Chasm of Doom - Unplayable

[Eternalknight]

The errors is CoD are nothing compared to missing sections or the other problems evident in the other books. I, for one, can live with it in this book; it is still playable, and I have seen worse in some of the old Fighting Fantasy books, etc.

 

[FrostHawk]

I refer to the D'Val Bonus adventure, and the equipment section.
Anyway, in the moment that I heard either Matt or anyone from ToTS that assures me that the book is perfect, I'll buy it.
You know, I'm not anglophone, since I'm Italian, so something that it's not completely correct can put me in front of some serious difficulties in understanding and enjoying the book.
I always have faith in my fellow companions from ToTS and I'm really happy with what Mongoose did with the first 3 books and for the whole series.
I'm sorry if I bashed too much, but I only want to be "reassured". :roll:

 

[Tabris]

The erroneous character sheet is not a big deal. Mongoose/Matt, any chance we could get a corrected version posted as a .pdf download?

The missing equipment section is more problematic, but personally I don't think it's a big deal either.

 

[MongooseMatt]

The erroneous character sheet is not a big deal. Mongoose/Matt, any chance we could get a corrected version posted as a .pdf download?

I'll see what we can do!

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

The erroneous character sheet is not a big deal. Mongoose/Matt, any chance we could get a corrected version posted as a .pdf download?

I'll see what we can do!

While we wait here's a link to the original equipment section for book 4 over on Project Aon . Now for all I know the Mongoose one may be different (the starting money was missing the "and add ten" bit but the rest simply wasn't there).

 

[FrostHawk]

Holy mother of Jesus!
I don't want to be the only one complainin', but guys, THERE'S PEOPLE WHO IS BUYING THE BOOKS BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T THE PAST EDITION and there is people who wasn't even born when LW was first published.
The books have to be good for all, even for those who doesn't know what Project Aon is about.
Remember that if the Collector's Edition (purchased by the fan-base) is faulty, even the paperback (purchased by the new generations) will be faulty.

 

[BlackCat]

Holy mother of Jesus!
I don't want to be the only one complainin', but guys, THERE'S PEOPLE WHO IS BUYING THE BOOKS BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T THE PAST EDITION and there is people who wasn't even born when LW was first published.
The books have to be good for all, even for those who doesn't know what Project Aon is about.
Remember that if the Collector's Edition (purchased by the fan-base) is faulty, even the paperback (purchased by the new generations) will be faulty.

Yes, I understand this, and I understand that if the pages are falling off, if there's a section missing, if the text is falling off the page, then you have a good reason to yell and ask for a good copy. But now, what I see is people yelling, asking for a refund and bashing Mongoose if there's one typo in their books or if the name at the top of the action chart is wrong. I'm just tired of that. If something that the fan-base can do to help for a new generation of LW fans to read the books, is to point out errors (like typos and/or little mistakes) to Mongoose so that they can correct them in subsequent editions, not bashing the company and giving them a bad reputation. That way we will help creating the next-gen fans. We have the right to claim for books that are well-made, but if there's a minor error in your book (like the name on the action chart), can't you just live with it? :roll:

There, I said it. I know some people will come for me now. That's okay, that's part of my everyday's job.

 

[WritingWolf]

Not really a question relating to this book, but does anyone know how much the next batch of books will cost?

 

[Tabris]

I would assume Mongoose would correct the errors for the softcover printings. It would be kind of dumb not to.

That being said, I hope going forward that they tighten up their quality control of the books.

 

[FrostHawk]

There's no problem BC, if you tell me that the book is good, I totally trust you

 

[Eternalknight]

Holy mother of Jesus!
I don't want to be the only one complainin', but guys, THERE'S PEOPLE WHO IS BUYING THE BOOKS BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T THE PAST EDITION and there is people who wasn't even born when LW was first published.
The books have to be good for all, even for those who doesn't know what Project Aon is about.
Remember that if the Collector's Edition (purchased by the fan-base) is faulty, even the paperback (purchased by the new generations) will be faulty.

Yes, I understand this, and I understand that if the pages are falling off, if there's a section missing, if the text is falling off the page, then you have a good reason to yell and ask for a good copy. But now, what I see is people yelling, asking for a refund and bashing Mongoose if there's one typo in their books or if the name at the top of the action chart is wrong. I'm just tired of that. If something that the fan-base can do to help for a new generation of LW fans to read the books, is to point out errors (like typos and/or little mistakes) to Mongoose so that they can correct them in subsequent editions, not bashing the company and giving them a bad reputation. That way we will help creating the next-gen fans. We have the right to claim for books that are well-made, but if there's a minor error in your book (like the name on the action chart), can't you just live with it? :roll:

There, I said it. I know some people will come for me now. That's okay, that's part of my everyday's job.

