What is more important author or company and would you pay more????

[Nifft]

Limited Time

My time is limited. I don't have enough spare time to investigate every product that sounds interesting, so I use "author" and "publisher" as filters.

I still look before I buy.

-- Nifft

 

[drnuncheon]

Company and author are eye-catchers for me, not necessarily sale-makers. If I hear that Green Ronin or FDP or Bad Axe or Malhavoc is putting out a book, I'll definitely look it over. If I see that something's written by Monte Cook or Bruce Cordell I'll definitely look it over. Names from ENWorld also catch my eye - Kevin Kulp and Ben Durbin for example.

But even the combination of the two of those things won't sell me the book if I don't feel like I need it. I bought Malhavoc's If Thoughts Could Kill and Requiem for a God, for example, but I passed on Banewarrens and Skreyn's Register.

There may be a third factor missing from the question, though - the product line. For example, I'll pick up Bad Axe's race books based on the strength of the company and line, and I strongly consider Mongoose's Encyclopedia Arcane but barely even notice the Slayer's Guides.

In any case, I don't know that a specific author is going to be worth an extra $5. If I were marginal about the product, I'd probably put it back. If I were excited about it, I'd probably get it anyway.

J

 

[nopantsyet]

I'm all about heading down to the FLGS, grabbing the book and sitting down at one of their generous tables and spending some time going through it to see if I like it and it will be useful for my campaign.

 

[tburdett]

i have to admit, i have purchased books with few redeeming qualities in the writing and few useful rules or stories based solely upon the fact that the art was really good

i think good illustration weighs more on the purchase decision than most publishers realize.

Or, in my case, the book can contain no art at all as long as the information contained within is consistent with 3E rules, is useful, properly edited, and printed on high quality paper with a good binding.

 

[ThomasBJJ]

I didn't vote, because the option I would have picked wasn't listed.

Author matters some, but subject matter is most important. Also, certain companies I will ALWAYS stay away from, no matter who wrote it (FFE)

 

[Dragongirl]

Boards being picky again, won't let me vote today. I chose that author and company mean nothing to me. At least as a final choice, content makes or breaks it. That being said, I tend to look at certain companies more than others for things to buy.

 

[Graf]

In general author is paramount. Attempts by most companies to engage in branding have been pretty (looking for the right word here).... ineffectual.
Books from most publishers with a branded series (i.e. War, Dragons, Undead) or even Green Ronin's Legions of Hell and Armies of the Abyss are radically different, often with different writers and "feels".
You don't know what the brand means and so it becomes meaningless.

If Jesse Decker wrote another book I'd be tempted to buy it but I probably won't look twice the @ races of renown books just because the Hammer and Helm book was excellent.

This doesn't apply to S&S' scarred lands stuff. Their editorial staff seems to be strong enough that all their products are good and have a similar theme. I tend to think that their probably the most dependable, even above WotC.

 

[Pramas]

Some caveats of course, Green Ronin and Atlas have always been great at giving cover credit and I'd bet that the readers of these boards are more author aware than much of the customer base.

I broke into the industry as a freelancer, and this is just one of the many ways that experience has shaped the policies of Green Ronin. I am a firm believer in credit where credit is due.

If Jesse Decker wrote another book I'd be tempted to buy it but I probably won't look twice the @ races of renown books just because the Hammer and Helm book was excellent.

Jesse is, in fact, writing another book for us, the Avatar's Handbook.
http://www.greenronin.com/cgi-bin/product.cgi?prodid=1303

To answer the question, I generally place more importance in designers than companies. However, if there's one thing I've learned in my time in the game industry, it's that certain name authors owe their reputations to the excellent editors and developers they have worked with. A good editorial staff can count for a lot.

 

[chatdemon]

Honestly, I never even look at the author's name when I go to the game shop to browse. Every author has his (or her ) good and bad moments.

I don't generally pay much attention to company either, but I will admit there are a couple of outfits that have a proven track record with me (Green Ronin and Thunderhead) and I am far more likely to look over their product when browsing at the store, and a couple others (who I'll be nice and not name) who also have a track record, and whose products I am pretty likely to ignore..

All in all though, I pay the most attention to the topic of the book, and a brief skim through of the content. Art doesn't matter. Hardbound vs. Softbound doesn't matter. D20 vs. licensed D&D vs. Official D&D doesn't matter.

Content and price, that's what matters. And it's not that I won't pay $30-40 for a book, it's just that lately, I can't.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Title and the description, I have found myself looking at that more than not.

Title is the bait, it has to be interesting, make you want to pick up the book or at least find out more about it.

Description is the hook, this is the ad, the little write up on the back of the book, on web pages, or in mags. It needs to tell you what makes this product different than others and why you will find it worth your money.

Content is the sinker.

Now people talk art, inside and out, but that is flash and while it helps sell some products I don't trust it as much. Plus this is the day of the web, look at the top of these pages, banners and marquee messages, art is limited.

Don't get me wrong, there are companies and people that I will look at just because of their names but they have earned my respect from prior products but they are only a member of a team, I really don't know if the editor, proof-reader, layout person, and so many others are the same one that put out product X or not. Sometimes it is the people behind the product make it a great one or kill it.