Does WotC have a new printer?

[MerricB]

There is a good chance that they switched to a printer in India then. Indian paper has a godawful smell. They do not use the same anti-acidic paper that is mandated in the US. I remember when our printer tried to get us to change from their US facility to their Indian facility. The sample smells like wet dog and you could already see them decaying.

If Wizards switched to a printer in India, then you should not expect the books to last more than a few years.

Unfortunately for your conspiracy theory, the backs of Lords of Madness and Races of Eberron clearly state: Printed in the U.S.A.

 

[heirodule]

Maybe the american printer is buying indian paper, or offshoring the paper production

 

[Ferret]

As long they don't use toilet paper. All I care is about is the printed words on it. Don't know about you guys.

The words are the most important, I haven't noticed poorer printing but I found a thread on WotC with a sensible oil price-paper quality theory.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=417579

I'm fairly impressed that they can still make giant sigs even with the sblock tags closed.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I could care less, but not much. As long as the quality still is OK, it's alright. As long as the contents themselves remain good, I'll keep buying (I cannot wait to get Waterdeep! I want to know whether Champions of Ruin was a singular incident or wether the Ruin they're talking about is the Ruin of Forgotten Realms books)

 

[Belen]

Unfortunately for your conspiracy theory, the backs of Lords of Madness and Races of Eberron clearly state: Printed in the U.S.A.

Dude, there is no conspiracy theory.

And a US printer who has a printing facility in India can legally say "printed in the USA."

You may want to tone back the Wizard's care bear stare.

 

[Abulia]

I haven't examined any of the recent books myself, so can't really comment on any specifics, but I just wanted to mention that "thinner paper" is not, in itself, an indication of a drop in quality. Paper quality is made up of much more than just its weight (thickness).

Sorry, poor choice of words on my part. I should have said "felt thinner or of poorer quality." I've noticed a tendency for the pages to also curl a bit, but that might just be my bad luck.

A larger problem to me (pardon the pun), is the recent trend of moving to a signifigantly larger font size and leading. Race of Eberron and DMG II are the two examples that immediately spring to mind. Grrrr.

 

[Ranger REG]

A larger problem to me (pardon the pun), is the recent trend of moving to a signifigantly larger font size and leading. Race of Eberron and DMG II are the two examples that immediately spring to mind. Grrrr.

How large are those fonts? If they're more than 12-point, then I too would be concerned, although it would be easy on my 35-year-old nearsightedness.

 

[Abulia]

How large are those fonts? If they're more than 12-point, then I too would be concerned, although it would be easy on my 35-year-old nearsightedness.

Tough to say. Probably 12. The leading is what really has my ire; quite a bit of space.

Flipping open Sharn, Eberron CS, XPH (all just happen to be next to me) and comparing to Races of Eberron, Races clearly stands out as being quite a bit larger. I suppose one could count the words on the page to get an average, but you're getting a lot less material in Races than you are in Sharn. (Both 192 pgs, $29.95)

 

[Ranger REG]

Flipping open Sharn, Eberron CS, XPH (all just happen to be next to me) and comparing to Races of Eberron, Races clearly stands out as being quite a bit larger. I suppose one could count the words on the page to get an average, but you're getting a lot less material in Races than you are in Sharn. (Both 192 pgs, $29.95)

Whew! Glad I'm too much of a FR fan to buy any of those Eberron books (regarding XPH, never liked WotC's approach to psionics).

Any other evidence? Can't be Races of the Wild. The fonts are easy on my eyes. (about 12, compared to Times New Roman 12-point). The only time I squint is when I looked in my three core rulebooks (PHB, DMG & MM).

 

[wingsandsword]

Dude, there is no conspiracy theory.

And a US printer who has a printing facility in India can legally say "printed in the USA."

Yeah, the conspiracy theory would be to say that they are moving their printing to India, not only to cut costs, but so that the lower grade paper will decay in a few years, leading books to fall apart and therefore drive up sales as people need to buy replacement copies, or pave the way for 4e by building in true Planned Obsolescence into their gaming books.

Not that I believe that, but now that's a conspiracy theory regarding the new books.