Mouth of Sauron said:
We'll be making an announcement about this soon, but it looks like this has been resolved, for both the novels and the project we are mooting here.
A New Project - Interested?
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
We'll be making an announcement about this soon, but it looks like this has been resolved, for both the novels and the project we are mooting here.
TenaciousB said:
Two very separate departments
Tibour said:
None - if anything, it would boost development. . .
Tyrel Lohr
Mongoose
I would say that a decent Babylon 5 Encyclopedia would have to be in the same veign as the Star Trek Encyclopedia, as has been mentioned. This means including important things like sourcing to make it clear where the information is coming from, whether it is from the show, backstage information, AOG, Mongoose, Sierra, Chameleon Eclectic, etc. The benefit to that of course is that it makes it easier to track the individual information down, and it also shows some degree of research integrity rather than either "cut and paste was fun" or "look what we can make up to fill out a book".
The indicated cost is crazy and definitely not worth it, IMO. If the book was done as a single volume book for $50, I think that would be affordable. I don't see how you can get multiple volumes out of the B5 Encyclopedia concept without just throwing in (or recycling) tons of background text that has no place in what is supposed to be an encyclopediac work. One book should cover most everything of note, and if they want to learn all of the nitty gritty details that were written about it at some point they can hunt down the book (since it would be referenced!) and buy it and read it.
Shoving text in for text's sake just to get a continuous revenue stream isn't anything I would be interested in. For similar reasons, and because I have no interest in them, I haven't purchased any of the JMS script books. I don't care about scripts, and the pricepoint is too high to make it a casual purchase.
I think someone mentioned it on here already, but there was a decent "A to Z Guide to Babylon 5" that was put out during the 2nd or 3rd Season (by Bantam Books, I think?) that is probably pretty close to what I see the entries in an encyclopedia like this being. To the point and informative, covering a wide range of information, but not spending pages upon pages talking about the weather patterns of Zagros VII...
-Tyrel
The indicated cost is crazy and definitely not worth it, IMO. If the book was done as a single volume book for $50, I think that would be affordable. I don't see how you can get multiple volumes out of the B5 Encyclopedia concept without just throwing in (or recycling) tons of background text that has no place in what is supposed to be an encyclopediac work. One book should cover most everything of note, and if they want to learn all of the nitty gritty details that were written about it at some point they can hunt down the book (since it would be referenced!) and buy it and read it.
Shoving text in for text's sake just to get a continuous revenue stream isn't anything I would be interested in. For similar reasons, and because I have no interest in them, I haven't purchased any of the JMS script books. I don't care about scripts, and the pricepoint is too high to make it a casual purchase.
I think someone mentioned it on here already, but there was a decent "A to Z Guide to Babylon 5" that was put out during the 2nd or 3rd Season (by Bantam Books, I think?) that is probably pretty close to what I see the entries in an encyclopedia like this being. To the point and informative, covering a wide range of information, but not spending pages upon pages talking about the weather patterns of Zagros VII...
-Tyrel
lastbesthope
Mongoose
I'm in favour, although I think it should not be split into too many parts or over too long a period as you'd get all sorts of cross referencing problems.
ALso, releasing it while some people are still collecting the scripts may limit the available mioney people have for it.
If it is a collectable part work then may I strongly recommend that you sell 'seaosn tickets' allowing people to sign up for the whole thing, perhaps at a slight discount. Whilst s till allowing people to buy single volumes?
And if you do release it, and I get bumped off the end of the queue due to limited numbers, i will not be happy :twisted: :lol:
LBH
ALso, releasing it while some people are still collecting the scripts may limit the available mioney people have for it.
If it is a collectable part work then may I strongly recommend that you sell 'seaosn tickets' allowing people to sign up for the whole thing, perhaps at a slight discount. Whilst s till allowing people to buy single volumes?
And if you do release it, and I get bumped off the end of the queue due to limited numbers, i will not be happy :twisted: :lol:
LBH
lastbesthope said:
This is a very good point... it really would have to be alphabetical or categorised in some way or you'll end up with a huge nasty mess of books followed by an index volume you have to check to find out which book the entry you want is in.
And you can almost guarantee someone will come up with something for an earlier volume too late to get it in.
Maybe holepunched pages and ring binders would be the best solution? That way you can just release a shrinkwrapped set of pages every once in a while and constantly update it... Update sets can then be "themed" so people can pick the bits they want as LBH suggests.
To make subscriptions attractive (and obviously this is what Mongoose want so they know how many it is worth printing), subscribers get the "free gift" with each update (again still made available but at an extra charge to everyone else)
lastbesthope
Mongoose
mthomason said:
NONONONONONONONONONONOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Punched pages will be damaged and or lost.
Never ever again after my SW fact files collection problems, which I got round by never seperating the magazines yet :lol:
I would have refused o buy the S&P binders if it had meant punching the magazine pages.
LBH
I have read this post yesterday and decided to sleep over it before I'd cast my vote. That's what I have come up with:
The idea is just great.
So I voted You betcha!
I'm very much into Babylon 5 and my previous experience with Sci-Fi encyclopidias are very positive.
As a lot of other guys here I have three different versions of the StarTrek Encyclopidia to chose from. Each of them is / or has been used and has a special place on my bookshelves. But... (and there had to be a but coming!)
...but I'm not going to subscribe to something that is going to cost me a monthly fee of some 30 $ or around 300 $ a year (plus shipping and handling to germany, running even the risk of losing or damaging titles on the way).
edit
Okay, the postage argument just got sacked
As much as I'm interested and my collector's heart would want it: I'm neither able nor willing to subscribe to something like that.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have it, but at this biiig size (as cool as it looks) I'd have to say no.
Right now I'm a student and have to be very picky which titles to get and which to put on a still growing list of will-get-later.
I'm still browsing through the Mongoose back catalouge and every other day I find a new title that I immediately think I MUST have
As a lot of other guys have said before, I'd surely get myself an ecyclopidia of one, two or let's say three books, even if each came with a steeper price than a typical RPG book of the Babylon line. I might be willing to make the money to sink an amount of approx. 50 $ in every volume, if there are no more than three. You guys at Mogoose have produced great stuff for 50 $. Let's just take the 2nd edition Babylon 5 RPG book or the upcoming Guide to the Station box. The pics of it look just great. At such a level, count me in.
If there would be some realy astonishing previews and the possibility to unsubscribe from the enczclopidia every four or six months, let's say in case that the books aren't to ones liking or of upcoming money issues, I might be willing to sink in some 10 maybe at the hightest 15 Euro a month. But not more...Sorry.
In regards to the pricing of RPG books to be found at the first pages of this very thread, I'd have to say that I surely can understand why a Mongoose book comes at the price it is coming. There is a small printing run, at least in comparison with classic books like novels and such, there are licence fees to be paid, the printing and production costs have to be covered and some amount of money must be made from it for Mongoose to pay its people. It's all cool, as long as the quality is high, which it is most of the time.
Even then, I"m not going to pick every title up just because it|s from Mongoose or from a line I'm into. The topic of the sourcebook has to appeal to me. If it does it's most likely, that I'm going to pick it up along the way. It might not be happening instantaniously, due to my low students budget, but experience shows that I'm picking up titles that are really appealing to me sooner or later, even if I can"t put them to immediate use in my game.
But there is no way that I'd subscribe to something that costs me monthly without being able to look at it first or know what is coming. I|d like to risk it, but I simply can't.
The idea that Matt had of making only a very small number of books (I think 500 sets was the first idea) wouldn't encourage me at all either, in fact it would make me less interested: You see, I like to use the books I have. Using includes actually unwrapping them, read in them, take 'em along every now and then to a trip and so on.
Although I treat my books with the highest respect and really do care for them so well, that after years in my home they could mostly be sold at nearly new condition, there might be happening something to the books or one of them.
If you have something like an encyclopidia that you like very much, you'd have to have all the books and if one gets damaged or lost or something and there are only 500 sets produced in the run how will I get a replacement book for the title?
It will hardly be possible and not at a reasonable price.
So, as much as I love the idea, in the current proposal I'd have to say no.
And the idea of putting it out not as bound books but as a lot of lose pages that have to be put into binders...no way. I will want to have a book. With a nice cover, with a good binding. I want to have the real thing!
I don't care for a Ranger pin but if the bookshelf is a given, I might stil come onto the idea as it is :shock: :lol:
I have just found this one http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20646
It might calm the people around here that think Mongoose is spreading itself too thinly. The Mongoose family is ever growing...
The idea is just great.
