Will Runners Haven be in hard cover form or is that going to be reserved for the the main book and the rules expansions.

I think the only things that won't be hard covered are the adventures.

So far as I know, the only books that will be HC will be the core rulebooks. Mainly for money reasons. The core books sell tons better than any of the other setting/supplement books, so this (I believe) helps lower the overall printing costs, making the added production expense of a hardcover worth it.

Anyways, Runners Havens is out at Origins, is softback, looks nifty (Though I've only briefly flipped through it, not read any of it).

Bull

I've only had a chance to flip through it, but I was tremendously amused by what happened to the Renraku Arcology since the crash.

One of my favorite twists, though there's a bunch of fun things spread through out the book.

Bull is correct, FanPro has announced that the core rulebooks will be hardcovers (currently BBB, Street Magic, Arsenal, Augmentation and Unwired). Setting and campaign books (including Runner Havens and Emergence) are softcover.

Anybody at Origins? Did it actually come out there?

And?

Bah,

All game books should be hardcover. Softcovers suck. All three other games I play (Werewolf, Ars Magica and Warhammer) release all their titles in hardback, and its not like Ars is selling better than Shadowrun...

Ok just my little gripe. So, any word on Havens yet? Someone got a review?

Chris

Nah, hard cover is too expensive to make and buy. Softcover can be plenty durable with a little care and good binding techniques. But there's already been a long thread about binding, with actual binder-type-people on it.

Let's not have this discussion again. There are already other threads with pages and pages of people bitching, moaning, and arguing about hardcover vs. softcover. If you want hardcover, buy the .PDF and get to fucking Kinko's.

Then how are three other companies able to do it profitably? They aren't too expensive, and gamers will buy them (why, look, I just gave three examples!).

Softcovers are terrible. They can be maintained, sure, but hardcovers just make nicer libraries. No creased corners, they stand up properly, and they look better.

At least the core books will all have good binding.

Not like me whining will change anything, I was just venting.

Chris

White Wolf and WotC do it by having a huge market share. WotC's original model was to be hardcover core books only. Once they got enough people addicted they switched to hard cover. White Wolf had tons of books that were softcover in past editions.

Depending on who you ask, WotC and WW do it because they either value their customers or value the money.

I've never played or even read an Ars Magica book, so can't comment on that.

Heya,

WotC doesn't make anything I play. Warhammer is from Green Ronin/Black Industries. Even their little 96 page books are coming out hardcover. I thought it was a pleasant trend.

Anyway, obviously people don't want this topic resurrected. I'm a newb so I didn't know this had already been through the grind.

So, back to my question, anyone got a quick review for the rest of us?

Chris

It's definitely a new trend, and does make the books more attractive. I'm just a chincy bastard and would rather be able to buy three softcover books than two hardcover ones.

I hope y'all are talking about the WFRPG... I've got an awful lot of softcover 40k stuff floating around my house.

Something to bear in mind with the WFRPG -- Green Ronin does all the design/production work on the books, but they're still published by Black Industries, a division of Games Workshop.

Green Ronin themselves still does softcover books for their major lines, including Mutants and Masterminds.

From FanPro's Retailer Newsletter: