Vigwyn the Unruly said:
No, I have a problem with it feeling cheap.
No, I am not in the printing business. I do not have to have any special knowledge to realize that the book I'm holding in my hand at the game store feels like junk compared to all of the WotC books I have previously purchased.
Several people have described the differences--books making a cracking sound when you open them, a feeling of being overly stiff, the covers trying to spring shut.
These are objective observations that anybody can make. I have made them, and I don't like them, and I think that's a problem. I wish WotC would go back to the quality that I loved about them and that made me a loyal customer in the first place.
Actually, I did a little research to see if I could get to the bottom of this controversy. I was surprised at not being able to find a reputable source online that dealt with this. Obviously, all of us have recollections of opening a crisp new book and sometimes hearing that cracking sound. It is certainly a sound that many associate with a new book. However, while I have found no evidence that supports it being a mark of quality, some of the information I have received purports the opposite.
Even people unfamiliar with the
bookbinding process are aware that a book, simply stated, is put together from signatures made up of multiple sheets. These are held together along an edge with an adhesive, and possibly sewn, then the cover is added. That's binding in a nutshell.
But what could cause that cracking sound? According to an official of
Acme Bookbinding (
Est. 1821) there are a number of possible sources, most of them not favorable. In the case of a library binding, which is "oversewn" to make it supremely durable, it may just be that the book was bound a bit tight and the cover itself, and not the binding, is making the noise as it wears in. However, in the case of a typical hardcover book the probable cause is in the adhesive.
Early books were merely sewn but eventually adhesives had begun to be used, at first in combination with sewing and eventually (when adhesives became stronger) on their own in some processes. Adhesives have developed over the years and the modern terminology for a typical hot adhesive is EVA, or Ethylene Vinyl Acetate. But there is another process that uses a cold adhesive or PVA, PolyVinyl Acetate. This cold adhesive process is more flexible than the old hot adhesive process, and less prone to cracking. It is said to be a superior process and binding. It is the poorer quality hot adhesives that make the cracking sounds. The more cracking, the more likely you have a lower-quality binding. Granted that depending on usage even a poor quality book can hold up well enough to last as long as necessary for its task.
Anyway, that's what I've come up with and it is by no means an exhaustive search of professional opinion on the subject. I've also dropped a line to Cecil of
The Straight Dope and will let you know if that gleans any more information.
Sorry, Vigwyn the Unruly. I really tried to find some evidence that would support both sides but it appears your fear is irrational, unfounded, and erroneous. If you gain any information of fact in support of your position, I'd really love to hear it and I will continue to try and come up with some on this end.
!? Huh? Maybe I'm somehow misreading what you wrote above, but it certainly sounds like your evidence suggests that the cracking does indicate low quality.