So I voted You betcha!I'm very much into Babylon 5 and my previous experience with Sci-Fi encyclopidias are very positive.
As a lot of other guys here I have three different versions of the StarTrek Encyclopidia to chose from. Each of them is / or has been used and has a special place on my bookshelves. But... (and there had to be a but coming!)
...but I'm not going to subscribe to something that is going to cost me a monthly fee of some 30 $ or around 300 $ a year (plus shipping and handling to germany, running even the risk of losing or damaging titles on the way).
edit
msprange said:
Okay, the postage argument just got sacked
As much as I'm interested and my collector's heart would want it: I'm neither able nor willing to subscribe to something like that.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have it, but at this biiig size (as cool as it looks) I'd have to say no.
Right now I'm a student and have to be very picky which titles to get and which to put on a still growing list of will-get-later.
I'm still browsing through the Mongoose back catalouge and every other day I find a new title that I immediately think I MUST have
As a lot of other guys have said before, I'd surely get myself an ecyclopidia of one, two or let's say three books, even if each came with a steeper price than a typical RPG book of the Babylon line. I might be willing to make the money to sink an amount of approx. 50 $ in every volume, if there are no more than three. You guys at Mogoose have produced great stuff for 50 $. Let's just take the 2nd edition Babylon 5 RPG book or the upcoming Guide to the Station box. The pics of it look just great. At such a level, count me in.
If there would be some realy astonishing previews and the possibility to unsubscribe from the enczclopidia every four or six months, let's say in case that the books aren't to ones liking or of upcoming money issues, I might be willing to sink in some 10 maybe at the hightest 15 Euro a month. But not more...Sorry.
In regards to the pricing of RPG books to be found at the first pages of this very thread, I'd have to say that I surely can understand why a Mongoose book comes at the price it is coming. There is a small printing run, at least in comparison with classic books like novels and such, there are licence fees to be paid, the printing and production costs have to be covered and some amount of money must be made from it for Mongoose to pay its people. It's all cool, as long as the quality is high, which it is most of the time.
Even then, I"m not going to pick every title up just because it|s from Mongoose or from a line I'm into. The topic of the sourcebook has to appeal to me. If it does it's most likely, that I'm going to pick it up along the way. It might not be happening instantaniously, due to my low students budget, but experience shows that I'm picking up titles that are really appealing to me sooner or later, even if I can"t put them to immediate use in my game.
But there is no way that I'd subscribe to something that costs me monthly without being able to look at it first or know what is coming. I|d like to risk it, but I simply can't.
The idea that Matt had of making only a very small number of books (I think 500 sets was the first idea) wouldn't encourage me at all either, in fact it would make me less interested: You see, I like to use the books I have. Using includes actually unwrapping them, read in them, take 'em along every now and then to a trip and so on.
Although I treat my books with the highest respect and really do care for them so well, that after years in my home they could mostly be sold at nearly new condition, there might be happening something to the books or one of them.
If you have something like an encyclopidia that you like very much, you'd have to have all the books and if one gets damaged or lost or something and there are only 500 sets produced in the run how will I get a replacement book for the title?
It will hardly be possible and not at a reasonable price.
So, as much as I love the idea, in the current proposal I'd have to say no.
And the idea of putting it out not as bound books but as a lot of lose pages that have to be put into binders...no way. I will want to have a book. With a nice cover, with a good binding. I want to have the real thing!
msprange said:
I don't care for a Ranger pin but if the bookshelf is a given, I might stil come onto the idea as it is :shock:
:lol:I have just found this one http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20646
It might calm the people around here that think Mongoose is spreading itself too thinly. The Mongoose family is ever growing...
Aramanthus
Mongoose
I'm also not interested in subscribing to something on-line for monthly release of PDFs. If you are going to release a hard copy regularly. But I won't pay for PDFs. I don't trust supposed computer security safeguards with my credit cards Numbers.
Traveller-61
Mongoose
I must admit that I would prefer books released at regular intervals or buying 1 or 2 "super-volumes" rather than a monthly subscription idea.
On the other hand as I am such a B5 / Mongoose fanatic I will probably buy it in whtever format it is produced in
DW
On the other hand as I am such a B5 / Mongoose fanatic I will probably buy it in whtever format it is produced in
DW
lastbesthope
Mongoose
I too would prefer fewer bigger books, I thnk.
LBH
LBH