Here here.

 

[Arkansaw]

Holy mother of Jesus!
I don't want to be the only one complainin', but guys, THERE'S PEOPLE WHO IS BUYING THE BOOKS BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T THE PAST EDITION and there is people who wasn't even born when LW was first published.
The books have to be good for all, even for those who doesn't know what Project Aon is about.
Remember that if the Collector's Edition (purchased by the fan-base) is faulty, even the paperback (purchased by the new generations) will be faulty.

Yes, I understand this, and I understand that if the pages are falling off, if there's a section missing, if the text is falling off the page, then you have a good reason to yell and ask for a good copy. But now, what I see is people yelling, asking for a refund and bashing Mongoose if there's one typo in their books or if the name at the top of the action chart is wrong. I'm just tired of that. If something that the fan-base can do to help for a new generation of LW fans to read the books, is to point out errors (like typos and/or little mistakes) to Mongoose so that they can correct them in subsequent editions, not bashing the company and giving them a bad reputation. That way we will help creating the next-gen fans. We have the right to claim for books that are well-made, but if there's a minor error in your book (like the name on the action chart), can't you just live with it? :roll:

There, I said it. I know some people will come for me now. That's okay, that's part of my everyday's job.

Truth is, there is indeed text getting cut off, and the crosshairs. Is it really so hard to print a book properly without those errors? It is not amusing at all to see yourself as paying for defective goods (imho anyway), especially the payment has already been made in advance. Meekness on the part of customers should not be part of the quality assurance formula.

 

[Tabris]

Arkanshaw, I think the printing errors have a lot to do with Mongoose's attempt to do all inhouse printing. I'm pretty confident that any outside printer is going to make sure that the printing problems are fixed.

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

Truth is, there is indeed text getting cut off, and the crosshairs. Is it really so hard to print a book properly without those errors? It is not amusing at all to see yourself as paying for defective goods (imho anyway), especially the payment has already been made in advance. Meekness on the part of customers should not be part of the quality assurance formula.

Oh trust me, I've complained every time I got a bad copy. I even took photographs of my book with a digital camera and posted the words going off the side of the page and how the book didn't open far enough (although that was because one guy was exessively complaining about his book and how he'd managed to make pages fall out within 2 days so I simply posted the pictures and asked if his was in the same state as mine, since his angry posts were putting a lot of customers off).

It's just that with the fourth book the only problems I've noticed were how the map seemd a little bit too dark, the missing equipment section, the incorrect character sheet for the mini adventure and the americanisation in one section where a grammaticaly incorrect use of the word lay had crept in.

Now apparently there's one other problem with a section pointing to the wrong place.

Compared to books 1 and 2 this one's nearly perfect. I mean come on guys, books 1 and 2 had bindings and covers that weren't as good as they now are (so they got replaced). They had words going off the edges of the pages, a road had turned into a river, and book 3 was even missing section 192 because someone had accidentaly put a picture on top of it! To make things worse it was an unavoidable section (one you had to go through) and it's absence kind of cut off the adventure about 75% of the way through.

All the errors in the first 3 books have been corrected (although a few of the maps still look a little dark). Book 4 has a few problems but nothing completely game breaking (exept for starting with no equipment if you haven't played any of the previous books but even then you get a chance to pick up a weapon before any dangerous combat ensues, and the chances to grab replacements before you lose it).

 

[BlackCat]

There's no problem BC, if you tell me that the book is good, I totally trust you

Well, truth is that I'm still waiting for book 4 to arrive, but I can tell you that book 1 and 2 were perfect. As for book 3, I've spotted ONE typo ("to" written "ot") and one choice in the mini-adventure was leading me to the wrong section (I won't be returning my book for THAT). Otherwise, so far, so good.

 

[frankwanderer]

Truth is, there is indeed text getting cut off, and the crosshairs. Is it really so hard to print a book properly without those errors? It is not amusing at all to see yourself as paying for defective goods (imho anyway), especially the payment has already been made in advance. Meekness on the part of customers should not be part of the quality assurance formula.

Well, so far as that goes and to concur with some of what was said previously, being a jerk needlessly is hardly any better than being meek. Complaining when a book (or anything else) one buys is defective enough to actually be crap is one thing. I certainly will not argue against that point, and I was happy to receive my replacement Book 3 accordingly.

But let us stick with honesty here. There are very few purchases anyone will ever make in their lifetime today, in advance or not, books or something else, that will be ABSOLUTELY perfect. If that is the consumer standard that one requires, I pity the massive disappoints that will constantly arise in one's life.

 

[Arkansaw]

Truth is, there is indeed text getting cut off, and the crosshairs. Is it really so hard to print a book properly without those errors? It is not amusing at all to see yourself as paying for defective goods (imho anyway), especially the payment has already been made in advance. Meekness on the part of customers should not be part of the quality assurance formula.

Well, so far as that goes and to concur with some of what was said previously, being a jerk needlessly is hardly any better than being meek. Complaining when a book (or anything else) one buys is defective enough to actually be crap is one thing. I certainly will not argue against that point, and I was happy to receive my replacement Book 3 accordingly.

But let us stick with honesty here. There are very few purchases anyone will ever make in their lifetime today, in advance or not, books or something else, that will be ABSOLUTELY perfect. If that is the consumer standard that one requires, I pity the massive disappoints that will constantly arise in one's life.

I don't think anyone is calling for absolute perfection here, but if what that has happened to books 3 and 4 is actually considered to be within reasonable standards, this is a cause for worry and tongues will certainly wag. And did they even bother to check the books before mailing them out? I think not. For if they did, that is even a greater cause for concern as it would show that they find the resultant print quality acceptable and expect the customers to condone it. Also, please save that hypocrisy and pity for your own hard-earned money, much gracias. Had I known the print quality would turn out to be so shaky, I would not have parted with my money. I would have waited for the books to appear on the bookshelves. And maybe that wouldn't have happened as some bookstores refuse to stock books that cannot be sold as they wouldn't have survived a simple scrutiny, and possible calls for refund? These are books that people would not have bought at storefront and why should online customers accept anything less?! I have bought tons of books from amazon and I can't recall the last time when I had to deal with anything more than mere typos, much less in succession. If this is considered bad publicity, then too bad, because it IS bad.

 

[AguilaSaber]

I don't think anyone is calling for absolute perfection here, but if what that has happened to books 3 and 4 is actually considered to be within reasonable standards, this is a cause for worry and tongues will certainly wag. And did they even bother to check the books before mailing them out? I think not.

The collector's editions can only be purchased from Mongoose. So there hasn't been any plans to sell them to the shelves before.

Quote from the Lone Wolf page:

The first of the new Lone Wolf gamebooks will appear in your local book stores in September 2007 - however, hardbound Collector's Copies will be available, only direct from Mongoose Publishing, at the end of July. Together, they form a superb looking and durable archive of the adventures of Lone Wolf.

As for typos and linking faults in the books. There are quite few actual faults in the books and they do have the expected standard. The one exception I'd say is Lone Wolf #3 which had the missing section, but Mongoose have given a free replacement of that book.

Saying that they didn't check the books before mailing them out is groundless. If they did that they would have gotten a result like first edition of Grey Star #1 or the Banedon mini adventure in the Magnamund Companion, both of which contain a very high number of linking errors and dead sections.

The Lone Wolf books contains a very low amount of actual faults.

 

[WritingWolf]

I have to admit that the mis-aligned pages don't actually bother me too much. I have had plenty of books purchased in the past like that, from majpr publishers like Bantam and major books like Star Wars, and the pages have been mis-aligned.

I dislike the missing sections, but I can live without the Equipment sections. Aside from some food (assuming you don't have Hunting) I don't take anything anyway, having been tooled up with the Sommerswerd.

What does irk is paying the higher price for the book and the price on the book being LESS than what I paid for it. That smacks to me of Mongoose making a quick buck, and I'm not 100% sure if it's legal. Now I don't nessecarily mind paying the higher price, printing costs do go up after all, but at least have the decency to show this higher price on the book. Otherwise it looks like me, the reader, is being ripped off.

 

[BlackCat]

What does irk is paying the higher price for the book and the price on the book being LESS than what I paid for it. That smacks to me of Mongoose making a quick buck, and I'm not 100% sure if it's legal. Now I don't nessecarily mind paying the higher price, printing costs do go up after all, but at least have the decency to show this higher price on the book. Otherwise it looks like me, the reader, is being ripped off.

I have worked in department stores when I was a student and that law was clear (at least, in Canada): if the price of something you buy is higher than the one that is shown on the product, then you should get it for free. Well, it doesn't bother me at all if Mongoose do this because I'm a Mega-Deal buyer (and have already paid for all 39 books), but clearly, they should correct this for those that are buying on a book by book basis if they don't want some customer's rights organization to come at them. :?