haveahappy
Mongoose
Just thought I would add my two credits on the new direction in art/layout.
I think that many of the complaints and divisions have their root in some key differences between the dead tree product and the PDF in actual use.
The full colour gloss of the new edition is going to be fantastic in print. I have no doubt it will be a magnificent tome, beautiful to hold and to read.
I think if Mongoose (and the RPG industry in general) is serious about the electronic medium being a major part of their business, it deserves some special attention. A straight-up PDF of the print book, to be perfectly honest, is a bit lazy.
If you intend to print it out, expect a hefty printing bill for colour or some legibility issues if you print in B&W. Column based layouts that work very well in print are a nightmare in PDF, especially if you are reading it on a tablet or ereader. The lovely breaks in formatting for pieces of art and sidebars make this even worse. Basically, a good print book makes a terrible eBook.
I would really love if Mongoose could consider two things for the electronic product:
> (genuinely) printer friendly versions of PDF's
> Electronic formats other than PDF (Mobi, ePub)
I have quite a few RPG's on PDF, and I also read a lot. It is a real pain reading a dual (sometimes triple!) column PDF on my kindle or iPad. Reading a properly formatted and layed out eBook however is an absolute pleasure.
It isn't like it's never been done either - FATE Core not only comes in a gorgeous print product (the coloured margin tabs for each chapter are especially useful), it ALSO comes in all three formats of PDF, Mobi, & ePub. And I must say the Kindle version of FATE is an absolute pleasure to read, instead of a constant struggle like the rest of my PDF library.
(for anyone interested, FATE Core is pay-what-you-want on Drivethrurpg, so if you have an eReader and want to see what they've done, it's really quite impressive, I highly reccomend it even if just to see what they've accomplished)
I think that many of the complaints and divisions have their root in some key differences between the dead tree product and the PDF in actual use.
The full colour gloss of the new edition is going to be fantastic in print. I have no doubt it will be a magnificent tome, beautiful to hold and to read.
I think if Mongoose (and the RPG industry in general) is serious about the electronic medium being a major part of their business, it deserves some special attention. A straight-up PDF of the print book, to be perfectly honest, is a bit lazy.
If you intend to print it out, expect a hefty printing bill for colour or some legibility issues if you print in B&W. Column based layouts that work very well in print are a nightmare in PDF, especially if you are reading it on a tablet or ereader. The lovely breaks in formatting for pieces of art and sidebars make this even worse. Basically, a good print book makes a terrible eBook.
I would really love if Mongoose could consider two things for the electronic product:
> (genuinely) printer friendly versions of PDF's
> Electronic formats other than PDF (Mobi, ePub)
I have quite a few RPG's on PDF, and I also read a lot. It is a real pain reading a dual (sometimes triple!) column PDF on my kindle or iPad. Reading a properly formatted and layed out eBook however is an absolute pleasure.
It isn't like it's never been done either - FATE Core not only comes in a gorgeous print product (the coloured margin tabs for each chapter are especially useful), it ALSO comes in all three formats of PDF, Mobi, & ePub. And I must say the Kindle version of FATE is an absolute pleasure to read, instead of a constant struggle like the rest of my PDF library.
(for anyone interested, FATE Core is pay-what-you-want on Drivethrurpg, so if you have an eReader and want to see what they've done, it's really quite impressive, I highly reccomend it even if just to see what they've accomplished)
