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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sinistar" data-source="post: 334394" data-attributes="member: 1945">Here are my two cents. As someone who drops a lot of money each month on game materials I think I am qualified to answer...I know this was blasted earlier, but I say this is valid: Cover Art. If it does not look like a professional did the work, I will not even flip through it. I am not a fan of the "art direction" that WOTC has taken, but I will admit that they hire professional artists who have talent. WOTC gets a bye on the Cover Art test because I know the company. If I don't know the company I will not give them this leeway. I have been a gamer for many years and have been burned on buying "compatible" supplements even before the d20 and 3e came out. One thing that has been consistent is professional art. Professional layout is a must, but I will agree that most d20 publishers at least get this on the average. But if you make it past the cover art criteria, it has to be good. Interior art needs to be passable as well. I can't tell you how many d20 products I have picked up and put back down because the interior art did not match up to the shiny cover. This also goes for cartography and mapping. If it looks like the latest "Map-a-week" on the WOTC site, that does not impress me. A big determiner for me lately has been need. What do I need (well, want) and what does the product supply. To get pointed, I have looked at Bluffside a couple of times in the stores. It passes most of the tests and I have flipped through it and read a little. But I honestly don't need another city in my campaign. Once this one is over and I move on to something else, I may need it and I may get it. But for now I don't need another setting. I bought Seas of Blood because I needed ship-to-ship and (to be honest) it got some of the best reviews on this site. Something that I also use.Another determiner is the talent behind it. It is important to me to believe that the mechanics are going to be correct. I know that everyone makes mistakes, but I have a hard time spotting something broken right away (say by the third reading or seeing it in practice) so I do not want to pick up an alternate spell system only to find out later that I do not need it. I have been a Monte Cook fan since his Rolemaster days (My favorite system still). That is the main motivator for buying 3e in the first place. I like the work Chris Pramas did, and the art met expectations, so I picked up a couple of Green Ronin products. I have been pleased with them so far.That said, I don't buy everything they do. For Monte's stand alone work, I have the two Books of Eldrich Might, but that is all. I have not seen the need for his other products. I have as I said a couple of the Green Ronin books, but not the Freeport material. As I said before, I don't need another city. By all accounts it is fabulous and the times I have flipped through it, it seems very good. But I do not have a use for it.As someone else said, WOTC gets an easier time taking my money because it is their system we are using. Others I will buy but it has to be good. It has to catch my eye on the stands and then hold my attention when I flip through it. It has to be something I am looking for.Sorry for the long answer.</blockquote>

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