Bastion in Black and White?

[MEG Hal]

So how much are they going to be? I've liked what I've gotten of Bastion's stuff, but not so much that I've been able to overcome the sticker shock. If the price goes down by $5, though . . .

That is a Mr. Butler question.

 

[thundershot]

$22.95 according to Bastion's site, which is updated.

Fortunately, the Oathbound books haven't seemed to have changed... which would be the biggest concern for me. I want my Oathbound books to all match, dammit.

Oh, and glossy paper. Mongoose puts out 128 page books for 19.99, non glossy. I'd feel better paying 22.96 for a 96 page book if it were glossy. Oh yes...

But Oathbound must be color!

*puts foot down*



Chris

 

[jgbrowning]

Saw an Osseum price change due to Bastion going black and white. ?

Good. I've never bought one of their books because they were too expensive because of the color and glossy pages. Now, I will.

Thanks Mr. Butler. You've got a new customer.

joe b.

 

[CCamfield]

Me too, perhaps. I've shied from buying Bastion's products because of the price:content ratio, and I've felt badly about that because the couple of emails I've received from Jim have shown him to be a really classy guy.

(I reported problems with an ESD I bought, which was re-scanned by Bastion. Unfortunately I still don't have a copy of the rescan, but that's SVGames' fault...)

Heck, maybe I'll go buy a PDF of one of their older products...

 

[Jim Butler]

Jim Butler - If you can (and are willing to) answer, have you decided on a formula as to what types of books to print B&W and which to do in color, or will it be taken on a case-by-case basis?

There isn't so much a formula in place as there is a philosophy. Some books (especially the Talisman Studios imprint and an upcoming art book that has not been announced yet) will remain in full color because they're showcasing artistic talent. Other books (that are primarily RPG sourcebooks) will become black and white. It's possible you'll see us spend some money on things like poster maps as well.

 

[Jim Butler]

One interesting thing that comes to mind is that I believe that the products were originaly done in color to show that it could be done because at WoTC, it was something that wasn't done.

Or am I remembering things incorrectly here?

Back at WotC, I led the charge for producing full-color products. The lines I became in charge of (primarily Alternity and Forgotten Realms) produced a large number of color products, and when we relaunched the Realms it switched to full-color as part of its branding.

There were still some battles within Wizards, though. It wasn't that color was unprofitable, it was that there was more profits to be made by switching to black & white.

 

[Jim Butler]

As much as I'm not happy about this, I may eventually be able to cope as long as a few things are still in color. Specifically, will future Oathbound books at least still be color? PLEASE? I want all of my volumes to match. Also, could you please seriously consider keeping the slick paper. If I can't have color in my Bastion books, I'd at least like to have glossy paper. Finally, will this affect already solicited books like Into the Green or Critical Hits?

Wrack & Ruin will also be black & white. We've lowered the prices on all of our May-August releases to reflect the change to black & white over color.

Wrack & Ruin: 128 pages; $25.95
Into the Green: 96 pages; $22.95
Torn Asunder: Critical Hits: 96 pages; $22.95
Oathbound: Arena: 160 pages; $27.95

We won't be keeping the matte paper (it just doesn't make sense without the color artwork), though we aren't going to use rough stock either. We'll be keeping the good 60# paper.

 

[thundershot]

*sigh*

 

[Nellisir]

I'll miss the color, but honestly, my favorite monster book is Monsters of Rokugan, and that's B&W.

If the #60 paper is a bit beefier than the glossy stuff, that'll be nice too. Arms & Armor and Spells & Magic, my two most frequently referenced Bastion books, are holding up well, but I always wince at those skinny little orange spines being crushed by AEG on one side, and (currently) Green Ronin on the other. Every time I add another book to the shelf, a few more drops of ink are squeezed out.

What they ought to do is, after a book has been out for a while (in full glossy color), put out a cheaper b&w version of that book ($14.99 like FFG's books of similar size). Make everyone happy...

FFG's $14.99 books are 64 pages. What third of Spells & Magic would you like to cut? ;-)

Cheers
Nell.

 

[MEG Hal]

For those who are waiting to see if the "quality" will be in the new Bastion books here is a sample by Jeremy McHugh: