Hardbounditis

[The_Gunslinger658]

WotC most definitely has it. White Wolf seems to have caught it as almost all the new World of Darkness books are hardbound even if they're slender enough to be paperback.

What do you think of it? Does it provide a higher-quality product, or is it just an excuse to charge more?

Hi ya-

I like hardbound books because they can stand up to 150 degree + hot weather in a desert enviroment and not fall apart. My soft bound books like Silver marshes and magic of faerun fell apart within a month as well as the dozen or so dungeon and dragon magazines I took along. So I think its great WoTC is sticking with hardbound books.

Scott

 

[diaglo]

WotC should be doing softcovers.

they don't have enough stuff in their latest releases to warrant hardbacks.

 

[Felon]

"Hardbounds are sexy"? Yet another poll where the choices offered emphasize cutesyness over being useful in gauging anything.

Hardbounds weigh more and are harder to carry. What's the use of buying a bunch of game books that you can't transport without a forklift? I can only assume that most of the folks who don't acknowledge this are DM'ing from their own house...

 

[JoeGKushner]

I like the hardcovers.

I'm not against getting something in softcover, like say Hero Games does, but overall, if I can get it in a more sturdy format, such as hardcover, I'll pay for that.

And yeah, the old Rogue's Gallery. I just put one of mine up at the Games Plus Auction. Be interesting to see if it's old rattiness sells.

 

[Umbran]

I can only assume that most of the folks who don't acknowledge this are DM'ing from their own house...

Or they're use a minimum of books during a session. I normally only have to crack open the Core books once we're at the table. Everything else I need is generally in my notes.

 

[philreed]

Hardcovers are awesome. Any book of about 96-pages or larger in hardcover is fine with me. I'm always willing to pay $5 or so more to get a book in hardcover.

 

[Desdichado]

Does it provide a higher-quality product, or is it just an excuse to charge more?

It is higher quality; I think that's a given. The question is, does that type of quality matter to you as a consumer. I like hardbacks, but clearly I buy less of them because they cost more. I like them better, though.

As for is it "just an excuse to charge more," frankly I think that's kinda silly. They also cost more so of course they charge more. Whether or not the profit margins on a hardback vs. a softback are different is completely unknown to me. I'd suspect not, but that'd just be a guess based on nothing concrete at all.

 

[Scarbonac]

I like hardbacks, but prefer the old 1e style of plain black text on white paper with B&W illustrations. Frankly, I think that the 3.x hardback format, glossy paper with every square inch covered with color, is a damn waste and an excuse to charge more.

 

[Mercule]

I love hardbound books. Whether gaming books, novels, textbooks, or something else, I much prefer hardbound. They look better, feel better, and hold up better. I don't avoid softbound, but I'll happily pay more for a hardbound, especially in a book I'm liable to re-read and/or reference (a category D&D suppliments definitely fall into).

To me, hardbound is much more important than color art (actually, color art is zero added value over B&W IMO). I also prefer pages that feel like paper instead of the glossy, plasticine-feel stuff they seem to be using now. Shiny pages suck.

 

[Greylock]

I will be the naysayer, I guess. I'd prefer if the supplemental stuff were in softback. Problem is weight. For the time being, anything over ten pounds is a hardship for me. So, if I were packing my bag for my latest character, it's either get a hand-truck to take care of bringing the UA, CD, CW, PHB, PlH, MotP etc that have gone into building the char or rely on memory (as if ;p).

Guess I'll end up copying relevant pages at Kinko's. But once this char gets up in level, and is getting more spell slots, it's gonna be a real pain.