Opinion Piece on the 4th Edition Book size.

[Drucifer]

First save yourself some time and do not read this.

As it stands now, 1/21/2014 , the 4th edition books will be digest size / perfect bound just like the previously released books for Earthdawn Revised. I have not contributed to the Earthdawn 4th Edition Kickstarter for exactly this reason. I found myself at odds with myself over this as I really want Earthdawn to succeed but I know that I must vote with my silver.

If you wish to understand why feel free to read on, if not, you will have saved yourself valuable living time.

Going on the current information all future Earthdawn books are to be released both in Hardcover and Softcover in the 6.14” x 9.21” format exclusively. This format is also referred to as Perfect Bound or Digest size. The Gamemsater’s Guide and Gamemaster’s Companion will shoot for 350 pages, digest size. This is the equivalent of 56.54% of a 350 page full sized book or if you prefer, a single 350 page digest book is equal to 197.89 pages in a full sized book.

Dimensions
As for the 6.14” x 9.21” format… Let’s consider Occam's Razor and that the only thing changing is the book size. If that is the case, the 6.14 x 9.21 is only 56.54% the size of an 8.5 x 11. Simple math says that a single 8.5 x 11 book with 152 double sided pages; the Game Masters Guide, will have 251 double sided pages in the 6.14 x 9.21 format. This provides a relatively short and fat book, good for flipping through but a pain to set flat on a table and read without damaging the binding. Let us assume that the remaining 99 pages are filled with some of the content from the current game master compendium.

Printability
The printability of a 6.14 x 9.21 format e-file is limited to two options for the average person. Either they expand the undersized layout to fit the standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper or they print the page on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper leaving a large empty boarder around every sheet. This is a good thing if you want to make notes or bind your printout but not such a good thing for the amount of paper wasted. If you are not interested in either of these options finding paper for the 6.14” x 9.21” format might be a bit tricky.

Flexibility
Electronic files formatted for the 6.14 x 9.21 are excellent for electronic tablets, I-pads, E-readers and the various other small hand-held devices in use in the modern world today. They translate ok to smart phones with a relatively large screen. I can understand the desire of FG to capture this market, particularly since it was often commented on in the old RedBrick forums. In the next 10 years this will probably become the standard for most online electronic documents.

Legibility
Text in an Earthdawn 8.5 x 11 book varies from a very easy to read 18 point font for heading to a 9.5 font for basic paragraphs. Very detailed information is often in 6 point font. If this remains the same in the 6.14 x 9.21 I will have no issue reading the books. Should this font scheme change to a smaller font to conserve pages I can see issues with attempting to read the books without the assistance of a magnifying glass.

Artwork and Æsthetics
I have arrived at what is often considered the crux of the 8.5 x 11 versus 6.14 x 9.21 issue. Many players are used to a large format, it can be easily read, and the artwork is usually generous in detail. Many older players find the 8.5 x 11 size to be comforting. For the smaller editions new artwork will, by necessity, need to be smaller. This artwork need not be less detailed, but let’s face it, smaller pages will have smaller images, and smaller images will have less visible detail.

Price Point
What follows is all conjecture all based on information from 2 years ago. First let me share with you the quote I received from One Book Shelf after using their contact form.

[i]Re: OBS_Contact_Form
1 recipientsCC: recipientsYou More
BCC: recipientsYou Show Details FROM:Matt McElroy TO:tableau.infractus@yahoo.com Message flagged Sunday, March 11, 2012 3:40 PM Hello,

Thanks for your interest in DriveThruRPG / RPGNow.
It would depend on whether the book was black & white or full color.
Also depending on where the customer who orders the book from out site lives, the book might be printed in the USA or in the UK and shipped to the customer from that print location.

Black & White
USA: 6.00 + .015 per page (US Dollar)
UK: 4.00 + .01 per page (UK Pound)
Color
USA: 6.00 + .09 per page (US Dollar)
UK: 4.00 + .06 per page (UK Pound)

Those are single copy quotes, as in when you have it listed on the site and a customer orders a single copy. Publishers can order books at cost and get a bulk discount if they order in quantities of 50 or more.
Regards,
Matt M McElroy

This assumption is for a single black and white hardcover Gamemaster’s book of 350 pages.

Black & White (Hardcover)
USA: 6.00 + .015 per page (US Dollar)
350 pages x .015 = $5.25
So base cost of the book before any of the game company’s costs is $11.25, now include in this price the requirement of the game company to make a profit to pay all of its people, designers, writers, artists etcetera, ( has an excellent article on this subject.) If we go with the idea of 150% mark-up, not an unreasonable assumption considering the various other unknown details, the price falls in at 28.13. So figure $30 - $35 being a reasonable price for the hard cover.

Shipping
Let me be clear, I never purchased the Classic edition books because of shipping fees. The price point was steep all alone, add to that the shipping fees and they were ridiculously prohibitive. Unless these new books can retain a price point of around $40.00USD, including shipping, I can’t see new players plunking down to buy them. I bought the 3rd edition books because I liked the look, the feel and the fact that they were on store shelves. I wrote about this on the old forums as well. Shipping adds extra cost to any book and rankles the customer base.

Obvious Visual Reference
For a clear visual reference of what you lose with a digest book compared to a full sized book.

[Nahor]

Good write up. I'm very tempted to find the ED Revised books to see the interior differences. My biggest qualm with ED 3e was the text size seemed a bit small and very jammed. I liked the black and white and greys and the layouts were pretty good.

I do feel that the two main rule books shouldn't be more than 30-35 bucks before shipping. I know it's near 15 years since 1998 but books weren't so pricey back then but I assume FASA was doing huge bulk discounts. POD seems to be a ripoff to the consumer thus less sales and traditional publishing seems to not be ideal either anymore b/c print runs aren't done in the 10,000s so the discounts given to the publisher that would carry to the consumer aren't there either. It's really, by my perception only, a rock and a hard place.

[etherial]

[Tanthalas]

I have a the Earthdawn 3R Player's Guide and it is in the digest size. Let me preface my piece by saying that I if I had to pick I would go with digest sized books. I'll try to respond to Drucifer's well argued position as eloquently as I can muster.

Dimensions
As has been stated, Digest sized results in a relatively short and fat book. I must concede that this results in a book that cannot be laid out on the table and left open to a page. For some, that can certainly be an issue. Though if one were to have a few bookmarks, or post-its, or what have you, it is a situation that is easily remedied. I would also like to add that when a digest book is on the table, it is always closed, it takes up much less space, and is significantly less likely to get in the way of the game. Player's with more cramped tables may prefer the compact size. Additionally, I find that the smaller size feels more comfortable in my hand and holding the book open while doing something else feels less cumbersome than it would with a full sized book.

Printability
I have only once in my twenty-plus years of gaming seen a player arrive at the table with a fully printed out copy of a book from an e-file. Obviously people do it, but I think it is safe to assume that this is a rare (and ever dwindling) practice. The ever handy tablet is far more convenient and cost effective than printing out a book. For those that truly don't like flipping through a tablet, aren't they significantly more likely to go straight to buying the book and not hassle with buying a pdf they don't like and then printing it out? I think that focusing on the printability of the document by a third party would be focusing on an ever dwindling market and probably shouldn't play too much into business strategies. That said, if this is how you as a gamer like to handle your books, then yes, the shift to digest size may not be for you.

Flexibility
The original post by Drucifer was generous enough to admit that digest size is by far more flexible in this electronic age. His write up is likely more eloquent than mine could ever be, so I would refer you to him.

Legibility
I think this is the largest and most valid concern of people who are against digest size. In my experience there are two kinds of books that are released in the digest size: those that are designed digest from the start, and those that are given a facelift and made into a digest-sized books. When a book is not initially conceived as a digest the publishers tend to make the mistake of shrinking everything down to fit on the page. This is a HORRIBLE idea and results in a terrible user experience. If that is the only kind of digest book you have used, then I am truly sorry. Any book designed in this fashion should not be bought. Books designed with digest in mind (Like ED3R) focus on increasing page count and keeping the text nice and large. I notice little difference in typeface between my ED3 books and my ED3R ones. A properly designed 6.14 x 9.21 seems just as legible to me as an 8.5 x 11.

I believe that FASA has shown through past action that they will be releasing the clever kind of digest, and I think that should suitably assuage any fears you might have about the legibility of the book.

Artwork
Alas, I must concede this point. The book will be smaller, so the art must be smaller. There will likely be less grandiose pieces and sweeping full length pictures. That said, I think small art can still be beautiful in its own way. And there is nothing preventing FASA from releasing art in larger forms outside of the books if there is a demand for it. The biggest issues would likely be the smaller setting maps that may become more difficult to read. I think FASA would be wise to release a free pdf of the setting maps in a nice big scale. And allow for relatively cheap purchasing of physical versions of the maps. But I will certainly admit, digest sized books plus fantasy maps is probably a recipe for disaster.

Price Point
I'm going to assume that all of Dru's math is correct. And I definitely agree that $50 would be a steep price point for one of two core books. Hopefully they settle on a point closer to $35. I think that would keep most people happy and be in a sensible range. But we are digressing from the main topic here.

Shipping
I think it is probably unreasonable for a company like FASA to keep shipping costs down when delivering to a single consumer. This becomes the issue of bulk shipping versus individual and is treading into an area I admittedly don't know well. I almost always try to purchase a book in person as I do hate paying for shipping. And it sounds like FASA intends to make a concerted effort into getting books back into the FLGS, though we will have to take a 'wait and see' approach. That said, I would be willing to pay in the area of $45 (including shipping) if I had no way to get a physical copy of these books. Perhaps I am just less careful with my money than others.

Let me just end by saying 'thanks for reading' and Drucifer, thanks for the good read and of course all that Tableau Infractus stuff!

[Kasbak]

@Tanthalas, on your point with printability; I just want to point out that it doesn't have to be a full book being printed to make printability useful. When I ran Burning Desires, I printed hand outs of the pages for the city map and made printed copies for myself of important NPC stat blocks and special notes. Now granted, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to upscale just a few pages for this use, but already being full sized saves that extra step. This also ties in to the point on maps, which you already covered.

[kosmit]

[etherial]

[shiinx]

Do you mean that the hardcover version will only be available through Kickstarter, or that a special hardcover version will only be available through Kickstarter? I read "Hardcover Kickstarter only edition" that it will be a somehow special hardcover version, but not the only one. If my reading is correct, the question remains what does this version make special.

[Nahor]

[Darth Quiris]

Oh all this does bring up a question I hadn't thought of before...

When this KS is over and Earthdawn goes public, what will the main release version be like? Will it be softback or hardback? I had been under the impression that it would be the hardback version because, well, more and more people like hardback and it's becoming the norm for core book at least. On my gaming shelf the only core game books that are not hardback is the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game and... well holy (insert appropriate word here) that's about it.

And of all of my games, the only ones in black and white is Fantasy Craft (360 pages, $50 hardback standard), Fate Core (302 pages, $25 hardback digest), and Fireborn (256 or so pages, standard size, $30 with a few color plates).

All the rest of them are standard size and hardback and full color... L5r 4th edition, Star Wars EotE, HackMaster 5e, Primeval, Serenity, Firefly (GenCon release is softback), Tenra Bansho Zero (larger digest full color, 656 pages, $70), Werewolf 20A (Print on Demand premium color edition $90, 500 plus pages), Anima: Beyond Fantasy, Hellas, Smallville ... all the ones not price listed are between $40 and $60 for the core rules.

This is what Earthdawn will be competing for space for on the store shelves.

So Hardback is really the way to go nowaways, and color is much more common now. In a way the only companies in the role playing industry that go black and white are Indie Publishers. I don't know of any game released by a larger publisher that is black and white and none are digest size... Except for maybe Fate Core.

With all these games to compare to, the current price of these Earthdawn Hardbacks are way, WAY overpriced for the size of the proposed book and that it's black and white. I do not know very many people who will choose the Earthdawn hardbacks over the Fate Core hardbacks if they are within 50 pages of each other and one of them is twice as expensive as the other. If Earthdawn was color, that would make up the price difference.

The only advantages of digest size is that it is easier to transport, like in my purse, and its easier to hold at times.

But... if hardbacks are only available through this Kickstarter than the price listed makes sense AND it needs to be noted in the Kickstarter. Right now it does not say that.