and they did it on the FIRST TRY!!

The Kingdom of Kalamar map lines up perfectly. I have yet to see a FRCS map that is not off by a inch or so which makes them look so horrible when you try to hang them all together on the wall

Thanks Kenzer for that 5 minutes of extra work that the FR people never thought was worth it.


As a side item has anyone looked at the new Ed Greenwood city supplement for Kalamar? I glanced at it for just a moment and at the very least I must say the art in it sucked. I am definately of the opinion that no art is much better than bad art in a product.

So how is the city itself? Does the writing make up for the horrible artwork inside?

 

[smetzger]

My Greyhawk maps from the 1980 World of Greyhawk supplement lines up perfectly.

There is one hex of overlap, but I consider that good.

 

[NLP]

As a side item has anyone looked at the new Ed Greenwood city supplement for Kalamar? I glanced at it for just a moment and at the very least I must say the art in it sucked. I am definately of the opinion that no art is much better than bad art in a product.

I think that just goes to show how subjective art really is. I enjoyed most of the art in Geanavue, especially the grayscale work by Ditzig and Denmark. I will agree that the guild badges art is imposing (it's simple black and white line art) , but they're not bad and do compare with the art in most other RPGs. I haven't read the book yet, but I was impressed with the map and level of detail that I could gleen from the glance-through.

 

[seankreynolds]

Hey, doc: ease off. You have no idea how much work goes into putting together a poster map, and you have no way of knowing if the problem with the FR sectional map in Dragon Magazine stems from a problem at WotC or if it was a problem at the printing company. You are insulting the cartographers and other staff at WotC who work very hard and you are blaming them for something that may not even be their fault.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Re: Re: At least Kenzer can get it right.

Ease off yourself. I personally own THREE different FRCS maps put out at different times.

ALL of them are horribly out of line. ALL of them look really bad when you put them on the wall together.

This is not a one time problem with the map.

As to how much work it is I really do not care. It is NOT a lot of work to make your cuts straight. This is just poor workmanship from day one.

Hey, doc: ease off. You have no idea how much work goes into putting together a poster map, and you have no way of knowing if the problem with the FR sectional map in Dragon Magazine stems from a problem at WotC or if it was a problem at the printing company. You are insulting the cartographers and other staff at WotC who work very hard and you are blaming them for something that may not even be their fault.

 

[DwarvenBrew]

Re: Re: At least Kenzer can get it right.

Hey, doc: ease off. You have no idea how much work goes into putting together a poster map, and you have no way of knowing if the problem with the FR sectional map in Dragon Magazine stems from a problem at WotC or if it was a problem at the printing company. You are insulting the cartographers and other staff at WotC who work very hard and you are blaming them for something that may not even be their fault.

When you pay good money you expect a quality product. Sorry, but that's a completely legitimate beef he has. If it was free then I would agree with you, but that's a pretty obvious flaw.

Regardless if it is the WotC or the printing company's fault, it IS still WotC's responsibility to make sure that it lined up when it ships it to stores.

 

[AnthonyRoberson]

Geanavue Art

While I didn't like EVERY piece of interior art in Geanavue, I certainly didn't think it 'sucked'. On top of that, the book (and especially the map) are very attractive and well-produced. I would suggest that anyone looking for a mid-sized city for their campaign check it out.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Re: Geanavue Art

So the book is still worth it.

Thanks, that is what I wanted to know.

While I didn't like EVERY piece of interior art in Geanavue, I certainly didn't think it 'sucked'. On top of that, the book (and especially the map) are very attractive and well-produced. I would suggest that anyone looking for a mid-sized city for their campaign check it out.

 

[redroxannuk]

As for art in Geanavue, I like the black and white art. It's enough for me because I would rather have the text for my money than the art. The quality of the written word in the book would have gotten my cash regardless of the artwork, that's just eye candy - nice to have (don't get me wrong) but a picture isn't going to give me nearly enough details as I want for a city of this size.

Well done Kenzer and Ed Greenwood. As usual, there's more plot hooks in there than you can shake a stick at

 

[machine]

Doc,

Odds are the cartographers/artists on the FR maps are not to blame.

Most likely, the printer made the error (plates not checked for line up, for example), or the map data did not translate well in whatever medium used to create the plates, digital or film. Believe me, I work for a printing company and I've seen a high frequency of opportunities for challenging situations.

Have a great day!

machine.