Ars Mysteriorum Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 On the inside front cover, I can see the glue which attaches the title page to the cover... and it appears to be peeling? Has anyone else experienced this? Quote "Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..." - H.P. Lovecraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ars Mysteriorum Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 OK, this is weird. The glue on the inside cover is about the consistency of stiff taffy. It comes undone right before my eyes. This is more than extremely perturbing. Quote "Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..." - H.P. Lovecraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason D Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I don't have a copy to check, but I'd send an email to Chaosium about it. It may be a glitchy copy, in which case they'll likely straighten you out and will need to be in touch with their printers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ars Mysteriorum Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 I don't have a copy to check, but I'd send an email to Chaosium about it. It may be a glitchy copy, in which case they'll likely straighten you out and will need to be in touch with their printers. This only is so sorely disappointing because of how wonderful the material is inside the book. I've just e-mailed Dustin at Chaosium to see what's up. Quote "Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..." - H.P. Lovecraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pnick Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 another reason to hold off for the hardback.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosenMcStern Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I have some tape here, and it is already decorating the backbone of d100 books that I really love like RuneQuest Deluxe (the Chaosium/AH edition, not Mongoose), Genertela or Call of Cthulhu. And I am one of the proud owners of a physical copy of Blood Over Gold, one of the best, and most f***ed up by incompetent printers, books in the RPG industry. So bring it in, with or without glue! Quote Proud member of the Evil CompetitionTM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodshadows Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Sounds like you just got a bad copy. I just checked mine and it seems perfect. Hopefully, it's an isolated incident. I'd hate to see the game start to get bad press due to poor bindings when it's content is so amazing. Quote Mike Dukes VP- Creative Director www.daringentertain.com Daring Visions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShadow Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 This is ominous. However, Chaosium's books usually have great bindings, so fingers crossed it's an isolated case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skunkape Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 another reason to hold off for the hardback.. My Runequest hardback from Mongoose started falling apart while I was still reading it through the first time, so while that's a nice thought, a hardback version isn't always better. Quote Skunk - 285/420 BRP book You wanna be alright you gotta walk tall Long Beach Dub Allstars & Black Eyed Peas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ars Mysteriorum Posted July 1, 2008 Author Share Posted July 1, 2008 This is ominous. However, Chaosium's books usually have great bindings, so fingers crossed it's an isolated case. I think it's isolated. Any company worth its salt gets blank sample copies of books to make sure it's up to industry standards with a page pull of 3lbs per square inch. And yeah, Skunkape, hardcover books are actually more fragile in some ways. They are built to withstand the test of time, but they're complexity makes for a greater potential of something being flawed in printing. People aren't aware that it is only a thin layer of glue and a sheet of paper that holds the signatures and binding to the cover. The spine itself is not glued to the cover at all. This leads to me cringing when people lift a book up by one of its covers without supporting the spine. These days most "hardcovers" are casebound, meaning they're just paperbacks glued to a hardcover. These are even less durable than traditional hardcover, sewn books. Books are tremendously fragile things. That people think they're tough because they're heavy is a bit of a misconception... unless it's a Talislanta 4th Edition book by Shooting Iron Press. Those suckers are built for resilience. Sorry, I'm a bit of a book nut... It may be that what I see as a problem most people would miss until a few months later (or even years, with some luck) a book comes undone. EDIT: One of my favorite sewn books is actually H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands by Chaosium. That sucker is stitched inside and out using a technique I've never seen used elsewhere. You can actually see the stitching connecting to the bindings on the bottom and top of the books, making for a very sturdy book capable of laying flat (though in some areas the pages lay in an interesting way). It's a very unique book. Quote "Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..." - H.P. Lovecraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Publius Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Unrelated to your issue, but still in the category of "Binding"... I purchased the pdf version and printed out my copy for easier reading (too much screen viewing makes me get a little loopy, plus it is easier to flip through when looking for things). I happen to own a coil binding system, but since 99% of the stuff that I bind has less than 200 pages, I only carry up to a 16mm coil (you have to buy them in lots of 100 and those get expensive in the higher ranges). If you have any books that are plastic coil bound, you might have noticed that past 16mm the pages get these nasty curves to them and they aren't that steady either. As a result, I had to bind mine in two separate "Books" Book 1 covers up to the Spot rules, Book 2 covers the Spot rules on back. I sort of wish the Powers section was shifted behind the Spot Rules though and the Equipment rules moved further forward (behind the Spot rules), since that would have made a much more clean "Players Book" and "GM's Book" division. I could of course just print them in that order, but then it would be confusing later when I try to find a page after an Index lookup and have to hunt around to find it. Of course the benefit of coil binding is the ultimate "lays flat" bonus. :thumb: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightlamp Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 My copy arrived yesterday, and seems to be free of binding issues. The book is beautiful, although seeing it and holding it in my hands makes me wish even more for a hardcover version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ars Mysteriorum Posted July 1, 2008 Author Share Posted July 1, 2008 Dustin resolved my issue quickly and is sending me out a replacement! My thanks to the Chaosium team for being so gosh-darned awesome! Quote "Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..." - H.P. Lovecraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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