Hardcover vs. Softcover showdown

[7thlvlDM]

If an rpg book is a very good, would you want it

1) Harcover, make it a keeper!

or

2) Softcover, make it cheaper!

Well?

 

[Turlogh]

I like the durability of a hard cover and the price of soft cover- I wish I could have my cake and eat it too

I do prefer hardcovers but they should have a high page (170+pages) count to make it worth while.

 

[Crothian]

Soft cover can be made durible. Palladiumbooks has been doing it for over a decade. I still have stuff from them written in 85 that is better bound then most of my first edition AD&D hardbound books.

 

[Psion]

PDF... make it much more portable!

Lacking that, I'll say sofcover. More can fit in my gaming crate, and I don't find hardcovers all that durable (my Relics & Rituals is falling off the spine.)

 

[GnomeWorks]

Hardcover. There is something about a gaming book with a hardcover that I like, that isn't there with a paperback.

However, the book should be worth the hardcover. Doing a splatbook with a hardcover is just foolish - but I like how they did the PsiHB as hardcover.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Hardcore Hardcover, all the way baby!

 

[Davelozzi]

I didn't vote because it really depends on the size and function of the book. An essential rulebook such as the cores should always be hardcover. An important but not essential rulebook with a large page count should be hardcover. A small book or an unessential supplement should be softcover. Perfect bound is nice for rulebooks of at least 64 pages.

An adventure of any size should be softcover. Any adventure that can be done with staples (saddle stitched?) should be as it'll probably need to be left wide open a lot during play. A huge adventure like Return to the Temple obviously needs to be perfect bound because saddle stitch just wouldn't cut it.

Campaign settings in hardcover are okay, and it's pretty much the standard now so I've gotten used to it. However, I far prefered the boxed set campaign settings that were the standard in the 80s and 90s. Mostly, I hate not having a good place to keep the map. Also boxed sets meant they could divide DM material and player material into seperate books more easily, throw in extra goodies like reference cards or whatever, and provide a place for me to keep my own notes, downloads, etc..

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah I noticed that to about mine Psion. Course I have two copies so if one bites the dust, the other still hangs around with me.

 

[Holy Bovine]

A little LePage #6 glue squirted down the inside of the spine and pressed together (make sure you hold the book wide open when you put the glue in) will reseal the spine and lasts forever (I've repaired many, MANY books this way).

 

[Ace]

It depends on the book I guess but overall for anything that I use a lot Hardcover is well worth the money.

Heck my 1e Monster manual was almost twenty years old and in good shape.

Ahh the smell....