Is the Age of Hardcover Gluttony over?

[Wik]

Meh. I love me my softcovers. My favourite 3.5E purchase, I think, was that boxed set that came with a softcover PHB. If I ever play 3.5E again, you can bet that'll be the PHB I use.

I like how they can get a little bit beaten up, because it makes them look - I dunno - more worn in. But then, I like my guitars a little bit beaten up, and I don't think a car is a car until it has its first dent, so maybe I'm a bit strange.

Big advantages of those softcovers, though - they're cheaper, you can carry more of them at a time, and they're easier to leaf through. And these "lay flat" softcovers that wotc are talking about sound perfect - can't wait to see them.

 

[joela]

In part, from distributors and retailers. In the days of the d20 boom, there was just so much product coming out each month that the retailers had to decide what to buy and what not to buy. Hardcovers became one of the quickest criteria for people who didn't want or couldn't afford to stock everything: buy hardcovers, pass on softcovers. It was a real pressure for many manufacturers to put everything in hardcover just so most stores would look at it.

Paizo also cited this reason for its various HCs.

 

[Mercurius]

I don't see why a combination of hardcovers, softcovers and box sets isn't possible--in fact, that seems like where they're going with this. Hardcovers would be your core rule books and certain "luxury" or gift items--maybe 3-4 a year. Softcovers would be your adventures and splats, maybe 8-12 a year. And box sets would be starter products and maybe even a change back to campaign settings, maybe 3-4 a year.

 

[Dausuul]

The shift to hardcovers was unfortunate IMO, mainly because it contributed to locking new gamers out of the market--not only did you have to buy this giant scary tome instead of a board-game-looking boxed set, you also had to pay thirty-plus bucks for it. The nuisance of lugging all those hardcovers around was a concern, too.

If people here are correct and the original shift to hardcovers was driven by an "arms race" to get the books into gaming stores, I'm very glad to see WotC going the other way. As the 800-pound gorilla of the industry, WotC is the one company that can revert to softcover and still be assured of getting its books on the shelves. If that provides an opening for smaller companies to do likewise, we might see a new burst of energy in the industry.

 

[jimmifett]

I'd give these new ones a chance. They're spending enough to give them lay-flat binding, so I'm hoping the quality is good and the books will be fairly durable.

Hoping, not knowing. Just hoping.

-O

Oh, i'll definately be buying them, and they are cheap enough i'll prolly by a second set for the shelf as a backup. I'm just glad it isn't going to be the long term plan.

 

[jimmifett]

If you were referring to my comment about art in the older books- I was not talking about the style but rather the QUANTITY of art in those old B/X books (i.e not much).

I'm actually satisfied with the art in the current books. I don't feel i'm inundated with it. I've got some nifty art for chapter/major sub-chapter pages that take up about 1.5 pages, making it easy to spot when flipping through. There are quarter page or smaller pieces of art to break up large sections of text so it doesn't look like a TPS report.

In contrast, 3.x had one consistent art... issue? that I often found annoying:
Background art behind the text. Glad they aren't doing that with 4e, but I do have a soft spot for 3.x's covers.

In a somewhat related tangent, I considered picking up the white wolf vampire whatever the current version is just to see what the game system is all about, but i can't read it, at least not for very long without getting a headache. It's got a pretty font that fit's the game's flavor, but if I don't have my glasses (and even with them), the font just distracts me while i try to figure out what the heck something is supposed to say bc some letters look too much like others. Thus, i put it back and didn't buy it.

 

[jimmifett]

I find the hardback-obsession a bit annoying; those things are damn heavy when you have to put 8 of them in your bag to take to the game session! I guess people who GM at their house, or who drive to the venue, don't have this problem, but commuting to the game by public transport it's a real issue!

They do get pretty heavy. I just moved recently and didn't realize how heavy my RPG Book collection was.

Fortunately, I only have to carry a book or two with me occaisionally if at all. Usually only the first one or two sessions i'm using content from a new book, so if the DM has questions, I can let them read it quickly. As DM, I will have planned out treasure parcels in advance. If my players want to shop for an item, they usually know what they want ahead of time so as to not slow the game down.

The Rules Compendium will probably occupy a permanent space in my Magic Murder Bag as a quick reference for that rule or two i have not yet memorized.

 

[Scribble]

Hard Bound books look pretty...

But if a company can get away with giving me more stuff for my money by not making it hardbound... I'm all for it.

I'm really excited about the new boxed sets WoTC is releasing.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Personally, I'm looking for quality construction regardless of cover type. Some of my softcover 2Ed books started falling apart within a month of purchase...while not a one of my RIFTS books has lost sommuh as a page. (The gods or irony are strong.) And even though most of them are beat to hell, I haven't lost anything from any hardcover RPG book.

 

[pawsplay]

Hardcovers are books. Softcovers are just tarted up magazines.

Would I buy something in hardcover for $30 I could get in softcover for $20?
Yes, please. In fact, I just replaced my GURPS Space Fourth Edition with a hardcover after a six month long wait to find it at a reasonable price.