Your input is most welcomed.

[DarkShadow316]

Greetings all,
I was hoping I might pick at your minds for a bit. Get your opinions on a certain matter as it where. I am currently looking at various different printers to utilize when we send the Book of the Fantastical to the printers in July and one printer brought to my attention a most intriguing option.
It is called Euro Binding and it seems quite fascinating. Basically, it’s a type of paper back binding that allows one to completely bend the book open and it will not break the spine. The information they showed me in their quote showed a book that literally was open all the way, cover touching back.
I am thinking about using Euro Binding in our up coming books including reprints of the existing three books we already have out on the market. My question to you, as a customer and consumer is this. Would having a book that can be folded and opened all the way as much as you like appeal to you? Or do you prefer the standard binding?


Thanks in advance,
Chip

 

[ergeheilalt]

May sound cynical, but that I am. Any book that can be bent back to back is just begging for someone to find a scanner and scan the entire book and then post it to the web. I think it might be nicer to have a book that can be folded so only one page shows, but it probably wouldn't make me want to buy it any more than another book without the speical bindings.

Erge

 

[pogre]

Very worthwhile. I wish all of my game books did this.

 

[Glyfair]

It does sound very useful for a gaming product I'd be referring to a lot during a gaming session. However, I don't think it would enter the decision making process about what to buy, at least intially.

That's one of those things that might make me keep buying products from a company, though. I wouldn't want to pay extra for a product with this, though.

Glyfair of Glamis

 

[Drawmack]

There is one mini adventure book (about 30 mini adventures) that has a ring binding in it. I can't recall the name right now and at 4 am I'm not looking it up either. This allows the same thing you're talking about, and may be the same binding. I've also had some school text books that were bound in this manor. I can honestly say, after using it, that books with this binding are excelent and worth a bit extra money. The miniadventure book costs abotu $5.00 more then comprable books but since it stays open, sits on edge easily and I can forsee no binding problems ensuing from heavy use it is more then worth the extra $5.00.

As a side note: All the current books that aren't bound this way are already scanned anyway. Yesterday I did a search on Kazaa, no I don't pirate but I keep an eye on piracy as I am interested in it's scope being a programmer, for d20 and it turned up over 700 unique results. The ring binding actually discourages scanning because the rings hold one edge of the paper up from the scanner bed and cause skewing of the scan making it much harder to read.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

As someone who has been very disappointed in the binding of game books in the past (my copy of Armies of the Abyss by Green Ronin started coming apart not more than 30 minutes after purhcase!), I can tell you I would pay $5 more for a book with this binding. I don't particularly like ring bindings, but this sounds like the next best thing for what it's intended to do.

 

[rijeagle]

I'd buy a book like that, it would take up less space on the GM table...BUT I do hate having my bindings breaking. 3-rings are ok, until the 'holes' tear through. Hard-bound are the best...but don't ever bend them back...

If you put that style out, and it holds its binding, that would be a great thing, especially to us rpg players...ahem, who can be brutal to our books at times.

 

[DWARF]

Yeah, they were thinking of doing the Kalamar Atlas as a coil-bound, but they cut costs and went another way. That turned me off enough not to buy it... (that and my Kalamar game went on hiatus for the summer)

 

[Umbran]

May sound cynical, but that I am. Any book that can be bent back to back is just begging for someone to find a scanner and scan the entire book and then post it to the web.

I'll be even more cynical - This will happen no matter which binding he chooses. Someone will disassemble the book to scan it, if need be.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I'll be even more cynical - This will happen no matter which binding he chooses. Someone will disassemble the book to scan it, if need be.

Iagree. All the guys that are really into doing this kinda thing chop off the binding and scan the books page by page. I don't see why this type of binding would be any differnt.


That aside, i think i'd prefure that type of binding on modules, and maybe monster books. For everything else i'd rather have a standard binding.